Evidently one dead cyclist isn’t enough, as a new Cal Poly Pomona traffic study completely ignores bike and pedestrian safety.
In fact, the study — released under a Freedom of Information request — actually urges raising speed limits for motor vehicles, rather than doing anything to encourage non-motorized transportation. Or protect the lives and safety of those who bravely choose to use it in spite of the campus administration’s apparent disregard for anyone who travels on less than four wheels.
According to an article in the Daily News,
The words “bicycle,” “bicyclist” and “pedestrian” do not appear anywhere in the 2013 traffic study document.
It’s the same story with the 2006-2007 traffic study, which was released a year after student Matthew Myers was struck and killed in a crosswalk on Kellogg Drive, a tenth of a mile west of University Drive, across from Parking Lot F-9…
The article quotes the university’s Executive Director of Public Affairs as saying people just don’t understand how difficult it is to add speed bumps or bike lanes on campus, saying a simple bike lane on Kellogg Drive would cause traffic to back up onto I-10.
Right.
Give me a brush and a bucket of paint, and I’ll show them just how easy it is.
It’s shameful when a major university, which is supposed to be dedicated to critical thinking, can’t manage to look past their own dangerously outdated auto-centric windshield perspective to develop safety solutions that would benefit everyone on, arriving to or leaving campus.
And then manages to talk out of both sides of their mouths by promising to improve bike and pedestrian safety while proposing to place students and staff even more at the mercy of motor vehicles by to increasing speeds on campus and refusing to lift a finger to calm traffic.
Seriously, if I was a parent, I would think twice about sending my child to a school that evidently doesn’t give a damn about the safety of their students. Especially the ones who choose not to travel by motor vehicle.
There are plenty of other California colleges and universities that do.
Maybe the students and faculty need to stop calling for improved safety. And demand a school administration that gets it, instead.
Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.
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On the first day of New York’s new bike share program, a writer for the self-proclaimed supportive but failure-fearing Daily News seems to like it, while another suggests the city will probably survive — even if the program doesn’t include helmets. Meanwhile, the frequently anti-bike New York Post gleefully announced the first Citi Bike bicycle theft occurred before the bike could even be installed. A protester claims Paris would never put a bike share station in front of the Louvre, but a photo proves him wrong. A writer for London’s Guardian says the clumsy Mikes Bikes just make him want a less clumsy one of his own. And the Times calls it a tie in four races across town.
The program is even popular with the city’s candidates for mayor, who have fallen over themselves in criticizing Bloomberg’s efforts to increase cycling facilities. And two days in, calamity has yet to strike.
The world hasn’t come to an end, either.
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An Indiegogo campaign has two weeks left to raise $3000 to send an eight-member foster family to CicLAvia.
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Local cyclist Weshigh captures a dangerous driver on video, as the jerk — which seems to be the mildest word appropriate to the situation — passes a small group of cyclists on their right using the parking lane, then flips them off as he drives away. Before getting stuck in traffic, that is, allowing them to capture his license number.
Maybe it’s just me, but I swear I can hear lawyers lining up to try out L.A.’s still untested cyclist anti-harassment ordinance.
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The next in an endless series of community meetings to discuss planned bike lanes in Northeast L.A. takes place on Monday, June 3rd. Despite the hysteria over bike lanes in NELA., the fire department isn’t concerned. A business owner says parking is the real problem in Eagle Rock, not bike lanes. The top 22 bike stories so far in 2013; L.A. checks in at #19. Boyonabike — quoted in the Daily News article that kicks off today’s post — examines the recent LACBC panel discussion I participated in, along with the Bike Safe guide it promoted. Glendale could see $57 million in improvements, including new bicycle facilities throughout the city. Learn to ride safely in Long Beach this Sunday. Long Beach plans to separate bike riders and pedestrians on the beach bike path, which oddly brings opposition from beach advocates.
The Inland Empire checks in as the nation’s 6th most deadly areas for cyclists and pedestrians. Get $5000 to design and build an artistic bike rack, as Palm Springs works to become bike friendlier. While L.A. worries about protecting Hollywood locations instead of cyclists, San Diego riders get their fourth green bike lane in just weeks, including this good looking lane on Montezuma Road; thanks to Monet Diamonte for the heads-up. A series of bike corrals is coming to Coronado. A Fresno bike trail with get an underpass beneath a busy street, a year too late to save a seven-year old bike rider. Meanwhile, a 19-year old Fresno State student is killed in a collision with a big rig, while the battle over Fresno bike lanes goes on. NorCal’s MonkeyLectric ups their game with the programmable Monkey Light Pro wheel light system; I’m a big fan of their earlier, non-programmable Mini Monkey Light, which offers a fun, playful way to not get run over at night.
How not to buy a bike in seven steps. So much for contrition, as Lance still hasn’t said “I’m sorry” to the people he bullied or for the lives he ruined. An Everett WA writer says watch out for passer-aggressive motorists. Your guide to riding in Colorado; even I only did some of these rides when I lived there. Despite a significant decline in Colorado traffic fatalities, cycling deaths are going the wrong way — up 44% since 2002. Denver bike thieves are caught on camera. Signup begins for Chicago’s upcoming bike share. Boston researchers find helmet laws reduce deaths and injuries for riders under 16 by 20%, but fail to consider possible reductions in ridership levels that could more than account for their findings; oddly, though, it appears you actually have to wear one before it does any good. One of my favorite bike bloggers is now the proud owner of a new Boston bike shop. Florida’s governor shoots down a planned 275-mile cross-state bike and pedestrian trail.
Mexican TV shames people for driving in the bike lane; I wish someone would do that here. A Canadian writer points the finger at those murderous, spandex-clad cyclists speeding down the bike path; yes, you and I are apparently the root of all evil. Or maybe it’s just me. A British Columbia bike rider apparently collides with a pedestrian before fatally falling in front of a bus. A Victoria writer says the road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but it doesn’t have bike lanes. An Ontario driver gets 4-1/2 years for killing a cyclist while binging on coke. A Toronto bike commuter rants after a close call while riding. Top Gear’s frequent anti-bike ranter Jeremy Clarkson has become one of us, but still can’t resist a few digs. A London study shows free parking is less important than most retailers think. A quick-thinking London cyclist saves a toddler from drowning in the Thames. Police suspect a Brit fixie rider of bike theft because he wasn’t wearing Lycra. Another favorite sometimes bike blogger explains why Scot cyclists pedaled on Parliament. Biking in Britain is actually safer than you might think. Ten lessons from this year’s Giro, including the indisputable fact that 2013 winner Vincenzo Nibali is a badass. A careless Kiwi driver crashes into a kids bike safety class.
Finally, if you’re already facing a life sentence for having three strikes under Louisiana’s habitual offender law, don’t ride on the sidewalk with marijuana in your shoe and coke in your hat. Although I have to admit, that’s about the flimsiest excuse for a probable-cause pat down I’ve ever heard.
And an 11-year old astutely observes “When you drive, the Earth smokes.”
As a Cal Poly Pomona alumni, it saddens me to read/hear about the administrations lack of consideration for alternative means of transportation. It has been a while since I’ve been there, but I remember my commute had hardly any traffic, and I-10 was not backed up (but then again, that was back in the 80’s). Still, the argument that I-10 would be backed up if they painted bike lanes is ludicrous, and idiotic.
The off-ramp to Kellogg Drive from Eastbound I-10 is over 2000 feet long while the off-ramp from Westbound I-10 is over 4000 feet long if you include the extra-long exit-only lane that begins just after the SR57 traffic leaves WB I-10.
(If you ever do visit the campus, check out the guard rail on that Eastbound I-10 off-ramp as it merges with Kellogg Drive, always bent in a new direction every time I pass)
So in other words, the Director of Public Affairs is more concerned with preventing fender-benders than he is with the lives of Cal Poly students? Don’t the wheeled metal cages come with bumpers and rear-end brake lights?
What is not reported in the story is how Foothill Transit and LA Metro were forced to route their buses off of campus for construction and never allowed to return afterwards, thus forcing a large walk-penalty on to transit users who are now forced to board buses on Temple Ave. and Campus Drive.
Why? So Cal Poly could build a $30m parking garage!
http://www.csupomona.edu/~fpm/planning/projects/parking_structure_ph1.html
(And it’s only the first phase?!?)
Yup, just confirmed it using 2001 Metro map:
Both Foothill 480 & 482 plus LA Metro 484 and 490 (which have since been renumbered) used to serve the circle where the Ghost Bike to Ivan’s memory sits. Compare that location to the current bus stops at Campus and Temple and you get a picture of how pro-car and anti-every-other-mode Cal Poly Pomona is.
Paging Michael Woo?
http://www.csupomona.edu/~env/
The Cal Poly Pomona article is abit sad to hear. I wonder on their research they ever considered the door to door time the students face? Granted it would be different for each student, but when I was going to school, I lived a little over 5 miles away and the fastest way to get to school was the bike. I wonder how many students live within a 5 mile radius of the school?
Even getting to school via local bus wasn’t bad.
At our Traffic Skills 101 class at Cal Poly Pomona this past weekend, I asked students if student-led bicycle advocacy, Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition support, and safety classes like the one we were conducting that day would shift auto-centric administration’s attitudes about bicycles. They said “no” and were not optimistic that this work would lead to a more bicycle-friendly campus. The students pointed out a large flat lot atop University Drive and showed me the site of an upcoming phase of more parking lot construction. They do want to see more support for bicycles on campus but don’t know how to demand it. I hope it doesn’t take another tragedy before the university starts to acknowledge the urgency for bicycle infrastructure and a new mindset.
On the aggressive driver you can legally report via the California Department of Motor Vehicles. There is confidentiality.
to Report a Potentially Unsafe Driver
See –
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl10.htm
Use This Form
http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl10.pdf
On the form there is a box for “Acts violent or agressive when driving.”
Happy riding!
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It’s sad to see a major university try to convince students, faculty, and tax payers that it is cheaper to build streets and parking structures than it is to build bike lanes and speed bumps. Up until now, I had tremendous respect for Cal Poly Pomona. If the administrations primary goal is to accommodate motor vehicles, maybe they should just change the name to Cal Poly AUTOMOBILE University and maybe add a catchy slogan like “If you don’t drive to school, stay home.”