Category: News (Page 13 of 22)

Repost: Infographic: Four Requirements for a Bikeable City

May 23, 2013 /

This is a repost from Good.is http://www.good.is/posts/infographic-four-requirements-for-a-bikeable-city

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This month, communities all around the country are hosting Bike To Work and Bike to School days—opportunities for everyone from novices to the most experienced riders to get on a bike instead of using a car to get where they’re going. Single-day biking events, which often include fun elements like energizer stations where people biking can pick up a healthy snack and literature on biking, are great for introducing people to how easy it is to rely on two-wheeled transportation. But what does it take to keep people from abandoning their bikes and returning to cars for their normal commutes?

At ChangeLab Solutions, we believe the answer is policies that help communities become bike friendly. That means policies that make biking safer, more convenient, and more socially acceptable—while also making sure that people have access to a bicycle when they need one. Riding a bicycle has great benefits. It’s healthy, convenient, cheaper than driving a car, fun, and environmentally-friendly.

Once biking becomes the new normal way to travel, it’s amazing how many trips turn out to be the perfect distance for biking rather than driving. Forty-one percent of all trips (whether that’s commuting or running errands) are three miles or less, and two-thirds of those trips currently happen with cars rather than on bikes or on foot. Bike-friendly policies can really make a difference to those statistics.

Just last week, my coworkers and I created a bike “train” in honor of Bike To Work Day—we added bikers along the way as we rode through North Oakland to our downtown office. It was a great, social way to show we support the types of bike-friendly policies we develop. Our infographic provides a few suggestions for policies communities can implement. Are there policies listed that you’d like to see in place near you? We’d love to hear how your community is supporting biking, and where you’d like to see it improve. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This post is part of the GOOD community’s 50 Building Blocks of Citizenship—weekly steps to being an active, engaged global citizen. This week: Try Biking to Work. Follow along and join the conversation at good.is/citizenship and on Twitter at #goodcitizen.

Original bike lane image via Shutterstock

45 Riders Take to the Street for the Lawrence Ride of Silence

May 16, 2013 /

Lawrence Bicyclists on the 2013 Ride of Silence There was a wondeful turnout for this year’s Lawrence, KS edition of the Ride of Silence! 45, that’s right, 45 caring cyclists gathered at South Park for the (surprisingly, only the) 2nd Lawrence Ride of Silence. After a short intro “speech” by Pat Schlager, they bowed their heads for a moment of silence to remember all of our fellow cyclists who did not make it home from their rides. Then they rolled out two-by-two and made two loops through Downtown Lawrence before returning to South Park.

Don’t you wish that you were there? Mark your calendars now for the 3rd Lawrence edition of the Ride of Silence in 2014 – always the 3rd Wednesday of May at 7 PM (local time).

Lawrence/Douglass Co Metro Planning Org Needs Your Input!

May 3, 2013 /

Do you walk, bike, drive, or use the T in Lawrence or Douglass County? A public open house will be held on Wednesday, June 5 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Union Pacific Depot (402 N. 2nd Street) in Lawrence. Members of the project team will be at the meeting to discuss the three elements of the multimodal planning studies. An online, interactive-mapping tool (additional information provided below) will be available at the open house to allow attendees an opportunity to identify deficiencies, gaps, and other mobility issues. Click Here to download the Open House Flyer.

If you have any questions regarding the public open house please contact:

Todd Girdler, Senior Transportation Planner, Lawrence-Douglas County MPO, at (785) 832-3155 or email [email protected]
Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Planner, Lawrence-Douglas County MPO, at (785) 832-3165 or email [email protected]

Can’t Attend? Use the Online Interactive Maps to Provide Your Comments.

The project team is currently collecting and analyzing data for the three multimodal planning studies and we need your help. Please take a few minutes to use the online, interactive-maps to identify deficiencies, gaps, and other mobility issues within the region. An online map has been developed for each of the three multimodal planning elements which you can access by clicking on the following links. Once you have accessed the first map, you will be able to access the other maps within the program, or you can return to this page to access the other maps.

Countywide Bikeway System Plan: http://tinyurl.com/DouglasCoBike
Fixed-Route Transit & Pedestrian Accessibility Study: http://tinyurl.com/TransitPedAccess
Commuter Park & Ride Study: http://tinyurl.com/DouglasCoPark-Ride

We encourage you to provide as much information as possible. Feel free to complete one, two, or all three of the maps. You can also return at any time to add comments or review comments that other people have provided. The online, interactive-mapping tool will also be available at the public open house.

“Divvy Bikes” offer Chicagoans a new way to commute

May 1, 2013 /

Below is a repost of the 4/29/13 Derek Prall’s American City and County post.. it’s pretty interesting.

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In an effort to curb the congestion on public transportation and roadways, Chicago’s new bicycle sharing program expects to offer over 4,000 bikes to public transit riders looking for a fast, inexpensive way to travel the last legs of their daily commutes.

The program, known as “Divvy,” will be managed year-round by Portland, Ore.- based Alta Bicycle Share, according to the Chicago Tribune. The $22 million dollar project is “expected to pay for itself” over time, Sean Wiedel, an assistant commissioner at the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) who oversees the program, told the paper.

Federal grants provided the initial funding for the project to cut traffic congestion and improve air quality, the Tribune reports. While Divvy is emphasized as being a complement to public transportation, the bikes will be available for anyone wishing to swap four wheels for two.

Bike sharing memberships will go on sale mid-May. Yearly memberships will cost $75 and daily passes will run $7. Both fees allow for unlimited trips of up to 30 minutes each, with hourly rental fees applying after the initial half-hour, the Tribune says. Riders will pick up a bike from one of 400 planned solar powered docking stations, and return it to a station near their destination.

According to the Divvy Bike website, riders will be responsible for the bicycle from the time they remove it from a dock until they have successfully secured it at the end of their trip. The cost to repair or replace a Divvy bike could be up to $1,200.

For safety, the bikes are outfitted with always-on lights, bells and GPS devices. While Chicago (for logistical reasons) is unable to provide riders with protective gear, cyclists will be encouraged to wear their own, Pete Scales, as spokesman for the CDOT told the Tribune.

“We used to only think cars and mass transit,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told the Tribune. “Today, Milwaukee Avenue is one of the most-biked streets in America.”

For more information on the program visit www.divvybikes.com

Divvy Bikes Home Screen

Lawrence Central Rotary’s Steve Lane to Discuss the 2013 Lawrence Community Bike Ride

April 30, 2013 /

At this week’s Lawrence Central Rotary Wednesday 5/1 meeting Steve Lane will tell us about this year’s Community Bike Ride scheduled for July 20th. This is the club’s signature community project. If you’re interested in hearing more or volunteering to help stop by the Eldridge All American Room!