Annals of Cycling – 6

An occasional update on items from the Velo-city.

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BIKE BAIT

From Ron Richings:

ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) – Winthrop University police are catching bicycle thieves by attaching GPS devices to bikes left around campus.

Winthrop Police Chief Frank Zebedis says police place the “bait” bicycles among students’ bikes. Once a thief takes a GPS-equipped bicycle outside a certain range, police start getting signals on its location.

He called it a low-cost success. The materials and monitoring cost less than $1,500.

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WHY CYCLING SUCKS

Created for a Dutch school project with a goal of promoting cycling.

Thanks to Yuri Artibise and Copenhagenize.

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For those who enjoyed Mia Birk’s lecture last night, here’s a story on Portland’s Bike Boulevards (similar to our bikeways) from the New Urban Network:

Portland has created more than 300 miles of bicycle facilities in the past 25 years. Among the most effective are “bicycle boulevards” or “neighborhood greenways.”  … They are nearly as popular as off-street paths — and much less expensive.

Bicycle boulevards run $250,000 or less per mile, depending on the improvements required, whereas off-street paths cost about $1 million a mile, says Mia Birk, who was the City of Portland’s “bicycle coordinator” prior to becoming a planning consultant and author (Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet, 2010). Bicycle boulevards are about 10 times less expensive than European-style “cycle tracks,” which are wide, separated bicycle paths on urban streets.