Austin a Top 10
Bicycling City?
"A city
like Austin is growing so much, cycling is ruined
there."
Lance Armstrong [full
quote]
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"[The Austin
Bicycle Plan] was adopted just over 10 years
ago, in April of 1996, and updated in 1998 to
include detailed routes. Reading the plan without
having actually bicycled around town, one might
guess Austin must be a bike utopia by now.
"Well, it's not. In many cases, biking to a
destination across town using a relatively direct
route ranges from difficult to downright dangerous,
and the further out from inner city neighborhoods
you travel, the dicier it gets. Equally pathetic,
over the last 10 years, while the regional
population (Travis, Hays, and Williamson Counties)
has grown to more than two million, the estimated
percentage of trips made by bike, according to the
Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization,
has remained at a dismal 1%. Since May is Bike
Austin! Month, it's a likely moment to consider the
thus far unimpressive local progress on improving
biking facilities and opportunities, and what might
or should be done about it."
-- Austin
Chronicle, May 26, 2006
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In early 1999, Bicycling
magazine rated Austin as one of the Top 10 bicycling cities
in North America. [Then in Nov. 2001,
they rated Austin
#2 of cities between 0.5-1.0
million people.] That was news to us. If it's true, then
what that really shows is how lousy the rest of the
continent is for cycling, and not how great Austin
is.
After the Bicycling article
was published, the Texas Bicycle Coalition [TBC]
sent a congratulatory note to the Austin City Council,
commending them for their efforts. That made us shudder,
because what little that IS good about local cycling really
can't be credited to the council, which has done nothing or
even worked against us far more often than they've helped
us. Below is the congratulatory letter from TBC to the
council, followed by a critique I sent to the council. None
of the councilmembers responded to that, except for Willie
Lewis, who wrote only, "Thank you for your
information."
Also check out our
complete coverage of the City Council.
- Jan. 21, 1999
-
- Dear Mayor and Council Members,
-
- You are to be congratulated!
-
- The latest issue of Bicycling Magazine ranks Austin
in the top ten of North American cities in which to ride.
It is by your work and that of former City Council
Members that Austin is the bicycle friendly city that it
is.
-
- The criteria for making the top ten includes the
Yellow Bike Project, bicycle racks, bike trails and an
active bike commuter population. All of the things that
the City supports. The article in Bicycling has a
photograph of the city skyline and a great photo of one
of the Yellow Bike Project members carting yellow bikes
around to be distributed. Activists, commuters,
recreational riders, racers and transportation cyclists
all look forward to continuing the tradition of leading
the nation in bike friendly action.
-
- As President of the Austin Cycling Association, the
largest cycling organization in the area, I am proud to
be able to say Thank You to each one of you.
-
- Preston Tyree, President
- Austin Cycling Association
- Education Director
- Texas Bicycle Coalition
-
-
Date: Jan. 24, 1999
- From: Michael
Bluejay
- To: Texas Bicycle
Coalition
- Garcia, Gus - Austin City Council
- Goodman, Jackie
- Griffith, Beverly
- Lewis, Willie
- Slusher, Daryl
- Spelman, Bill
- Watson, Kirk-Austin City Council
- CC: austin bicycle email
discussion list
-
- Dear Councilmembers & Texas Bicycle
Coalition:
-
- If Austin is one of the Top 10 North American cities
for cycling, then that only demonstrates how terrible
North America is for cycling and not how wonderful Austin
is. Reviewing the details, it certainly appears that the
City Council deserves more blame than credit:
-
- #1: PARKING IN BICYCLE
LANES
- It is legal for
cars to park in most bicycle lanes in the City. So
why even call them bike lanes? If cyclists can't use
them, then what's the point? I addressed the previous
Council about this issue, but the Council didn't express
any interest in addressing it. Eric Mitchell wrongly
stated that it was already illegal for cars to park in
bike lanes. Gus Garcia, Willie Lewis, and Bill Spelman's
representative (Mike Blizzard) said on my radio program
that they supported car-free bike lanes, but so far
there's been no action from Council. Due to non-action by
the Council, other bicycle advocates have been working
with Transportation & Public Works to establish
car-free bike lanes. But even if they succeed in getting
cars banned from more bike lanes, another problem that
remains is enforcement. I see cars illegally parked in
the bike lanes in my neighborhood on Rio Grande and
Nueces nearly EVERY DAY [two of the few bike lanes
where it's already illegal for cars to park]. The
police usually come if I call them about it, but they
don't take the effort to ticket cars unless someone calls
it in. On this issue, the council deserves blame and not
credit.
