TRANSPORTATION: Lawmakers to examine Obama’s ‘livability’ efforts Josh Voorhees, E&E reporter President Obama’s “livability” initiative will be under the microscope this week as two congressional panels hear from federal and state officials about transportation planning and land use. The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee will meet Wednesday to take a closer look… read more
Advocacy
Affected by a Recall, Try a Bike!
Are you one of the many people plagued by the recent automobile recalls? Plagued by stories about sudden acceleration and failing brakes, the press is reminding us how danger it can be to drive an automobile. A recent segment on NPR discusses the current Toyota recalls and the fact that, while the mechanical and electrical… read more
Commuter’s Conundrum #1
OK! Now that we have the helmet issue settled (not), let’s move on to something increasingly germane as this part of the globe warms and more folks begin to ride. Here’s a situation you may face as a cyclist… Uphill light. Right lane turns right only. Left lane for going straight on or turning left. … read more
“Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around”
Exciting! From the City of Providence’s “Art Culture & Tourism Newsletter”: The 2nd Annual Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities March 9 @ Trinity Rep Hosted by Mayor David Cicilline City of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline invites you to a panel conversation with musician, artist and author David Byrne; urban historian Samuel Zipp,… read more
Recycle-A-Bike seeks board members
From John Powning: RECYCLE-A-BIKE is a volunteer-based community bike education and maintenance collective that promotes bicycling as a safe, fun, sustainable, and empowering mode of transportation. We provide the greater Providence community access to the skills and resources to maintain, repair, and build bikes in a workspace where all are welcome. We are currently located… read more
Pleasant Valley Parkway: post-hearing report
Last night’s (Feb 8th) hearing was… interesting. The City’s proposal was quite good, I thought, addressing only that section of PVP between Rosebank Ave and Justice St. Currently, the roads on both sides of the median/stream have 2-way traffic, leading to tight squeezes and high confusion at intersections. Where the road meets Rosebank (at the… read more
Attitudes toward the Cyclist
Everyone that I work with knows that I ride my bicycle to work. By now they don’t even give a second look when I walk in the building in spandex (for the most part). A recent comment made me stop and consider what folks must be thinking. For the second time in a month someone… read more
Eight New RIDOT Projects
An article in today’s Projo lists eight new projects RIDOT announced will be funded with Federal stimulus money. From an advocacy point of view, I think it’s important for our group to stay on top of lists like these, review areas RIDOT is working in, and see if there are any infrastructure improvements that can… read more
Good news from USDOT!
Thanks to our friends at Greater City Providence for alerting us to this… USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood is making his mark, and the result will be better opportunities for active transportation projects. Check out this press release. In a nutshell, the criteria used to evaluate projects for funding are expanding. Instead of simply looking at… read more
sunday streets and bike/transit connections
I want to call attention to two items in the latest League of American Bicyclists e-newsletter. One refers to “Sunday Streets.” The article focuses on San Fransisco, noting that due to its past success it is being expanded. On 9 Sundays in 2010 in different parts of the city, some streets (including roadways in Golden… read more
Bike Highways
This was in the New York Times “Year in Ideas” section today. We have the beginnings of a bike highway here in RI — but as the Danish infrastructure consultant warns, you really need to create the bicycle culture first, not the highway. A bike highway and a dense network of city bike lanes —… read more
Sharrows: it’s official
The 2009 edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD, for those who enjoy alphabet soup) is finally out after a v-e-r-y lengthy delay. The MUTCD is the national guidebook published by the Federal Highway Administration that defines and regulates all traffic control devices, traffic signs, traffic signals, and pavement markings in the… read more