Bike Light Coupon - Good Through Nov. 30

A vast number of groups are sponsoring an effort to help people get lights on their bikes, and just generally be more visible when riding at night. It's billed as "See & Be Seen." I think the "Reflectorize Your Walk & Ride" events are probably part of the same endeavor. 

There's a 10%-off coupon available online (just print it out) good for a discount on lights at many of our local bike shops:

• Earl's Bike Shop
• The Hub Pedal Project
• Fanatik Bike Co.
• Kulshan Cycles
• DropNzone Bikeworks
• Fairhaven Bike & Ski
• Jack's Bicycle Center

I'm disappointed in REI for not participating.

Sponsors:

• City of Bellingham
• Whatcom County Traffic Saftey Task Force
• Kona
• Mt. Baker Bike Club
• Casade Radio Group (KGMI)
• Western Washington University
• everybodyBIKE

Word.

Bicycle Justice!

With some peer pressure, Portland bicyclist rethinks running red light [video on website]

By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian 

Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 1:35 PM

As a frequent bicycle commuter in Portland, I get a little exasperated when I hear a motorist condemn "all bicyclists" as color-blind scofflaws who blow through red lights.

It’s frustrating because it’s far from true.

But I understand the irritation among motorists. Commuting on my bike, I get irked when I a group of riders on a busy street respect the law and stop with the rest of traffic, only to see one of my fellow two-wheeled travelers zoom through the intersection.

Fact: It makes us all look bad.

As Tom Vanderbilt wrote in his best-selling book “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We do (and What It Says About Us),” whenever someone does something good or something bad on the roads, “we keep score in our heads.”

Usually, the score is sorely inaccurate, clouded by commuting chauvinism and pre-existing stereotypes.

Let's say, during rush hour, 30 motorists and 10 bicycle riders come to a red light. Nine of the bike riders stop, but one breaks from the pack when the light is still red. For many of the motorists, the actions of that single lawbreaker will likely negate the safe and respectful actions of the bicycle riders waiting for the light.

Vanderbilt writes:

“When bicyclists violate a traffic law, research has showed it is because, in the eyes of drivers, they are reckless anarchists; drivers, meanwhile, are more likely to view the violation of a traffic law by another driver as somehow being required by the circumstances.”

Among bicyclists, it tends to go the other way -- they're far less forgiving of motorists committing the same traffic violations.

So, as I pedaled into work with the Hard Drive helmet-cam running Tuesday morning, I tried something new. I said something to another bicycle rider who was rolling through a red light at North Vancouver and Stanton Street.

Traffic, including five other bicycle riders, had stopped for the light. Watching him precede, I shouted out what I was thinking: “It makes us all look bad.”

That's where things could have become a little dicey.

Others in the bike pack could have easily stayed silent or turned on me, telling me to pipe down. The rider could have given my an impolite salute and continued riding -- or confronted me.

None of that happen. The other cyclists literally gave me thumbs up and even joined in, politely encouraging the guy to wait for the green.

In response, he braked and turned around, a little embarrassed, but seemingly OK with being called out.

I wonder if he would have surrendered as easily if a driver had pointed out his lapse in judgment.

I'm not sure I'd do it again. But it was an encouraging encounter.

Apparently, on the street, a little peer pressure can be good to win hearts and minds.


Source

Fun PR From Everybody Bike

Last month Everybody Bike debuted a new marketing campaign aimed at encouraging non-cyclists to take up biking. It features a series of posters of local individuals, and places their cycling in context -- if these folks can do it, so can you!
Check 'em out...

Meridian Project, WSDOT Response to my Comments

Back in July I wrote some comments on WSDOT's latest project on the Guide Meridian, SR 539 - I-5 to Horton Road - Mobility Improvements, and sent them along to the project team. The project manager at WSDOT, Kerri Woehler, wrote in response (pretty quickly -- I'm a bit slow in posting them). Her comments are after the break.

Guide Meridian Project - Interim Report Published

Back in April we mentioned an upcoming project to keep an eye out for -- Guide Meridian from I-5 to Horton is getting some attention from WSDOT. The project is SR 539 - I-5 to Horton Road - Mobility Improvements. There was some gathering of public input, but somehow I missed it all.

The project team just released an interim report (PDF) that discusses where the money comes from (the feds), why (border-area vehicle traffic flow), and what ideas are and are not being considered for the next phase of the project.

They haven't decided exactly what they're going to spend their $3 million on, but they have ruled some things out. The whole push is for "Access Management" of the project area. They're looking at eliminating the center turn lane and installing a center median with a few left-turn pockets, and consolidating driveways. There are also several options under consideration as additional fixes for the stretch from I-5 to Bakerview.

