Welcome to the Alliance's weekly roundup of state & local biking & walking advocacy news. Every week, we crawl the blogs of our member organizations and bring you the most interesting tidbits.
SAVE THE DATE for the 2014 Alliance Leadership Retreat, September 5-8 in Laurel Highlands, PA (outside Pittsburgh)
BIKE SHARE BLUES
Bike news was buzzing this week with news that Citi Bike will need substantial outside funding. Wisconsin advocates wonder: why should a bike share program pay for itself if no other transportation system is self-sufficient?
An expansion of San Francisco's bike share system is on hold.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS
Minneapolis advocates are disappointed with the proposal for street improvements outside the Walker Arts Center.
Kansas City's streetcar proposal is short on biking and walking improvements. That will need to change if city leaders want to see fewer red roads on this homemade map of biking barriers.
Initial opposition has evaporated for a protected bike lane on Figoera Avenue in LA; all neighborhood councils are now supporting.
Polk Street continues to be the most challenging protected bike lane project in San Francisco, despite strong community support.
And in case anyone needs proof that SFBC is no shrinking violet: an online counter to show how many walkers and bikers have been injured on Polk Street on Supervisor David Chiu's and SFMTA's watch.
Atlanta advocates propose a protected bike lane on DeKalb Avenue.
PROGRAMMING
Jessica Binder of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, a nominee for the 2014 Susie Stephens Award, lists a full calendar of women-specific events.
A women-only mountain bike clinic in Philadelphia!
THE BIG PICTURE
Omaha, like the rest of the country, is experiencing a decline in VMT.
ADVOCACY AVENUE
Hawai'i advocates are getting ready for an Advocacy Advance Navigating MAP-21 workshop. In other news, Advocacy Advance staff are excited to be in Hawai'i.
A complete streets coalition is forming in Milkwaukee.
Boston's parks department had a productive meeting with advocates after a controversial reluctance to clear snow from bike routes.
A Washington, DC councilmember backtracked after calling for a moratorium on bike lanes. Echoes of San Francisco circa 2006?
Slow down there, sugar! Atlanta advocates will bring an etiquitte campaign to a popular trail.
Local and regional summits are happening! Massachusetts' south coast bikeway summit is next week; Maryland's Montgomery County is hosting a summit next weekend.
The Georgia Trail Summit agenda has been announced.
LEGISLATION LANE
Ohio legislators nixed a three-foot passing provision. Advocates are fighting to get it back.
The Hartford Courant supports the Connecticut vulnerable users bill.
Here's a baffling one: a "no cellphone while driving" law is under attack in Hawaii. Really? That's controversial?
IN THE NEWS
News report finds that drivers operate their cars in the bike lanes in DC. Zero bicyclists express surprise. (WTOP)
Houston handles this problem with undercover bicyclists. (KHOU, h/t @ Alex Baca)
The WE Bike NYC crew that biked to the National Bike Summit from New York made the Washington Post.
A nice profile of Advocate of the Year Nelle Pierson. (The Bicycle Story)
TRAILER
From the Farmers' Anti-Automobile Society of Pennsylvania, 1911:
- Automobiles traveling on country roads at night must send up a rocket every mile, then wait ten minutes for the road to clear. The driver may then proceed, with caution, blowing his horn and shooting off Roman candles, as before.
- If the driver of an automobile sees a team of horses approaching, he is to stop, pulling over to one side of the road, and cover his machine with a blanket or dust cover which is painted or colored to blend into the scenery, and thus render the machine less noticeable.
- In case a horse is unwilling to pass an automobile on the road, the driver of the car must take the machine apart as rapidly as possible and conceal the parts in the bushes.