-
-
- #2: FAILURE TO FUND THE
BICYCLE PROGRAM
- The Council has historically under- or non-funded the
Bicycle Program. Here's the opening from a late 1997
letter by Rick Waring, former Coordinator of the City's
Bicycle Program:
-
- "Dear Mayor Watson and City Council members: I am
extremely disappointed. The 1998 budget you approved has
zero dollars in allocations for bicycle and pedestrian
program needs and service provision. Frankly, this is one
of the reasons I resigned my position [as the City's
Bicycle Coordinator]. We initiated and built the
program without a budget for three and a half years. With
the election of your progressive council, I was certain
that finally City leaders would show their commitment and
provide badly needed funding for bicycle and pedestrian
access and safety. You did not, but I should not have
been surprised; Austin has a long history of lip service
without real commitment to bicyclists and pedestrians.
Witness allowing parking in bike lanes and lack of
maintenance of existing bicycle facilities." [The
complete letter appears at the end of
this email.] Here again, the council deserves
blame and not credit.
-
-
- #3: CREATING THE HELMET
ORDINANCE AND FAILING TO FULLY REPEAL IT
- A couple of years ago the City Council created what
was probably the most unpopular ordinance in Austin
history when it enacted the bicycle helmet ordinance. But
the council didn't just ignore the will of the people, it
ignored the facts -- that on average, only 1-4 cyclists
die in Austin each year, that some of those who die were
wearing helmets ANYWAY, that many more pedestrians and
motorists die than cyclists and THEY don't have to wear
helmets, that motorcyclists are not required to wear
helmets, etc. Disturbingly, the council felt it was more
important to try to force the use of a piece of equipment
that *might* help us once we've been hit rather than
PREVENTING US FROM GETTING HIT IN THE FIRST PLACE (by
getting cars out of bike lanes, by funding the Bicycle
Program, etc.). Also disturbingly, the council was
completely unconcerned that its local police was using
the helmet ordinance as an excuse to arrest cyclists left
and right and throw them in JAIL. (And for comparison,
when was the last time you heard of a motorist being not
just ticketed, but taken to JAIL for not wearing a
seatbelt?) And despite the fact that at the time 70% of
the no-helmet tickets given to kids were given to black
& Hispanic kids, the council kept the helmet
ordinance intact for kids when amending it. An advocate
from the League of Bicycling Voters informed me that
councilmember Slusher refused a compromise on the helmet
ordinance which would have kept the ordinance but removed
the penalties, since Slusher insisted on having a
punitive ordinance. I also witnessed Slusher misleading
the citizenry at the helmet ordinance hearing and
tricking them into giving up their speaking time,
promising that a "repeal" was imminent, when in fact the
council intended not to repeal but rather to amend, and
kept the law intact for kids. Here again, the council
deserves blame and not credit.
-
-
- #4: POLICE
HARASSMENT
- I've lost count of how many cyclists I've met who
were ARRESTED for minor traffic
infractions. Not just ticketed, but ARRESTED. Just
recently my friend Jennifer Sigman was arrested
and taken to jail for riding her bicycle on the
sidewalk downtown. The police in this City have no
accountability to anyone. The council's compromise
earlier this year was basically worthless since it did
not provide for a Citizen's Review Board. This is a major
failing of the council. Here again, the council deserves
blame and not credit.
-
-
- #5: MOTORISTS WHO HIT
CYCLISTS DON'T FACE CONSEQUENCES
- About half of the serious
car-bike collisions in Austin are hit & runs. The
council's continuing treatment of cyclists as
second-class citizens only reinforces that same mindset
in motorists and makes them unconcerned about hitting or
even killing us. These hit & run motorists don't face
any consequences because nobody knows who they are and
they're never caught. But even when the motorists are
known, often nothing will happen to them. Police officers
routinely fail to ticket or charge drivers who injure
cyclists even when the drivers are clearly at fault. And
even though the Tom Churchill case made it to a grand
jury, the grand jury failed to indict the motorist
although he was clearly at-fault. The council could set
an example for the police and grand jurors by treating
cycling and cyclists with respect, but through
antagonistic action (e.g., the helmet ordinance) and lack
of action in other areas (e.g., cars in bike lanes,
funding for the Bicycle Program), it helps foster the
attitude that cyclists don't matter. Here again, the
council deserves blame and not credit.
-
-
- #6: THE YELLOW BIKE
PROJECT
- One of the reasons cited in the Bicycling article for
ranking Austin in the Top 10 was the Yellow Bike Program.
