Bikes, Beans, and Brews blog has an excellent post on proposed ordinance change in Berkley which would encourage more bike racks.

My dandy little town of Berkley, Michigan just had an article in the local little paper, Woodward Talk, entitled “Berkley aims to promote greater bike usage at city businesses“. This sounds like it will be all about new bike lanes and bike racks, right? Sounds encouraging, right?

Well, almost. The article is actually about how the council voted DOWN an amendment to the bicycling parking requirements for Berkley businesses and requested that the planning commission rewrite the ordinance.

The Woodwalk Talk article in included this telling passage.

However, as Councilman Dan Benton pointed out at the Oct. 19 meeting, the ordinance as written would have required business owners to install a new bicycle rack anytime their existing parking lot is developed or resurfaced.

‘”We should not be making businesses put in more bike racks if they don’t want to,” he said. “If they want to resurface their parking lot, then we’re not giving them a choice here. But businesses won’t want to do this unless it makes sense to them, like if they’re hoping to create a business that caters to bicycle users.”

So Berkley is comfortable requiring businesses to provide off-street parking (at an approximate cost of $8,000 per parking space) but won’t require businesses to provide $250 bike racks. And as Bikes, Beans, and Brews noted, the cost of a bike rack is relatively minor even when compared to the cost of redeveloping or resurfacing a parking lot.

Another point that Councilman Benton missed is that bike racks are not just for business customers. Businesses have employees. Having bike racks makes it easier for employees to ride to work.

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!

The recent reduction in posts to m-bike is largely due to the past eight days being absolutely packed with bicycle advocacy work in Detroit, Royal Oak, and across Michigan. Below is brief chronology for two of those days.

October 22nd: Royal Oak, Governor Milliken, the DNR and Detroit

The Active Transportation Alliance (ATA) was in town. The city of Royal Oak is contracting with them to develop a non-motorized master plan. I joined them in a morning meeting for a very early discussion on this future planning process. The city is expecting their grant money, which is funding this effort, will be available very early next year. When that occurs, the planning will begin.

After lunch, I dragged our ATA consultants down to the Detroit RiverWalk. As mentioned earlier, Tri-Centennial State Park has been renamed to honor former Governor William G. Milliken. I took advantage of many opportunities to share our Detroit Greenways Network brochure with those attending the renaming ceremony.

Among those attending was Senator Patty Birkholz. The Senator is leading efforts to create a sustainable funding source for our state parks. She gave me a quick update on the Recreation Passport legislation she’d introduced earlier this year. Among other things, this legislation would add an optional $10 fee when registering vehicles. In return, there would be no fees to enter state parks. Senator Birkholz says she doesn’t expect any progress until A.B. (“after budget”.)

That evening we pulled together a small group for dinner for a discussion on bicycling in Detroit and how we can vastly improve it. The meeting was graciously hosted by John and Vivian Stroh. Vivian’s two younger brothers started a little cycling company called SRAM. The meeting was filled with great information and energy. It was a big help have both Carolyn Helmke, the ATA’s senior planner, and Randy Neufeld, the former ATA executive director and now manager of the SRAM Cycling Fund and president of America Bikes. They brought both a Chicago and a national perspective to the meeting.

But for me, one local perspective was my biggest takeaway. Tawanna Simpson from Detroit Bike Riders United told the story of her running for the Detroit School Board. She rode her bike to a nearby forum. Some voters said they wouldn’t vote for her because she rode her bike to the event and that wasn’t normal. This really highlighted the community outreach we need to do in Detroit and beyond. Biking shouldn’t be viewed as a last choice for transportation. It should be better than normal. The fact that Tawanna is a positive role model for kids riding their bikes to school should gain her votes, not lose them.

October 23rd: The Chicago experience and WDET

The morning was filled with a monthly meeting of the Detroit Greenways Coalition. Carolyn and Randy were able to join us and give a brief overview of their Chicago bicycling efforts with an emphasis on programming. It seems we have a good understanding of how to build proper and safe bicycling and walking facilities in Detroit, but we come up short in programming. How do we overcome the barriers to people bicycling more in the city? Chicago has a long track record of success, some of which we may try duplicating in Motown.