They plan to make the decision on exactly what the project will include by the end of Sept.

From a bicycling perspective the report is disheartening. Because the funds are tied to vehicle mobility, the project team isn't even considering mobility improvements for non-motorized vehicles.

However, they are accepting comments on the interim report, and mine ask them (politely) to at least not make things worse by doing things that will get in the way of later projects to improve safety and mobility for all forms of transportation. I think they would be happy to hear from you, too. Just do read the report first...

Read my comments on the interim report after the break.

How Should the Baker to Bay Trail Cross James St. (near Sunset Pond)?

The City is in the planning stage for projects to improve James St. near Sunset Pond. The projects will replace two old bridges, and the road will be widened to add sidewalks, bike lanes, and a center turn lane.

Later projects in the same vicinity are planned to add a new section of Orchard St. that will connect the existing stretches on either side of I-5 via a tunnel under the freeway. I don't know if it's part of the same project or not, but there's also a plan to add a multi-use path along Squalicum Creek from Sunset Pond west, also under the freeway. This will be part of the Baker to Bay Trail.

Traffic Talk reports that the city planners are asking the City Council which one of four options they want for having that new trail cross the improved section of James St. -- the answer will have an impact on the design and possibly the placement of one of the replacement bridges.

Drawings of the four options, via Traffic Talk
Staff Report to council, with descriptions of the four options

If you have opinions on how the trail should cross James St., tell your City Council Reps. They'll be discussing it on Monday the 11th, first at a meeting of the Public Works/Public Safety Committee (that's Barry Buchanan (CHAIR); Jack Weiss; and Gene Knutson), and then at the full Council meeting. The committee meeting is at 1:25-2:45 in the Council Chambers, and the full Council meeting is at 7pm. Agenda.

Via

Lessons for us, from Copenhagen

Some cycling leaders from Seattle recently got to spend a week in Copenhagen studying and touring the bicycle infrastructure there -- the organizers were i-sustain. The Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Cascade Bicycle Club were represented, as was the City of Seattle Dept. of Transportation and the Seattle City Council (and probably others).

The rep. from the Bicycle Alliance wrote a wrap-up post: Ten Lessons for a Vibrant City. It's worth checking out.

The rep. from Cascade Bicycle Club notes a telling quote: "“If you don’t have the infrastructure, you can’t expect people to cycle.” -- Niels Jensen, planner with the city of Copenhagen

And that's the bottom line.

Huzzah to Bellingham for having some! But we've got a whole lot of work still to do.

Moving Commuter Fringe Benefits Closer to Parity

As you may or may not know, federal law via the IRS Code lets businesses pay for certain commuting expenses on behalf of their employees without that money being counted as income when the employees file their taxes. Meanwhile, the business gets to treat the loot they spent as a tax-deductible business expense. The feds are then short some tax receipts.

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the law gives more tax benefits to people who commute by car than to those who take transit or any human-powered mode. The law provides these monthly maximums [see TITLE 26 > Subtitle A > CHAPTER 1 > Subchapter B > PART III > § 132, (f)(2)] [also available from GPO's FDSYS]:

• Parking: $175
• Transit or commuter van: $100
• Biking: $20

And the biking benefit is hard to claim -- there are limits & rules that place a burden on the cyclist to prove their worthiness. Meanwhile the employer does all the work for the parking benefit.

Apparently some of these amounts have been adjusted by recent legislation that is not yet noted in the Federal Code. Here are the IRS rules for employers in 2011:

• Parking: $230
• Transit or commuter van: $120
• Biking: $20

Whatever the exact benefit maximums are, the League of American Bicyclists has a page with information about them. It offers advice to both employers and employees on how to go about implementing and claiming the benefit. There's also company called Commuter Check that's focused on implementing the benefits.

That's the way things stand now.

Rep. Blumenauer (OR 3 - D) wants to change things. He has repeatedly proposed a bill called the Commuter Relief Act (most recently in May), which would set the amounts at:

• Parking: $200
• Transit or commuter van: $200
• Biking: leaves it at the current rate

His bill doesn't just move toward parity in the amount of the benefit, though. It would also make several changes to actually promote not driving.

• makes it easier to claim the biking benefit
• lets employees combine the bike benefit with the transit benefit, with a total cap of $200
• makes employers offering the parking benefit let employees opt for cash instead
• expands the van pool benefit
• lets self-employed people use the transit benefit

Doesn't that sound nice? Instead of preferentially supporting parking for cars, the law would tip the playing field somewhat in the other direction by allowing people to forgo the parking benefit, giving them the option of applying it to other things.
If you support this idea, tell your Representative to Congress to support H. R. 1825, the Commuter Relief Act.