Of course, the Council deserves no credit for this
because the Yellow Bike Project is not a City program,
it's a private non-profit organization. And the Council's
helmet ordinance nearly killed the whole program before
it even got properly established, with police officers
arresting people who tried to use the free yellow bikes
without helmets. The Yellow Bike Project was able to
secure a shop space from the City in exchange for
providing the City with bicycles for employees to use,
but the Yellow Bikers had to go through a year of the
City's red tape before they could actually move into the
space.
-
-
- #7: THE
VELOWAY
- After not spending money for nearly a decade which
had been authorized by voters to build bike lanes and
make other biking improvements, an earlier City Council
threw most of that money away on the Veloway, a
recreation & racing loop outside the (then) City
limits, which does absolutely nothing to aid cycle
commuting in the City.
-
-
- Does any City Councilmember actually have any
concrete plans for addressing any of the above issues? I
doubt it.
-
- -- Michael Bluejay
-
-
Former
Bicycle Program Coordinator Rick Waring's late 1997
letter to the Austin City Council
-
- Dear Mayor Watson and City Council
members:
-
- I am extremely disappointed. The 1998 budget you
approved has zero dollars in allocations for bicycle and
pedestrian program needs and service provision. Frankly,
this is one of the reasons I resigned my position [as
the City's Bicycle Coordinator]. We initiated and
built the program without a budget for three and a half
years. With the election of your progressive council, I
was certain that finally City leaders would show their
commitment and provide badly needed funding for bicycle
and pedestrian access and safety. You did not, but I
should not have been surprised; Austin has a long history
of lip service without real commitment to bicyclists and
pedestrians. Witness allowing parking in bike lanes and
lack of maintenance of existing bicycle facilities.
-
- In 1994 the City Council created the Bicycle Program
Coordinator position, but did not provide funding for the
position. This forced the Department of Public Works and
Transportation to shift funding to provide salary for the
unfunded staff position. The first words the Assistant
Director told me when I started the job was "you have no
budget". I should have walked right out the door, but I
thought, "This is April and next fiscal year we'll
receive funding." We did not. In subsequent years,
neither City management nor Council provided any program
or service provision funding. We did our best "borrowing"
from other budgets and using long-term debt bond funding
to provide daily services, but this was grossly
inadequate and a fiscally poor choice as well. Now all
bicycle bonds are expended, yet you provided no funding
for the program. How do you expect staff to provide
services without funding?
-
- To soften the blow of providing absolutely no
funding, advocates were told of a transportation retreat
to be held in October during which reallocation of funds
in the existing budget for bicycle and pedestrian needs
would be discussed. Of course, this would mean "robbing
Peter to pay Paul," but it would be better than nothing.
Now I hear the retreat is postponed until December.
December? Do you really plan to hold this retreat during
the holiday season? I will not be surprised if the
retreat is delayed again and may canceled altogether. I
would ask when the Bicycle Plan, Part II will come
forward for adoption, but without funding it hardly
matters.
-
- United States population is doubling ever 20 to 40
years depending on the popularity of a allocation.
Austin's is slated to double in 20. Since 1990,
registrations of motor vehicles in Travis County exceeded
population growth by three percent, yet the City Council
lacked the courage to create a pedestrian staff position.
Anyone who walks in Austin knows how much work is needed
to overcome years of neglect and inattention. Anyone who
has worked in the Transportation Department knows there
isn't enough staff or resources to do this job. And
anyone who cares enough to examine recent results knows
very little of long-accumulated pedestrian demand has
been addressed. If it weren't for [the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act], even the disabled
would probably still be ignored.
-
- I am encouraged by your efforts to support downtown
development in spite of the fact that this is an easy
decision; developers stand to gain and no neighborhoods
oppose the increased density. Nevertheless, those
knowledgeable of what it takes to preserve a fine city
are grateful.
-
- Now make a tough decision. Via a budget amendment
allocate funding for bicycle and pedestrian services and
make a strong statement of their importance to the
vitality, health and future of the city. Please do not do
this only in a surreptitious way by shifting funding
within an existing budget &emdash; while this would help,
it does not establish program funding nor does it
publicly support using bicycles and walking for
transportation.
-
- I cannot know how tough your jobs are, but I have
some idea. I realize the pressure must be very intense
and the criticism never ending. I applaud you for your
courage and willingness to serve. While you have this
opportunity, please take steps to establish funding for
these badly needed services. Although I was able to
secure grants for staffing and some program expenses for
the present, grant funding is not likely to be available
for staff or program expenses in the future. Thank you
for your consideration of this request and for the
difficult jobs you do.
-
- Sincerely,
-
- Rick Waring.
