Though perhaps not intentional, this article in Hometown Life seems to reinforce the notion that bicycle commuting is a consequence and not a first choice mode of transportation.

Those attending Farmington’s 47th District Court’s Sobriety Court may ride a bike there, because they usually don’t have a driver’s license.

“We have a number of people who ride their bicycle,” said Judge Marla Parker. “There are so many costs and consequences to drunk driving.”

Consequences like what? They’re biking and getting in better shape?

Now granted, Farmington and Farmington Hills are two of the worst places to ride a bike in Southeast Michigan. Neither city has made any notable effort to become more bike friendly except for a short segment of bike lane along one side of Powers Road. (Yes, having two wide lanes instead would be the safer design.)

Farmington is doing streetscaping along Grand River. They’re adding bike racks and putting Grand River on a Road Diet, but are not adding bike lanes.

The Farmington Hills master plan (Vilican Leman & Associates) appears to ignore best practices for bicycle planning and suggests sidepaths. There’s no excuse for this in 2009.

Also, Farmington Hills also paid Hooke De Jong $89K in 2007 for a Sustainability Study that failed to consider bicycles as a mode of transportation. Instead the study said, “Bicycle paths add to the attractiveness of the city, appealing to families, while signaling a resident friendly community. Bicycle paths contribute positively to the community’s environment and image.”

At least Judge Parker consider bicycles to be transportation.

We recently wrote about the NACTO Cities for Cycling project and its kickoff meeting in Washington DC earlier this month.

This meeting was actually about more than just this new project.

It was hosted by the Brookings Institute and featured Bruce Katz. Katz recently wrote the interesting article, The Detroit Project: A Plan for Solving America’s Greatest Urban Disaster. In DC, Katz spoke of the major upcoming debate on transportation policy. He emphasized the critical importance of advocates continuing to push non-motorized transportation during this period of change.

David Bryne

The next presenter was David Bryne, the front man of the Talking Heads. While he’s been cycling around New York since the 80s, he’s more recently become a bicycle advocate. The League of American Bicyclists summarized Bryne’s presentation.

Byrne began with a photo of Columbia, Md. where his elderly parents now live and are stranded due to the autocentric design of the community. He then went on to highlight some of his favorite books including: Twenty Minutes in Manhattan, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and The Timeless Way of Building. He continued with a photo diary of memorable scenes – both good and bad – of public spaces from his travels around the world on his beloved folding bike.

Bryne’s book, Bicycle Diaries does briefly recount his ride in Detroit. In a recent National Geographic Adventure article, Bryne’s listed Detroit among his eight favorite biking cities in the “Great rides where you least expect it” category.

So when speaking with him in DC after the event, I invited him to return to Detroit and provided our Detroit Greenways Brochure to spark his interest. We’ll see.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer

Our premier bicycle advocate in Congress spoke next and started with his standard question: How many people are stuck in traffic right now on their way to ride a stationary bike in a health club?

Blumenauer gave a brief timeline on bicycle advocacy. What was once considered “desireable” have become “important” and is transitioning to “urgent” and “critical.”

In conjunction with that transition, introduced his Active Community legislation for the upcoming transportation bill. The original push from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was for an Active Transportation 2010 program where 40 U.S. cities received $50 million over 6 years to increase biking and walking. Detroit applied for this as did Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. However, according to the congressman, that program smelled too much like earmarks and didn’t make it in the transportation bill.

His new Active Communities legislation would be a competitive $5 to $15 million grant program with a focus on mode shift — getting more people walking and biking.

Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan

The NYC DOT Commissioner presented next primarily on the Cities for Cycling project, much of which we’ve already covered.

Some additional Cities for Cycling goals we forgot to mention the first time include

• Hosting workshops around the U.S. next year
• Making sure the next MUTCD is designed for 21st century cities and not just highways
• Streamline federal regulations for active transportation projects
• Double active transportation funding

Khan also said that building for bicycles is a matter of customer service and that bikes lanes are a transformative change for cities which benefits more than just cyclsits.

Questions and Answers

A little Q & A followed the three presentations. One person asked if there was still opposition to active transportation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) started a new Cities for Cycling project with a kick off event in Washington DC, which we were able to attend.

But first, what is NACTO? While the more popular American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is for states, NACTO is the equivalent for large U.S. cities. NACTO has 14 member cities, including Detroit.

The Cities for Cycling project mission is to “catalog, promote and implement the world’s best bicycle transportation practices in American municipalities.”

Bicycling is good for cities. Providing safe, comfortable, convenient bicycling facilities is a cost-effective way for American municipalities to improve mobility, livability and public health while reducing traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.

Cities for Cycling focuses on implementing world-class bicycle transportation systems through design innovation and the sharing of best practices. American municipalities are increasingly pioneering new designs and adapting international best practices to local conditions. To assist this local-level leadership, the Cities for Cycling project works to share and promote state-of-the-art practices that ensure safe traffic conditions for all modes of travel.

Why Cities for Cycling?

New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner and NACTO president Janette Sadik-Khan also gave another reason for this project. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are four interesting bicycle signs around the city of Detroit.

From left to right:

Who knew there was bicycle parking at the Motor City Casino, much less signs for it? This sign is at the corner of Temple and Brooklyn in the heart of the casino campus.

There used to be a collection of Weekend Bicycle Route signs installed by the city of Detroit Recreation Department during the ’80s. This one is along Rivard just north of Jefferson Avenue. The signs marked a suggested route for cyclists before there was a RiverWalk. There were also three large signs that spoke of the history of Detroit’s riverfront as well as its future. Those signs are no longer around. There was also a brochure, which we are tracking down. (Thanks to Harriet Saperstein for this information!)

The Watch for Bikes is an older, now outdated sign along West Outer Drive, a Wayne County road. This particular sign is in the Rosedale-Grandmont area.

The last sign is on Auditorium Drive between Jefferson Avenue and Atwater. The slope is not very much nor very dangerous for a cyclist. The true danger is the city located a fire hydrant in the middle of the pathway.

Recently at a Kellogg Foundation event in Washington DC, I introduced myself and said I’m trying to promote non-motorized transportation in the Motor City. It drew a chuckle from the group.

And because we’re still the Motor City, a city full of mechanically-inclined tinkerers, it should be no surprise when I saw this custom bicycle at this summer’s Detroit Tigers Going, Going Green event.

I’m not sure I would trust attaching a two-cycle motor to what’s likely an old high tensile steel Ross frame with poor caliper brakes and an interesting wheelset, but…