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Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition Forming

Julie — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:16:06 +0000

In the ongoing movement for municipalities and cities to have their own advocacy groups to extend and support the work of state-wide organizations like the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, a new bicycle coalition is forming in St. Paul.

Locally-oriented groups are a key piece of the advocacy puzzle, as they are typically made up of local voters who live within a city or town. As constituents, members can further local and state-wide initiatives more effectively than state-wide groups coming in without the local support.

This organization has particular value, given the deactivation of the St. Paul Bicycle Advisory Board.

The group is involved in the attempts to extend the Midtown Greenway via the Ayd Mill corridor, and are also meeting monthly on the second Tuesday. If you’re a St. Paul resident, consider hitting their August 10th meeting.

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Recent Headlines

Julie — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:15:27 +0000

Pedicab quandary in St. Paul: Basically, pedicabs aren’t regulated in St. Paul, and there’s a question of if adding regulation would protect operators. It probably would, if St. Paul were capable of sensible regulation – something that can be debated.

There are some classic St. Paul-isms in this article that point to that very concept:

The woman and seven officers convened on the scene, where they talked for two hours before reaching a decision to ticket him.

Uh, two hours? Awesome.
Edina Bike Trail Controversy: Edina want to build a bike trail via the Nine Mile Creek watershed/wetland. A bunch of neighbors are opposed. Those opposed to the opposed neighbors are making it out to be NIMBYism. The opposed claim it’s about suitability because of the wetland nature of much of the route. Various groups are building websites and Facebook groups around their positions.
I’m not familiar with the entire run of the trail, but I suspect a middle ground is pretty accurate. The public land is pretty narrow and tends to mud, high water during spring thaw that creates trail erosion and maintenance issues and, of course, skeeters. (It’s a creek!)

There are a couple of quotes around facilities issues in the Strib piece that stick out:

“Just like you don’t put a playground in a parking lot, I wouldn’t put a bike trail on a roadway unless there is completely no other way.”

That’s because when you build it on-street, it’s definitionally not a trail. Depending on construction protocol, there are lots of terms for on-street bikeways. Bicycle facilities encompass a lot more than happy little trails.

For me, it also comes down to a question of purpose. It appears the approach is as a recreational trail. A roadway route has greater merit in connecting bicycles to destinations and driving greater multi-mode adoption. Many end-to-end recreational trails, particularly smaller ones in neighborhoods, don’t actually have a lot of community impact on mode shift. As such, I’d rather see them working on on-street facilities that help connect users to community destinations, rather than happy views of the creek.
Legal Roadblocks to Greenway Extension: A judge has ruled in favor of the Canadian Pacific in a right-of-way dispute over the Ayd Mill railway corridor, a target for those who wish to extend the Midtown Greenway to downtown St. Paul. There is a meeting about ongoing vision and next steps for Greenway extension planning on July 28.

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On the Death of the Carpool to School

Julie — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:54:30 +0000

One of the key issues in a number of cycling initiatives – Complete Streets, Safe Routes to Schools, etc. – is the concept that fewer kids are bicycling or walking within the community than in days of yore. This is, of course, provably and statistically true.

With a lot of the lines of vehicles waiting outside schools to pick up individual children, there’s a secondary question about the death of carpools. Now, I can see where the existing infrastructure in some places is a huge barrier in having people walk or ride their bicycles to school. For instance, in Anoka County, if your kid were to have to cross MN65, it’s pretty close to a non-starter, even with chaperoning adults. Statistics say that the corridor is just an accident hotbed. However, much as when I was a kid we all walked to school, when the weather was awful, our parents didn’t take us one to a vehicle. The neighbors would coordinate, and we’d pile kids into one or two cars total. At school pickup, if the next-door neighbor leaned out the door and said that she was picking me up too and had talked to my mom, this was also highly credible. (It’s not as though I was taking a ride from a stranger – this was the next-door-neighbor, also picking up her own kids with whom I played every afternoon!)

This doesn’t happen any more. And I think I realized why the other day: Booster seat laws. I don’t see this mentioned anywhere lamenting all the minivans lined up outside schools, but on consideration, it’s absolutely a factor.

Think about it: Kids are supposed to ride in boosters until they are 48″ tall. That’s 4 feet. Many states make this a law. If you start looking at growth charts, most kids will be in boosters for most of elementary school. Parents typically have the proper seating for their own kids, and not to pile all their kids’ friends into the minivan to go to soccer or the pool or school.

