Bicycles key for walkable and accessible American streetscape; solutions to 5 common excuses to not ride to work; a new light to prevent being caught in a blind spot; and more
* For a truly walkable, accessible, friendly American streetscape, city planner Jeff Speck argues that “cycling has got to be the most efficient, healthful, empowering, and sustainable form of transportation there is."
* Bike commuters in Washington D.C. (and elsewhere) power though the winter cold, the Washington Post reports.
* Speaking of winter commuters, did you know that during the dark and rainy weather of February 1974, school children were "forced" to use their bicycles on field trips. During the fuel crisis that winter, there simply wasn’t enough gasoline for school buses to be used for extra-curricular activities.
* LA Streetsblog looks at the bike collisions that go unreported
* A London bicyclist has kickstarted a new innovation for urban cyclists: The BLAZE bike light. Aimed at preventing a bicyclist from being caught in the blind spot, the BLAZE is a front light with super-bright LEDs that also projects the symbol of a bike down onto the road ahead of the cyclist, alerting road users of the bicyclist’s presence.
* “It’s too cold/too hot”, “I don’t want to get sweaty”, “It’s too far”: Bicycle Magazine provides solutions to the five most common excuses to not ride to work.
* Traffic safety cameras in Seattle school zones to help keep kids safe. The City of Seattle is implementing a program to help curb dangerous speeding in school zones, reduce collisions and enhance the safety of children and pedestrians. In the one-month warning-citations period, cameras caught nearly 6,000 speeders near four Seattle schools.
* DC Streets Blog reports that a group of British health researchers have found that biking is safer than sitting on a couch. The British national health authority is advising UK residents to make walking and cycling the norm for short trips, in order to reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with the nation’s obesity epidemic.
* Two-Way Protected Bike Lane Coming to the Heart of Downtown Chicago. Chicago has made some real strides toward becoming a world-class bicycling city since Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor, promising 100 miles of protected bike lanes. The city DOT is moving ahead with a new, two-way protected bike lane on Dearborn Street, bringing safe cycling to the heart of downtown.
* Seven ways to make bike-share more accessible: Bike-sharing has been one of the most rapidly spreading transportation innovations in American cities but one cloud looming over this happy development is that not all residents have benefited equally from bike-share. which has tended to generate a disproportionately affluent ridership.
* USA Today reports that bicycle-specific stoplights, which are common overseas, are now used in at least 16 U.S. cities. (Locally, there is one located on North 34th Street in Fremont).
* Dutch pro cyclist and journalist Marijn de Vries goes on a humorous rant about electric bicycles and how these “fake cyclists” destroy her morale.
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