Subject:     Bicycle Newsletter   6-23-00
Date:        6/23/00 1:03 PM
Received:    6/23/00 1:13 PM
From:        Michael Bluejay, bluejay@mail.com
To:          austin-bike-news@topica.com

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     /__/   ==       
      /_____/       BICYCLING IN AUSTIN NEWSLETTER
  ___/ \  _/ \___   covering bikes as alternative transportation
 /  /\  \/___/\  \ 
 \___/   &   \___/  bluejay@mail.com  *  michaelbluejay.com/bicycle

  Michael Bluejay, editor                              June 23, 2000
######################################################################

[See the very end of the newsletter for how to subscribe/unsubscribe.]

[Please visit our website:  http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle ]


 FORGET ABOUT WORLD PEACE, VISUALIZE USING YOUR FREAKING TURN SIGNAL!
######################################################################
####  FROM THE EDITOR:  Name the newsletter contest
####
####  WEBSITE:  "How to Not Get Hit by Cars" tops popularity record
####   
####  WALKING:   Mean Streets 2000 Study shows walking is unsafe
####   
####  BIKE LANES:  City may ban parking in bike lanes on Shoal Creek
####  BIKE LANES:  Reader comments about proposed parking ban
####   
####  INTERNATIONAL:  TX Bicycle Coalition attends conf. in Amsterdam
####   
####  HIGHWAYS: CAMPO approves SH 130 w/Mayor Waton's swing vote
####   
####  PHOTOS:   Bicycle icon markings in roadways
####   
######################################################################


======================================================================
 FROM THE EDITOR:  Name the newsletter contest
----------------------------------------------------------------------

A reader said that it's confusing that I use the same name, "Bicycling 
in Austin", for both the website and the newsletter.  He suggested
I call the website "Bicycling in Austin" and the newsletter something
like "Austin Bike News".

What do you all think?  Send me your vote for the name of this 
newsletter.  Please vote for one of the following:

   (1) Bicycling in Austin (keep the current name)
   (2) Austin Bike News    (go with the suggested name)
   (3) (Other -- use a name you've come up with)

Email your vote to bluejay@mail.com.  Three voters will be selected at 
random to receive a free red blinky bicycle light, batteries included. 
This is not a top-of-the-line light; in fact, it will arrive with 
clear tape over the lens cover because I've found the cover on this 
model likes to fall off sometimes otherwise.  But hey, it's free, and 
it could save your life.  Entries are due by 11:00pm Tuesday night, 
6/27.

- - - - - -
CORRECTION

We reprinted a letter in our last issue from Amanda Smith whose father 
had been killed by a motorist, and we didn't catch her error:  The 
driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.04, not 0.4.  Obviously, he 
would have been dead at 0.4.  By the way, Amanda recently sent us an 
update on the case, which you can read at:

   http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/justice/nl-conradanderson.html



======================================================================
 WEBSITE:  "How to Not Get Hit by Cars" tops popularity record 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Our page on HOW TO NOT GET HIT BY CARS is getting a lot of attention, 
and people all over the world are linking to it directly.  In fact, 
this one page now gets more visitors than the Bicycling in Austin home 
page!  Also, other groups have reprinted our safety tips in their own 
publications.  The Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks (AR) just sent us a 
copy of their printed safety brochure, with nearly 100% of its content 
coming from our safety page.  The Habitat 500 bike ride in Minneapolis 
also included our collision diagrams in their ride packet.  There's 
also been worldwide interest, with overseas readers asking for a 
European-style version, with traffic riding on the left instead of the 
right.  (Though sadly, that's not going to happen unless we get some 
more volunteer support.)  See what all the excitement's about:

   http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/safety.html

In other website news, we've also added a page on Bicycle Movies, and 
updated dozens of other pages.  Check out all the updates at:

   http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/siteupdates.html



======================================================================
 WALKING:   Mean Streets 2000 Study shows walking is unsafe
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Surface Transportation Policy Project recently released their 
"Mean Streets 2000" report, a scathing indictment of the lack of safe 
facilities for walking in the U.S.  The highlights:  The number of 
trips taken on foot has dropped 42% in the last 20 years.  Americans 
took less than 6% of their trips on foot in 1997 & 1998.  Walking is 
36 times more dangerous than driving, because Americans lack safe 
places to walk (e.g. trend towards fewer sidewalks and crosswalks). In 
59% of cases for which information is available, pedestrians died in 
places where they could not find a crosswalk.  On average, states 
spent just 55 cents per person of their federal transportation funds 
on pedestrian projects in the years studied, less than 1% of their 
total federal transportation dollars.  Average spending on highways 
came to $72 per person.  Read the full report at:

