Subject: Bicycle Newsletter 1-23-00 Date: 1/23/00 5:38 PM To: austin-bike-news-post-snot2@topica.com ###################################################################### /__/ == /_____/ BIKING IN AUSTIN NEWSLETTER ___/ \ _/ \___ covering bikes as alternative transportation / /\ \/___/\ \ \___/ & \___/ bluejay@mail.com * michaelbluejay.com/bicycle Michael Bluejay, editor Jan. 23, 2000 ###################################################################### [See very end for publication info, and how to unsubscribe.] [Please visit our website: http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle ] T W O W H E E L S G O O D , F O U R W H E E L S B A A A A D. ###################################################################### #### C O N T E N T S : #### #### FROM THE EDITOR: Contest winners #### #### CARS: Fuel cells will change the world as we know it #### #### RIDES: Ruta Maya rides every Sunday; Critical Mass this Friday #### #### EVENTS: Bicycle songwriter David Rovics performs in Austin 1-24 #### Bikes Not Bombs Video Documentary Th 1-27 & Sun 1-30 #### #### JUSTICE: Jay Williams is hit-and-run; police are no help #### #### ADVOCACY: The politics of sidewalks (by Dave Dobbs) #### #### WORLDWIDE: Italy bans cars from 14 cities on Sundays #### #### DISCUSSION: Newcomers to Austin think we suck #### #### CLASSIFIEDS: Used bikes for sale #### #### Publication / Subscription info #### ###################################################################### ====================================================================== FROM THE EDITOR: Contest winners, and website updates ---------------------------------------------------------------------- So out of 500 subscribers, only 3 of you bothered to let me know which of the bicycle logos you preferred. In a stunning 2-1 victory, the incumbent logo will remain for another term. As you may recall, telling me your logo preference entered you in the contest to win a free red blinking bicycle light. Sure, the prize wasn't as great as the state lottery, but the odds were a hell of a lot better. To show my appreciation, ALL THREE entrants win a red bicycle light. Congratulations to: Cael, Bill Jarrold, and Minh Winners, please send me your postal addresses and I'll get your lights out to you. In other news, reader Mike Dahmus suggested a while back that I include a Site Update list on the Bicycling in Austin website so visitors can easily see what sections have been updated. Truthfully, I resisted this for some time just because I felt overwhelmed and adding the update list would mean even more work, but he was right: that feature is essential, and the extra work is worth it. So under the GENERAL INFO heading on the website, please notice the new listing for SITE UPDATES. Here's a sample of other recent updates to the site: * Overhauled the Alphabetical Index to make it easier to use (GENERAL INFO -> ALPHABETICAL INDEX) * Created a new page on Elections (NEWS -> ELECTIONS) * New page on media criticism about their coverage of bike issues (NEWS -> BAD MEDIA) * New page on Rumble Strips (GET INVOLVED -> IDEAS FOR MAKING CYCLING SAFER) * Added help on Getting Around the Arboretum to the Routes page (GETTING AROUND -> ROUTE HELP) * Updated the meeting schedule for the Bicycle Advisory Council (RIDES / EVENTS -> BIKE CALENDAR) * Added Jay Williams' account to the No Justice for Cyclists section (NEWS -> NO JUSTICE FOR CYCLISTS) * Overhauled the Political/Technical Info page (GETTING INVOLVED -> POLITICAL/TECHNICAL INFO) * Added Car Busters to the Links page. (OTHER STUFF -> OTHER BIKING WEBSITES) According to one local bike activist, "Michael Bluejay spends 0.0 actual hours on bicycle advocacy," and so all the above, along with this newsletter, is part of that 0.0 hours of advocacy work. :) ====================================================================== CARS: Fuel cells will change the world as we know it ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you haven't heard of fuel cells yet, you will. Fuel cell technology produces clean electricity from hydrogen, with the only emissions being pure water vapor and heat. This paves the way for an easy migration from combustion-based cars to electric ones by removing the main problem with electrics: the lack of a clean, efficient power source. Electric cars have traditionally been powered by lead-acid batteries, which are heavy, contain toxic materials, and often have a short lifespan. Experts believe the question is not IF cars of the near future will run off fuel cells instead of gas combustion engines; the question is how soon. Naturally, the impact that the conversion to fuel cells will have is a complicated one. The obvious advantage is that the use of fuel cells in cars should DRAMATICALLY improve air quality and sharply curtail the production of greenhouse gases, by levels that could be matched today only by taking the overwhelming majority of existing cars off the road. On the other hand, while fuel cells BURN cleanly, they are not necessarily a renewable energy source; the fuel source