Category Archives: news

Kinda Cool Greenwise

Check out the Bamboo Bike Studio. Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle design

1-mile Solution At PechaKucha #6

Come to PechaKucha #6 this Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the Creamery Arts Center. I’m on the program giving a talk about the 1-mile Solution. It’ll be cool. So, yeah, be there. Whatinthehellis PechaKucha? Technorati Tags: 1-mile Solution, bicycle advocacy

Smart Moves In #SGF

The Let’s Go Smart initiative is live — we’re livin’ it! This new campaign by the STAR Team of Ozark Greenways is a multi-modal concept aimed at encouraging people to think about their transportation choices. This is more than bike-ped advocacy. We’ve re-designed and upgraded the former Drive Less, Live More booklet. It’s now called Bike [...]

Yer Morning Chuckle

Check out the cover picture of the new edition of Effective Cycling. What in the heck is that person doing? Are those parked cars on her left? Why is she on the line? Why isn’t she commanding her lane? Is that the image of modern urban bicycling? Why are her feet strapped into pedals in [...]

PedNet Video Promotes Police Education

Police training is one of the important educational programs of PedNet in Columbia. Click here for a promotional video about this training. I’m in the video talking about the time a police officer honked at my daughter and told her to ride on the sidewalk. She was riding legally and responsibly on a residential street [...]

The Whole New Reality

Next week the STAR Team kicks off a new campaign for alternative transportation. I’ll have more specifics as we get close to the main event: Who: Joe Kurmaskie, The Metal Cowboy What: A public talk about bicycling When: 19 April at 7:00 p.m. Where: City Utilities Auditorium, 301 E. Central Click here for the official [...]

Visibility On The Road

Visibility on the road is far more a matter of lane positioning and far less a matter of color under most road/weather conditions. The proposed reflective vest bill (HB 1937) solves no problem that exists on Missouri’s state highways. Bicyclists are not suffering deaths or injuries comparable to people in cars. Perhaps we ought to [...]

Vest Bill To Be Heard Tuesday

It’s being sold as a safety measure: HB 1937 would require bicyclists to wear reflective vests on state highways. What it’s more likely to accomplish: Making bicycling more difficult and less attractive. The language of the bill offers no exceptions, so it is reasonable to assume that a bicyclist would be required to wear a vest even when crossing a [...]

Riding Into Cultural Oblivion

Warning: This post may piss you off. Good. Can you spot the problem(s)? I’m torn. On the one hand, I am a supporter of everyone enjoying bicycling in all of its many forms. Get out there and have fun! But… This video represents more than simply the predictable results of running a stop sign. This [...]

Engineering And The First Amendment

Can you be persecuted (and, perhaps, prosecuted) for having an (informed) opinion about traffic infrastructure and voicing/writing that opinion as part of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy. Apparently, yes. This is partly a case of attempting to criminalize speech for political purposes. Although it also appears apparent that you’ll “win” even if the worst should happen. [...]

Lots Of Participation At The Open House

The open house hosted by the Traffic Advisory Board yesterday to get citizens’ comments on bicycle and pedestrian issues was a success. I was only able to be there for the first 30 minutes — needed to get home before the storm, seeing as how I drove my bicycle to the event. It gave me [...]

How To Increase Participation

My headline over-promises. I am not particularly interested in increasing participation as an end in itself. But it is clear that many bicycle advocates believe that providing such infrastructure as bicycle lanes, tracks, and separated paths does increase participation. According to recent studies, it’s not entirely clear what the cause-and-effect relationship actually is between infrastructure and participation. [...]

Bike-Ped Plan Official Website

The official city website for the Bicycle-Pedestrian Plan is ready to view. Just click here. From the website: The City presently has a Bicycle Plan, a Greenways Plan and miscellaneous pedestrian policies and manuals.  Our goal is a comprehensive strategy that updates these plans and adds a formal Pedestrian Plan. This project is in response [...]

Bicycle-Pedestrian Plan Open House

Here’s a good opportunity to have your say about the future of sustainable, carbon-neutral transportation in Springfield (i.e. bicycling and walking): The City of Springfield Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Open House. When: 28 February, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Where: Busch Municipal Building I assume there will be much talk of bicycle lanes. Again, I have [...]

Just Crazy

Raise your hand if you own a computer. Keep your hand up if your computer has ever glitched while in use, i.e. lost its internet signal or crashed or done some other annoying thing that basically ended its functionality if even for a few seconds. Ahhhh … all of you Now imagine a computer driving [...]