Our Advocacy Chair, Barry Schiller, let us know that: The Senate version of a vulnerable road user bill, S625, sponsor Sosnowski, is up for a hearing Tues April 9 before the Judiciary Committee in Room 313 at the “rise” (adjournment) usually about 4:30pm or so. If you can, please come by, even if just to… read more
Advocacy
Volvo to Demo Cyclist Detection System
According to an MIT Technology Review article, Volvo will be demonstrating a new cyclist detection system at this year’s New York Auto Show. The system uses a camera embedded in a car’s rearview mirror, combined with a radar instrument in the grill to scan the road ahead. If it spots an object, an onboard computer… read more
30% Mode Share Shift
The Tauton Daily Gazette posted an article with a quick update on the South Coast Bikeway. Started in 2011, the South Coast Bikeway Committee was formed with a goal of creating a bikeway from the Rhode Island border to Cape Cod. For those in the East Bay, this would be huge boon. The current plans… read more
Bicycle Facility Survey Seeking Respondents
. A student at the University of Colorado sent us a request to solicit help in finding survey participants for a bicycle transportation and infrastructure survey. Most of the survey is structured as a survey of the types of roads and facilities currently ridden for transportation and then a longer piece focused on choosing between… read more
U.S. DOT Paving Its Own Path for Bike/Ped Standards
According to an article on the DC StreetsBlog, In FHWA’s new round of rule-making, DOT will set its own bicycle and pedestrian safety standards for the first time. The agency will “highlight bicycle and pedestrian safety as a priority,” LaHood said. For years, U.S. DOT has leaned heavily upon AASHTO guidelines for setting it’s bicycle… read more
vulnerable road user bill hearing Tues March 5
So on Tuesday, March 5 at the “rise” – which means when the session that starts at 4pm ends – the House Judiciary Committee has a hearing on a slew of bills that relate to highway safety. This will be in the House Lounge on the 2nd floor. One of the bills is H5777, the “vulnerable road user” bill that… read more
highway safety bills at RI Assembly
Bicyclists, understandably concerned about highway safety, should be aware that about 30 bills related to that subject have been filed at the General Assembly. One is a reintroduction of our “vulnerable road user” bill, H5777, sponsored again by Representative Teresa Tanzi of Narragansett. That bill ups the (currently negligible) penalties if a careless motorist, not taking due care, kills or injures a… read more
Not Enough Cyclists Killed to Count?
The League of American Bicyclists is mounting an email campaign in an attempt to help persuade the US Department of Transportation to add a requirement to their pending legislation which will require the collection of bicycle and pedestrian statistics. In particular: The US Department of Transportation is required by the new transportation law to establish… read more
Help Us Create the East Coast Greenway
The East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA) has received some comments over the last few years about part of the ECG route through Providence. Issues include tough intersections, steep-angle railroad track crossings, and more. We aim to improve that routing by mid-March, and thanks to bikemap.com, ECGA now has a great online “wiki-mapping” tool allowing anyone… read more
Sec. LaHood Stepping Down
Earlier this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced he would be stepping down from the Obama Administration. If you haven’t heard Sec. LaHood speak on the topic of active transportation, you’ve missed out. Rails-to-Trails is mounting a campaign to encourage people to speak up and let the Obama Administration know that they need to find… read more
AASHTO Bike Guide Webinar
If you are involved in bicycle advocacy, then you likely know that AASHTO released the fourth edition of their guide for developing bicycle facilities last year. Many groups around the country, including here in RI, are advocating to have their local DOT groups adopt these recommendations as their guiding principle over the more traditional DOT… read more
US Bike Commuter Map
A recent post on governing.com provided an interactive map of US bike commuting activity. It’s worth a few minutes of your time to take a quick look. A few things to note: Date is based on the 2011 census numbers Bike commuting numbers do not necessarily reflect everyone who uses a bike for at least… read more