for fuel cells is hydrogen, and right now fuel cell companies seem to prefer non-renewable sources for their hydrogen such as natural gas and petroleum. In addition, clean-burning cars don't remedy other problems caused by automobiles, including sprawl, congestion, public subsidies for driving and parking, and danger for bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists. In fact, these problems might grow even worse, as governments and citizens abandon any minor limitations they had previously placed on driving once that they think that with fuel cells the problems with cars are "solved". A number of companies are scrambling to rush commercially-viable fuel cell systems to market. Some of these are listed on my socially-responsible stocks page at: http://michaelbluejay.com/sri ====================================================================== RIDES: Ruta Maya Sunday; Critical Mass this Friday ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A relatively new informal ride leaves from Ruta Maya every OTHER Sunday. Riders meet at Ruta Maya (218 W. 4th) at 11:30am for a coffee hour, with the ride starting around 12:30. Historically, Ruta Maya has offered each rider one free beer or one free coffee, and 20% off anything else, although I can't promise they'll do that every time. For more information, contact Kenneth Marsh . And as a reminder, Critical Mass meets this Friday, leaving the UT West Mall (on Guadalupe between 22nd & 23rd) at 5:00pm. There were about 80 riders on the last ride, on Dec. 31, 1999. There was also no police intervention, although that could have been because the police might have taking a "hands-off" approach to the whole millennium partying thing. ====================================================================== EVENTS: Bicycle songwriter David Rovics performs in Austin Mon. 1-24 Bikes Not Bombs Video Documentary Th 1-27 & Sun 1-30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- D A V I D R O V I C S , 1 / 2 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - David Rovics, a political folksinger/songwriter from up north who's written about bicycles, will be performing at Pato's Tacos (on 38 1/2 just east of the Fiesta supermarket) tomorrow night (Monday) at 7:00pm. I've had a short review of a couple of his songs on the Music section of the Biking in Austin site for about a year now: Biking in Austin -> Other Stuff -> Music Here's Rovics' take on auto pioneer Henry Ford, from the liner notes about his song "Henry Ford was a Fascist": "Henry Ford was an openly anti-semitic, greed-driven capitalist who used Jewish slave labor in Germany to help the Nazis kill American soldiers and many, many other people. History is rarely as clear cut as it appears in the capitalist American ('mainstream') press, and WWII was no exception." B I K E S N O T B O M B S , 1 / 2 7 & 1 / 3 0 by Wisdom Roots - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Bikes Not Bombs crew who traveled to Chiapas, Mexico to deliver bicycles to refugees will present a video documentary of their journey this week. The documentary is entitled BICICLETAS PARA TODA LA RUTA MAYA. Dates and venues for showing are: THURSDAY JAN. 27, 2000 (7pm-9pm) at THE RITZ LOUNGE, 320 E. 6th St., Austin, Texas (512-474-2270) SUNDAY JAN. 30, 2000 (From 8pm) at RUTA MAYA COFFEE HOUSE, 218 W. 4th St., Austin (512-472-9637) LIVE MUSIC BY ROOTS-N-WISDOM Please come and join friends and supporters of the CHIAPAS BICYCLE PROJECT of BIKES NOT BOMBS for the viewing of this important video about their international social work in Chiapas Mexico, all through the regions that are called LA RUTA MAYA. For more information please contact bikesnotbombs@mailcity.com ====================================================================== JUSTICE: Jay Williams is hit-and-run; police are no help ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ED. NOTE: Last month, Jay Williams was struck by a hit-and-run motorist, and got nearly no assistance from the police, even though witnesses got the license plate number of the vehicle. Below is his letter to city councilmember Daryl Slusher requesting assistance, followed by some additional information he sent us. But we can't publish this letter without saying that we're not completely convinced of councilmember Slusher's commitment to bicycles. We witnessed him talk citizens into giving up their speaking time at a city council hearing promising them that a REPEAL of the helmet law was imminent, when in fact the council only amended it. Insiders claim that Slusher adamantly opposed a full repeal, and that he hasn't supported banning cars from bicycle lanes. But anyway, this letter is not really about Slusher; it's about Jay Williams and the police, so we'll shut up and let Jay do the talking. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Mr. Slusher: Ê In the past you have shown a special interest in public safety and have also advocated for bicycle riders on many occasions. Because of this, I am writing to you to request help on a problem I have. Although the problem directly concerns me, I believe it would also be of interest to the public in general and definitely to other bicycle riders. On the night of December 17, while riding my bicycle, I was run over by a hit-and-run car driver. I sustained two broken legs, a light concussion and numerous cuts and bruises. When admitted to Brackenridge Hospital, it was serious enough to be classified as a level two trauma incident. I am recovering (still not back to work yet) but this is not the problem. The problem is that as of this date, the Austin Police Department has not taken any action on this incident--even though witnesses provided APD with a description of the driver, a description of the car and a license plate number. Even if the APD wasn't sure who the driver was, I'd think they could have impounded the vehicle. This isn't the case though. My brother, a lawyer in Houston, called APD shortly after the incident and inquired about it. He discovered that the case (#99-3511578) was assigned to someone on vacation. After a little pressure, my brother got APD to assign it to someone who wasn't on vacation (Det. Patrick South). My father also called several times and only recently received a return call. At that time, the officer would only state that my case was moving up the list. I admit that this happened at a busy time for APD. I also realize that they have a lot of active cases to keep them busy. However, to me it seems like this might be an easy case. One in which if they couldn't get who actually did it, at least get his vehicle. As my friends tell me, by now the hit-and-run driver probably fixed the car, sold it to someone who took it to Mexico and then has moved to some other state. This doesn't seem fair. So I was hoping you might be able to at least make an inquiry to APD for me. Perhaps if a city council member were to show an interest, the APD would too. Again, I admit that this problem largely concerns me. However, as a hit-and-run driver is still out on the streets somewhere, at least it also has some public interest. I appreciate your time and wish you continued success on the city council. Sincerely, Jay Williams Austin, TX 78751, 453-4236, cojmw@mail.utexas.edu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Jay wrote to add the following on 1-15-00:] Unfortunately, I have no memory of much of the accident. My last true memory was riding south on the road just west of Hancock Golf course. I was hit on 38 1/2 street, although I don't remember turning onto it. The exact location is Liberty and 38 1/2, or one block east of Duval and 38 1/2. According to witnesses, I was on the right side of the road when the driver of the car hit me. I went up onto the car and hit the window. He got out, yelled something and then drove off. I don't know what he yelled, but I doubt it was an apology. My father went to the site the next day to take photos and estimates I may have been thrown up to 50 feet (I have some doubts). Parts of my bike definitely made it that distance. However, the only thing I remember is looking up and seeing four people looking down at me. I did have two lights on. Both were blinking red lights. One was attached to the back of my bike, the other I wore on my left arm so people can see it in front, back and left side. According to witnesses, the lights were working even after the accident. No headlight though. No helmet either. I admit, I was extremely lucky. I was also lucky as the witnesses were right behind the guy who hit me and I believe they called EMS and APD as those people seemed to show up pretty quickly. Although time didn't mean much to me. In fact, I don't even remember being loaded in the Ambulance or the ride to Brack. The more grisly details: I had four breaks in my right fibula, two breaks in the right tibia, one break in the left tibia, lots of bruises, including a few to the head, and a light concussion. I was in the hospital and live-in rehab for 12 days and still haven't returned to work (at UT), although I hope to hobble in next week. I'll try to keep you up to date on the police progress--nope, nothing yet, even though witnesses gave description of guy, car and license plate. Sheesh. [Ed. note: Based on the license plate number provided by Jay, we were able to identify the vehicle and the driver (name, address, etc.). However, it's not yet clear whether the license plate number was seen by just one witness or multiple witnesses, so it's not certain whether we have the right car and driver. Also, Jay's attorney has advised him to have no contact with the alleged driver while the police "investigation" is pending, though as of today when we called Jay, he had still heard nothing from the police (or from Slusher's office).] [Ed. note 1/24: Slusher's office informs us that Mr. Slusher is very concerned about Jay's case, and has forwarded Jay's letter to police chief Stan Knee, asking him to respond to both Jay and to Slusher's office.] ====================================================================== ADVOCACY: The politics of sidewalks Dave Dobbs, ddobbs@realtime.