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Tag Archives: Transportation Planning

Of Advocacy and Stasis

To follow up on yesterday’s post, I want to address the whole discussion thing. I concluded my post with a short list suggesting that there are certain types of bicyclists that I’m willing to discuss advocacy with and certain types that, well, not so much. Now’s a good time to discuss stasis theory. Before one [...]

Posted 15 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § ecology § safety ‡ Comments (49) ° Also tagged: , , , ,

Of Perception, Reality, and Desire

Here are two things you should go read right now: If you want to stop having this debate… Cyclists Aren’t ‘Special,’ And They Shouldn’t Play By their Own Rules I’m not going to comment directly on these except to say that each is important in its own way. Instead, I want to use these as [...]

Posted 14 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § ecology § i am traffic § policy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (22) ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

Vote ‘Yes’ For Capital Improvements Tax

Tomorrow is election day, and among the chances you have to make Springfield a better place to live is renewing the 1/4-cent Capital Improvements Sales Tax. Please vote “Yes.” This tax pays for numerous infrastructure improvements including projects that benefit pedestrians and bicyclists. You may have noticed sharrows appearing on the streets of the city’s bicycle [...]

Posted 01 April 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § policy § safety ‡ Comments (24) ° Also tagged: , , , , , ,

IMF Says Gasoline Too Cheap

Check out this report from NPR about the true costs of gasoline as reported by the International Monetary Fund. One problem: We are far too enamored of growth and short-term gain to ever take this seriously — that is until it’s too late. Then we will do the next thing we do best: Look for [...]

Posted 28 March 2013 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Also tagged: ,

Our Urban Challenge: Riding The Bus

I’ve taken the bus in many cities in the U.S. and Europe, but before yesterday I had only taken the bus twice in my eight years in Springfield — both times to travel downtown when the roads were too icy to ride my bicycle. That wasn’t enough experience to form an impression of the system. [...]

Posted 28 September 2012 † Andy Cline § ecology § transit ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

Smartly Going

The STAR Team will begin promoting the city bus system as part of the committee’s Let’s Go Smart campaign. That was welcome news from yesterday’s meeting. More on this as it develops… The Ozarks Transportation Organization has released its 2012 implementation report for its bike/ped plan. Lots of interesting progress. I’ll link to the .pdf [...]

Posted 20 September 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news § policy § transit ‡ Comments (4) ° Also tagged: , , , ,

There’s Something Happening Here

UPDATE: I have confirmed that the paint on Cherry east of Glenstone is intended to be a bicycle lane. The engineer I contacted said that the lane should have been painted 5.0 feet from the face of the curb and 3.0 feet from a pavement seam such as the edge of gutter. What it is ain’t exactly [...]

Posted 02 September 2012 † Andy Cline § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § traffic ‡ Comments (28) ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

New Lane Feature: Broken Glass!

So the City has painted a gutter lane on a perfectly good street thus, in my opinion, turning it into a no-so-good street. Why not-so-good? As the video shows — and every bicycle lane advocate knows — cars tend to sweep the streets. So gutter lanes fill up with all kinds of debris. The narrower [...]

Posted 18 August 2012 † Andy Cline § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle video ‡ Comments (28) ° Also tagged: , , ,

What? WHAT?

I took my daughter to New York City for the first time when she was about 8 years old. We stepped out of the train station into the street, and the first thing she did was clamp her hands over her ears. In 2008, I had coffee with a friend of mine at an outdoor [...]

Posted 09 August 2012 † Andy Cline § ecology § traffic ‡ Comments (4) ° Also tagged: , , ,

Transportation Sales Tax Renewal Today

It’s election day in Missouri. Among the primaries and other proposals is the renewal of the 1/8-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in Springfield. Part of this money (a small part) pays for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, including much-needed connections for our greenways and bicycle route system. Please vote to renew this tax today. Technorati [...]

Posted 07 August 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged: , , , ,

Yeah, It’s A Civil Rights Issue

I’ve written before (example) about alternative (and public) transportation as a civil rights issue. Here’s more fuel for the fire: On top of the most catastrophic economic downturn since the Great Depression, the continued impact of automation, and the shift of domestic production to lower-wage nations, here is a less dramatic yet no less decisive [...]

Posted 11 July 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (11) ° Also tagged: , , ,

Behavior Given The System

As promised in the comments of this post, Steve, at DFW Point-to-Point, ruminates on role that street design plays in “bad” behavior on the streets. Interesting and well worth your time. A taste: The roads really ARE optimized to accommodate a uniquely dangerous major use – four-wheeled motor vehicle operation. Because these motorists mostly kill and delay [...]

Posted 24 May 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged: , , , , , , ,

Bike Lane Laws; It Could Happen Here

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 [...]

Posted 02 May 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § policy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (3) ° Also tagged: , , , ,

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. [...]

Posted 12 March 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news § policy ‡ Comments (15) ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

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 [...]

Posted 29 February 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § news § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged: , , ,