According to an update posted on the H5865 legislative status page, the vulnerable roadway user bill is scheduled for a hearing on 3/30/2011. We don’t know a time yet, but please pencil in this day on your calendars. Once we have a time, we will send out another update. People will need to come out… read more
News
“vulnerable road user” bill filed in RI
At our request Representative Joe McNamara (D-Warwick) has filed H5865 which increases the penalties if a “reckless” driver seriously injures or kills a vulnerable road user, which includes bicyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users, highway workers, skateboarders, those driving animals or ag equipment. The bill was assigned to House Judiciary , the Committee that last year approved… read more
A DOT “cozy” with bike advocates? If only…
New Yorkers with ties to a former transportation commissioner and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer’s wife are suing New York City for a bike lane they say decreased safety on a street through a wealthy Brooklyn neighborhood. In the lawsuit filed yesterday in the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the New Yorkers allege that the city’s… read more
RIBike Night @ RI VeloSprints
Join RIBike and US Open Cycling at EMS this Wednesday night @ 6pm for a night of head to head spinning. This is a great chance to come out in support of US Open Cycling and learn about RIBike’s mission and current projects. We need to hear from you! What are your big areas of… read more
MapQuest Adds Cycling and Pedestrian Directions
MapQuest posted on their blog today that Due to popular demand – and our desire for options – we’ve just released worldwide pedestrian and bicycle routing on all of our open.mapquest.* sites along with domestic transit routing on our Open.MapQuest.com site! The bicycle and pedestrian routing is wholly based on OpenStreetMap data – if it’s… read more
Removing Roads and Traffic Lights
I just happened upon an interesting article published in Scientific America. A mathematician in the 1960’s, Dietrich Braess, discovered a paradox: in a network in which all the moving entities rationally seek the most efficient route, adding extra capacity can actually reduce the network’s overall efficiency A real life test of this paradox played out… read more
Is it time to let go of “Share the Road” and move towards “Take the Lane?”
Here is a thought-provoking, real-life article that – I think – points to the necessity of cyclists being “courteously assertive” when it comes to claiming our space on the roads. Never – think I – should a cyclist be flattened because they were doing their best to share the road. Simply put, if the lane… read more
30 YEARS to achieve a reduction of 11 injuries!!
The reaction in the Netherlands to the bicycle accident reminded me of comments I provided on behalf of the Providence Bicycle Coalition a couple years ago. The comments refer to the state’s long-term transportation plan, which it must develop periodically in order to retain eligibility for federal funding. Sorry to say — very little has… read more
RAB Moving Day – Saturday Feb. 19th
This coming Saturday, Recycle-a-Bike is gathering for their first moving day. We received the following request: We are looking for 12-15 volunteers to help us take down our shed. The day will be broken into two shifts, 8am – noon and 1-5. We’re looking for people to help out either in the morning or afternoon.… read more
Breathing Slightly Easier
Word on the street from Washington, D.C. is that for the time being, biking and walking have been spared from the congressional chopping block: Of the nearly 600 amendments to the 2011 House budget bill (HR1), biking and walking, Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School were not singled out to be cut. It’s an… read more
What’s Wrong with Johnston?
Several bike related issues came up at yesterday’s Environment Council’s roundtable with RIDOT Director Mike Lewis. One agenda item was an update on earmarks, special Federal funds that are paying for most of our state’s bike projects, but are threatened by the new Congress. According to a December 2010 update, one of the largest remaining… read more
Get Ready to Act
I’m hearing from many different sources that this week may well be a pivitol week for bicycle and pedestrian funding. Advocates in Washington D.C. feel that Congress may well be voting on federal budget cuts which could target biking and walking funds. If such a vote comes up, the various organizations are asking that each… read more