Tag Archive for transportation funding

Likely 60% boost to CA Active Trans funding, a call for universal free ebikes, and Wisconsin attack ruled intentional

November 23, 2021 / / Comments Off on Likely 60% boost to CA Active Trans funding, a call for universal free ebikes, and Wisconsin attack ruled intentional

Calbike breaks down how California can expect to benefit from the new federal infrastructure plan.

According to Streetsblog, that includes a 60% boost in the Active Transportation Program, which provides most of the funding for bike and pedestrian projects in the state.

It also contains $1 billion to mitigate the damage caused to communities affected by the too-often racist legacy of freeway building. Although that’s 300 times less than the funding in the bill to build freeways.

And while the it contains language requiring planners to “consider the needs of all road users” in designing new projects, California’s existing Complete Streets policies already carry a similar requirement.

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He gets it.

A writer for the New York Times says the 30% rebate on ebike purchases doesn’t go far enough to address climate change.

So he says give everyone a free ebike, instead. Along with safe streets to ride them on.

According to Jay Caspian Kang,

City governments should purchase an electronic bicycle for every resident over the age of 15 who wants one. They should also shut down a significant number of streets to be used only by bicycles and a small number of speed-regulated, municipal electric vehicles.

The Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act includes a $4.1 billion tax break for e-bike purchases. It would let you save 30 percent via a refundable tax credit capped at $900. That may help with some e-bike adoption, but tax credits can feel a bit abstract, and even with the discount, e-bikes, which typically run between $1,500 and $4,500, will still be out of the budgets of most Americans.

He’s not totally giving up on cars, though.

By the way, I am not envisioning a world without cars. People will still need to go on longer trips, disabled people will still need to get around, and goods will still need to be delivered. Cars will be channeled through a few routes in each city. In keeping with Schimmelpennink’s vision, transportation within the bicycles-only areas will be handled by a fleet of electronic taxis that will travel at speeds below 25 miles per hour. As for deliveries, many package deliveries in the United States can be handled by cargo e-bikes, which can transport hundreds of pounds at a time.

Shutting down some streets for bikes is key not only for safety, but also because the more inconvenient driving becomes, the more people will start to consider other options. Available to them is a free-of-charge mode of transportation that will often be faster than sitting in traffic and having to find a parking spot.

The only place he misses the mark is when it comes to people with disabilities, failing to recognize that for many, an ebike can be an effective mobility device, giving them more freedom to get around than they can by other means.

As he points out, however, the biggest obstacle to implementing a plan like that is the political pushback leaders would face from people who can’t even imagine a world with fewer cars.

Let alone none.

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More heartbreaking news from Wisconsin, as police have confirmed that the driver who killed five people and injured over 40 more by plowing through the Waukesha Christmas parade did it on purpose.

Thirty-nine-year old Milwaukee resident Darrell E. Brooks was reportedly involved in a domestic violence incident just minutes before the attack on a parade filled with innocent victims.

He is also accused of jumping bail for a previous incident.

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Seriously, our institutions have got to do better.

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Ted Faber offers a very brief tweet essay on bicycling.

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Tons of bikes. Yet nary a bear from deepest, darkest Peru in sight.

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But seriously, can you even be too hard on cars?

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Back in the days when every lane really was a bike lane.

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Evidently, parking in bike lanes is nothing new.

Or uniquely American.

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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

A British paper accuses “abusive” cyclists of swearing at forest rangers attempting to roundup a herd of wild horses, as they carry out a 1,000-year tradition. Although Road.cc says it’s just anti-cyclist clickbait.

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Local

No news is good news, right?

 

State

San Diego plans to limit the number of ebike and e-scooter providers, with at least two of the six firms currently serving the city likely to be forced out.

 

National

Treehugger considers whether an e-cargo bike can serve as your one and only bike.

Pro cyclist Adam Myerson explains how to draft. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be on Yahoo, so you’re on your own if Bicycling blocks you.

Bike Hacks offers advice on how to pack your bike for your next move. Or better yet, just ride it and let someone else do the driving.

Kindhearted Kansas cops replaced an overly trusting teenager’s bicycle, after the boy loaned his bike to some schmuck who promised to return it, and didn’t.

An Oklahoma City man faces charges for firing a gun inside a Walmart when a security guard tried to stop him from walking out with a bicycle without paying for it.

A Chicago artist has gone from competing on bicycles to turning old bike parts into upcycled new items, using every part of the bike.

More mass traffic violence, as a Connecticut driver allegedly aimed his car at a group of people blocking the street to protest the Rittenhouse verdict on Saturday, hitting six people and injuring four. At least two states have passed legal protections for drivers who commit that kind of vigilante action against protestors in the roadway.

The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers would choose curbside dining over free parking, especially in Manhattan. Now if they’d just make the same choice for bike lanes, too.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 77-year old agriculture professor at Louisiana State University was killed in a collision while riding his bike near campus on Saturday; as usual, there’s no mention of the driver.

 

International

A 140-decibel horn billed as “the world’s loudest bicycle horn” has now reached $4 million in international sales, six years after it was rejected on the UK’s equivalent of Shark Tank.

Traffic deaths declined an unprecedented 17% in the European Union during the pandemic last year, although that likely has more to do with traffic restrictions and lockdowns than any long-term change in driving habits.