Another key takeaway? Chicago relies heavily on Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) federal funding. Much of the Metro Detroit CMAQ funding is allocated by SEMCOG and their prioritization formula makes bicycle projects not competitive. Nationwide, 13% of CMAQ projects are biking and walking related, while 0% are in Metro Detroit. We need to change that.

Later that afternoon, Randy and I were guests near the tail end of the Detroit Today program on WDET. A podcast of that radio interview is on their web site. Detroit Today’s host, Craig Fahle is a former bike mechanic from Alfred E. Bikes in Kalamazoo.

The day’s heavy downpour led us to cancel plans for a Detroit bicycle tour. Still, I managed to drive our Chicago guests around Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck to give them a quick overview of our cycling landscape. They gave some great cycling facility ideas along the way and were simply overwhelmed with the excessively wide and overbuilt roads.

Detroit is fortunate having another Midwestern city nearby that has invested so heavily in bicycling and walking. And while Randy mentioned how our situation is special and unique, there is still much opportunity to learn and apply what Chicago has done.

There really is no need to rebuild the bike wheel.

If you live in Oakland County and are a voting member of the League of Michigan Bicyclists, please consider voting for Mike Reuter.

I’ve been working closely on bicycle advocacy issues with Mike for the past few years. He gets it, he’s involved in it, and he’s willing to bring that experience and energy to the LMB.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve spoken with him on cycling issues and his response is always, “What can I do to help?”

But perhaps more important than offering to help, he does what he says and gets things done. You don’t grow a single store into one of America’s largest bicycle stores networks by not getting things done.

And, from the halls of the U.S. capitol to the streets of Oakland County, I’ve personally seen Mike’s understanding of the issues and how he can professionally represent cycling and get the message across.

When meeting with our Congressmembers earlier this spring, Mike was always quick to bring in the economic benefits argument. He’s a local businessmen that is hiring people in these economic times and that certainly a statement that few other groups can make in Washington or Lansing.

I also spoke with John Waterman from PEAC. He noted that Mike’s been a big supporter of the PEAC program and also supports Mike’s election to the LMB board.

Steve Roach, LMB Director from Region 1 is also throwing his support behind Mike Reuter.

We need to make this change to move the LMB forward, so please consider casting your vote for Mike.

If you have any questions, please contact me personally.

Todd Scott

Many city council seats are up for election this November 3rd. This is a great opportunity to elect people to a decision making body that can a city more bike and pedestrian friendly.

There are two seats being decided in Ferndale. And among the four candidates running, two are on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to supporting biking.

No for Gagne

Tom Gagne, the self-proclaimed “most argumentative” candidate, is someone cyclists won’t want on Council.

Gagne wants to increase development on Hilton. He’s been quoted in the Daily Tribune saying”

What are we going to do about Hilton Road? It’s a thing of beauty that lives in the shadow of Woodward. I’d like to let developers know that bike lanes on Hilton Road aren’t permanent.

Hilton Road underwent a road diet, which took it from four lanes to three with bike lanes added. Road diets reduce crashes and excessive speeding (and noise), while making it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

And the Hilton road diet doesn’t displace motor vehicle traffic. Hilton near Nine Mile has a daily vehicle count of around 7,000. The vehicle counts on Hilton could more than double and the current lane configuration would not be a problem.

Clearly Gagne is uninformed about the benefits of the Hilton road diet. There is no justification for suggesting their removal.

But perhaps what’s more troublesome is he’s equating development only with motor vehicle travel. Wouldn’t it be better if Hilton development catered to the neighborhood? Imagine if the Hilton were lined with more businesses and destinations that residents could bike or walk to and spend their dollars locally?

Yes for Piana

Melanie Piana is also running for a seat on the Ferndale City Council.

Her priorities include supporting “pedestrian [and] bicycle friendly… improvements to build our community.”

Her Facebook page includes the photo on the right.

According to Piana, “I commute to work by bike on weather friendly days. It’s easy when the office is only a mile away.”

And in speaking with Piana, it’s clear she understands the value in building safe bicycling and walking communities.

She’s also endorsed by the Eccentric.