Ride Boldly! || Bicycle Safety, Advocacy & Events in Minnesota

April 12, 2011
by julie
Comments Off on Additional Hearing on Minnesota Careless Driving Bills

Additional Hearing on Minnesota Careless Driving Bills

0saves

EDIT: This has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 14, at 1:00 PM.

A key piece of the 2011 Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota legislative agenda has been the support of bills to increase careless driving penalties. Cyclists have been encouraged to send messages of support to committee members and to their own legislators, preparing the latter to vote in favor of these bills when they are available for floor votes. Unfortunately, these bills were tabled in March after several committee hearings.

The bills, however, remain alive at the Capitol. Another hearing — this time on SF 201, which would increase the penalty for causing a death while committing a careless or reckless driving offense to a gross misdemeanor and carry a fine of up to $3,000 and a jail sentence of up to 1 year — is scheduled for today, at 1 PM. The hearing is part of the agenda of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, and the meeting is scheduled to take place in Room 15 of the State Capitol.

It turns out that this bill has some heavy-hitting opposition — chiefly trucking organizations, and budget hawks who fear the expense of additional jail time for guilty individuals. It is important for cyclists and pedestrians to reach out to friends and family to ask them to join their voices to ours for support, and groups like the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota are reaching out to other vulnerable road users — motorcyclists and scooter operators — requesting their support.

Stay tuned. The Bicycle Alliance is on top of this issue, and will be releasing regular updates via their Facebook page — go be a fan.

April 9, 2011
by julie
Comments Off on Road Construction Mayhem Ahoy (Better Bike More)

Road Construction Mayhem Ahoy (Better Bike More)

0saves

Save

MNDOT has released the list of 2011 major road projects for the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota. All kinds of mayhem will ensue, especially during I94 work between Cretin/Vandalia and Nicollet Avenues.

One project of especial note to bicyclists is the 3-year project to replace the structurally-deficient Lafayette Bridge (US 52) in Saint Paul. The project is expected to add another river crossing for cyclists and pedestrians.

Obviously, many county and local roads are also subject to construction as well, and the projects for those roads are controlled by more local authorities. Cyclists should stay abreast of planned street work near their usual routes.

April 7, 2011
by julie
Comments Off on Study: Analysis of Biking Trends & Policies in Large American Cities

Study: Analysis of Biking Trends & Policies in Large American Cities

0saves

Save

There’s a new report out this week that shows Minneapolis in a shining light as a national example. Published by the University Transportation Research Center and authored by researchers at Virginia Tech and Rutgers Universities, the Analysis of Biking Trends and Policies in Large American Cities: Lesson for New York studies both aggregate national data and city-specific data around bicycling. Cities with city-specific data include Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland (OR), San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC.

The authors are most impressed by Minneapolis’ relatively abundant bike parking — the most per-capita of any city in the study — and the variety of adaptations created to deal with the winter conditions in the upper Midwest.

The study is filled with fascinating data collected from many sources. Two key details that jumped out for me:

Most of the growth in cycling mode share in the USA over the last decade has been among men — the percentage of trips made by women actually dropped from 28% to 23%. Mode share for women stayed at 0.5% while mode share for men rose from 1.2% to 1.7%.
The age group representing almost all growth in cycling is the 25-64 age group. Trips by individuals under 25 are dropping.

The chart for demographics is really interesting:

As can be expected in this kind of study, the authors do a lot of multivariate statistical modeling to associate bicycle facilities, spending on facilities, and other data to correlate with bicycle mode share and commuting share. If statistical analysis makes you break out, the bulk of the report is to be avoided, but in general Minneapolis (and even St. Paul! Represent!) do very well in many areas, as can be expected, even when compared with other cities, many in gentler climates. Go read it if you love data and black and white graphs.

April 6, 2011
by julie
Comments Off on Draft Federal Budget Slashes Transportation, Slams ‘Bike Trails’

Draft Federal Budget Slashes Transportation, Slams ‘Bike Trails’

0saves

Save

Based on recent rhetoric, the draft budget released by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) shouldn’t surprise transportation advocates. Streetsblog DC takes a deep dive into the proposal and discovers quite a lot to dislike if you believe in active transportation, transit, and complete streets:

The budget singles out using the gas tax for anything but highways
The budget actually cuts overall transportation spending over the next 10 years versus current levels at the same time studies show that the Interstate system and many bridges are crumbling
The budget blames spending on non-highways for the shortfalls in the highway trust fund (funded by gas taxes) and specifically calls out bikeway spending
The budget also calls for ceasing federal funding for intercity rail projects and pushing for rail to be done solely as private projects

Given that even certain members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee feel that “bike trails” shouldn’t be a part of transportation plans, this was almost to be expected. Given the deep divide between the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate, it’s very difficult to say what the end budget will actually say or do.

These federal shenanigans occur while locally the Minnesota legislature is passing legislation to make serious cutbacks in Metro Transit and other transit-based funding.

Obviously, where possible, writing your state and federal representatives is a good idea. Neither locally nor federally should we follow the example of Indiana, where INDOT has released a long-range plan that relies almost entirely on highway construction. It should be increasingly obvious to people of all political stripes that this kind of expansion is not effective for cost or function, and that the proper debate is how to move forward. I guess we’ll see.

March 29, 2011
by julie
Comments Off on FREE Confident Cycling Class on 4/2

FREE Confident Cycling Class on 4/2

0saves

Save

The Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota is serious about delivering bicycle education. So serious, in fact, that they are putting on a free half-day of Confident Cycling this Saturday, April 2, from 9:30am – 1:30 pm at the Midtown Bicycle Center. Local LCI (and sometime Ride Boldly! commenter) Hokan will be leading the course.

Pre-registration is essential, but you can do that via the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota. Once again: This is FREE, it is awesome, it is this Saturday. Go and register.