News, Links, and Other Views

City of San Diego

• A bicyclist was hospitalized after being hit by the driver of a motor scooter who was riding illegally on a bike path in Mission Valley.
• The La Jolla Parks and Beaches board affirmed their opposition to the proposed DecoBike stations and would like more parking near the Coast Walk Trail.
• Residents and businesses in the UTC area are worried about the impact of the construction of a three story parking garage and trolley stop at the La Jolla Village Square mall.
• The days of the San Diego Civic Innovation Lab’s existence are officially over.
• San Diego Planning Director, Bill Fulton, was interviewed about “smart growth” and walkable communities by CityBeat.
• A police officer on a bicycle was hit by a taxi driver in Pacific Beach on Saturday morning.
• San Diego will be taking stormwater runoff seriously, including constructing 200 miles of “complete streets.”

San Diego Region

• Electra Bicycle Co. is moving its global headquarters from Vista to Encinitas.
• Caltrans presented an update on the multi-billion dollar I-5 expansion in Del Mar, including a rendering of a bike/pedestrian path located above the interstate on a retaining wall.
• Red light cameras may be on the way out in Del Mar.

Elsewhere

• A.B. 1193 passed the California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.  This legislation would compel Caltrans to create guidelines for protected bike lanes and also allow local jurisdictions to build bicycle infrastructure that does not comply with Caltrans’s outdated guidelines.
• The Long Beach Post looks closer at how to make protected bike lanes safer at intersections.
• The City of San Francisco has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the developers of an app that allows people to sell public parking spaces.
• San Francisco has enough on-street parking spaces to span the entire coast of California.
• The Tahoe Fund is trying to raise $750,000 to build a bike path down to the east shore of Lake Tahoe.
• While San Diego was busy celebrating the city’s first road diet earlier this year, Los Angeles has completed over 53 road diet projects.
• Pittsburgh will build three protected bike lanes before the end of the summer.   Also, after a recent trip to Denmark the Mayor of Pittsburgh now plans to buy a bike and ride to meetings.
• Since 2007 bicycling has increased by 66% in Marin County thanks in part to smart use of a $28 million federal grant.
• A report from two San Diegans who attended the Village Building Convergence in Portland, Oregon.
• Proposals to make Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago safe for bicyclists and pedestrians have upset some local residents.
• Activists in Minnesota are pushing for increased penalties for drivers who injure and kill bicyclists, regardless of whether a cell phone was involved.
• Bike commuting is on the rise in Wichita, Kansas.
• A Congressman and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation warn that if the United State’s Highway Trust Fund is not replenished there could be serious problems in the coming months.
• Two studies attempt to explain why, despite growth of urban areas, commute times in the United States have stayed roughly the same.
• A study finds that in the United States people in walkable cities generally make more money.
• A cyclist was attacked by a goose in Ottawa, resulting in a 5 day hospital stay.
• If you like riding up steep hills, you might consider a trip to Medillin, Colombia.
• A study conducted in Auckland, New Zealand found that a combination of physically segregated bike lanes and self explaining roads returned $24 in savings for every $1 spent.
• France is conducting an experimental program to encourage bicycle commuting by reimbursing cyclists at a rate of about 1 Euro per kilometer.
• In Copenhagen bike commute rates have increased from 36% to 41% from 2012 to 2013.