About ten months ago, I had an opportunity to read over the DMV manual and what it had to say about bicycles. At the time I was shocked to learn how little information they included and of the information they did include, a rather large percentage of it was focused on how cyclists should act. … read more
Advocacy
Biking and Walking: Our Secret Weapon?
More fitness. America’s obesity epidemic curbed. Less gasoline burned, fewer carbon emissions. Safer streets. Improved access to public transit. Those are just some of the reasons why biking and walking proponents say it’s time for the federal government to focus less on new and expanded highways, and far more on safe pathways and “complete streets”… read more
House Passes H5074
The RI House passed, what can now best be called an “Unsafe Passing Bill”, this past Saturday. You can read the entire bill (pdf format) online. Apparently, the bill was ammended on the floor of the House before passage, but, as of yet, we have been unable to determine what exactly these changes were. In… read more
U.K. launches $8M plan to aid cyclists (06/25/2009)
From today’s ClimateWire: Britain’s Transportation chief announced plans yesterday to provide better cycling facilities at major railway stations around the United Kingdom. The $8.2 million fund will allow for the creation of 10 terminals that provide improved cycling facilities for commuters, including better storage space and specialist shops. “I want to see every major station… read more
Help Pass No-Texting Bill
From Barry Schiller: The RI General Assembly may be going into its last week but there is still a chance to pass a bill to enhance safety for bicyclists and other roadway users by banning text-messaging while driving. A bill sponsored by Senator Sue Sosnowski, S204A, to do this has already overwhelmingly passed the State… read more
Cellphone Bills Hung Up
At the beginning of the year, the House had two separate bills introduced. One would have banned text messaging while driving (H5021) and the other would have banned non-hands-free mobile phone and/or text messaging (H5022). In both cases, the House Corporations Committee has “recommended measure be held for further study”. In other words, the bills… read more
H5074 Update
The House Judiciary Committee recommended the passage of H5074 Sub-A yesterday. As such, you can finally read the Sub A version of the bill online. The bill will now go before the entire House. My understanding is that in most cases this just a formality, as the House members typically follow the recommendation of the… read more
Vulnerable Roadway User Bill Update
This afternoon, the House Judicary Committee was considering H5074. Dick and I stopped by the State House to show some support from the cycling community. Unfortunately, the bill being considered by the committee isn’t available online anywhere, so I can’t provide a pointer for everyone. We did manage to get our hands on a copy… read more
bike commuting: route assistance needed.
Can someone help a brother cyclist out? The PBC received this message: “Was wondering if there is a good way to determine a safe (er) route for biking to work. I live in Providence and work in Mansfield, MA. My one attempt at biking to work was awful and w/o a foldable bike (or desire… read more
Signs Along the East Bay Bike Path
Over the past few weeks, I’ve come to realize there are a LOT of stop signs missing at the intersections along the East Bay Bike Path. This got me to thinking… before someone from DEM notices this and just replaces the signs, should we approach them and ask to have a study done to determine… read more
Montreal introduces ambitious bicycle-sharing program (05/14/2009)
Montreal welcomed North America’s first large-scale bicycle-sharing program yesterday with a flight of 3,000 specially designed bicycles distributed among 300 closely spaced stations. Bixi, the bicycle-sharing system, operates around a computer chip-based, solar-powered, WiFi-enabled base station. Logistically, the use of solar power makes it easier to add base stations around the city if the demand… read more
Three Days to Go…
We are just three days away from the 2009 Bike to Work festivities and the word on the street is, what little bicycle infrastructure we have, isn’t ready: Overall the commute was better than it had been for the last few years. I have ridden to work very little since the I-195 path closure. It… read more