   http://www.transact.org/Reports/ms2000/default.htm



======================================================================
 BIKE LANES:  City may ban parking in bike lanes on Shoal Creek 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Bill Canfield & M. Bluejay 
It's legal for cars to park in most bike lanes in Austin.  But over 
the past few years, the City has been quietly banning parking in bike 
lanes on certain roadways, one street at a time.  Next up is Shoal 
Creek, the scenic four-mile stretch in central Austin which has been a 
favorite of both transportational and sports/rec cyclists for years.  
Knowing that the neighborhood would not accept on outright ban on 
parking, the city's plan is to restripe all the lanes, making them 
narrower, to allow for a new parking lane on the east side of the 
street.  Here's how it would work:

            |   |     |     |   |    |
            | b |  c  |  c  | b |  p |
       ^    | i |  a  |  a  | i |  a |
       |    | k |  r  |  r  | k |  r |
       N    | e |  s  |  s  | e |  k |
            | s |     |     | s |  i |
            |   |     |     |   |  n |
            | | |  |  |  ^  | ^ |  g |
            | V |  V  |  |  | | |    |
            |   |     |     |   |    |
            |   |     |     |   |    |
              6'  10'   10'   6'   8'

Not surprisingly, some Shoal creek residents are still complaining, 
because they don't want to give up ANY of their on-street parking.  
Cyclists who support the parking ban should attend the public hearing 
on Wed. 7/5 at One Texas Center (505 Barton Springs), in the 8th floor 
conference room, at 6:00pm.  For more information on the plan, check 
out this website:

     http://www.austin.quik.com/canfield/scbl



======================================================================
 BIKE LANES:  Reader comments about proposed parking ban 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lane Wimberly, a cyclist who lives on Shoal Creek, writes:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The family who lives across the street from me on Shoal Creek has a 
boy approx. 8-10 years old.  He and his friends ride their bikes along 
Shoal Creek occasionally.  On more than two or three occasions, I 
personally have witnessed traffic either slowing and honking or 
screeching to a noisy and terrifying halt while heading northbound 
around the subtle bend just south of our houses because these children 
were forced into the traffic lane while passing cars parked in the 
bike lane in front of their house.  I'm not exaggerating in the least, 
and there are others along the street here who have seen it.  It's 
quite unnerving.


 Patrick Goetz of the city's Urban Transportation Commission writes:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"In its current configuration, I would not feel comfortable about 
letting my children ride a bicycle on Shoal Creek Blvd., and expect 
that there are lots of other people who feel the same way.  Adults can 
be expected to safely negotiate the maneuver of transitioning from a 
bicycle lane into the flow of traffic in order to go around a parked 
car in a bicycle lane.  An 8 or 10 year old might not be able to do 
this safely.  Shoal Creek Blvd. is considered to be one of the safest 
and most pleasant bicycle routes in the city.  If we can't let our 
children ride a bicycle on this street, then where, pray tell, can we 
let them ride a bike?  All other arguments aside, this reason alone is 
sufficient for me to support the plan.

"Childhood activities clearly influence subsequent adult behavior.  
It's considerably less likely that someone who didn't ride a bicycle 
as a child will take up bicycling as an adult.  Do you have any idea 
what's going to happen in 20 years when petroleum reserves are almost 
completely depleted?  I don't either; no one does, but discouraging 
people from taking up bicycling is probably not a step in the right 
direction.

"The City of Austin is actively involved in trying to increase the use 
of alternative transportation options in order to reduce traffic 
problems and help alleviate the air pollution which has become a 
serious problem in Austin in the last 5 years (to the point that we 
are now no longer in compliance with federal clean air standards).  In 
particular, the Dept. of Transportation has been charged by the city 
council with the responsibility of trying to increase the number of 
people in Austin who use a bicycle for basic transportation.  The 
implementation of car-free bicycle lanes is probably the single most 
significant thing that Public Works can do to encourage transportation 
bicycling, as it provides a safe route for inexperienced bicyclists 
who are afraid and/or feel that it is unsafe to bicycle in automobile 
traffic."


