m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • Bike bills going before House Committee

    The Michigan House Transportation Committee is taking up three bills at 10:30 AM this morning which directly impact bicycling in Michigan.

    Below are the bills and their legislative summaries.

    What can you do? Contact your state representative and voice your support.

    Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and the League of Michigan Bicyclists will be at the committee meeting to provide testimony.

    We’ll also note that both Representative Knollenberg and Representative Leland are cyclists. Even though they represent different parties, they’re both members of the bicycling party.

    Penalties for injuring vulnerable road users

    • HB 4958 – Representative Knollenberg
    • HB 4959 – Representative Leland

    House Bills 4958 and 4959 would impose criminal penalties on those who commit a moving violation while operating a motor vehicle and as a result cause injury or death to a “vulnerable roadway user” on a highway.

    The term “vulnerable roadway user” refers to a pedestrian or a person on a “nonmotorized transportation device,” such as a bicycle, skateboard, roller skates, or inline skates. The penalties would apply when the vulnerable roadway user was complying with traffic laws.

    Causing injury would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

    Causing death would be a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 15 years and/or a fine of up to $7,500.

    Driver Education: Bicycle Awareness

    • HB 4960 – Representative Leland

    The bill would require that driver education classroom instruction include information about laws related to bicycles and emphasize the awareness of bicycles on streets, roads, and highways. The bill would amend the Driver Education Provider and Instructor Act (MCL 256.657).

    The section being amended applies to “segment 1” teen driver training. This is the initial driver education program for individuals 17 years of age and younger. Driver training is not required for individuals 18 and over to obtain a driver’s license (although it is available).

  • Vote for a bike rental system in Detroit

    B cycle bike rentalB cycle is one of the emerging players in public bike rental market. Cities like Denver and Minneapolis are looking to roll out these B cycles.

    If you can get past the anti-car vibe, there’s a video describing how B cycles work on their web site.

    Imagine how cool this would be in places like downtown Royal Oak, Ferndale, or Detroit? It seems we would integrate rental stations with the proposed streetcar line on Woodward to really increase transportation options for those wanting to get to Eastern Market, Corktown, or Belle Isle.

    This may not be so far fetched either as we’ve been discussing rental options with Detroit officials.

    What can you do to help us move this forward? Please take a minute to vote for Detroit (ZIP code 48226 works) on the B cycle web site.

    Of course Wheelhouse Detroit already rents bikes. Wouldn’t a B cycle overlap with what they’re already providing? Perhaps a little, but I think the Wheelhouse rentals are aimed more at recreational use, touring, and exploring. A B cycle system is aimed more at short term transportation, running errands, and going between rental stations.

  • Accessibility vs. Mobility

    Traffic engineer Ian Lockwood from Glatting Jackson has been to Detroit a few times now for planning efforts to spur redevelopment and revitalization.

    He’s highlighted a key concept for bicycle, pedestrian, and transit advocates. Current U.S. traffic engineering culture pursues greater mobility, i.e. how fast someone can get between places. That’s often why they are stuck thinking primarily about cars, wider roads, higher speeds, and interstate expressways.

    Lockwood says we should all focus on accessibility instead. In doing so, we’d try to rein in sprawl, increase density, and improve transportation options.

    Perhaps given our automotive heritage, Detroit seems particulary focused on mobility. A recent Brookings Institute report found Metro Detroit led the nation in job sprawl. Seventy-seven percent of our jobs are more than 10 miles from the city center.

    From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

    “From transportation to workforce development to regional innovation and the provision of social services, the spatial distribution of a metro area’s jobs can ultimately influence its economic productivity, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion and equity,” wrote Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior research analyst at Brookings and author of the 23-page report.

    Is there any wonder why we can’t find enough money to repair our roads?

    At a recent traffic engineering meeting, Jonathon Levine, a researcher from the University of Michigan gave a presentation about accessibility versus mobility. Fortunately it’s on-line but be forewarned: it’s a little traffic geeky. Even so, the first couple minutes really nail the point about accessibility versus mobility.

    And for those that can’t make it through the entire video, this slide really captures the main thrust that accessibility should be the ends. The means includes mobility, proximity (how close things are together) and connectivity (can you access them remotely, e.g. through the Internet).

    Levine's Accessibility model for transportation

    This needs to be the transportation paradigm for Metro Detroit, and if it were, it’d make bicycling a viable transportation option for more people more often.

  • Detroit Trails and Greenways in the media

    Detroit Greenways MapModel D Media recently overviewed the status and progress of trail development across the city of Detroit.

    The article mentions a relatively new trails brochure which goes into greater detail and includes a large fold-out map. If you are interest in receiving this brochure, make sure you visit the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance booth at the Detroit RiverDays from June 19th through the 21st. Or, stop by the MTGA booth at the Green Art Fair in Palmer Park on June 28th.

    Crain’s also had a recent article, Conservancy makes great strides on RiverWalk, more. In it they look back on the history of the RiverWalk and provide some recent updates. The Dequindre Cut is noted as well.

    And finally, Jeff Gerritt wrote a very positive opinion piece for the Free Press called, Cut shows Detroit’s promise.

    The cut is one more reason to feel good about Detroit’s future, if we can start looking at things differently. The city’s population is less than half of its 1950s peak, and it continues to lose more than 10,000 people a year. But its land mass, streets, sewers, lighting and the like are still spread over the same 140 square miles geared to accommodate a city of nearly 2 million. Roughly a third of the city is now vacant. To survive and thrive, Detroit must creatively downsize. The Dequindre Cut Greenway shows us how.

  • A Video solution for he said, she said

    Last month while biking, I stopped at a red light on Catalpa at Woodward. I was not in the right lane since I was not turning. I was continuing westbound on Catalpa.

    This is legal under state law 257.660a (d):

    A person operating a bicycle upon a highway or street at less than the existing speed of traffic shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except as follows:

    (d) When operating a bicycle in a lane in which the traffic is turning right but the individual intends to go straight through the intersection.

    This apparently upset the solitary driver behind me. After the light turned green and I proceeded across Woodward, he rode up next to me, rolled down his window, and yelled profanities and threatened to “have me arrested.”

    I just dropped back a little, got his license plate number, and followed him in case he was going to the police station. (He didn’t.) Had he threatened to hit me, I would have reported him for aggressive driving.

    It’s situations like this that make me keep a cell phone handy on all my rides.

    Still, the problem is unless a police officer witnesses it, it’s often a case of he said, she said.

    So,?I wish I had a video camera always running to capture this unacceptable social behavior. Not only could it help with potential police enforcement, but publically posted such videos might bring public shame to those who deserve it.

    One bicyclists is video recording such incidents. Jeff’s Bike Blog documents bad drivers and is apparently active in reporting them to the police. He even shows how he configures the cameras on his bike.

    Have you shot video of aggressive drivers on your bike rides? What has been your experience reporting aggressive drivers to the police? Have they taken any actions?