..... - City transportation officials on Wednesday hastily removed concrete barriers along a bike lane near Boston Medical Center, saying an effort meant to improve notoriously dangerous cycling conditions had created a different safety issue for drivers. — The barriers were installed in mid-November on a stretch of Massachusetts Avenue between Harrison Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. It marked another recent move in the city’s broadening campaign to separate cyclists and drivers, several months after a cyclist was killed by a tractor-trailer driver in the area. — But the new structures, essentially low-lying concrete slabs led to an increase in auto crashes, Boston Transportation Department commissioner Greg Rooney said in a statement. Vehicles apparently drifted toward the bike lane and hit the barriers. - Cycling advocates were upset by the removal, stating on social media that drivers could not have hit the barrier without leaving their lanes, putting them at fault especially if they were speeding. But some agreed that the design may share some of the blame. Even if drivers were at fault, the low-lying concrete blocks may have been hard to see, even with a caution sign marking the start of the barrier. — “We can’t focus on individual behavior,” said Becca Wolfson, executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union. “It doesn’t mean it’s allowable behavior, but it means the system has to change in a way that stops that behavior.” - Wolfson said the city should move quickly to restore the bike lane protection with a better design, including a “vertical element” such as flex posts to better capture drivers’ attention and alert them to the bike lane. She suggested the city also add features along Mass. Ave. to slow drivers as they rush off Interstate 93. — The city’s transportation department said it decided to remove the barriers after hearing concerns from police. The Boston Police Department said there have been five crashes in the area since mid-November, including multiple rollovers, but was unable to immediately share incident reports or describe the causes of the crashes. .....

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 9140488) City removes bike protection, citing safety for drivers

..... - The City of Myrtle Beach has purposed the first-ever bike and pedestrian lanes for key downtown Myrtle Beach streets. A subcommittee of its members met with Downtown Development Office staff and LS3P, a firm that offers planning services. The subcommittee reached an understanding of the plan. The committee proposed several recommendations within the ART District: • The Rail Trail: The Rail Trail runs through, or adjacent to, workforce housing neighborhoods on both sides of the Waterway, with residents who currently commute by bike or by foot. The Committee recommends that the rail trail be linked linearly to planned bike lanes on 9th Avenue N as a complete corridor. • Bike Lanes: The committee proposed the first-ever City of Myrtle Beach protected bike lanes. The 2-way lanes as proposed are only on one side of each street, resulting in half of the users riding against the flow of traffic. The decision to put the bike lanes on one side of the road was made in order to accommodate on-street parking, in limited space, on both sides of the road. This recommendation is for every street identified as having bike lanes on the Downtown Advanced Plan Dedicated Bike Path Configuration Exhibit, including Oak St, Mr. Joe White Ave, 9th Ave N, 8th Ave N, Broadway St, and several new streets. • Intersections: The Advance Plan includes two types of intersections: those with traffic signals, and those with all-way stop signs. A bike box is a designated area at an intersection at the head of a traffic lane. The Bike Box provides bicyclists with a safe and visible way to get ahead of queuing traffic when drivers and riders are awaiting their turn to proceed. Bike boxes place cyclists in the most visible position in the intersection and allow cyclists to proceed more quickly, reducing delays in automobile movement. • Marquee Bike and Pedestrian Crossing: The committee recommends a marquee intersection, utilizing public art and innovative technologies to produce a creative and iconic bicycle and pedestrian crossing. The marquee crossing could be the centerpiece for the entire district. The suggested location is either Highway 501 & Broadway Street or Highway 501 & Kings “Boulevard.” • Bicycle Hub: The committee recommends a Bicycle Hub located near the East Coast Greenway Trailhead at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot. The Hub will have bike lockers, space for a future bike share station, and kiosk maps of bike lanes and paths throughout the city. The Bicycle Hub will be a place for commuters from other parts of the city, as well as from points west, to cycle to and from, park, dine, work and play in the ART district. .....

