It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Lots of good stuff floating around the web these days, so let’s get started.
First up, this 1995 video by the Seattle Department of Engineering (now the Department of Transportation) is a pretty fascinating glimpse into safe streets efforts in Seattle 20 years ago. It even includes actual tree hugging. If you don’t have 15 minutes, fast forward to the 12:30 mark for the bike stuff and a cameo by Bill Nye.
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Pacific Northwest News
- I Broke The Law Tonight — NormalGuyTri – A lot of us break this law regularly. Because it’s a very stupid law.
- What Free Days? | Car Free Days
- Bertha: The big risks may lie ahead | Crosscut
- New TCC Director: “For Our Movement to Succeed, We Need to Build Power.” | Seattle Transit Blog
- Highway Mission Creep | The Urbanist
- Motorists on Mercer Street will be Seattle’s first to see if new system shortens periods of gridlock | The Seattle Times – Let’s make sure this project helps, rather than hurts, walking, biking and transit movements, too. The signal waits are already way too long.
- A 30-resident ‘tiny house’ encampment is rising at 22nd and Union | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle – This is great! What should we be doing to help residents of this and other encampments obtain and then secure bikes.
- Transit Fare Victory Highlights Power of Student Led Organizing | South Seattle Emerald
- Two months later, victim of Ride the Ducks crash struggles with recovery, expenses | The Seattle Times
- Judkins Park Station Plan Wins National Award | SDOT Blog
- Planning A New Portage Bay Park in the University District | The Urbanist
- Elderly woman, pulled from under bus near Northgate Mall, dies | The Seattle Times
- Why the City of Portland is hosting a dance to celebrate new traffic signals – BikePortland.org
- Bike-share membership with a food-stamp card? Portland hasn’t shut the door – BikePortland.org
- Pedestrian struck, killed on Lynnwood street overnight | KOMO News
- Redmond pedestrian injured when vehicle hits her on rainy night | The Seattle Times
- Your coffee is here: Starbucks and Postmates launch delivery in Seattle, and this is what it’s like – GeekWire
- Sustainer Circle | Familybike Seattle – You should join!
- Seattle woman accused of altering cellphone records after fatal crash | The Seattle Times
- Driver will not face charges in crash that killed 2-year-old | www.kirotv.com
- BikeIndex’s November stolen bike recoveries
- Save The John Wayne Pioneer Trail! | fernwehnw
- Metal sheeting blown off Aurora Bridge, hits bicyclist riding below | Q13 FOX News
- December is a Great Month to Donate… A Bicycle! – Bike Works
- Here’s What We Should Fight For Next: Buck-a-Day Bus Passes – Slog – The Stranger
- Suspected drunk driver with toddler in car hits pedestrian | KOMO News
- Seattle Just Voted to Build 250 Blocks of “Alternative” Sidewalks – Next City
- Meet the architect who wants to build a lidded park over I-5 | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle
- 911 | Man and child hit by vehicle on Jackson, SFD battles E Columbia fire | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle
- Viaduct sinks a bit more in latest inspection | The Seattle Times
- Eyman tax measure could be blessing in disguise for state | The Seattle Times
- Church proposal to turn a house into a parking lot stirs debate | KOMO News
- 10 ways to make Seattle politics more inclusive in 2016 | Seattle Globalist
- A first for Washington: Green paint for bike lanes on a state highway – BikePortland.org
- Road diet eats popular Seattle commuter route – Chokepoints | MyNorthwest.com – This video is hilarious.
- Cyclist struck by bus on Bainbridge Island – Story
- How is Vision Zero doing in Seattle? | SDOT Blog
- New app helps drivers fight traffic tickets | King 5
- Electric bikes pick up speed in gridlocked Seattle | The Seattle Times
Halftime show! Some bike thieves are very good at what they do. This guy is not one of them.
National & Global News
- Madrid’s Bold New Pollution Plan Would Ban Cars and Make Transit Free – CityLab
- Enjoying Lunch With 500 People On A Highway — Pop-Up City
- Volvo’s hi-vis paint for cyclists is not such a bright idea | The Guardian
- The Math Behind Minimum Grid | Torontoist
- O’Fallon, Mo., officials defy county in spat over lane reductions for Main Street | STL Today
- Bike Pittsburgh | Guerrilla style: Pitt grad student uses cell phone to track speeds on Forbes Ave in Oakland
- While Congress trumpets new transportation bill, real leadership lies outside Washington | Brookings Institution – Guess which city is an example of “real leadership” :-)
- Cyclists in Vancouver safest in the country due to infrastructure, says report – CBC News
- Why Laws Banning Cyclists From Wearing Headphones Miss the Point – CityLab
- I designed a speedbump — Medium – Using leaves to calm traffic. It works!
- CDOT Pilots Bike Lane Treatment Inspired by Dutch Protected Intersections | Streetsblog Chicago
- The Best and Worst of the New 5-Year Transportation Bill | Streetsblog USA
- Mayor Hancock Cuts Ribbon on Parking-Protected Bike Lanes, Promises 3 More | Streetsblog Denver
- Still No Deaths on Citi Bike, 2.5 Years In | | Observer
- How cycling could help the Paris climate talks change the world | The Guardian
- Study: Pedestrians in Wheelchairs Are a Third More Likely to Be Killed in Road Accidents – CityLab
- Why not parking maximums? — Strong Towns
- Why are bike lanes such heated symbols of gentrification? – The Washington Post – Must read.
- How Giving Bike Share Prime Real Estate Attracts More Riders | Streetsblog.net
- How to Fix Victim-Blaming Media Coverage of Car-and-Bike Crashes | Bicycling
- A City Choking on Cars Hopes Commuters Will Return to Two Wheels – The New York Times
- How Minneapolis is getting more kids to walk and bike to school | MinnPost
- The Case Against Bright-as-the-Sun Flashing Bike Lights – Next City
- St. Louis group aims to show that slower streets are safer streets | STL Today
- Brutal Jaywalking Arrest in Austin Caught on Video | Streetsblog USA
- Airpocalypse hits northeastern China, smothers Shenyang in some of worst air pollution on record: Shanghaiist
- Bike helmet laws have little effect reducing head injuries, says UBC study – CBC News
And finally, this:
Here's why George Orwell thought pedestrian safety campaigns were hypocritical. pic.twitter.com/dPdL9CZgRy
— Taras Grescoe (@grescoe) November 3, 2015
This is an open thread.
Comments
5 responses to “Bike News Roundup: Bill Nye crashed a 1995 city video to tell people to bike to work”
I like the Roundups. Thanks!
That piece on the King County Parks being technically closed after dark is quite surprising. I hope the law can be changed so we are not at the mercy of a few homeowners on Lake Sammamish.
Has anyone else experienced frustrations with Google Maps’ recent change to how they show biking infrastructure? After an update, the dedicated bike trails (Burke-Gilman, Centennial Trail, etc) disappear at even a moderate zoom.
This has been incredibly frustrating for me when I try to plan longer rides – if I can’t see where the trail is, how can I plan? It’s akin to making large highways disappear when the map zooms out. I sent in a complaint, but I don’t know what else to do.
Hooray, it’s fixed now!
…aaaaaand it sucks again. Ugh. Google maps, please get your bike maps in order. Seriously.
I also worry about that Volvo paint washing into our sewage system which isn’t designed to remove such toxins before flushing it into the sound. Glow in the dark salmon anyone?