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Category Archives: news

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 § advocacy § announcement ‡ 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 § advocacy § ecology § 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 § advocacy § ecology § 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 § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (11) ° Tagged: ,

Rail Dreams

From Planetizen comes word that 88 percent of Americans want high-speed rail. Sounds like good news to me. But the numbers may be a bit suspect as they come from a survey conducted by HNTB Corporation. HNTB, based in Kansas City, would be just the outfit to design, build, and maintain such infrastructure.
Now, just because [...]

Posted 28 February 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (11) ° 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 § advocacy § 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 § advocacy § 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 § advocacy § policy ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: ,

City Crash Report

The City of Springfield issued its 2009 crash report at yesterday’s Traffic Advisory Board Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee meeting. I am a member of that subcommittee.
The report is full of good news. Crashes and fatalities are down. One sad note is the recent death of a teenager — the only bicycle crash fatality for 2009. There were [...]

Posted 27 January 2010 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , ,

Green Is Good When Green Is Green

The Sanyo Eneloop eclectic bicycle won a Best of Innovations award for eco-design and sustainability at the 2010 International CES sponsored by the Consumer Electronic Association.

Let’s be clear about something first: I have nothing against electric bicycles. They serve a purpose for people who want or need them.
But, really, giving a green award to an [...]

Posted 15 January 2010 † Andy Cline § bicycle § ecology ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Naples Denied, Won’t Re-Apply

In case you missed it, I’m reporting from Florida until school starts. I’m in Naples and will be visiting Orlando. Tomorrow (Sunday) I’m planning to ride much of the downtown area to get a feel for the zeitgeist of Naples. I’ll post photos, video, and comments soon (unclear because my internet connection here is ratty).
The [...]

Posted 02 January 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § policy ‡ Comments (7) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Child Dead in Collision With Pick-up

From the Springfield News-Leader this morning:
A 14-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck and killed by a pickup truck Tuesday night at the intersection of Clifton Avenue and High Street in northwest Springfield.
Springfield Police Lt. Kevin Grizzell said the accident occurred about 7:30 p.m.
According to Grizzell, a Toyota Tundra pickup was eastbound on High Street [...]

Posted 30 December 2009 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: ,

Springfield Advocacy News

The STAR Team meeting this week hosted two guest speakers.
Springfield City Manager Greg Burris brought his “listening tour” to the meeting. He’s been meeting with civic groups to get a picture of how citizens envision the future of Springfield. He said he hopes to meet with 40 to 50 groups during the tour.
He began the [...]

Posted 18 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , ,

Bicycle Friendly Springfield Tops 500

Christopher McNeese reports this morning that Bicycle Friendly Springfield group on Facebook has just reached 500 members — all  in just a few short weeks. He says the goal is now 1,000 by May.
Ozark Greenways also has a Facebook page now with 266 fans so far. Getting into this new-fangled social media stuff is a [...]

Posted 18 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § announcement ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , ,

Bad Driving

An interesting report from the UK has this to say about the cause of bicycle crashes with cars resulting in injury and death:
With adult cyclists, police found the driver solely responsible in about 60%-75% of all cases, and riders solely at fault 17%-25% of the time.
The cyclists’ lobby group CTC said the report showed that [...]

Posted 15 December 2009 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , ,