A new study confirms what we already knew.
Bike lanes reduce congestion.
The Carnegie Mellon University study demonstrates how increasing bicycle and micromobility use can lead to a notable decrease in traffic congestion.
But only if there is sufficient infrastructure in place to support increased ridership.
Meanwhile, a study from the Urban Institute suggests that protected and buffered bike lanes, cycle tracks and offroad paths offer a far better solution than painted bike lanes, let alone sharrows.
Your move, Los Angeles.
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Caltrans has finally, semi-officially committed to Vision Zero, even if they very carefully avoided using the term.
And even if they gave themselves nearly 30 years to get there, which effective absolves the agency of the need to take immediate action, giving them every opportunity to kick the can down the road.
But it’s a start.
Maybe someday, someone will actually do more than just start.
SACRAMENTO —Building on the commitment to #safety, Caltrans today unveiled a new Director’s Policy on Road Safety committing to #SafeSystem approaches reaffirming the vision of reaching #zerofatalities & serious injuries on state highways by 2050. https://t.co/61mXlAdYfD pic.twitter.com/8e8TWkUMGm
— Caltrans HQ (@CaltransHQ) February 24, 2022
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No irony here.
KTown For All co-founder Jane Nguyen was struck by a driver as she was walking in a Koreatown crosswalk (scroll down), while on her way to gather signatures for the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure.
The initiative would improve street safety and transportation by requiring the city to build out the mobility plan as streets are repaved, rather than the current policy of just pretending the plan doesn’t exist.
Nguyen was rushed to the ER by bike rider and corgi owner Kenneth Mejia, who’s running for city controller and has been endorsed by this site.
Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured.
And no, I didn’t endorse Mejia just because he rides a bike and has a couple corgis. But it didn’t hurt.
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If you know, or are, a Pasadena public school student, here’s your chance to learn how to fix a bike. And maybe even win a new one.
Attention all PUSD students! We have Free Bike Repair Workshops every Monday and Wednesday of February and March at La Pintoresca Teen Education Center (1415 N. Raymond Avenue) from 3:00 – 5:00PM.
Attend a workshop and you could win a bike! pic.twitter.com/wppGvtJjoN
— Day One (@Day1DO) February 28, 2022
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Today is the last day to apply for the inaugural Los Angeles City Youth Council. Because it wouldn’t hurt to ensure we have a bike-friendly voices on there.
This Monday 2/28 is the LAST day to apply for the first-ever LA City Youth Council!
Angelenos aged 16-25 are encouraged to apply for this exciting opportunity to impact the City and represent young voices. For more info and to apply, go to https://t.co/Id1p7JdQvH. pic.twitter.com/BtUaSgEO2p
— Councilmember Nithya Raman (@cd4losangeles) February 25, 2022
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But people on bicycles are entitled.
Right?
https://twitter.com/runolgarun/status/1498169046734295040
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Just in case anyone thinks you can’t defend your homeland with a bicycle.
Freedom fighters on a bicycle. Kiev today: pic.twitter.com/GUWikj1f6f
— Lior Steinberg (@LiorSteinberg) February 26, 2022
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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A pair of homeless men face charges for beating a Kansas man to death with a metal pipe; at least one of the men was arrested as he rode away on a bicycle afterwards.
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Local
No news it good news, right?
State
San Diego opened a pair of bikeways on Fourth and Fifth Avenues through the Bankers Hill and Hillcrest neighborhoods. Which would have allowed me to safely ride to work when I lived down there. But they only came about three decades too late.
A KPBS roundtable discussion considers what effect the debate over bike lanes will have on San Diego’s climate action plan.
Travel & Leisure recommends REI’s three-day, 113-mile supported bike tour through Joshua Tree National Park, for the low, low price of $1,099 for members. Or for the same price, just get your bike fixed-up, buy a tent and camping gear, and do it yourself.
A writer for the Marin County Bicycle Coalition calls for improving street safety before anyone else gets killed, after a San Francisco pastor was run down from behind while training for a bike ride to Long Beach.
Lodi considers converting an unused railway right-of-way to a rail-to-trail project.
National
Road Bike Action wants to talk about your varicose veins. Mine came courtesy of a road raging driver who intentionally slammed into my bike, driving the front cog into my calf.
A new reverse-tricycle ebike from an Oregon bikemaker offers pedal-by-wire, with no direct mechanical connection to the three independent electric motors that power each wheel; the bike also has as a tilting design that allows it to corner like a two-wheeled bike.
Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes considers lowering prices on its most popular models, just months after increasing them due in part to the international bike part shortage.
A Las Vegas bike rider was killed when a bus driver failed to notice the victim was riding to the right of the bus, forcing the rider to cling to the side of the moving bus until he or she lost their grip, and fell into it.
Business owners in Columbus, Ohio and Cambridge, Massachusetts insist on shooting themselves in the foot by fighting plans to remove parking spaces to install bike lanes, even though studies show bike riders spend more than drivers on a monthly basis, and that bike lanes encourage shopping while increasing local sales.
Streetsblog accuses New York officials of a literal coverup after the city did a “fast and shoddy repair” to caved-in pavement on a city street, following the death of a 77-year old man who fell from his bike after hitting the broken pavement; the city had ignored complaints about the problem for nearly three years. Which means the inevitable lawsuit should be a slam dunk.
Kindhearted cops in Coral Springs, Florida gave a young boy a new bicycle, replacing the one he was riding when he was struck by a driver and pinned under the car while on his way to school. Fortunately, he wasn’t badly injured.
Yet another Florida bike rider has been caught on an open draw bridge, as video came to light of a man clinging to the bridge for dear life last November; the news comes after a woman riding a bicycle was killed in a similar incident earlier this month.
International
Your next bike could be made from plants.
Brazen bike thieves attempted to use an axel grinder to steal a bicycle in broad daylight on a busy Edinburgh street; fortunately, they were interrupted by people passing by, who guarded it until the owner returned.
Good idea. An Edinburg bike advocacy group has issued an election manifesto calling for creation of a comprehensive network of protected bike lanes and a 30 percent reduction in motor vehicle traffic.
Brompton wants to build a new $134 million factory on an English wetlands, which the company says it will convert to a nature preserve; the factory would employ 1,500 people within five years.
More on the 80-year old British truck driver who killed a 66-year old man who was riding an ebike; court testimony shows he didn’t even brake or take evasive action before slamming into the victim. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, let alone operate a work truck.
A journalist describes his usual bike route as a “Russian Death Valley” after Ukrainian forces beat back an attack by invading forces.
A Turkish paper describes bicycling as a way of life in the country’s central province of Konya, which is home to 351 miles of bike paths.
Around 400 bike riders hit the streets of Hyderabad, India armed with placards calling on drivers to pay more attentions around people on bicycles.
Competitive Cycling
He gets it. After winning the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne race on Sunday, Dutch cyclist Fabio Jacobsen notes that while young men were fighting to win a bike race, other young men were fighting for their country and their lives against overwhelming odds in Ukraine.
Italian pro Matteo Trentin rejected Chris Froome’s call to ban time trial bikes, saying the problem isn’t the type of bicycle being ridden, but the amount of people in cars.
Spanish motorcycle racer Aleix Espargaró says he nearly joined a pro cycling team after taking up the sport following a bad motorbike crash, calling bicycling the worst drug in the world because “the more you go, the more you want.” Although some of us would say that’s why it’s the best drug.
Two-time IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange will be out of commission for awhile, after the German triathlete suffered a joint injury in a training fall.
Finally…
Now you, too, can have your very own Wu-Tang Clan fixie. If you’re riding your bike with a half gram of fentanyl hidden in your bra, put a damn light on it — the bike that is, not the bra.
And evidently, there’s more than one way to ride around the world — and without breaking a sweat. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the heads-up.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
