Bike News Roundup: Don’t text and Mario Kart

It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! If you want to find the titular story, you’ll have to read pretty far down the list (it’s worth it!).

First up, Minneapolis demonstrates the power of protected bike lanes with a high-quality temporary lane:

Pacific Northwest News

• Portland’s best (and worst) elementary schools for biking and walking | BikePortland.org
• Visualizing the cost of local transportation projects | BikePortland.org – This is an awesome way to put highway mega-projects in context. Who wants to make one for Seattle?
• Someone installed their own public bike pump in West Seattle – Photo from Washington Bike Law
• Bike dreams cut short for Washington couple – Odessa American: News – Mount Vernon couple’s bike tour cut short when one is struck by a truck in Texas
• Truck slams into Sammamish family’s dream house, speeds off | The Seattle Times
• Required Bicycle Parking and aPodments | The Urbanist – aPodments need more parking. For bikes.
• West Seattle road safety: Temporary speed signs on 35th SW; flashing beacons for 3 school zones | West Seattle Blog
• What Would “Congestion Relief” Mean for Washington Policy? | Sightline Daily
• Ten Great Things Happening in Washington State – Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
• Interlock waivers: A loophole for DUI drivers | KOMO News – Unbelievable.
• Close Call- Hit and Run involving cyclist in Ballard : Seattle – via Reddit
• Greenway backers to Congress: Get a move on – Strange Bedfellows
• Washington lawmakers pursue Road Usage Charge | KING5.com Seattle
• Bike Lanes are Social Justice | The Urbanist
• Vintage Washington map shows today’s rails-to-trail network » Biking Bis
• At current rates, Washington County bike network will take 62 years to finish | BikePortland.org
• WTB Rad People Who Ride: Kat Sweet and Sweetlines | WTB
• Bike thieves getting crafty as crime rises | KOMO News
• Surprise! Typical Portland bike commute is shorter than driving | BikePortland.org
• Enter the 5th Grade Bicycle Poster Contest | Washington BikesWashington Bikes
• Washington near top for safe driving — and for the most driving laws | FYI Guy | Seattle Times
• TCC is hiring a Policy Director — Transportation Choices Coalition
• State Senate panel weighs new felony DUI bill | KOMO News
• New pedestrian zones: less parking for what benefit? | www.kirotv.com – Um…
• PHOTOS: Driver of overweight truck receives $40K citation | www.kirotv.com
• Gigantic Bicycle Festival – This looks like it should be fun!
• Second victim dies after Vancouver hit-and-run | KOMO News
• The Future of 35th Ave NE: RFQ – Neighborhood group needs a consultant for remake of a dangerous street.

Halftime show! Traffic lights in Seattle by default give the green light to cars, forcing people walking or biking on a separated path to push a button and wait. Well, that’s not always the case in, you guessed it, the Netherlands:

National & Global News

• It’s here! San Francisco debuts pilot electric bike share program : TreeHugger
• Cycling in Houston – Nick Anderson – Political cartoon
• Tech Talk: Latest innovations may make it dirt cheap to color streets | PeopleForBikes
• Cruisin’ USA | PeopleForBikes – Perhaps Seattle should start a monthly Bike Night
• Hyperloop Turns Out to be Used Exactly as Predicted | Seattle Transit Blog – No reason to stop planning for high speed rail.
• The effect of texting on Mario Kart performance, new study | Dr. Jen Gunter – If there were a Bike News Roundup Hall of Fame, this would certainly be in it.
• Why Do Pedestrians Have to Press ““Beg Buttons” to Cross the Street? – They shouldn’t have to.
• How to build great streets | Better! Cities & Towns Online
• When Pedestrians Get Mixed Signals – NYTimes.com
• Teen sentenced to probation in Oregon leaf-pile hit-and-run | Seattle Times
• Project for Public Spaces | Exiting the “Forgiving Highway” for the “Self Explaining Road”
• After a Son’s Death, Parents Channel Their Grief Into Activism – NYTimes.com
• A Year of Automotive Mayhem for St. Louis’s Red-Light Runners – John Metcalfe – The Atlantic Cities
• Ford CEO: More Cars in Cities “Not Going to Work” | Streetsblog Capitol Hill
• Why Do the Smartest Cities Have the Smallest Share of Cars? – Derek Thompson – The Atlantic
• Secretary Foxx Pledges to Make Bike/Ped Safety a Priority | Streetsblog Capitol Hill
• Commuting by bike is an L.A. adventure – latimes.com

This is an open thread.