Monday 6/3 Hearing on Eliza St./Mall Connector: Comments to City Council

This coming Monday night the Bellingham City Council meeting agenda includes 30 minutes for a public hearing on the 2012-2017 Transportation Improvement Program. This is your opportunity to speak against Project # 6: Eliza Avenue Multimodal Arterial Connection. I've written about it before. This is the project that will turn a quiet stretch of Eliza into an extension of the mall, thereby choking off the safest portion of the cycling commute between Whatcom Community College and parts south.

The meeting is at 7pm in the City Council Chambers -- here's the agenda. 

I urge you to attend and speak against this project.

If you can't, please email the City Council and tell them your concerns. Here's what I wrote to them:

-------------------------

Council Members,

I'm writing to oppose Project #6 in the 2012-2017 TIP, "Eliza Avenue Multimodal Arterial Connection". This project, as described in the TIP, will have a negative impact on the safety of bicyclists commuting to Whatcom Community College from the south -- and there are more of us all the time.

It proposes to bring arterial-levels of traffic to a road segment (Eliza between Northwest and Matanuska) that cannot handle both that much traffic AND bicyclists at the same time. The price tag of the project is low because it's not a complete project. It will create a hazard where there currently isn't one.

Please do not support this project until it is redesigned to take the safety of bicyclists into account. It should not go forward without, at a minimum, removing parking from both sides of Eliza and also adding bike lanes to both sides. The most preferable alternative is fund the entire sidewalk/curb/gutter/bike lane portion of the project at the same time as building the mall connector.

I wrote to you last year about this project as well.

There's more information at my blog:

http://bellinghambikeblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/eliza-stmall-connector-bad-for-bikes.html

I would speak against it Monday's Council Meeting, but I work at that time and can't make it.

Please tell me you're not going to put me in with mall traffic on a road with no bike lane.

Thank you,

US Bicycle Route System: Economic Impact

BikingBis has a post today about the U.S. Bicycle Route System (see previous post) and how much money touring cyclists drop on local towns. He links to some studies that say it's pretty significant.

I still say folks in Bellingham, particularly Fairhaven, should be jumping all over this since we will be blessed with a plethora of routes (if not cyclists) when our State's system is complete. All it needs is money, and wouldn't you know there's some fundraising happening...
http://www.razoo.com/story/Usbrswashington

City Council Gives Go-ahead for Bike Lanes + Enhancements on Northwest/Elm/Dupont!

On Monday, May 9 the Bellingham City Council voted 7-0 (see Agenda Follow Up) to direct city staff to prepare plans for bike lanes and pedestrian enhancements on Northwest/Elm/Dupont between I-5 and Whatcom Creek. Council allocated $20,000 for the designs, which are to be done this year so the lanes (and other enhancements -- see below!) can be installed in 2012.

City staff prepared a report to Council (PDF linked from Meeting Agenda) on the issue. The report makes clear that the reason this project can't be done in 2011 is because it's not just a matter of painting lines on the road. As envisioned by city staff, this project also includes recommendations from the Fountain District Urban Plan and the City's Comprehensive Plan to add curb bulb-outs at a couple intersections, possibly an enhanced crosswalk (the flashing kind) at Elm & W. Connecticut, and maybe landscaping and street trees along Elm, and several other pedestrian improvements elsewhere along the route. Dealing with all the bus stops is apparently also going to take some doing.

The report includes all the comments submitted at the open house in writing, and via email & phone. Email/phone comments came in 92 for bike lanes, 21 against. Written comments were transcribed but not categorized.

Also noted in the report is the results of recent 4-hour bike counts along the corridor:

• Northwest at McLeod:
• 2008 -- 129
• 2009 -- 67
• 2010 -- 92
• Dupont at F St.:
• 2009 -- 135
• 2010 -- 165

(Update: Counts come from the Washington State Documentation Project, whose reports are at WSDOT's biking site.)
Here's an article from the Herald about the vote.

I'm very happy to see the Council move forward with this proposal. Bike lanes, bulb-outs, etc., as well as less on-street parking, should make this route safer. Making it safer should increase the number of people willing to bike on it. That is a Good Thing.

Bellingham: Integral part of U.S. Bicycle Route System

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/usbrs/

There's an effort underway to create a national network of signed routes for bicycle touring, and the plan shows Bellingham being a hub, of sorts.
The Adventure Cycling Association has announced the U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS), for which they are currently raising money.
The route corridors are already planned out (PDF map) -- they're careful to say they're planning general routes within 50-mile-wide corridors rather than naming specific roads. The plan is for organizations within each state to take up the mantle and get the work done. In Washington State the local partner is the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, and they are fundraising this month to get Route 10, across the northern part of the state, up and running. WSDOT is also a partner.
Bellingham comes into the picture because, as the Bicycle Alliance notes, Route 10 will link Idaho to the Alaska Ferry -- which docks in Fairhaven.
But note that Route 87 (north/south just east of the major cities linked by I-5) appears to terminate at nearly the same spot as Route 10.
And Route 95 (north/south along US 101) crosses both 87 and 10, probably in Burlington, before heading into Canada from Whatcom County.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/usbrs/

This project could conceivably bring additional adventure cyclists through the county, many of whom are heading for the ferry. Local restaurants and lodgings could see a boost from additional bike tourism! If that's important to you, then you should probably help get the project underway.

http://www.razoo.com/story/Usbrswashington

Spring Showers

Now that I'm commuting to work by bike, it's inevitable that I will get rained on at this time of year, but I get to hear the birds singing to welcome the spring showers. That's a fair trade-off to me. :)

Personal Advocacy Advice from Commute By Bike

Commute By Bike has a post today entitled "It's Bike Month: Get Out There and Proselytize!" It features tips on spreading the gospel of cycling, including:

4. Don’t Proselytize, But Be A Resource
3. Adapt Your Pitch For Each Potential Convert
2. Tell A Personal Story, But Don’t Be A Windbag


More at the source.

Pedestrian Master Plan: Workshop

The City of Bellingham is working on a Pedestrian Master Plan, and they'd like your input. The first public workshop is coming up:

When: Wed. May 11, 2011 from 5:30 to 7:30
Where: City Council Chambers (210 Lottie St.)

If you can't make the meeting you'll be able to watch the presentation online via Bellingham TV Channel 10 and submit comments online at cob.org/walk.

Source.

Will You Ride With Sophie?

Cascade Bicycle Club has a cute cycling advocacy campaign: "Will you ride with Sophie?" I think it's new.
The video is very well done (if maybe a smidge too long).

Via

Trip Chaining

One of the best ways to achieve transportation efficiency is to incorporate the idea of trip chaining into your life.

The basic idea is to run errands only when you've saved up multiple stops such that you can minimize total distance traveled. It works with any mode of transportation. For example:

• Friday I drove 7.5 miles and visited three stores in one trip. Driving to each individually would have been 17.4 miles. I avoided driving 9.9 miles by planning ahead. 

• Saturday I had four stops lined up before I ventured out on my bike. Totally distance traveled was 3.9 miles. Round-trip distance to each would have been 6.8 miles, so I shaved off 2.9 miles.

Even if you don't care about saving money on gas, or reducing your carbon footprint, or avoiding the effort of biking so many miles, trip chaining will still save you time.

Here are some tips on trip chaining from "Drive Less Save More".

And that's the lesson for today.

Seattle Road Diet: Mayor Gives Go-Ahead

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikeprojects/ne125.htm

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn  has decided to accept his Dept. of Transportation's recommendation to change a dangerous stretch of road from 2 lanes in each direction to one lane plus a center turn lane, plus bike lanes, plus bus pullouts, plus pedestrian crossing improvements. He makes his case clearly, publicly, and with citation to evidence. His conclusion:

I understand the concern that these changes will harm mobility or cause cut-through traffic. But the evidence from prior projects demonstrate that on a street like this, the capacity should be sufficient to handle the projected traffic without significant impacts on mobility or cut-through traffic. It also shows that the safety issues are real and substantial, and the proposed changes will help. For this street, the changes make sense.

Read the Mayor's entire explanation at his blog.

Now that's what I like to see -- a mayor moving ahead with a road-safety project even in the face of organized opposition. But note that there was organized support as well, and they out-performed the opposition. Lessons to be learned...

Via Seattle Bike Blog.

Feds Approve Green for Bike Lanes

Green Bike Box. Photo: www.pedbikeimages.org / Laura Sandt

BikePortland.org reports that the Federal Highway Administration will now let states and other local jurisdictions use green to mark on-street bike facilities (like bike lanes and bike boxes). It's 'interim' approval because the change hasn't been incorporated into the official FHWA's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), but it'll likely get incorporated in the next official update.

I think it would be great to see Bellingham start to implement this idea. Does anyone know if the City has been thinking about it?

The FHWA memo:  http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interim_approval/ia14/