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The League of American Bicyclists wants advocates to urge their senators to co-sponsor S. 705, the Transportation Alternatives Program Improvement Act, to make sure that Congress doesn't cut funding that helps local communities build sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, trails, and more. 

APRIL FOOLS!

Some pretty crazy stuff happened on Wednesday. First, it was announced that the Atlanta Cycling Festival is becoming the Atlanta Traffic Festival. "With gas prices so low, it only made financial, cultural and spiritual sense to dump our bikes, hop to the pump and jump in our cars," organizers wrote. "We’ve been on our bikes for so long, we forgot how truly enjoyable AND fulfilling it is to be 'traffic' -- stuck in it, held up by it and, frankly, be it."

Then, the city of Edmonton announced it would be removing sidewalks from busy Jasper Avenue, saying they needed to make room for cars. "We are recognizing now the mistakes we made in the past: that we've let people take far too much public space away from cars," said city spokesperson April Yorick. "This adjustment is necessary. Valuable public space should be for moving cars and then storing those cars. It was never meant for people."

And Bike SGV launched a campaign to allow bikes in drive-thrus, challenging the injustice that prohibits people on bikes from eating the same crappy food with the same awful service as people in cars, while at the same time breathing exhaust fumes. This one was believable enough to fool the local newshounds. 

And don't miss Cascade's 7 Reasons Not to Bike: compelling points like, "My bikes look so good in the garage," and the most ridiculous of all, "Because it's not fun." 

INFRASTRUCTURE INLET

San Francisco gears up for some improvements to the Wiggle, everybody's favorite crosstown bike route. 

The Council of Portage, Wisconsin, votes 9-0 in favor of a $4 million plan to create over 60 miles of bike and pedestrian paths in and around town.

WABA has a plan to make Suitland Road safe for biking and walking -- and the price tag is super low. Just squeeze those 16-foot traffic lanes down a little bit...

Thanks to pressure from advocates and the media, the Philadelphia Streets Department will not close bike lanes on the Ben Franklin Parkway during construction. 

Anatomy of a near-miss: Rounded corners make for long crossing distances and high-speed turns with poor visibility. 

Should mountain biking trails be smooth and rock-free or technically challenging for more experienced riders? Either way, don't complain about it if you're not out there helping build it.

This is what Athens' disconnected bike "network" looks like. BikeAthens is hoping the new downtown master plan will change that. 

BIG PICTURE BOULEVARD

Edmonton Bike responds to the hype about Volvo's glow-in-the-dark spray paint, assailing the idea that "soft, fleshy humans" need body armor and spray paint just to cross the street safely. 

Connecticut looks to Vermont for inspiration about bike-friendly universities.

How e-bikes conquer the time-space continuum, eliminate sweat, and climb hills with ease.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

As the new executive director, Mercedes Feris, steps in, Bike Austin recognizes and thanks Interim Executive Director Carol Reifsynder for overseeing the merger of Bike Austin and the Austin Cycling Association.

The Alliance talks to Lisa Diaz Riegel about being the first paid director of the previously all-volunteer BikeWalk NC.

ADVOCACY AVENUE

Hold the phone! It's National Distracted Driving Awareness Month! Challenge your friends to stop texting and tweeting on the go by getting them hooked up with a free app called SafeDrive, which rewards the user for not using their cell phone while driving. 

Waterfront businesses in Buffalo are protesting a popular bike ride, charging that closing the road to cars for the ride cuts off access to the Outer Harbor. GObike is working with the businesses to come to a compromise.

MassBike director's epiphany in a public forum: There's a "massive cultural overhaul" underway around tranportation safety, and it turns Vision Zero from a utopian fantasy into a tenable movement.

Portland area cities push for a regional Safe Routes to School initiative, which they call the For Every Kid campaign.

Philly takes its #UnblockBikeLanes right up to the church door, despite agreements allowing congregants to park in bike lanes during services. Fact is, in some places (like the 300-400 blocks of Pine Street) the great majority of bike-lane parkers are abusing the law. 

LEGISLATION LANE

The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition finds out what their efforts to pass a $250 million bond referendum have yielded: 30 miles of bike lanes, plus more complete streets treatments. We learn how they did it and how Alliance trainings got them there.

Both houses of the Georgia state legislature have approved a resolution to study the Coastal Greenway, a proposed 455-mile multi-purpose trail linking South Carolina to Florida through Georgia’s six coastal counties -- a project Georgia Bikes says could "define Georgia’s coast for the next generation."

And now the bad news: Texas state Rep. Bryan Hughes is proposing an amendment to prevent any state or federal funds -- even those given to local areas as grants -- from being used to repurpose excess motor vehicle lanes for use as bicycle lanes or bus lanes. 

Tucson area advocates work to defend their already much-reduced allotment for bike and pedestrian safety projects in an upcoming Pima County bond initiative. 

Iowa Bicycle Coalition: If you're going to require rear red lights, drivers should take some responsibility too -- require them to change lanes to pass a cyclist! Unfortunately, the red light law didn't include that requirement, too.

PROGRAMMING PROMENADE 

The city of San José and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition are piloting the first formal San José Bikepool, with designated routes and pick up locations.

The brand new University of Minnesota Bikeways Workgroup seeks protected bikeways and snow removal to make winter biking more appealing.

Before Bike Month, it's #30DaysOfBiking.

After a great deal of soul-searching, Cascade Bicycle Club re-affirms its commitment to political advocacy, with all the tax-status challenges that entails.

Members of Andando en Bicicletas en Cully and We All Can Ride educate an audience at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit about what Latino communities and families need from bike advocacy to get them out riding.
 

GET A JOB 

Active Trans is looking for a photography intern, in addition to a million other things. 

The state and local biking and walking advocacy movement is growing. Check out the Alliance for Biking & Walking job board for listings all over North America.

TRAILER

Sam Ollinger of BikeSD shares her story of becoming a bike blogger, cross-country cyclist, and advocate with the Washington Bikes Summit.