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I frankly don't have a good guess of the measured distance between the buttons, but my qualitative sense is that they're too close to safely exit the cycletrack at a moderate recreational cycling speed. (I'm not fast, and I'm definitely not a racer.) If I did want to exit, I feel like I'd have to slow down and make a turn (as opposed to veer around them) and that presents its own problem once a cyclist is in the main vehicle lane. The next time I use that facility, I may stop and compare it to the length of my bike. The spacing is probably a little longer than the length of my bike, but not by much.
Mostly, I wish there were signage indicating either that it's a cycle facility or the proper operation by pedestrians. (Don't use both lanes; be mindful of cyclists.) There are already a lot of signs around that facility.
I am not a fan of these buttons at least in one specific application. The cycletrack on Arroyo Seco is separated from the main vehicle lane with these. Residents of the area treat the cycletrack as a multi-use path, so there are frequently pedestrians walking dogs (and taking up both lanes) or joggers running with bike traffic wearing headphones. Because of this, it's often desirable to leave the bike lane to navigate around these rude users. The buttons are spaced too closely together to easily get out of the bike lane and into the main lane, so I'll have to brake until a dog owner reels in their mutt, etc. Obviously, part of the problem is that it's unclear if this facility is a cycletrack or a multi-use path, but the buttons make it all the more dangerous,
Mike, I generally agree with your criticism of the cycletrack on SB Guadalupe, but your assertion that "Pedestrians didn't stand in the bike lane because they had to go past a row of parked cars just to get to it; it was clear that the bike lane was part of the street and not the sidewalk." is somewhat untrue. At the West Mall crossing, there was no car parking in the very broad crosswalk area, although the buses did stop there. At the corners of 21st and 24th, there was also space clear of cars between the street corners and the bike lanes. It was certainly more clear that the bike lane was part of the roadway and pedestrians generally didn't walk out into the roadway until the walk signal went on.
Re:Undergrads losing their sense of space while on smartphones. This is just an annoying problem all over the campus area. It's just as annoying for campus pedestrians like me and motorists. I imagine UTPD will start paying attention once a kid is mugged or assaulted when they're spaced out on their phone.
There's all kinds of bad roadway behavior on the Drag and in West Campus. My office is now in West Campus, and I hear colleagues complain about kids ignoring the signals entirely and walking into the roadway. I'm pretty fastidious about my walking between there and campus proper, but a day doesn't go by when I have to be assertive with a motorist refusing to yield the crosswalk.
One thing cyclists do that's really annoying for me as a pedestrian is running the red light at the West Mall crossing and at the four-way reds on Dean Keeton. It's usually fixiebros flying through those lights and weaving through pedestrians at speed. It can be a little spooky, and I find it aggravating since it doesn't put a good public face on cycling.
I think the facility is designed poorly in a variety of ways. At the bus stop in front of the Co-op, if you're exiting from the rear door (like you're supposed to) you have to turn left to exit the island. For busy buses like the 1s and 3, there is invariably a wad of people trying to board the bus, so riders are stuck in a tight crowd on the island. The island is oriented in the other direction at 21st Street, which is just confusing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that CapMetro didn't think through how riders would get off the island.
Anyway, I don't think this facility was a good idea. In the near term, I think the painted-in pedestrian islands at the West Mall and 21st St should be taken out since sidewalk congestion at those spots wasn't all that bad to begin with.
Here's the Craigslist ad; it looks like Nate posted the link for editing.
(2) You spelled out part of your phone number -- like someone with a history of having to get around filters.
This is standard operating procedure on Craigslist these days. I would not interpret this as evidence of a scam.
I check the BikingATX subreddit regularly, and someone asked a question there that might be better posed in this forum. The used asked "Why did they black out the bike lane arrows on Shoal Creek?" No one had a genuine answer, so I thought I would post it here.
Here is the thread in question:
http://www.reddit.com/r/BikingATX/comme … arrows_on/
Here's the 411 from UT Campus Watch email list:
1900 BLOCK SAN JACINTO BLVD.
Aggravated Robbery / Possession of a Controlled Substance / Possession of a Dangerous Drug: A UT staff member was stopped while riding his bike by a non-UT subject driving a dark colored Jeep. The subject asked the staff member for directions, then pulled a realistic replica of a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at the staff member. The suspect then demanded all of the staff member's money. The staff member rode away quickly and notified the UT Police Department. The responding officers quickly located the suspect two blocks away. During the investigation, the officers located the weapon inside the vehicle and took the suspect into custody for Aggravated Robbery. Officers also discovered the suspect was in possession of not only a controlled substance, but was also in possession of a dangerous drug. The officers transported the suspect to Central Booking Additional charges for Possession of a Controlled Substance / Possession of a Dangerous Drug were filed. Occurred on: 3-12-12, at 7:07 AM.
