Today’s Detroit Free Press has a great story about Franciscan friar Brother Al Mascia and his Canticle Cafe bicycle cart. Brother Al rides around Downtown Detroit offering food and warm clothing.

The idea of the cart came from the Franciscan friar’s memories of growing up surrounded by street vendors in New York. The food cart fits over the bicycle’s front end.

The cart, purchased from California with the aid of a benefactor, was outfitted with foldable countertops insulation and a battery for lighting. It holds Thermos bottles of coffee and hot chocolate. Some days, Mascia dispenses muffins and cookies. On really good days, he has hot homemade breakfast sandwiches donated by church groups.

He said he thinks the cart adds a bit of joy to the act of giving. “It’s not just for the food and clothing we can provide,” he said, “but the whimsy, if you will, of the way we can provide it.”

Whimsy is good.

To donate or help, contact Saint Aloysius outreach ministries at 313-237-5810 or contact Mascia at 313-320-0548 or e-mail alofm@hotmail.com.

You can also purchase their coffee at the Canticle Cafe at 1209 Washington Boulevard in Detroit or by calling their coffee order hot line at 313-309-1276.

The 2010 Census numbers are in and Detroit’s reported population dropped as expected.

The new Census number is 713,777, however that may rise. After all, SEMCOG’s December 2010 population estimate — a very accurate one the data experts say — was 762,789.

Mayor Bing posted on Facebook, “I am confident our count will be revised. We must confront the reality that Detroit is losing population and commit to operating differently.”

How does this affect bicycling in Detroit?

If there is a positive, this population count reconfirms what we’ve been saying about the city’s urban biking. Detroit’s roads are some of the most bike friendly in America because more motorists are leaving them. The Detroit Census count has not been this low since 1910. And though we have greater car ownership in 2010, we also have many more road miles, not to mention expressways.

That said, there are many downsides to a dropping population.

For one, Detroit stands to lose road funding, which means less opportunity for building Complete Streets.

State road funding is divided up in an overly complex formula based on decades of legislative tweaks. Still, each city and village receives a portion of road funding based in part on their population relative to the others. When a city’s population drops more than the other citys and villages, they get less road funding. We’re not sure how much Detroit will lose, but we know it won’t be welcomed.

And, Federal Surface Transportation Program Urban (STP-U) funding is distributed by SEMCOG based on population. Detroit stands to lose road (and ADA ramp) money here as well.

Fortunately, Census population counts do not affect Transportation Enhancements funding which helps pay a lion’s share of the Detroit bike lanes and greenway projects.

Still, the next Federal Transportation Bill may scale back all transportation funding to match gas tax revenues starting in 2012. If that happens everyone across the board will see cuts.

These are certainly challenging times.

The Detroit Free Press published an interesting story on a Lawrence Tech (LTU) project which looked at making Southwest Detroit energy self-sufficient.

That planning involved creating energy as well as reducing current usage by encouraging more energy efficient transportation. In other words, more public transit, more walkability, more greenways, and more bike lanes.

Other tactics suggested by the team include creating more public transit and more green infrastructure, like the planned extension of the RiverWalk west of downtown.

Still other aspects of the project include mapping sites where higher-density, mixed-used development might create a more walkable urban environment.

The LTU team is working with the Southwest Detroit Development Collaborative, a coalition of more than a dozen community nonprofit groups. Kathy Wendler, president of the Southwest Detroit Business Association, said the LTU project dovetails with other greening projects under way, like the bicycle lanes and energy-efficient street lights planned along West Vernor.

This project was funded by a grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund. According to the article, previous grants  “supported a bike-sharing program in Atlanta.”

Photo by Adventure_Cycling Association/Dennis Coello

Jim Sayer, the executive director of Adventure Cycling will be speaking in Midtown this Wednesday, March 23rd at 7pm. This event is also supported by the Wheelhouse Detroit and the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

If you can’t make this, Jim is also speaking in Ann Arbor on Thursday and at the Michigan Bike Summit in Lansing on Saturday.

Here’s more information:

Join Adventure Cycling Association — North America’s largest cycling membership group — for a special presentation by Executive Director Jim Sayer on the joys of bicycle travel and cool projects happening at the national and state levels. He’ll touch on new bicycle routes and maps coming from Adventure Cycling (including the new Sierra Cascades route, a planned Bicycle Route 66, and a new Underground Railroad alternate route through Michigan), a new website with resources on “bike overnights”, plus a status report on development of the official U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS).

Join us on Wednesday, March 23, from 7-8:45 pm, at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, Hall of Nations Room: 111 E. Kirby Detroit, MI 48202 (This building is on the northeast corner of the Detroit Institute of Arts.)

For more information on getting there to: http://www.iimd.org/?q=node/67

Please RSVP by  email or calling me, Sarah Raz, at 800-755-2453 x 210. We also encourage you to invite friends or family.

We are looking for a few volunteers to help with the event. Please contact me (sraz@adventurecycling.org) if you are willing and able to assist!

Thanks and hope to see you there.

Happy riding,

Sarah Raz
Adventure Cycling Association
800-755-2453 x 210

Via the Hub of Detroit

The League of American Bicyclists recently recognized the Wheelhouse Detroit and OminCorpDetroit for being Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Both were given Bronze awards and join the Hub of Detroit, who received a Gold award last year.

Detroit now has three recognized Bicycle Friendly Businesses of the seven in Michigan. Nationally, Detroit is now tied with cities like Austin and Boulder, but notably behind the leading cities like Portland and Minneapolis.

Businesses in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park that are interested in knowing more about this program can contact the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance (MTGA). MTGA can provide training and assist with the application.

Having recognized Bicycle Friendly Businesses also helps cities earn Bicycle Friendly Communities awards. Applying for such as award was discussed at the last Detroit Non-motorized External Task Force meeting. The city is interested in applying once some additional bicycle infrastructure projects are completed.