..... - With the help of the nonprofit BikeMaps.org, we analyzed the data we collected on bicyclists killed by drivers in 2020 and found some surprising takeaways. --- We found that fatal crashes were occurring all over the country. We recorded deaths in 47 states and nearly every major metropolitan area. Here is what we hope local and federal governments will do to address the unacceptable number of cyclists and pedestrians dying on our streets: • Devote serious resources toward protected bike lanes and intersections. Separating cyclists from pedestrian and vehicle traffic is crucial to keeping everyone on our streets safer. One study found that cities with protected bike lanes cited higher safety records for all road users. Unlike standard bike lanes, protected bike lanes provide a physical barrier (such as a curb, raised bump, or delineator posts) between the bike lane and the vehicle roadway. City planners should also connect preexisting bike lanes to establish a more efficient flow of traffic and prevent cyclists from riding on roads with no bike infrastructure. • Incorporate a car’s potential risk to cyclists and pedestrians with vehicle-safety ratings. The work of the Obama administration to revise the NCAP to address pedestrian and cyclist safety was a step in the right direction, but it must be continued. It’s important for drivers to understand how a vehicle they’re about to purchase could injure another person in a crash. • Improve education for drivers. People behind the wheel may not fully realize the risk they take when driving distracted or tired. In 2017, the NHTSA estimated that 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. Driver’s ed schools should include mandatory lessons on distracted or tired driving. • Incentivize cycling. Cycling, in addition to being a great form of exercise, also makes a city cleaner and healthier. Many companies have encouraged their employees to bike more by giving them bikes or paying employees to ride to work instead of driving. Coupled with better bike infrastructure, incentivization programs like the 1993 Bicycle Subsidy Benefit Program, which offered reimbursements on biking expenses for cyclists, would get more people motivated to travel this way. .....

..... - Oonee, the secure bike parking company that the de Blasio administration can’t figure out what to do with will install two new compact, ad-free curbside pods somewhere in the city, based on suggestions from the public. The units, which hold about six or seven bikes, plus a pump for public use, were funded by Voi, the scooter company. Oonee has previously sited larger pods in pilot programs near the Barclays Center, the Staten Island Ferry terminal in Manhattan and in Journal Square in Jersey City, but company founder Shabazz Stuart believes the smaller units could be rapidly deployed everywhere, once the city gives the green light and investors see that the concept works. - “This should function like bike corrals,” he said of his pods, which are unlocked with a free phone app or key card. “People should be empowered to request one of these for their curb space. Why should a person with a car be unilaterally allowed to say, ‘I’m going to take up eight feet in front of this random building?’ Why can’t the majority of residents of the block say, ‘No, we want to use that space for bike parking’ or ‘We want that space for a cafe’?” — Obviously, the first two pods won’t make money they do not feature ads on them but Stuart’s company hopes to deploy the larger pods and some smaller pods with ads where they are appropriate (such as in commercial districts) to underwrite many more ad-free pods in residential communities, where bike parking is essential. .....

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 9170397) • Video Link

Ottawa, Ontario, March 12, 2021 – Investing in public transit strengthens communities, helps Canadians get around in faster, cleaner and more affordable ways, and ensures good jobs today while charting a path to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Investing in pathways and trails for cycling, walking, hybrid e-bikes and scooters, and wheelchairs gives everyone the opportunity to get out, get active, and access public transportation. Today, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and Parliamentary Secretary Andy Fillmore announced $400 million over five years to help build new and expanded networks of pathways, bike lanes, trails and pedestrian bridges. This is the first federal fund dedicated to building active transportation through Canada – powered by people – and part of the Government of Canada’s plan to create one million jobs, fight climate change, and build a more sustainable and resilient economy. Since 2015, the Government of Canada has invested in almost 650 kilometres of active transportation trails, bike and pedestrian lanes, and recreational paths. Projects include the Grouse Mountain Regional Park trails in North Vancouver, the Flora Foot Bridge in Ottawa, a bikeway extension in Corner Brook, and a new cycling path along the Mine, Notch and Kingsmere corridor in Chelsea, Quebec. As we build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will expand these smart investments that support Canadians. The new $400-million fund is part of an eight-year, $14.9-billion public transit investment outlined by Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister McKenna on February 10, 2021. It will support communities as they build vibrant neighborhoods where people can safely live, work and play. The fund will also help Canadians living in rural communities and places without active transportation options to unlock the potential in their communities.

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist (Post 9219281) This is amazing! I should see if Secretary Pete wants to buy any of the bike jerseys or the pedals I am selling. https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/st...28294294867970

Paris' bike network

Municipal level:

https://i.postimg.cc/0j4P8qbC/202002...1-1024x538.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/V6Nx5VyZ/VELOPOLITAIN-VF.png

Regional level:

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2DpNQbm/2020-1...6898206110.png

[twitter]1312246334150205441[/twitter]

[twitter]1285578188643598343[/twitter]