======================================================================
 INTERNATIONAL:  TX Bicycle Coalition attends conference in Amsterdam 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This week Amsterdam hosted Velo Mondial 2000, a worldwide conference 
for bicycle advocates.  The Amsterdam setting was appropriate, since 
probably no other city on the planet has a higher per capita ratio of 
bicycle riders.  Representatives from the Texas Bicycle Coalition 
attended the event (Gayle Cummins, Preston Tyree, and Robin 
Stallings), and we'll expect a full report when they get back. :)
In the meantime, here's some conference information and photos:

  VELO MONDIAL:  http://www.velomondial2000.nl/

  TX BICYCLE COALITION'S PHOTOS:
               http://www.biketexas.org/tbc_to_holland.htm



======================================================================
 HIGHWAYS:  CAMPO approves SH 130 with Mayor Waton's swing vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------

CAMPO, the regional transportation planning agency, recently approved 
the controversial State Highway 130, without requiring the eastern 
alignment preferred by the neighborhoods and local governments.  That 
means the highway can and probably will be built along the western 
alignment preferred by the Texas Turnpike Authority (whose head, Pete 
Winstead, just coincidentally happens to be the head of the Real 
Estate Council of Austin.  Imagine that.).  Our own Mayor Watson was 
the swing vote in favor of the highway, an incredible fact which the 
Austin American-Statesman somehow forgot to report.

Is the worst thing about this highway that we can't afford it, or 
that it won't relieve congestion on I-35, or that's it's a public 
subsidy for the rich in disguise?  Decide for yourself:

  Our page on SH 130:   http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/sh130

  Austin Chronicle article on SH 130:

   http://www.auschron.com/issues/dispatch/2000-06-16/pols_naked3.html


======================================================================
 PHOTOS:  Bicycle icon markings in roadways
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                            by Richard C. Moeur, rcmoeur@earthlink.net

The icons in the following photos were developed by the City of Denver
and adopted by the City of San Francisco.  The markings have not been 
approved for U.S. roads and streets except on an experimental basis.  
For more information, contact James Mackay of the City of Denver:
  mackajd@ci.denver.co.us

   http://members.aol.com/azbikeclub/newstuff/bikearrow/arrow2.jpg
   http://members.aol.com/azbikeclub/newstuff/bikearrow/arrow3.jpg


[Every reminder to motorists that we have a right to the road sure 
 helps.  Thanks to Mike Dahmus for forwarding Richard's email.  Richard
 is a traffic engineer in Arizona.]


======================================================================
 PUBLICATION / SUBSCRIPTION INFO               Michael Bluejay, editor
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
      http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle              bluejay@mail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

We currently have 595 subscribers, up 7 from the last issue.  (In the 
previous issues we were up 10, 32, 44, 10, 14, and 14.)

Back issues are available on the Biking in Austin website.

Biking in Austin is published one to four times a month.  You're
getting this newsletter because you either asked for it, or you
joined the austin-bikes discussion list.  (As advertised, joining the
discussion list gets you an automatic subscription to this newsletter.)

If you no longer want the newsletter, send a blank email to:

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If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you want your own 
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   austin-bike-news-subscribe@topica.com

Articles are by me if uncredited.  Articles by others may have been 
edited for grammar, clarity, conciseness, superstition, or just for 
the hell of it.

Before writing with questions, please check the Biking in Austin 
website to see if your question is answered there.  Here are some 
useful links:

  Bike Safety...........   michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/safety.html
  Back Issues...........   michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/newsletters
  Traffic Laws..........   michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/laws.html
  No Justice for Cyclists  michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/justice
  Calendar..............   michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/calendar.html
  City's Bicycle Program.  www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle
  Tracking License Plates  www.publicdata.com

Don't worry about copying, saving, and bookmarking 
all the website URLs you see throughout these newsletters.  Links to 
these sites appear on the Bicycling in Austin website, for one-stop 
URL shopping.

Thanks for reading this far.  Ride safely! :)  -MBJ-


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