There are ergonomic and design reasons for booster seat requirements. However, when you consider the death of the carpool, it raises a question if there is a role for finding a way to create more flexible built-in restraint systems in family vehicles (minivans, SUVs, wagons) that meet established safety standards but allow for loading up a spare kid without use of a booster. Because even with safer routes and infrastructure, this is the midwest, and you won’t always avoid the day where it’s raining sideways and there’s a tornado warning and flash flood watch. Not the nature of things. And on such days, there may always be a role for a parent to pick up a carful of kids, rather than have them use even nice safe streets to get home looking like drowned kittens.

Cycling Classes for Women

Julie — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:09:27 +0000

Women and girls have traditionally been underrepresented among cyclists – recreationally and as bicycle commuters. There are a lot of reasons for this, including the traditional role of female as caregiver. Trailers aside, heavy use of a bicycle is a lot harder when trips include stops to daycare, work, and the grocery store. Surveys have also suggested that women feel more nervous cycling on roadways than men do.

Bike Walk Twin Cities, which is a federally-funded initiative through the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program, is working within the community to reach out to underrepresented groups such as women, and in the coming weeks have a number of pretty awesome educational opportunities for women. There are several Biking with Traffic class opportunities for women, each 1.5 hours long and taught by women who are League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructors.

Complete Streets to Become Minnesota Law

Julie — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:37:43 +0000

Governor Tim Pawlenty signed Minnesota’s Complete Streets legislation into law this morning.

The Complete Streets bill is made up of H.F. 2801 and S.F. 2461.

Per the bills – and general definition of Complete Streets from a national policy perspective – Complete Streets considers the needs of all users moving along and across roads, intersections, and crossings in a manner that is sensitive to the local context and recognizes that the needs vary in urban, suburban, and rural settings.

In the case of Minnesota’s Complete Streets legislation, Complete Streets applies to every road construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation project funded partially or completely by the state.

Federal bills to create similar consideration for federally-funded road projects is still pending as S. 584 and H.R. 1443. Minnesota’s Senators – Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken – have both signed on to S. 584 as co-sponsors. H.R. 1443 is currently co-sponsored by Reps. Keith Ellison (MN-5) and Tim Walz (MN-1). Minnesota’s other Congressional representatives have not yet signed on as co-sponsors. While this is not necessarily a sign that they do not support the legislation, if you live in Districts 2, 3, 4, or 6, consider writing a letter of support to your Congressperson.

Bicyclists vs. People Who Ride Bikes

Julie — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:06:40 +0000

By Let Ideas Compete, via Creative Commons

One of the big themes at the National Bicycle Summit this year, and that’s worthy of some thought among people in the community, is the difference between bicyclists and people who ride bikes.

The short summary of this: Many more people ride bikes than consider themselves cyclists. This makes a big difference when planning outreach, working on advocacy or community education, or otherwise trying to get attention on non-motorized transportation alternatives. It’s a good bit of what’s involved in the People For Bikes campaign.

To a certain extent, it’s this bikers vs. cyclists, for want of better terminology, that gets into some of the haters who post to online message boards whenever good (or bad) news involving bicycles gets posted on local media websites – as well as the bikes-are-toys-not-transport stuff that oozes into such commentary as well.

But it also reflects a divide among people who really should be united. While someone who rides to work for function may not consider themselves a cyclist, they benefit from the same policies and initiatives the spandex-clad weekend warriors or lifestyle cyclists who spurn cars and count their carbon footprint savings.

A lot of it does come down into the spandex-vs.-not crowd, and also the virulent hatred the haters have for the spandex crowd. The bikers, who do not consider themselves cyclists, look at the spandex and the hate, and the mass generalizations about stop signs and road ownership, and think: That isn’t me. I bike in loose pants, I use sidewalks when I can and like trails, I don’t go fast.

It’s something worth considering, although I don’t know that I would say to the spandex-clad superheroes that they need to relax. But it’s an interesting notion to think upon, and ask: How do you convince bikers that they are cyclists? How do you convince the people who give the community a bad name – the stop sign blowers, regardless of garments, the daredevils, the Critical Massholes – to reach out instead of alienate?

How do we all recognize we’re in this together?

Dividends of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program

Julie — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:18:08 +0000

In the upcoming May issue of Bicycling, Mnneapolis is to be named their top city for cycling – beating out perennial favorite Portland (OR). This was somewhat inevitable editorially, as eventually they needed to shake up the list, and it’s easy to give Minneapolis a few bonus points for the fact that our weather is more of a challenge.

