It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a taste of some of the stuff floating around the web that caught our eye.
First up, this Gainesville Police officer responded to a complaint of teens playing basketball in the street too loudly. Justice was served.
— Advertisement —
Better yet he kept his word and returned for a rematch, but he brought along a ringer: Shaq.
Pacific Northwest News
- In praise of slow cycling | Vancitybuzz
- Connecting the Eastside Rail Corridor part 2: Downtown Kirkland | The View from the Crosswalk
- Driver Arrested After Striking Four People In Hit and Run | SPD Blotter
- Car hits Kent-Meridian HS student in campus crosswalk | The Seattle Times
- Broadway businesses wary of a two stop extension to First Hill Streetcar | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle – Either way, we need to extend the bikeway.
- Portland is first U.S. city to make protection the default for all new bike lanes | PeopleForBikes
- Videos show difficulties navigating TriMet’s swing gates – BikePortland.org
- Plan strives to make Victoria “the best small cycling city in the world” | Vancitybuzz
- Metro buses test alarms to improve pedestrian safety | The Seattle Times
- Let Us Build Backyard Cottages | The Urbanist
- Google is testing its self-driving car in Kirkland | The Seattle Times
- Seattle DJC – Group sees Pier 86 as a huge canvas for artwork
- 2 killed, 5 injured in major crash at Snoqualmie Pass; westbound I-90 closed | KOMO
- Road rage assault leaves man feeling helpfless, frustrated and scared – BikePortland.org
- Will the City Council Save Pronto, Seattle’s Bike Share Service? – Slog – The Stranger
- More low-income Seattle students to get free ORCA cards | The Seattle Times
- Upcoming Event: Monthly Meeting and New Speaker Series | The Urbanist – Cascade’s Elizabeth Kiker is the guest.
- PIONEER SQUARE BICYCLE RACK – Take the survey! Let Pioneer Square know how badly the neighborhood needs more bike parking.
- Struktur Event | Episode 5: Martina Brimmer, co-founder and creative director, Swift Industries
- Sumas boy, 14, on bike hit by pickup, killed near Paradise | Bellingham Herald
- Amazon delivery truck slams into downtown Seattle building | KOMO
- These 7 photos reveal how I-5 construction tore through old Seattle | The Seattle Times
- Improved Walking, Biking, And Transit Facilities Coming To Roosevelt, But It Could Be Better | The Urbanist
- 10 Cities Lead National Effort to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities | Vision Zero Network – Seattle is one of them. Let’s do this.
- Johnson Defends HALA After Tough Meeting in Wallingford | The C Is for crank
- You Hate Construction In Seattle. But What If You Were Blind? | KUOW
- New Safe Routes to School Beacon Hill Trail Groundbreaking | SDOT Blog
- Council votes to endorse transit on Cross Kirkland Corridor | The Seattle Times
- New Pedestrian Bridge Coming To Everett | The Urbanist
- Driver in deadly Tracyton crash gets 6 ½ years | Kitsap Sun
- Seattle man gets 6 ½ years for killing bicyclist in DUI crash | The Seattle Times – RIP Andy Hulslander
Halftime show!
STOP FOR SCHOOL BUSES YOU MONSTERS IN WHAT WORLD DID YOU LEARN TO DRIVE GOOD GOD
National & Global News
- Texas Hasn’t Had a Deathless Day Without a Fatal Car Crash Since 2000 – CityLab
- The Feds Want to Reform the Cult of “Level of Service” | Streetsblog USA
- Charges and civil suit dropped against Sunset Hills mayor over bicycle incident : STL Today
- Space Jetta | what if – In which XKCD calculates that it would be safer to drop every car on earth from space than to keep driving them.
- BikeIndex’s January 2016 recoveries!
- St. Louis “Beat Congestion” and Now Commute Times Are Longer | Streetsblog.net
- Police: BMX star Dave Mirra shot and killed himself with own gun | WCTI – Damn. I grew up watching Dave, as did so many others out there. Take care of yourself and each other.
- Michael Prater: Cycling ‘fed his soul’ – Michael and his family moved to Cincinnati from Seattle in 2012. Devastating news.
- Obama proposes $10-a-barrel oil tax – Feb. 4, 2016 – Amazing news. Probably doomed, but we need to be talking about ideas like this on a national level if we have any chance.
- Evidence That Split-Phase Signals Are Safer Than Mixing Zones for Bike Lanes | Streetsblog New York City – File this under “No duh.”
- Why bike lanes make people mad – The Washington Post
- Study: Sharrows Don’t Make Streets Safer for Cycling | Streetsblog USA – Another addition to the “No duh” file.
- #StreetFail: Crossing the Quebec Street Slant | Streetsblog Denver
- Drivers May Pay for Next Step in Fight Against Climate Change – Bloomberg Business
- Study: The Strongest Evidence Yet That Abudant Parking Causes More Driving – CityLab
- The New Climate Villain Is Cheap Oil | Streetsblog USA
- Chris Christie Sticks It to Pedestrians for No Discernible Reason | Streetsblog.net – In case you still weren’t sure if this guy sucks or not, there you go.
This is an open thread.
Comments
4 responses to “Bike News Roundup: Police lay down the law on kids playing basketball in the street”
North Queen Anne needs a bike rack or two around the intersection of Nickerson and Warren, which would alleviate the problem of people chaining their bikes up on the railings around Tully’s. The closest rack is two blocks away and only accommodates two bikes for three blocks of businesses.
I made a request several months ago and it would be great to get more requests from other people that need to find bike parking in the area. You can make this request by emailing [email protected].
We have those swing gates by SODO so I made a video for Kathleen and Elle to show them ours. A longtail is not as bad but you see me drag the bike a lot. If anyone can tell me why we have just one set of swing gates there I would love to know. All other places you can pass easily. http://nospandexrequired.blogspot.com/2016/02/pdx-vs-sea-swing-gates-who-will-win.html
This is a well-curated list–quite interesting and provocative–thanks!
You’re quite right about the long overdue gas tax proposal, and that we need to start putting these ideas out there, so they don’t, after a while, seem so ludicrous to so many.
I wish the Democrats would use some of the tactics their opponents use; proclaim for instance they’d shut down the government–not sign (Obama) ANY budget unless there is a forty dollar per barrel tax. Then, after awhile, settle for ten.
Tom, the methodology of the sharrow study you cite from Streetsblog is so shoddy that it adds nothing to the debate. It’s actually based on census tracts. It’s fine if you oppose sharrows based on your own experiences and gut feeling. (I happen to think sharrows improve safety based on my experiences and gut feeling.) I also understand your agenda to push for PBLs and your conviction that installing sharrows is bad because it allows cities to claim to be doing something for bikes without incurring the cost of PBLs. All well and good. I think sharrows have their place, but I understand you take a different position on these issues. What I take issue with is the following: the fact that you would *prefer* to see PBLs rather than sharrows does not mean that sharrows are *worthless* to improve safety. The value of sharrows in improving rider safety is not a “no duh” proposition by any means (if it was, then why even do a study on it), and it strikes me as intellectually dishonest to present it in that light.