Skip to content

Category Archives: advocacy

Our Urban Challenge: First in a Series

“What is striking about biking is not that it solves any particular problem but, instead, that is it part of the solution to several.” —  J. Harry Wray
We have several problems in Springfield.
You can begin to survey our problems — or challenges — by reading Springfield’s Competitive Assessment. Another snapshot of our community is available [...]

Posted 11 March 2010 † Andy Cline § business § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

CIP Powerpoint

Click here to see a PowerPoint presentation about the Capital Improvement Sales Tax that will come up for renewal in June. This money will be funding bicycle and pedestrian projects, including sidewalk repair, sharrows, and a new bicycle route numbering system.
I believe it is important to Springfield’s progress that voters re-approve this tax.

Technorati Tags: bicycle [...]

Posted 11 March 2010 † Andy Cline § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , ,

Free ChipSeal!

On the Carbon Trace blogroll you’ll find a link to ChipSeal (also mentioned in this post). The author, Reed Bates, is a bicycle blogger in Texas, and he’s recently had run-ins with the “law.” Those quotes indicate irony. Commute Orlando has a round-up of the events so far. And you can follow the story is [...]

Posted 09 March 2010 † Andy Cline § announcement § news ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , ,

CIP at the Council Meeting

The City Council last night heard public comment on Council Bill 2010-073 — calling for a special election in June to renew the 1/4-cent Capital Improvements Sales Tax. STAR Team Chairman Bruce Adib-Yazdi was one of three citizens who spoke in favor of the tax. No one spoke against it.
Bruce’s remarks were confined to supporting [...]

Posted 09 March 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

CIP And Bicycle Infrastructure

Not doing anything at 6:30 this evening? Then drop by the city council meeting to show your support for the $400,000 line item in the Capital Improvements sales tax renewal to pay for a new bicycle route numbering system (complete with wayfinding) and sharrows. This is a numbering system developed by the STAR Team and [...]

Posted 08 March 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Fat City

Gallup has gone looking for the commonalities among America’s most obese metropolitan areas. Here’s the top ten:

The study covers the usual suspects, e.g. poor eating habits and lack of exercise. But here’s something they overlooked: access to (or willingness to use) alternative transportation, i.e. burning calories instead of carbon.
In Montgomery, Ala., for example, data from [...]

Posted 03 March 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news ‡ Comments (11) ° Tagged: ,

A Metaphor to Ride By

Here are some lessons about riding in traffic from Keri Caffrey of Commute Orlando. It’s a dance!

Bicycling in traffic is a dance you lead from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.
Note the commanding and confident lane positioning.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle culture, bicycle safety, bicycle video, cycling

Posted 02 March 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , , , ,

HB 1250 Hearing Is Today

The transportation committee hearing for HB 1250 is today in Jefferson City. I was unable to change my schedule, so I won’t be testifying. I did, however, send Rep. Sara Lampe my thoughts on the bill, including links to everything I’ve written so far on Carbon Trace.
Click here for my reasons for opposing this bill.
I [...]

Posted 23 February 2010 † Andy Cline § news § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , ,

HB 1250 Must Be Stopped

HB1250 — the bill that would require cars to pass bicyclists by no less than 3 feet — is scheduled for a hearing in Jefferson City on Tuesday. I am not sure I can make it to testify, but I’m going to try. I will, however, be contacting my Senator and Representative to make sure [...]

Posted 19 February 2010 † Andy Cline § news § policy ‡ Comments (20) ° Tagged: , , ,

Influence Pedaling

I’m in Jefferson City today taking part in MoBikeFed’s annual lobbying effort. There are several issues of interest before the legislature this years, including:

The continued fight for a Complete Streets resolution.
Supporting the Tour of Missouri.
A Safe Routes the School program.
A safe-passing law.
Include bicycles in the back-to-school tax holiday.
Establish annual proclamations for bicycling events.

Of these, I [...]

Posted 16 February 2010 † Andy Cline § news § policy ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: ,

LAB and the Future of Bicycling

Mighk Wilson, of Bicycling Is Better, has decided not to renew his membership to the League of American Bicyclists. He’s a guy with a lot of serious bicycling cred. So when he says the following, I’m inclined to listen:
I don’t want this to be seen as a League-bashing exercise.  I’ve been wondering if I should [...]

Posted 15 February 2010 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § ecology ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

CIP Tax Up for Renewal in June

The News-Leader reports today on the renewal of the capital improvement projects tax — a 1/4-cent sales tax that will expire in September. The vote is set for June.
This is the money that has paid, and will continue to pay, for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Springfield — a small portion of the $26 million [...]

Posted 10 February 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , ,

What MO Citizens Want

The Missouri Transportation Alliance has been studying what sorts of MoDOT policies citizens will support. Click here for a report on the findings by Brent Hugh of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation:
The good points from our point of view:

MoTA is recognizing that people want to be able to have the choice to bicycle, walk, and [...]

Posted 09 February 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (7) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Walking in the Cold

Jason Peters continues to meditate on the virtues of walking at Front Porch Republic (re: Walk, Damn It!). This week he writes about what it means to walk in the cold.
And by now this walking has become habitual enough that, if for pressing reasons I do not or cannot walk, I feel that an important [...]

Posted 06 February 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Risk and Rewards

Charles Pelkey’s bicycle safety article in the VeloNews makes this claim:
Getting a precise breakdown of the actual risks per mile is a bit more difficult, but a rough analysis of 2005 fatalities would suggest that riders are between three and 10 times more likely to die per mile traveled than are drivers.
Sounds scary.
I prefer my [...]

Posted 28 January 2010 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § ecology ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,