However, looking at this another way, this is a win for the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP). Established as part of SAFETEA-LU as advocated for by Congressmen James Oberstar (D-MN), the program provided $25 million to each of 4 communities to demonstrate how improved walking and bicycling networks can increase rates of walking and bicycling in communities.

During the National Bicycle Summit, this program was spotlighted in several ways. The Minnesota delegation was privileged to meet with Congressman Oberstar’s Chief of Staff and legislative director, who discussed some of the history of the program. A core piece of the NTPP is that it provided for federal study of mode-shift – key to overcoming objections from some that most studies have been done by local advocacy groups who may not be wholly objective. The pilot report is due in September, but Congressman Oberstar’s staff do not believe it will come through until year-end at the most optimistic.

The Congressman is a strong supporter of the NTPP, but between the lines is was suggested he cannot support expansion prior to the report’s availability due to the commitments he made relative to the original pilot funding’s passage.

This ties into the second spotlight at the NBS for the NTPP: On March 2, a week prior to the Summit, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced H.R. 4722, the Active Community Transportation of Act of 2010. The ACT Act calls for “the Secretary of Transportation to carry out an active transportation investment program to encourage a mode shift to active transportation within selected communities by providing safe and convenient options to bicycle and walk for routine travel, and for other purposes.” It amounts to an extension of the NTPP.

As part of the Summit, many state delegations asked for cosponsorship for this bill. As a result, a Bill that started with 6 co-sponsors is now up to 27. The bill has been referred to the Transportation Committee, chaired by Congressman Oberstar, where is is likely to remain until the NTPP report comes out.

However, in the meantime, if you’re excited about Minneapolis cracking the top of Bicycling’s top cities for cycling list, or live in another city you’d like to see get funded to make similar strides, consider writing your Congressional delegate to support HR 4722. Your best bet is to ask them to co-sponsor the Bill – this is the most immediate supportive action a Congressperson can take.

Even if it takes some time to come out of committee, having solid national support will help drive the bill through the Committee and through Congress when the time is right.

Ray LaHood Announces New Transportation Policy

Julie — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:19:16 +0000

I’m still processing my volumes of notes from the National Bicycle Summit, and working on posting summaries. For those who know me, I don’t TAKE notes, so the fact that I have 40+ pages of them should be seen as a sign.

In the meantime, there are some video embeds of Ray LaHood standing on the table at Thursday’s social with Congressional Staff and some core new policy changes, posted at the FastLane blog.

Something the Minnesota delegation emphasized when meeting with Minnesota lawmakers in Washington DC is that most road projects directly and indirectly subsidize automobile use and dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. We aren’t anti-car, but we want to see sane planning regulation and principles that give our families and communities safe choices, especially for the large number of daily trips that are within 1-2 miles of our homes.

The new policy guidelines announced today echo that position:

The DOT is integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects.
The DOT is discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians.
Projects are encouraged to go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.

Under the new guidelines, state DOTs and communities are being asked to treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes, protect and plow sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected, and improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

This is all great stuff.

I’ll hopefully be posting my summary later today of the meetings the Minnesota attendees had with Minnesota’s members of Congress, and what you can do to support legislation that furthers these great policy initiatives announced today by Secretary LaHood.

National Bike Summit Opening Session

Julie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:53:52 +0000

Speakers:

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Governor Jack Markell (D-DE)
Peter Rogoff, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration
Peter Birch and Shannon Guyman, Google

League of American Bicyclists Director Andy Clarke kicked off the proceedings bright and early at 8 AM, clearly freshly caffeinated and excited by having over 700 bicycle advocates and friends of the cycling movement in the house at the Ronald Reagan Building/ITC in Washington DC. He handed it over fairly quickly to Congressman Blumenauer. The Congressman stressed the great strides the bike/pedestrian movement has made in the last 10 years, but also stressed that the need for ongoing involvement and more involved people remains great.

A few highlights from the Congressman from Oregon:

He presented the plans for bike lane striping on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, linking the Capitol and White House.
He touted the introduction of HR4722, the Active Community Transportation Act (or ACT Act!).
Discussed HR4021, an extension of Safe Routes to Schools that expands funding to high schoolers.
Discussed HR3271 Green Routes to Work, and stressed that part of building a bicycle- and transit-friendly America is providing citizens with choices as to how they travel to and from their everyday destinations.

A key message is that we aren’t anti-car, but that much of the funding and legislation has tilted the playing field in favor of the car – even though 30% of all car trips are less than 1 mile! Most people say they would bike or walk more if they felt it was safe or that facilities were available to make it possible (like sidewalks in subdivisions).