-
- P.S. Please do not send this letter to City staff to
write your response. I would appreciate hearing from you
about this critical issue. I know you are busy, but you
can dictate a reply to your office staff and tell us what
you plan to do, not what City staff thinks you plan to
do.
-
- [FYI: In 6/01, we learned that Rick Waring had
become the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Safety Program
Manager for the Oregon Dept. of Transportation.]
Austin fails to spend bike
project money properly
From the Austin
Chronicle:
Austin's past is strewed with the remains of
bicycle plans as well as land-use plans, documents
representing the efforts of dozens of citizens who
struggled to preserve inner-city quality of life while
billions of dollars were being spent on a
freeway/arterial system designed to speed automobile
commuters in and out of town. In the early Eighties,
voters approved almost $2 million in bonds to implement
the Austin Bikeway Plan, which called for a comprehensive
citywide network to include 160 miles of new bicycle
lanes, and other policies designed to break down barriers
to continuous cycling. The result, according to a 1993
report of the Austin Transportation Study: only 49 miles
of bike lanes were set aside, and of these, all but six
are being used for parallel parking by motorists. Few of
the other recommendations of the Austin Bikeway Plan were
implemented, including bike route signage, provision of
wide outside lanes on new road projects, and bike lane
maintenance. Ironically, over half of the $2 million in
bonds approved by voters was transferred from its
intended use for bike lanes to pedestrian and trail
projects. And, incredible as it sounds, $368,000, or
about 20% of the total, went to fund the Veloway at
Circle C, a facility that allows exercise-deprived
suburbanites to burn off the accumulated stresses of
week-day commuting by riding bicycles around in a circle
on weekends.
Austin not popular for
cycling according to the U.S. Census
According to 2000 U.S. Census data, Austin ranks an
abysmal 57th
among cities greater than 250,000 people for the percentage
of car-free households. And it ranks a fairly shoddy
17th for the percentage of bike commuters, with less
than 1% of commuters biking to work. (more...)
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-
Dan Connelly critiques
the bikability of part of Austin
Posted to the austin-bikes email list,
7-8-00
-
- This evening I went from my apartment near 6th and
West Lynn, via Campell and 5th to Whole Foods on Lamar,
from there on to Barton Springs Pool via Robert E Lee for
a quick dip, then back across the Mopac bridge off
Stratford to home. Simple, right? Hardly. Consider :
-
- E. 5th: 3 lanes of heavy traffic. It's
extremely challenging to get into the right lane on this
road, basically forcing one to ride along the left lane
until one reaches the Baylor light. Hopefully a possible
pending light at Campbell will help a lot here. Very poor
riding.
-
- Lamar to Whole Foods: Heavy traffic, very poor
riding
-
- Lamar to Barton Springs Road: Periodic
high-speed 2-abreast traffic going under the tracks and
over the bridge. Extremely poor riding. I passed a
memorial to a dead pedestrian.
-
- Barton Springs Road: Heavy traffic, narrow
lanes, and poor pavement. Very poor riding.
-
- Robert E Lee: Remarkably heavy, high-speed
traffic & substandard width lanes. I passed a
memorial, apparently to the murdered police officer. Very
poor riding.
-
- Barton Springs again: See above.
-
- Stratford: A good road for riding, although
one needs to watch the residential SUV traffic.
-
- E. 5th again: See above. Turning left onto
West Lynn is an adventure, to say the least, with a rear
view mirror. Without one, it would be even tougher.
-
- W. Lynn: A good road for riding.... maybe 100
meters.
-
- 6th St.: Very heavy traffic, narrow lanes.
Unlike 5th, traffic here is at least somewhat fragmented.
Still, riding is very poor, especially in the rain (no
rain this evening)
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- -----------------
- This ride, about the most basic thing one would want
to do around here, was strikingly unridable. It reminds
me of the Bicycling assessment of Austin as a top 10
cycling city. Clearly the editors didn't do this circuit,
or it would have made their other list.
Complete Lance Armstrong
Excerpt
Here's the complete excerpt about Lance Armstrong's
remarks about cycling in Austin, from the Austin
American-Statesman, 8-4-01:
On Friday, he met with
members of the congressional Bike Caucus in Washington,
lamenting Austin's lightning growth and traffic problems.
"A city like Austin is growing
so much, cycling is ruined there," he told U.S. Rep.
Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and other members of the group.
"In just 10 years -- ruined. A place like Boulder,
Colorado, is just ruined, also."
It's no surprise that Armstrong feels this way, given
that a redneck
tried to run him over with his truck in 1998.
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