News, Links, and Other Views

City of San Diego

  • On Tuesday evening a cyclist was hit by a car that careened off I-5 onto a surface street (it appears to be Santa Fe Street).  Video of the scene here.
  • The Mission Valley Planning Group heard a presentation about the high-intensity activated crosswalk beacon (HAWK) planned for installation on Mission Center Road.
  • Bill Fulton, the city’s new Planning Director is on the job and has met with the North Park Planning Committee.
  • A CicloSDias Mini will be held Sunday June 21st at Golden Hill Park.
  • The La Jolla Village Merchants Association heard a presentation about the city’s coming bike share.

San Diego Region

  • The UT notes that although “getting people to bike more may not lessen dependency on the car” it sure is good exercise and a popular recreational pastime, so they applaud “what appears to be a countywide trend to make our streets more bike friendly.”
  • Previously the UT printed an opinion piece entitled “Bicycles are not future of transportation” stating that “to propose bicycle ridership as a serious component of urban transportation is specious folly.”
  • In a (perhaps unintended) acknowledgement that automobiles are not the best way to move large groups of people the UT provided transit tips for getting to Comic-Con and the Del Mar racetrack.
  • The Bikeway Village project in Imperial Beach may receive a grant from the California Coastal Commission to add a 50 bed hostel to the project.
  • The North County Transit District considers changing their email retention policy from 2 years to 60 days.
  • San Diego County considers using eminent domain to widen a road near Ramona.
  • The Coaster has released an app for Android that allows you to purchase tickets from your mobile device.
  • SANDAG is offering motorists a clean slate after acquisition of the bankrupt South Bay Expressway, the expressway also got some new help with marketing.

Elsewhere

  • A cyclist responds to the  “Summer of Cycling” articles published by a Los Angeles newspaper group (the original publishers of “Bicycles are not future of transportation” reprinted by the UT).
  • Some examples from South Carolina, Memphis, and New York City of how bikes are good for business.
  • As Seattle plans to open a bike share, discussion starts about the city’s mandatory bike helmet law.
  • More information about Seattle’s new cycle tracks, as well as a call for more investment in safe bicycle infrastructure.
  • Cities that would like to become more bicycle friendly, may find a new book, Cycle Infrastructure, useful.  It includes a survey of best-practices for bike infrastructure design from around the world.
  • Construction started on first phase of Atlanta’s two-way cycle track along 10th Street.
  • A poorly designed bikeway in Connecticut will have to be fixed thanks to a mandatory deadline from the Architectural Access Board.
  • The future of Market Street in San Francisco is still yet to be decided.
  • Dallas considers turning an old bridge into a park.
  • Without physical barriers, bike lanes become popular parking spots for government vehicles.
  • Cyclists in Minnesota advocate for cycle tracks during the once-in-50-year opportunity brought about by the reconstruction of Minnehaha and Washington avenues.
  • A letter to the editor in Indiana, asking for the same protection for bicyclist that is given to highway workers.
  • Cycling has increased five-fold in Buenos Aires as the city has constructed protected bike lanes, added a bike share, and required spaces for bicycles in parking garages.
  • In an effort to be “number one” Chicago is “stepping up” and analyzing bicycle crash data and  pinpointing the city’s most dangerous intersections.
  • A call for protected bike lanes in Savannah Georgia.
  • Scion has apologized for it’s “King of the Coupe” commercial that showed one of its cars chasing after bicyclists on the street.