Google to add By Bike function to Maps
Hot on the heels of the launch of Ride the City San Diego, Google Maps has announced that "soon we even plan on providing you with biking directions." It's going to be very interesting to compare and contrast the two different bike mapping services. We take it as an indication that bicycling in gaining some legitimacy as a form of transportation. Heck, if Google says I can ride my bike, it must be true.
Read the post on Google's Long Lat Blog.
Interview with Aloha Bicycle Courier
As part of our ongoing project to profile bicycle businesses in San Diego, this week we have an interview with Kenton of Aloha Bicycle Courier, San Diego’s only dedicated bicycle courier service*.
BikeSD: According to your website, you've been around since 2000. What made you want to start a bicycle courier business in San Diego?
Aloha: I was in Indianapolis working as a graphic designer in corporate communication. I was offered the opportunity to buy the design firm I worked at as the owner was looking to retire. I was 30 at the time, and it just didn't feel right. I wanted to live somewhere it didn't snow, I wanted to do something involving bicycles and I wanted to start my own business from scratch. So I did all three.
BikeSD: What logistical challenges have you faced as delivery riders in San Diego?
Aloha: The biggest challenge, which I have given up on, was trying to convince clients that making deliveries by bike outside of the immediate downtown area was economical and still able to be done in a timely manner. I stopped trying to convince people I can ride two miles to make a delivery in Hillcrest (it takes all of 8 minutes by bike). Anyway, I gave up. I still go to Hillcrest and Old Town, but not as often as I could.
BikeSD: What sorts of businesses utilize your services?
Aloha: Smart ones. The building industry, architects, engineers, etc.
BikeSD: How do customers, or potential customers, react to the idea of using a bicycle courier?
Aloha: They think it's novel and by using us for one delivery every 10 years they think they are saving the planet or something. I think they get a bigger kick out of the idea of using a bicycle messenger, as opposed to ACTUALLY using a bicycle messenger. I have at least a dozen "clients" I've never done a delivery for. They always tell me they use us for deliveries, but the reality is we deliver TO them for our clients.
BikeSD: Are your riders ever hassled by drivers? How do they diffuse potentially volatile situations?
Aloha: If you call being called an asshole, or "hey you are going to get f@ck4i$g killed, asshole" as hassle, then, ah, yes. I try to just ignore it. Car big, me small.
BikeSD: What is the most unusual or challenging delivery you have made?
Aloha: A breast pump.
Aloha maintains a very comprehensive website, with detailed information about the services they provide. You can also contact Aloha at info[at]alohabicyclecourier[dot]com.
*Other companies do use bicycles for courier services, and there’s Manivela Food Delivery, of course.
Ride the City launches in San Diego
Ride the City(RTC) has officially launched in San Diego. Unlike Google maps' "walking" option in figuring out a bike route that avoids the freeways, RTC uses elevation data to provide routing suggestions so that bicyclists in San Diego can decide on a less hilly route to ride on. From the press release:
This is our largest geographic area yet, including all of San Diego County. You can use Ride the City, for example, to get bicycling directions for a point just south of San Clemente to the Mexican border, about 80 miles.During early testing, lots of users told us we needed to do something to incorporate elevation data because of San Diego's hills and canyons. Well now we do it. In addition to finding safe bike routes, Ride the City now attempts to steer you away from grueling climbs (at least when there is a less steep alternate route that doesn't add too much distance).
Try out Ride the City and use the routing ideas. To improve upon the suggestions, be sure to use the "rate the route" link.
Our thanks go out to Vaidila Kungys and Jordan Anderson for providing such a valuable resource to San Diego County bicyclists.
California Bills in the Pipeline
Below are some bills that will affect bicyclists in California.
Seatless Bicycles (SB 527): This bill would allow bicycles designed to operate without a seat to be legally ridden on streets. The bill is currently awaiting Governor Schwarzenegger's signature. The full text and status of the bill is available at Senator Kehoe's website.
Complete Streets in California - From the California Bicycle Coalition, efforts made since the signing of the Complete Streets Act in 2008:
As of 2011, the law will require cities and counties, when updating local transportation plans, to ensure that those plans account for the needs of all roadway users.
At the same time, the California Department of Transportation unveiled a revised version of Deputy Directive 64, an internal policy document that now explicitly embraces Complete Streets as the policy covering all phases of state highway projects, from planning to construction to maintenance and repair.
As the result, California became the second—and by far the largest—state to implement Complete Streets policies covering every public street, road and highway.
Updates from Councilmember Donna Frye in District 6
Councilmember Donna Frye's latest update to her constituents included an update on Clairemont Drive. From her newsletter, "just east up the hill from Denver Street, Clairemont Drive recently received two long-awaited speed-monitoring signs in the east- and westbound lanes. The digital signs, which display each driver’s speed, were installed as the first of several traffic-calming measures for that area. Other improvements to come will include restriping to widen bike lanes, a raised median and pavement resurfacing."
Mission Valley residents, you soon will have the opportunity to speak up concerning the future of Mission Valley. “What we’re trying to do right now is attract people to the process, a variety of people,” said Senior Planner Brian Schoenfisch, who is coordinating the Mission Valley update for the City Planning and Community Investment Department. “We want to attract people who don’t normally get involved,” he added. “There are people out there who are experts in the community, simply by interacting in the community all the time.”