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Marsh wrote: "How does Austin get away with such crappy/non-existent sidewalks anyway? Aren't there laws about wheelchair access in commercialized areas or something?" Dave Dobbs replies: You will be happy to know that from the late 70's city councils vastly under funded road repair and sidewalk infrastructure. When he was an Urban Transportation Commissioner, Roger Baker, wrote a long, informative and damming article in the Austin Chronicle on the neglect of our city streets and the role of public works while we spent our money helping suburban developers infrastructure fringe development. For 25 of the last 30 years the most typically deferred or deleted amenity from new developments, especially on the edges as the city moved out, was sidewalks. During the Cooke and Todd councils the city virtually abandoned their city charter responsibility vis-a-vis sidewalks and left the task to Capital Metro who must have sidewalks if the buses are going to work. This was finally institutionalized by the "Build Greater Austin Program" (BGA) in 1993 through an interlocal agreement between Capital Metro member cities and the transit authority to rebate a percentage of the transit tax collected to each city for the repair, construction, and enhancement of roads and sidewalks. Austin gets about $8 million annually from this source. Almost all city sidewalks are funded from this money, but as you would expect, only where buses go. (Cap Met has to sign off on the use of BGA funds. Because the city was caught red-handed misusing the funds, this is a closely audited fund. The city bureaucrats, of course, tried to blame Metro and the CMTA auditor who blew the whistle was fired as a sacrificial lamb.) Because council was so reluctant to fund road repair out of the general fund we got a transportation fee on our utility bill thanks to then councilman Bob Larson. This has some merit, of course, in linking those who use the roads to payment for the repair of them, something like the gasoline tax. It generates between $13 (1999 actual) and $15.5 (2000 projected) million annually (source COA budget) up from about $6 million/yr. when it was first instituted. [Ed. note: Cyclists who don't have cars are exempt from this fee. See the opening page of the Bicycling in Austin website for details.] And, yes indeed, I think the city could be successfully sued over ADA access. I mentioned this to Dave Girard in Public Works the other day. I told him that sidewalks seem to be a place to locate utility poles, signs, bridge supports and almost anything except pedestrian and bikes and that they (the city) were really were wide open under ADA. He said they are aware of this and working on it. It is an enormous problem requiring huge outlays of money to fix which is one of the best arguments for urban rail, asap, because that will generate high tax returns for low infrastructure cost from dense development a quarter mile around rail stops. These areas will also be bike and people areas with reduced auto usage. Bob Farr wrote: "My understanding of TX DOT policy is they do not consider sidewalks, or bike access for that matter, as relevant to construction planning.... Handicapped access only becomes an issue once the sidewalk is constructed but not when there is no sidewalk in the first place." Dave Dobbs replies: See the Texas Constitution on the matter of transportation funding. [Biking website -> Getting Around -> Sidewalks] This coupled with the fact that TxDot is directed by three commissioners appointed by the governor for set terms makes the highway department what Molly Ivins calls "The Pentagon of Texas!" I was told that TxDot actually did fund and build the sidewalks along Manchaca Road from William Cannon to south of Slaughter Lane. It's a sorry job full of utility poles and minimally complying with ADA. While riding my bike I discovered that part of the sidewalk near where Shiloh intersects Manchaca is so narrow in its initial construction this last year that even TxDot concedes it doesn't comply and has promised to fix it. As soon as I made note of possible ADA problems to a city public works employee, a TxDot person immediately called me back and specifically identified the point in question. This was interesting because I was referring to the project in general when I called the city. TxDot employees know they have a problem, but it remains to be seen if anything will change. Incidentally, could not the "extra lane" (on either side of Manchaca which is stripped off from the travel lanes and used for right turn lanes at intersections) be painted with a 4 foot wide bikeway next to the curb with an 8 foot buffer to the travel lane? That might save it from being turned into a travel lane in the future. and give cyclists a better route than the really inadequate sidewalk. Besides, the sidewalk will be illegal once businesses line the street. ====================================================================== WORLDWIDE: Italy bans cars from 14 cities on Sundays ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting next month, driving will be prohibited in fourteen Italian cities every Sunday, including Rome, Milan, and Florence. City governments enacted the ban to reduce air pollution, which is a health hazard and destroys the country's prized ancient monuments. In a test run in September, eight cities saw an average drop of 35% on the car-free day. Italy reportedly has one of the highest ownership ratios in the world: 32 million cars for its 57.5 million people. The Guardian has a longer article on this issue at: http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,121821,00.html ====================================================================== DISCUSSION: Newcomers to Austin think we suck ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In the last issue, we ran a letter from a Denverite who had planned on moving to Austin, but decided not to after she visited and saw that the city wasn't as bike-friendly as she'd heard. Right after that, we got a letter from a Lawrence, Kansan who did just move here, and is unhappy about her inability to traverse her area of town easily by bicycle. (The headline is ours, not hers.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hi Michael, I'm sorry, but I moved here. OK, so I'm adding to growth. Now I'm trying to have less impact by riding my bike. I live on Faro Dr. (off E. Riverside, east of (UN)Pleasant Valley. How the hell does one get around this part of town? Any route I ride has to be really safe, since I haul my 2-year-old in a trailer. Oh, I am a single mom. For the first two weeks here, my parents were with us and took my son to daycare so I was able to ride to work. I tried various routes to avoid Riverside and I cross I-35 at Woodland. From there to work (I-35 and St Edwards) is no problem. My problems are: 1) getting from home to Woodland, and 2) getting to town lake for weekend fun. I either have to risk our lives on Pleasant valley or go way west for access to the lake- and by the way, the bridge has a sidewalk that's so narrow I don't think another rider could pass us, so it's a problem for getting downtown too.) Maybe you can shed some light on this. I am really missing Lawrence KS, where I could bike to everything in a 3-mile radius. Thanks, Dana.Hurlburt@tpwd.state.tx.us - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Ed. note: We had few good suggestions for Dana. All we can do is hope the city will improve the ridability of Pleasant Valley in the future.] ====================================================================== CLASSIFIEDS: Used Bikes for Sale ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [No current ads. Send me some. This is free, you know!] AD POLICY --------- Ads for individuals up to four lines are free, and run for six months or until you tell me to remove it. Ads are accepted ONLY through email at bluejay@mail.com. This newsletter is geared towards people who ride for transportation; if you're trying to sell a $1000+ racing or mountain bike, it probably won't sell well here. Commercial ads are $10 per insertion per issue for up to three lines. Email me to get an account set up. We reserve the right to reject any ad or to suspend its publication for any reason. Actually, we don't even have to have a reason. ====================================================================== PUBLICATION / SUBSCRIPTION INFO by Michael Bluejay, editor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle bluejay@mail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We currently have 492 subscribers, up 14 from the last issue (which was up 14 the week before that). Back issues are available on the Biking in Austin website. Biking in Austin is published about once every week or two. 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: austin-bike-news-unsubscribe@topica.com If that doesn't work, visit the Topica website at www.topica.com. If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you want your own subscription, send a blank email to: 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. News submissions that focus on bikes in general or on bikes as alternative transportation are welcome, but please don't be upset if I don't have room to run them. (I've already got plenty of material for dozens more newsletters.) Please don't write to us about sport or off-road cycling, since we don't cover those areas. Also, please don't send OPINION pieces for inclusion in the DISCUSSION column of this newsletter. I get material for the Discussion column by selecting highlights of the discussions on the austin-bikes email list (see above). Post there, and your opinions may show up here. 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 Yellow Bike Project.... michaelbluejay.com/yellow City's Bicycle Program. www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle Tracking License Plates www.publicdata.com Calendar.............. michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/calendar.html 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-