What can happen after a community spends a lot of money painting bicycle lanes? Well, someone will get the idea that, having spent so much money, bicyclists should be required to ride in the lanes. Check out what Keri Caffrey writes about why that’s a problem. A couple of highlights: Forward focus is your priority in a [...]
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 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 [...]
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 [...]
How did Springfield not make this list of America’s top 10 bicycling cities? Here’s what we have going for us: Largely flat terrain: Getting around town is not a struggle physically. Grid street system: You have choices getting from point A to point B, including long stretches of quiet, residential streets. Marked bicycle routes: Traffic [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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. [...]
The following is a legislative alert from Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation: We aren’t exaggerating when we say this ask has never been more urgent. Click this link to contact your member of Congress in support of bicycling and walking: http://support.railstotrails.org/site/R?i=MU6Bn3Xx8UZZlnZ9Tmaq9w Thursday, February 2nd, the Transportation Infrastructure committee in the U.S. [...]
City Councilman Tom Beiker held a public forum at The Hub yesterday — first in a series of planned public discussions. The main topic was bicycling and helping make Springfield a bicycle-friendly community. I was unable to attend the meeting. The News-Leader published an article today. It’s difficult to tell how much talk there was [...]
Last year I reported here, based on a conversation at a STAR Team meeting, that the city was uninterested in painting more bicycle lanes. With the creation of new lanes on Division and Benton and the discussion at night’s STAR Team meeting, it has became clear to me that painting more bicycle lanes is in [...]
Please be careful what you ask for, that is. There’s a movement afoot at the Bicycle Friendly Springfield group on Facebook to have Springfield bicyclists send postcards to the mayor requesting more bicycle friendliness in Springfield. The post cards are available at local bicycle shops. Fill it out. Send it in. Be heard. Good idea! [...]
My thanks to the News-Leader for highlighting alternative transportation in its editorial today. I question the assumption that riding on the streets of Springfield is not safe or that bicycle lanes are safe. But, all in all, the need for transportation options is a conversation Springfield needs to have, and I’m happy to see the News-Leader taking [...]
A new bicycle lane has appeared on Benton Ave. from roughly Central St. to Commercial St. I say “appeared” because I had no idea this was coming. I’ve been operating under the impression that the city was uninterested in painting new lanes. Now, I have been busy this summer and traveling. I missed the last [...]
But first … Vilnius Mayor Crushes Car in Bicycle Lane with a Tank. I’m in Delaware this week and noticing that some roads I used to ride a bicycle on as a kid now have bicycle lanes — or at least partial lanes. I’ll also visit New York City on this trip. It’s my goal [...]