Ankara, Turkey is proposing the city’s first bike plan, calling for 178 miles of bikeways by 2040.

A new study from the United Arab Emirates found that only two percent of local delivery riders wear helmets, and just four percent use bike lights after dark.

Injuries are up among middle-aged Aussie mountain bikers, as more men have taken to the trails during the pandemic.

 

Competitive Cycling

A new $250,000 race series will combine six of the top American gravel and mountain bike races, limited to the top 20 men and top 20 women.

Four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome goes wading with the alligators on a Florida training ride.

A crowdfunding campaign has been set up for the family of rising Eritrean cyclist Desiet Kidane, who was killed by a driver while she was on a training ride earlier this month; so far it’s raised the equivalent of just $1582 of the $56,000 goal.

 

Finally…

An ebike for the balance bike set. Fighting air pollution one bike wheel at a time.

And if you’re an ex-con illegally carrying a gun on your bike, stay off the damn sidewalk, already.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: CD4 Livable Streets forum tonight, and the OC Register gets it very wrong on bike funding

February 5, 2015 / / 3 comments

Don’t miss tonight’s Livable Streets forum for the massive scrum of candidates running to replace Tom LaBonge in LA’s 4th council district.

You can register for the free event here, and bike the vote by riding in with Wolfpack Hustle’s Don Ward.

And yes, there will be a bike valet.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Journal profiles the seven most prominent candidates in the race, three of whom call for better bike lanes in the district.

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In a highly uninformed editorial, the OC Register says bike paths and other active transportation — no ironic quotes needed, thank you — plans receive a disproportionate amount of transportation funding.

Which is absolutely true, as the LACBC’s Eric Bruins points out, since walking and biking account for 19% of trips, 39% of traffic fatalities and just 1% of funding in LA County.

In other words, the very definition of disproportionate. But maybe not the way the Register intended.

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Local cyclist and costume designer Erica Schwartz wants your help with a new line of fashionable and functional clothing for women who ride bikes.

Taking just a few minutes to fill out this anonymous survey will help her develop fashions that will meet your needs.

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Throw me something, mister!

For those of us who know what it means to miss New Orleans, Metro is hosting a Mardi Gras celebration at Union Station on February 17th.

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Turns out even 81-year old country music outlaw Willie Nelson is one of us.

So is Russell Crowe, though we knew that already. Note to Daily Mail — that is so not a BMX bike.

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Local

The LA Weekly looks at LA’s underground bike racing scene, which isn’t really all that underground anymore.

LA’s newest bike corral is taking its lumps protecting bikes and pedestrians from careless Larchmont drivers.

The Loyola Marymount news site lists five of LA’s best bike routes. Although some of those seem a little too familiar; maybe someone should explain the need for attribution to them.

If you loved the South LA CicLAvia, don’t miss the Love Ride on Valentines Day.

 

State

Cyclelicious offers a look at transportation bills introduced in the California legislature; nothing exciting on the bike front yet. Which could give the governor’s veto pen a rest this year.

Costa Mesa considers the safety of biking and walking in the city. Thanks to sponsor Michael Rubinstein for the heads-up.

The EPA will help Fresno plan a bike share program to help improve air quality.

The East Bay Bike Club’s Robert Prinz explains how to carry a little or a lot of stuff on your bike.

Sounds like they think he did it on purpose. A Ukiah teenager faces five counts of assault with a deadly weapon for mowing down a series bike riders in rapid succession; he also faces one count of DUI.

 

National

Bicycling offers advice on how to bike with your dog, and how to buy an un-abused used bike.

I’ve never been a fan of PC language, as you may have noticed. But People for Bikes makes the case that changing terms helped end the divisive Seattle bikelash.

Now that’s more like it. A bill before the Nebraska legislature would make injuring or killing a cyclist through careless driving a felony with up to five years in jail. Although someone should have a long talk with the editor who approved that awful illustration.

Louisville KY’s extremely cool new underground bike park built in an abandoned limestone mine prepares to open next month.

Unbelievable. A Shreveport driver received over 40 moving violations in 20 years — including a DUI — yet somehow was still allowed on the road to kill a seven-year old girl in an allegedly drunken collision.

Baltimore gets a new bike plan calling for 253 miles of bikeways.

 

International

The president of cycling’s governing body admits dropping the ball on paracycling, but pinkie-swear promises to make it right.

London approves plans for segregated bike superhighways crisscrossing the city, as well as additional bike infrastructure improvements. Even as a member of the city’s transportation board says it’s your own damn fault if you get killed.

Just seven days after receiving the heart of a fallen cyclist, a British transplant patient suddenly takes up bicycling. And rides a 30-mile sportive in his donor’s honor 19 weeks later.

My favorite Scottish bike blogger turned leading bike advocate says if you want to sell bikes to women, maybe you should actually listen to them.

The womens pro cycling tour is showing the Arab world what women can do if given a chance; I hope they’re watching in Saudi Arabia, where women are prohibited from riding a bike in public.

 

Finally…

If you’re trying to auction stolen bikes online, don’t take photos with your unique wallpaper visible in the background. When you’re an unregistered sex offender carrying drug paraphernalia and meth on your bike, put a damn light on it, already. Or better yet, don’t.

And Bike Radar offers 30 reasons to take up bicycling. Although boosting your bowels is not one most people would usually recommend to prospective riders.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,
 
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