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..... - Karina Ricks, the Director of Mobility and Infrastructure for Pittsburgh says about 40% of all driving trips in the city are less than two miles and could be easily done on a bike so the bike plan’s goal is to provide a protected path. “We don’t want to have any bicycle fatalities or serious injuries in our city. We want to make sure that we’re designing streets and providing connections so that no one ever has to experience that tragedy,” Ricks said. Steadily, more bike lanes are being carved out of the city’s street, starting even before the current Bike Plan was drafted. — “We had about 60 miles of on street bike facilities. Just last year, we added another 13 miles. So the bike plan in total, takes us up over 250 miles.” A recent study indicates about 15-20% of the population already use their bicycles on a regular basis for pleasure or commuting. But Ricks says, “Well over 60% of our population actually would bicycle, more if they felt safe.” Which is the point of the bike lane expansion, to create safer lower stress paths through all of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. - Over the next two years Ricks says the bike lane corridors from Oakland to Downtown on Fifth and Forbes will take shape. “That will include essentially converting what is the existing bus only lane on Fifth Avenue, and making that a bidirectional cycle track to provide for safe bicycle connections there and then Forbes through uptown includes some bicycling improvements there on the Forbes Avenue side.” Downtown at the intersection of Penn and Stanwix, the city has its first Bicycle Traffic Signal. It’s a special signal that gives Bicycle Riders a designated time to go. — “We wanted to make sure that everyone had clear direction as to when it was their time to move in that intersection and and so the bike signal. Really just provides that clarity.” Ricks says the bike lanes are needed even more now than before the pandemic. While overall traffic is returning, ridership on mass transit is not. In fact, the sale of automobiles is rising and she’s concerned that will mean even more congestion in the future if alternatives are not provided. .....

..... - The Sacramento Area Council of Governments, representing city and county leaders in the six-county area, is asking people this week to submit their bike travel interests in an online survey that will serve as a bike and walk signpost for future trail planning. --- The region already has a disconnected patchwork of off-street biking corridors that will serve as a starting point. It includes the 32-mile American River Bike Trail, the off-street bike trail systems in Folsom and Davis. There are also levee-top and creekside trails around the region and the blustery Yolo Causeway bike path that connects Davis with West Sacramento. --- The city of Sacramento is planning to turn a four-mile stretch of an old railroad corridor into an off-street bike lane running from Meadowview to William Land Park, and Citrus Heights and Orangevale are scheduled to be connected via a three-mile bike and walking trail running on an electrical power corridor next to Arcade and Cripple creeks. .....

..... - The Metropolis of Nancy announced earlier last month that they have invested in a phosphorescent paint delimiting paths along the riverbanks. A much cheaper alternative than lampposts, this solution might also prove to be better for the natural environment, while still ensuring its main function – to navigate cyclists along the safe path. As part of its cycling policy and in order to improve cycling conditions, the Metropolis of Nancy is currently experimenting with new phosphorescent ground signs between rue des Tiercelins and boulevard Charles III, along the canal in Nancy. The objective is to allow cyclists to easily follow cycling routes in poorly lit areas. In particular, this phosphorescent paint makes it possible to materialize the lateral bands and the edges of the canal. The paint can shine for up to 10 hours. .....

..... - A NSW government proposal to build a ramp for cyclists up to the Sydney Harbour Bridge have been slammed by a landscape architect as “dangerous” and “unbelievable”. Options to improve access to the northern end of the Harbour Bridge cycleway were developed by Transport for NSW and released for community feedback on Monday. A two-storey spiralling ramp is one of two preferred options being considered, with the other a linear ramp that would wind its way north through Bradfield Park on a gentle gradient. --- The option of an elevator or travelator was ruled out because they “did not solve safety or congestion issues and were not supported by the Heritage Council of NSW”. However, David Vago, a landscape architect and urban designer, has questioned why an elevator was dismissed. “I don't believe that,” Mr Vago told NCA NewsWire of the Heritage Council reasoning. “It seems they've put a line through the (elevator) idea without even investigating it. “I can't see how the Heritage Council would support a giant ramp coming off the side of a heritage-listed bridge.” The Harbour Bridge is listed on the State Heritage Register and the National Heritage List. .....

..... - Scott Sterner and his wife, Donna Rupert, 60-year-old retirees in Dunedin, Fla., bought electric bikes a few months ago as a concession to creaky knees and hips. Now, he says, when they go for a spin on the Pinellas Trail along Florida’s Gulf Coast, other cyclists sometimes yell, “You’re cheating.” Evelyn Rathe, a technical assistant in Dunedin who rides a traditional bike, says some e-bikers have called her a “Lycra cowboy,” as if she were a spandex-clad Tour de France wannabe. “I don’t even own Lycra,” she says. She says she avoids the Pinellas Trail on weekends because of all the e-bike riders. They often have “a lot of speed and not much control,” she says. .....

..... The Master Plan – which brings together the experience and expertise of cycling experts from 28 countries all over the pan-European region – is designed to help national and local stakeholders streamline efforts to promote cycling. It outlines 7 key objectives to be implemented by 2030: • Significantly increase cycling in the region • Provide appropriate space in favour of active mobility • Extend and improve cycling infrastructure • Develop and implement national cycling policies, plans, strategies and programmes • Significantly increase cyclists’ safety and reduce the number of fatalities and series injuries • Integrate cycling into health policies • Integrate cycling and cycling infrastructure into land use, urban, regional and transport infrastructure planning .....