New York City’s DOT recently put together this great video which shows the variety of bicycling facilities they are building.

Since most people in Metro Detroit are unfamiliar with most, if not all of these bicycling facilities, this really provides a great introduction.

Are you living in a “world-class cycling city?” If you aren’t then why not forward this video to your mayor, city council, planning commission, or road commission?

One also item worth noting: NYC DOT has at least four non-motorized project managers. Jealous.

Having been around bicycle advocacy for so long, I’ve attended countless public meetings where the public has spoke in favor of bicycling.

I’ve seen some home runs, but I’ve seen quite a large number of strikeouts and a couple ejections.

Too often bicycle advocates feel the need to repeat the big story. Yes, bicycling is good for the environment. Yes, it’s good for people’s health.

All too often these generalities just don’t connect with the decision makers.

Some of the best public comments are the first-person stories from locals and residents.

For example, there was a largely unnecessary meeting to discuss equestrian and mountain bicycle access at Pontiac Lake. It was mostly a public venting which didn’t move the ball forward — except for one commenter. It was a young teen who explained how he enjoyed riding his bike on the trails — and he couldn’t afford a horse. This wasn’t a horse vs. bike argument. This was a young kid with the gumption to publicly speak to share his desire to simply keep enjoying the trails.

I also have an old VHS tape of a city council meeting in some California city. A grandmother explained the circuitous and unsafe route she must take when she bikes with her grandson to a city park. After her long explanation, she asks, “Is this park intended only for people who drive cars?”

And here’s one additional example in a similar vein. It’s a somewhat cheeky yet light-hearted video of how difficult it is to commute by bike between Marblehead and Boston. Enjoy!

For those unfamiliar with Google Maps, they have a Street View option which lets users explore a city at street level. Not all roads have Street View, but much of the city of Detroit does.

Now they are adding non-roads to Street View using a pedal-powered trike with the Google imaging system.

They’re also taking suggestions on where they should take the trike. We hope you consider voting for Detroit Greenways. Voting is simple and painless.

Imagine Street View for the Dequindre Cut.

Also, the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is looking into submitting Detroit greenway GPS coordinates to Google. This means the greenways would be shown on Google Maps just as it shows roads.

The Detroit Free Press has an article on VW’s latest advertising efforts.

A viral marketing campaign for automaker Volkswagen explores a simple premise: Can people be snapped out of lazy behavior if they’re able to have a little fun?

A video of people forgoing an escalator for a more motivating musical staircase has been seen nearly 2 million times.

The hope is that viewers will associate trading their lazy ways with the perks of a new, more responsible experience — like, say driving an eco-friendly Volkswagen.

How about this conclusion, which seems fairly obvious to us: Driving a VW is like taking the escalator. It is the “lazy way” when nearly 40% of all U.S. trips are 2 miles or less.

The “new, more responsible experience” would be to ride a bike or walk.

Yo, here’s a fun, snappy Friday video via Streetsblog: