Boston and Minneapolis – St Paul Bikeshare Maps

Mobility Lab has posted visualized trip data from Boston and Minneapolis-St Paul bikeshare systems, allowing residents, planners and transport nerds alike to make sense of how these systems are actually being used. Let’s hope mroe cities release data like this so we can all better make sense of bikeshare usage.

San Francisco BART to Test All-Day Bike Access

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the BART light rail system will test all-day bicycle access to the system March 18-22. As it is, bicycles are banned during peak hors, in my experience complicating commuter use on the sytem, and particularly between San Francisco and Oakland and other further reaching stops.

BART has a history of cautiously welcoming bikes aboard its trains. When the system opened in 1972, bikes were banned. Three years later, BART agreed to allow bikes through the fare gates but bicyclists needed permits, and were only allowed to bring their bikes onto the rear of the last car of each train during non-commute hours. In 1988, BART allowed bikes on trains in the reverse commute direction. The permit requirement was dropped in 1997, and BART allowed bikes in all but the first car. A year later, the Richmond-Fremont line opened to unrestricted bike access.

During the March experiment, BART will lift its commute-hours ban, which varies by line but generally applies from 7-9 a.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. in commute directions. All other bike rules – including a prohibition on boarding crowded cars or blocking aisles, doors or accessible seats – will still apply.

Read the entire article at www.sfgate.com

Cyclists and Drivers Share Blame In Accidents In Minneapolis

Last month the Star Tribune reported on a recent study in Minneapolis looking into the causes of bicycle/auto traffic accidents.

A new analysis of 10 years of crash data has found that drivers and cyclists are almost equally at fault in the 270 reported bike-motor vehicle crashes that Minneapolis averages annually.

Biker actions contributed to the crash in 59 percent of collisions, compared to almost 64 percent for drivers, according to the study presented Tuesday to the City Council. Sometimes both were judged at fault by investigating officers.

The city’s Public Works Department plans to use the data to target education campaigns at drivers and bicyclists as well as to improve bike features such as lanes, bike-triggered traffic signals and other accommodations.
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David Meyer, who rides and works at the Hub Bike Co-op, said the shared fault makes sense to him. “It’s all people — just taking different modes of transportation,” he said.
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Nick Mason, chairman of the panel that advises the city on bike matters, called the study “definitely the most thorough analysis we’ve seen of crashes.”

“It’s so great to know that our crashes are not all random … and there are things we can do to prevent crashes,” he said.

The report urges that the city continue such practices as striping bike markings through congested intersections to guide cyclists or using dashed lines to signal to drivers when they can cross a bike lane for a turn.
…

Read the entire article at www.startribune.com

Bike Fixtation and Green Guru Partnership

Bike Fixtation manufactures work stands, pumps and vending machines for public bicycle repair access. Over the years I’ve had no shortage of conversations with people about bicycle vending machines near trail access points or outside of the shop for off-hours tubes and lube, and we’ve all dreamed of the fantasy land of a bike repair station at the bus terminal or outside of the grocery store. Bike Fixtation makes it happen — I’ve seen a number of these around the country, and always walk away impressed with how it makes bikes as transportation that much more accessible. Now Green Guru and Bike Fixtation have paired up to offer bicycle tube recycling paired with tire inflation at certain stations, giving your old tube new life as a repurposed product. Badger your local public transportation management and grocery story chains and maybe you can find one of these in your town before too long.

Aspen Considering Idaho Stop Law

The Aspen Times is reporting that city officials are considering adopting the “Idaho Stop” law that allows cyclists to yield at stop signs and proceed if the intersection is clear.

Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn said the “stop-as-yield approach” has proven to work in states such as Idaho, which changed its law allowing cyclists the option to yield some 30 years ago. A 2008 study by a University of California at Berkeley researcher showed that in Idaho, police and motorists have accepted the measure as public policy that makes sense.
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“If people are already doing it for practical purposes, and it’s not causing a wave of traffic crashes around town, why don’t we at least discuss the possibility of changing the law and allowing people to do it legally? It removes the guesswork for the motorists,” he said.

Read more at www.aspentimes.com

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Issue 35

• From Cranks to Food Banks
• Taliah Lempert Bicycle Paintings
• Stare Death in the Snout
• The Long Haul

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