R1 is shorthand for "Research 1," which is an outdated category for designating the largest research universities. I was using it to distinguish college towns like Lawrence or Champaign from little places with a little college, like say, Northfield, MN. Obviously, College Station would not be a good place to bike, but other places like Lawrence would have a lot going for them and a low cost of living.
It's no wonder the state's bicycling infrastructure needs some help when folks like this work at TXDOT:
…John Hurt may be taking this workplace fealty thing too far.
It turns out that Hurt, the longtime spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation's Austin district, actually lives in northwest Harris County.
@bizikletari, this seems like a matter of different offices with different priorities pursuing somewhat contradictory actions. I believe the LAB materials were submitted by the bike coordinator, who's has an obvious professional interest in not only just improving bicycle conditions on campus but also getting recognition for his work. I doubt he has much pull with UTPD or the Blanton in changing this policy beyond coordinating public forums like the one discussed above.
It sounds like you're looking for R1 college towns. Lawrence KS is the first place that comes to mind. I wish I could have gone there for undergrad.
It looks like it's back now: http://www.atxbs.com/?q=node/5076
Here's an interesting tidbit from the Statesman story:
Public records show Woodman, who was a registered nurse, served a year under the Texas Department of Corrections for an obstruction of a highway offense that occurred in October 2009.
Isn't "obstruction of a highway" a typical charge when DAs plea bargain DUI cases? If that was the case here, the justice system apparently put an irresponsible driver back on the road.
Hey Andrew,
This seems like an interesting event. Do you have any route advice for riding to your office from UT or downtown?
I'm sure this has been hashed out here before, but a commenter on Reddit says APD has been ticketing cyclists for running stop signs at 30th and Speedway.
I just saw a couple of officers handing out tickets at the corner of 30th and Speedway to bikers who roll through the intersection. They're being pretty strict about it too; make sure you plant both feet so they can see you're totally stopped.
Good day!
Does anyone know what standard APD applies for ticketing cyclists? I've been reading Reddit quite a bit over the past few months, and it, um, offers a lot of opportunities for cyclist education, particularly in the UTAustin and CyclingATX subreddits.
I think two factors that might lead to a better outcome than Shoal Creek are that first there are already road humps on Cherrywood and the other arterials in the neighborhood. (Lafayette, 38 1/2…) Secondly, the neighborhood seems pretty split on the bike lanes, unlike the vocal majority of the Nueces property owners. The folks complaining were making somewhat legitimate arguments about gentrification that were pretty specious in this particular context. There were plenty of residents two weeks ago that supported the bike lanes.
I saw in this morning's Statesman that the Austin Cycling Association may be losing its tax-exempt status.
Where was your car parked? I don't believe parking is permitted in any of the bike lanes in my neighborhood.
I get the UTPD "Campus Watch" email, which is a daily newsletter detailing some of the recent police calls. For the past few days, the email starts with some notes on motorist and cyclist safety. There are a few things in this that stick in my craw, so I thought I would post it here.
It starts with some reminders for motorists:
Vehicle Safety
Only practice and experience can make one a good driver. Most highway crashes are due to the driver's inexperience or temperment. To become a good driver, one must follow several rules.
Give driving your full attention. Dangerous distractions like texting, talking on your cell phone, or eating should be avoided.
Learn to drive in different situations like night driving, highway driving or driving in bad weather. We call this situational driving.
Obey the traffic laws and the rules of the road.
Relax and enjoy your trip.
It's nice that UTPD wants motorists to relax and enjoy themselves. Now here's the passage directed toward cyclists:
Bicycle Safety
The weather is turning warmer and more and more students / staff / faculty are deciding to ride their bicycles around campus. As the gas prices continue to rise, this trend will increase.
With more cyclists on the road, I would like to take the time to remind everyone of some basic rules. Bicyclists are required to follow the same laws as if they were operating a motor vehicle. These laws are enforceable and can result in traffic citations being issued.
