An occasional update on items from the Velo-city.
___________________________________________________________________
.
NEW YORK TIMES PRAISES SADIK-KAHN
Janette Sadik-Kahn, the New York Transportation Commissioner, is the praisee. Frank Bruni, a columnist in the Times, does the praise. Big time.
Since the mayor appointed her in 2007 and she began to bring her agency’s work more closely in line with his vision of a greener New York, the city has roughly doubled its miles of bike lanes, to about 500. … including protected bike lanes (ones that separate cyclists entirely from street traffic) on such major arteries as Columbus and First Avenues in Manhattan. …
… she has a certainty that borders on righteousness and an intensity in the vicinity of mania. But that’s to her credit — and our benefit. New York needs visionaries who won’t simply let things be.
Bruni also refers to the work of John Pucher, and this guy, Gabe Klein – the mid-west JSK – who’s emerging, expectedly, as the new voice of urban transportation:
The Chicago transportation commissioner, Gabe Klein, noted that biking pushed back against a range of modern ills. “There’s the congestion problem,” he said. “The pollution problem. The obesity problem. The gas problem.”
On top of all that, it makes an important statement about our priorities — about our willingness to amend the reckless, impatient, gluttonous ways that have created not only smog and clog in our cities but also a staggering federal debt.
“Bikes are definitely a symbol of what your city stands for,” said Klein.
___________________________________________________________________
.
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
.
From The Guardian:
According to the Danish Cyclists’ Federation and Wonderful Copenhagen, the official tourism organisation for Denmark, the sheer success of the drive to get more locals and tourists on bikes is creating a dangerous, intimidating and unpleasant climate for cyclists in the city.
“In Copenhagen, we have quite extraordinary problems around cycling congestion,” said Aneh Hajdu, of Wonderful Copenhagen. “I don’t take my children on their bikes into Copenhagen at rush hour any more. It’s too dangerous and scary. I just wouldn’t risk it.” …
Frits Bredal, of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation acknowledges that the number of serious traffic accidents involving cyclists in Copenhagen has reduced dramatically in the last few years and that the numbers of cyclists killed is at a historic low.
But he fears a turnaround in the statistics: “In rush hour, there are enormous numbers of cyclists fighting for space on Copenhagen’s bike paths, which become cramped and packed.
“As numbers grow and they fight for space, cyclists are becoming more aggressive and reckless in traffic. I increasingly see people bringing themselves and others into dangerous situations,” he adds. “They break the laws and use their bikes in completely reckless ways.”
___________________________________________________________________
.
NEW LANE IN L.A.
In a city known for traffic gridlock, deliberately eliminating an entire lane for cars could be politically dubious.
But that’s just what officials did Thursday as
they unveiled Los Angeles’ newest bicycle lane, a 2.2-mile stretch along 7th Street from Catalina Avenue in Koreatown to Figueroa Street downtown.
“Hold on to your hats, folks, we’re actually removing a lane for a car — in favor of a bike lane — in Los Angeles,” City Councilman Ed Reyes said …
Cyclists are not only middle-class white urbanites who can afford a car but choose to not always drive, but also transit-dependent residents in low-income minority communities such as Westlake, Mannos said. She said the 7th Street proposal emerged from conversations with laborers who frequently use the thoroughfare to commute.
___________________________________________________________________
The article on Copenhagen reminds me that perception is a vastly changeable thing. Here in Vancouver, the biggest barrier to more wide-spread adoption of cycling is perception of danger from motor vehicles on the roads. In Copenhagen, the perception is around problems from other cyclists.
The risks of one seem to be orders of magnitude lower than the other. But the perception seems the same.
Happy to see something L.A. on Price Tags Annals of Cycling! I think cyclist coverage (ok, my coverage) of the 7th Street bike lanes was more in-depth than the L.A. Times, though. The new treatment is proven better for drivers (new left turn lanes), peds and,of course, cyclists. See:
http://www.ciclavia.org/blog/91/seventh-street-bike-lanes-installed
http://laecovillage.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/first-bike-lanes-reach-downtown-l-a/