On Wednesday Nov 12, the city planning department will present a summary of the charrettes held for the Fox Point, College Hill, and Wayland Square neighborhoods. The meeting will be from 6-8 pm in the dining room of the Lincoln School (where the north end of Butler Ave meets the south end of Blackstone Boulevard).… read more
Advocacy
Opening the waterfront to bikes and pedestrians — in Boston
Work on South Bay Harbor Trail is launched Bike, pedestrian path intended to open waterfront By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent | November 8, 2008 City and state officials marked the formal launch of work on a new bicycle and pedestrian pathway yesterday designed to open Boston’s waterfront to formerly landlocked neighborhoods. Organizers say the 3.5-mile… read more
U.S. Approves Plan for Interstate Bike Routes
U.S. Approves Plan for Interstate Bike Routes SportsOneSource Media Posted: 11/4/2008 The United States is on a path to creating what could become the largest official bicycle route network in the world, thanks to the approval of a new plan by America’s leading authority on national route designations. The American Association of State Highway and… read more
Models for Green Future
CITIES: New York’s future is green, city’s planners say (11/04/2008) Saqib Rahim, ClimateWire reporter While Washington pundits haggle over cap-and-trade policy, effects on industry and energy costs for regular Americans, New York City is taking its climate policy in a different direction: making its green city as alluring as possible. New York is projected to… read more
If I was President…
I happened upon the above image on the Streetsblog site. This sign, and others like it, were created by students at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Washington Heights, K-5 students from Hamilton Heights Academy and P.S. 28 (along with at least one parent or guardian) added a livable streets flavor to the… read more
Blackstone Boulevard Meeting Comments
The meeting went quite well, I thought. The upshot is that the lanes will not be removed. A few complainers were there to vent, but the overwhelming opinion was that the new scheme is a change for the better. Present from the city were Cliff Wood, Lt. Schiavulli, Lt. Ryan, John Nickelson (DPW), and Linda… read more
TRANSIT: Urban bike programs hitting many bumps in the road
U.S. cities hoping to lessen air pollution and traffic congestion through bike programs are facing unexpected questions over funding, accident liability and even “anti-bike” activists. The first enthusiastic wave of bike-sharing programs worked on an honor system — bikes donated or left over from police auctions were left on racks throughout cities, trusting that users… read more
Proposed Changes to Rhode Island Driver’s Manual
About three months ago, I hand an opportunity to read over parts of the Rhode Island Driver’s Manual. At the time, I was shocked by how little information the manual contained about bicycles and, even more surprised by how much of the information contained actually tried to address cyclists rather than motorists. I posted these… read more
Get Bikes Off the Roads
Need something to get you warmed up as the weather turns cooler? Look no further than this morning’s Projo. A letter to the editor posted this morning claiming that It is often suggested that automobile drivers should learn to share the road with bicyclists. In my opinion, it is foolhardy and dangerous for bicyclists to… read more
Catering to people first, then bikes, then cars
Sustainable neighborhoods — ‘bobo’ ghettos or future cities? (09/10/2008) Special to ClimateWire LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The sustainable neighborhoods Europe has been creating over the past 20 years are yielding positive results, including lower greenhouse gas emissions. Yet these communities are few in number and are quite small compared to conventional neighborhoods. The very concept of… read more
Back To School
By now, most everyone is aware the school is back in session and you’ve likely seen many articles in local papers reminding people of this fact. Most of these articles, as they should be, will be targeted at reminding motorists to slow down, obey the school zones, and be patient with the school buses. In… read more
Has the electric bike’s future finally arrived? (09/02/2008)
In 2000, Gary Coffrin thought he heard opportunity knock. A major electric utility, American Electric Power, was scrapping a multimillion-dollar effort to sell electric-powered vehicles as the future of transportation. Sitting on the clearance rack: fleets of electric bicycles, sleek two-wheelers sporting battery packs.Coffrin, who had worked in the bike industry for decades, bought several… read more