You can help avoid these citations and keep everyone safe by doing the following:
· stopping at red lights and stop signs,
· yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks
· paying attention to lane markers,
· riding near the curb, traveling in the same direction as traffic, and
· having a light on the front and a red reflector or red light on the back of your bike while riding at night.
· most areas of Austin ,as well as UT, bicycles are banned from riding on the sidewalks.
While I welcome the UTPD's acceptance of the growing popularity of cycling, I can't help but think UTPD singles out cyclists for enforcement here. I walk around campus quite a bit, and I think it would be great if UTPD were better about enforcing crosswalks and stops, but it's not the cyclists I'm worried about. There are a fair number of annoying brats on bikes that try to weave through crowds of pedestrians, but these road users don't scare me as much as the motorists plowing through stop signs on Speedway or through four-way reds on Dean Keeton.
Two of the items seemed problematic to me. First the advice to ride near the curb seems like very bad advice, particularly for new riders. The way this is written seems to suggest that it is unlawful to ride away from the curb. The last item seems flat-out wrong. It's not a good practice to ride on the sidewalk, but CoA only bars bikes from a few areas downtown and near UT. It is correct that bikes aren't permitted on UT sidewalks.
It's disappointing and frustrating that UTPD seems so unaware of cycling best practices and singles cyclists out as road hazards.
I saw the news today that Google has invested $1 million in a New Zealand startup Schweeb, which is developing a human-powered monorail system. It looks like recumbent bikes trapped in capsules that run from a track.
It's worth clicking through to check out the pictures. I'm somewhat skeptical of how well this would work in Austin. It seems like those capsules could get pretty steamy, and the prospect of using a unit after someone has perspired all over the seat seems pretty gnar.
Google's Weirdest Investment Yet? $1 Million To Human Powered Monorail Company Shweeb
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-h … eeb-2010-9
Google has invested $1 million in Shweeb, a New Zealand company that wants to make bicycle monorail pods to transport people around urban areas.
The investment was part of Google's "Project 10^100," which asked people to submit world changing companies/ideas for Google to invest in.
The other companies that received money:
* Khan Academy for putting education online.
* FIRST, a non-profit for science and engineering education.
* Public.resource.org to make government more transparent.
* The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which provides education to African students.Shweeb is supposed to "drive innovation in public transport." The money will go towards funding research to see if these pods can work in urban areas. We could have saved Google $1 million. This will not work.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-h … z10l4dw4fx
I'm willing to bet the motorist made a right-on-red without first stopping.
Bicyclist killed in South Austin
Monday, June 28, 2010, 12:10 PM
A man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a dump truck this morning near the intersection of Interstate 35 and Ben White Boulevard, police said.
Austin police said the truck had been at a stoplight and was facing north on the Interstate 35 frontage road when he turned east onto the Ben White Boulevard frontage road.
Police said the cyclist was traveling east on the Ben White frontage road and that the truck driver did not see the cyclist.
Authorities describe the victim as a white male in his 40s from Austin.
His identity has not been released, pending notification of his family.
Based on what DeeKay wrote, I tried to reconstruct the "legal path" in gmaps pedometer:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3817037
I think the issue for DeeKay is that to use this path he has to turn left across MLK, which is a busy four-lane street. Bike lane or not, it does involve merging across two lanes of traffic.
I'm a wimp about stuff like that, so I would take Brazos from 17th as vattiat suggested.
one driver stopped properly because the sign said "No Right Turn on Red", but the woman behind her just LAID on her horn, angry that the person in front was stopping on red, even though it was required by law and even though there were peds in the crosswalk.
I don't doubt that LA is a pedestrian-hostile environment, but I've seen that happen at 6th and Lamar. My favorite is the left-on-four-way-red that happens routinely at Dean Keeton and University.
Judging from the old thread, there are folks who may be interested in helping this year.
http://bicycleaustin.info/forum/viewtopic.php?id=38
I think he's talking about the steps in front of the Blanton on the north side of MLK, where Speedway used to connect. Bikes are prohibited on all UT sidewalks, and, there, a cyclist has the choice of going down stairs or weaseling down the ADA ramp.
Hi Nadia,
The link is broken, but only because you put a period at the end. Just plain old http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/bicycle.htm works fine.
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