Governor Jack Markell of Delaware was next up. Among his campaign events was a bicycle ride across Delaware. He’s especially proud that DE went from 31st most friendly state for cyclists to 9th in only a year. One of the components of that was the passage of a Complete Streets bill to encourage developers, landowners, cities, counties and the state to work together to plan communities and roadways to accommodate all users.

He also discussed the teen labor that work in Delaware beach towns over the summer – many from Europe – and the unique safety issues they’ve presented, and how the state has addressed those issues with education.

He capped his part of the presentation with a top 10 list about riding in Delaware:

You can brag to friends about riding across the state in a morning.
Hills – they’re nice, but they block the view. No issues with that in Delaware!
It’s fun to drop the Governor on rides.
Scrapple.
Punkin Chunkin.
It’s easy to outpace chickens on the roadside.
All their transit buses have bicycle racks.
Politics end on bikes (although he says Republicans have nicer bikes).
You can ride through lots of spray irrigation systems on hot days.
On windy days, you can draft behind fancy Washington DC lawyers on Route 1.

Peter Rogoff, of the Federal Transit Administration, spoke next.

He talked about how policies and programs have to address the new reality. People want choices as to how they get around. Transit use boomed when gas went up to $4/gallon, and has stayed high even as prices have dropped. Many families have dealt with the recession by downsizing – getting rid of a car and going with only one, or no, car.

Cycling and transit, together, create a powerful combination for many families. They need to work together seamlessly and be a credible option.

Thanks to the Recovery Act, transit spending rose 84% in a single year. This has really helped given that many communities have had funding struggles for transit due to the recession’s impact on property tax revenues and other tax streams.

Administrator Rogoff stressed several things:

The potential role of bicycles in the First Lady’s campaign against childhood obesity – if kids can ride, they won’t get fat.
The need to continue investing even though revenues are tight – transit makes jobs reachable, transit creates jobs.
Bicycles and multi-modal options need to be built-in.

The morning session ended with the Googlers presenting the new Google Maps for Bicycles options, covered separately.

Google Launches Maps For Biking

Julie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:03:28 +0000

Today, at the National Bicycle Summit, Google was on-hand for the opening session to launch their newest Maps enhancement: Bike routes!

Peter Birch, Product Manager for Google Earth, was present to introduce the new features. Google Maps for Bicycling has routes and information for 150 US cities, including on-street routes and bicycle trails. Shannon Guyman, another Googler, was on-hand to provide a live demo. Each said that this enhancement is part of Google’s commitment to provide maps for people – not just ‘cars.’

We got a nice live demo, but as always, Google created a nice video demo for the rest of you:

Like other Google Maps options – cars, transit, and walking routes – the biking layer is routable. To provide directions between two places, the algorithm looks for routing info in the following order:

Bike paths/trails
Dedicated bicycle resources (bike lanes, sharrows, other bicycle facilities)
Roadways that have been designated as bicycle-friendly by some data source, often signed routes

The Maps team have also adjusted estimated trip times based on average cycling speeds.

Trails and on-road facilities are marked on the bicycle layer, and okay roads feature a dotted blue line. Minneapolis’ downtown is below (clicky to enlarge):

You can either just look at an area, or route between two points. When routing between two points, you can drag the route to change it. To see a local area map, click the ‘More’ button and select ‘Bicycling’ to see suggested routes.

Google is also doing a Twitter content to give away a bike worth up to $2500 of the winner’s choosing. Deets on that are at http://maps.google.com/biking.

I also spoke to the Product Manager after the presentation. Right now, the Bicycle layer is not showing anything more specific in terms of businesses or landmarks than is shown normally. We discussed the possibility of using the Local Business Center data of businesses, many of which are tagged by business type, to potential preference showing bicycle businesses on the map, and adding ‘Bicycle Parking’ as an option for business owners to indicate on their Business Center listings. These are both long-term potential upgrades, which would make for some sweet marketing potential for bicycle-friendly businesses like ice cream shops, cookie parlours, and bike shops.

I know that relative to Minnesota, we have the excellent cycle-route wiki Cyclopath, so some of the locals may not be impressed. However, in a broader sense, this is a good development in the sense that this covers 150 cities and may assist local visitors to various towns – not just MSP. Unlike Cyclopath, this isn’t a user-contributed system, so it may not always provide the best routes. In cases where routes offered are a bit bunk, Google have asked that users provide feedback to improve the system.