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Category Archives: policy

Our Urban Challenge: The Euro Thing

Want to see a sneer of disgust cross the face of your average, suburban Springfieldian? Just mention anything European. I’ve been accused — in public meetings even — of wanting to force Americans to live like Europeans. And “like Europeans” is always spoken in derision by the folks who accuse me. Well, their accusations are [...]

Posted 30 August 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Our Urban Challenge: Make It Awesome

In my last installment of this series I said we’d need to “build it first” in order to attract people downtown (and to the urban core) to shop, play, learn, and live. Today I saw something like this idea in action. We have a new downtown market at the most prominent intersection — Walnut and South [...]

Posted 21 August 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

School Kids And Barrier Streets

One of the things I liked about graduate school was using critical theory to ask uncomfortable questions about social and cultural artifacts of various sorts. Another way to put it: It was fun learning to be an intellectual pain in the ass. Allow me to demonstrate… Consider this article (part of a series) in today’s [...]

Posted 16 August 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

A Dangerous Syllogism

See if you can spot the problem (from montrealgazette.com): A 2003 study published in the Injury Prevention Journal by Peter Lyndon Jacobsen concluded: “A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking or bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. Policies that increase the numbers of people walking and bicycling appear to be [...]

Posted 11 August 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Will Bicyclists and Pedestrians Squeeze Out Cars?

Tom Madigan, writing for National Journal, asks 10 experts if efforts to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians risks squeezing out cars. On first blush, considering the overwhelming odds in favor of cars (numbers plus massive subsidies), the question seems absurd. Read the whole thing. Very interesting. Several of the respondents do not like the question because, for example, the situation [...]

Posted 05 August 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Warning! Our Cover Is Blown!

Well, we’ve been found out. Cell 42: 293879(&wwe(&& Cell: 77: 338)(&88^^#9900 Cell: 109: 87*&%666 You have your orders. Nex ut licentia! Now back to my regular blogging in which I pretend to be a mild-mannered, slightly rumpled and befuddled college professor. Technorati Tags: bicycle politics, cycling

Posted 04 August 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: ,

Placement of Sharrows

A “sharrow” is a shared lane marker painted on the street. Sharrows should not create de facto bicycle lanes, i.e. be painted on the road in such a way that it shunts bicyclists to side of the road in the manner of a bicycle lane. Dan Gutierrez has posted some interesting photos on Facebook that show what’s [...]

Posted 03 August 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Crossing The Line

Thanks to a heads-up from James Baumgartner, author of Car-free in PVD, check out this Blueprint America Special Report called Crossing the Line: Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know. This is what happens when you design roads for cars instead of people. Also see the discussion at Commute Orlando. Technorati Tags: car culture, pedestrian [...]

Posted 29 July 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , ,

(Ir)Rational Choice On The Road

Rational Choice Theory is a useful idea as long as we don’t get too hung up on the word “rational.” Rational choice theorists use a slightly different concept that claims individuals seem to balance costs against benefits (the “rational” part) in order to make choices that maximize personal gain. The problem with this idea is that [...]

Posted 27 July 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , , ,

We’re On Our Own, Part 2

Last year I wrote about the role riding a bicycle can play in helping us stay healthy. I don’t ride for sport, so I usually don’t work up much of a sweat. But even pedaling at modest speeds is excellent exercise that pays big health dividends. Given the state of our health care system and its [...]

Posted 25 July 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

STAR Team Items for July

Just a few news items from the STAR Team meeting yesterday: If you like to race bicycles, or watch people race bicycles, you’ll enjoy the St. John’s Powerful Medicine Criterium on Sunday 25 July at 101 E. Commercial St. For more information, see StJohnsCycling.com. The third iteration of the Bicycle Friendly Springfield petition is available for your signature now. This year’s [...]

Posted 22 July 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Boy Hurt in Crash

The details from the News-Leader are sketchy: A 7-year-old boy on a bicycle collided with a van at the intersection of Kansas Expressway and Hovey St. The child suffered a broken leg. I found this interesting: Phillips said the boy, who was riding a bike, and the van met at the corner of Hovey Street [...]

Posted 21 July 2010 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § news ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: , , ,

Explain Bicycle Lanes To Me

I’ll soon have the first results of my recent bicycle survey ready. But here’s an interesting preliminary result (as yet an uncrunched stat): A bunch of respondents (almost 40%) indicated that the best thing Springfield could do to make bicycling better is add bicycle lanes. And as I gazed across the columns of answers one [...]

Posted 17 July 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (20) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Willing To Say Anything?

Some politicians are willing to say anything to win. Check out this reporting about the proposed ban on bicycles on some state highways in St. Charles County: At a St. Charles County Council meeting last night, Councilman Joe Brazil came prepared with statistics in hand. In his push to ban bikes from certain rural two-lane [...]

Posted 15 July 2010 † Andy Cline § news ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Bicycle Ban Unenforceable?

From the Springfield News-Leader (via AP) this morning: ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri transportation official says a proposal to ban bicycles on some state highways in St. Charles County could not be enforced. No word yet if the St. Charles County Council will continue to considering the ban on bicycles on some state [...]

Posted 14 July 2010 † Andy Cline § news ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , , ,