Rochester Cycling Alliance

Active Transportation attitudes in Rochester, NY

2011-06-26T12:41:00.000-04:00

There is a transformation occurring on active transportation (mostly walking and bicycling) attitudes in the Rochester, NY region, but we’re still waiting for the tipping point. The tipping point will occur when both vehicle drivers and active transportation folks actually share the road, and obtain ‘complete streets’:

“Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind - including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.” Complete Streets

Many in our region want active transportation to happen:

Riding into the future: Bicycle master plans encourage two-wheeled travel around Rochester “The city wants to make it easier for people … to hop on a bike rather than in a car. It has begun implementing its Bicycle Master Plan, as much a mindset as it is a blueprint for creating a bicycle-friendly community. (June 23, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle

I believe, as chair of the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club’s Transportation Committee, that we here in Rochester can pass the tipping point and have active transportation become a major component of our transportation options. You can get a whiff of that movement from this report:

Bikes in High Demand this Summer” R Community Bikes' volunteers are having trouble keeping up with an increase in demand for bikes. The non-profit is on track to give away 100 more bikes than last year. The group gave away 1,300 bikes in 2009, 2,400 in 2010 and they're still getting inundated.” (June 2011) RochesterHomePage

We have an incredible amount of trails that help close the distance between streets and destinations, making it easier and safer to walk and bike to important destinations. We have bicycle groups, enthusiasts, universities, public health departments, and transportation authorities who all want to make our citizens healthier and reduce the negative effects of our present transportation system. A major government report emphasizes the importance of this matter:

“… a factor in rising obesity rates is a sedentary lifestyle and automobile dependence; 60 percent of Americans do not meet minimum daily exercise requirements. Making cities more walkable and bikeable would thus have multiple benefits: improved personal fitness and weight loss; U.S. Global Change Research Program 98 Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States reduced local air pollution and associated respiratory illness; and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.” (Global Climate Change Impacts in the US (2009) page 97).

However, no amount of enforcement, education, and engineering can move us beyond the tipping point if the public, in and out of their cars, doesn’t change its attitudes. What are some of the attitudes blocking our way to the tipping point?

· Many environmentalists who do not ride bicycles themselves fail to grasp the profound implications of our local transportation, which accounts for the release of 27% of greenhouse gases, and thus fail to join the movement for active transportation. Moving a large component of those who now drive their gas guzzlers for short distances to active transportation alternatives would accomplish a sizeable quotient of their goals—combating Climate Change in our region, improving our air quality, and making us healthier.

· Our media reports on the occasional collisions involving walkers and bicyclists, but won’t take a moment from their agenda to remind the public that bicyclists have a legal right to be on the roads—and how to do that safely. Imagine the change in attitudes that would occur if mainstream media put out 30-second reminders each day that our streets, which all of us pay for, can be navigated safely if we all followed the rules. Believe me, there are organizations that will help the media find things to fill those 30-second spots.

· Bicyclist should be more aware of their profile on and off our streets. When a bicyclist fails to understand the rules of the road, they frustrate and annoy drivers by suddenly appearing in places drivers do not expect. Speeding down the sidewalk behind pedestrians who cannot possibly hear their silent machines often startles those who would otherwise love to share their space. The bicycle community should see the big picture, that Climate Change is really occurring, and their passion should be embraced as a major solution to it.

· Drivers must respect the right and the vulnerability of those not (at the moment) in their vehicles. Our vehicles, which are polluting our atmosphere, are not only costing us a sustainable future, they are absorbing much of our earnings— car costs, taxes for road and bridge repair and snowplowing, insurance, car repairs, inspections—you name it. Add on the distractions we enjoy while driving (radios, texting, cell phones, GPS’s, and that coffee we’re drinking) to a negative attitude towards someone on a bike or walking, and it makes for an unsettling environment.

Last weekend, while biking along the canal, I got talking to a couple who have been bicycling across the country for seven months about their experiences (Nomads — Benson and Ashleigh's Bicycling Adventure). Some communities, they said, were very bicycle-friendly and some that purported to be friendly were not so much. Attitudes of drivers in communities they passed through made a big difference in the safety and quality of their travels. Here’s one of their ideas about improving community attitudes towards bicycling: in some communities, the bicycling community takes on the responsibility of policing themselves by reminding each other to obey the traffic signals. How close are we to that?

Here’s why there’s so much hope about our region’s commitment to active transportation. Recently, there was a major conference on how to make our community a better place to ride and walk: The Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium, check it out: Rochester Cycling Alliance: Active Transportation Symposium:

Walk, Bike, Smile, Thrive: a report on the first Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium. By Jon Schull, Ph.D. Interim Director, RIT Center for Student Innovation, and Scott MacRae, M.D. Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester. Walking and biking is good for your health, good for your state of mind, and good for Rochester. And it’s about to get better. more...

Our community leaders, our educators, our universities, our public health officials, our governmental officials, and even our grant writers want us to get over the tipping point and become as bicycle-friendly as the platinum winners of the League of American Bicyclists * Bicycle Friendly America. We need to remember that this push to increase bicycles use is not limited to Rochester, as many communities have successfully taken on their vehicle dominated culture and achieved a synergy of safe and healthy motion in their communities.

How do we get beyond the tipping point, where a majority changes their attitudes? Here are some of my recommendations:

· We go into neighborhoods and talk about bicycle boulevards, which are now in the City of Rochester’s Bicycle Master Plan.

· We educate continually about riding safely in our streets and obeying the rules.

· We remind bicyclists, pedestrians, and vehicle drivers that the existing rules can keep us safe if we take a moment to observe them.

· Report on those who are not obeying our laws, thus increasing enforcement’s awareness of specific issues. A cell phone and a license plate number can deliver a reckless driver a powerful message.

· Encourage our communities, via neighborhood associations, to help ensure that they have an active transportation network, which will probably increase the value of their homes.

· Remind bicyclists how quiet and fast they are, so oftentimes their movements startle pedestrians and vehicle owners. Get the proper lighting, know the turn signals, wear a helmet, and obey the rules of the road. If you look and act as if you know how to bicycle through our streets, drivers will be more likely to respect you.

Sure, few of us would actually give up our vehicles and just walk and bicycle in the Rochester area—though some do. But I leave you with this thought: for all that elegant insularity that our cars give us, we are paying a very high environmental, health, and economic price. We can do something about that; we could be changing our attitudes and moving towards a planet that will be sustainable.

D&C Bike Article Thursday & Complete Streets Legislation Approved in Both NY Houses

2011-06-22T19:59:00.001-04:00

The legislation is expected to be signed by Governor Coumo.

On another note, there will be a D&C article on bike commuting that will run this Thursday. Patty Singer from the D&C interviewed Erik Frisch, Bill Collins and others for the article. Check it out.

Scott

Happiest Cities are Biking Cities

2011-03-06T21:53:00.002-05:00

National Geography sponsored author Dan Buettner recently studied the happiest communities worldwide and profiled several of them in his book "Trive". He looked at them with regard to an extensive study of economics, sociology and individual interviews with experts in the field as well as residents. He found that two of the four cities he profiled were very strong bicycling and walking communities. What cities did he find were the happiest? Copenhagen, despite their weather and long winters, and St. Luis Obispo. St. Luis Obispo has a strong culture of individual entrepreneurialism, and civic involvement. The were the first city in the US to ban smoking, and also banned food drive throughs, watch out Dunkin Donuts!

In the final section of the book he makes recommendations on how to make a happy community. Walking and biking trails and lanes are important parts of a happy healthy community. It is interesting reading and Check out his book "Thrive" for some insight on tips for creating more happiness in your life.
A brief article on St. Luis Obispo is noted below: Scott

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/transportation/madonna-inn-bike-path-30265.html

2011-02-25T14:17:00.002-05:00

Rochester Transportation meeting gets national attention, and Jon gets his picture taken!

http://blog.tstc.org/2011/02/23/the-public-speaks-at-federal-transportation-town-hall-in-rochester/

The meeting was also mentioned with an entry in "Streetsblog", the national grassroots transpo blog:

http://streetsblog.net/2011/02/24/rochester-residents-left-out-of-transpo-bill-hearing-create-their-own/

Mayoral Candidates to Discuss Rochester’s Future

2011-02-24T06:49:00.001-05:00

While Rochester searches for its next mayor to take office and begin the arduous task of planning the City’s future, Reconnect Rochester is taking the issues to the candidates and the candidates to the people.

Mayoral Candidates Discuss Rochester's Future

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 7:00pm

1000 University Ave. Rochester

Gleason Works Auditorium

2011-02-16T15:56:00.001-05:00

Rochester Bike Week 2011 is coming soon!

If you are interested in participating, our next scheduled Volunteer meeting is at RIT's Innovation Center (Google Map Directions) on Sunday, February 20th from 4pm - 5pm. Please come to this meeting with a list of all the local bike shops, bike clubs, and local Rochester businesses you have connections with or are willing to reach out to. FYI: Your connections/list will be the foundation for our outreach campaign.

We look forward to seeing you at the next volunteer meeting!

RCA Bike Week 2011, Director

Congressional Field Hearing in Rochester on Transportation and Infrastructure.

2011-02-15T19:43:00.002-05:00

Rep. John Mica, Chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a Field Hearing in Rochester on February 18, 2011 regarding reauthorization of The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient ransportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), enacted August 10, 2005. SAFETEA-LU authorized $286.4 billion for Federal surface transportation programs for highways, transit, and bicycles and pedestrians for the 5-year period, 2005-2009. The latest continuing resolution for extending funding will expire on March 3, 2011.

Transportation Equity Town Hall

Presentation and Roundtable with members of:
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
UPROSE
Empire State Future
WE ACT for Environmental Justice

February 17th, 2011
Rochester Central Library
Kate Gleason Auditorium
115 South Avenue
6-8 PM

(RSVP to the Facebook Event and tell a friend!)

AND…

U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure
Field Hearing in Rochester

Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-FL) & members:
Tom Reed (R-NY)
Richard Hanna (R-NY)

February 18th, 2011
Greater Rochester International Airport
3-5pm

(RSVP to the Facebook Event and tell a friend!)

Check updates at:
http://NYSTEA.net
and
http://ReconnectRochester.org/take_action.php

For Information & RSVP:
Ya-Ting Liu
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
(212) 268-7474
yating@tstc.org

Tags: Accountable, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA-LU), Flexible, New York State Transportation Equity Alliance (NYSTEA), Reconnect Rochester, Rep. John Mica, Safe, U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | 3 Comments »

https://img.skitch.com/20110216-b77i3qbwn783r44726ds4a9wyh.jpg

R Community Bikes needs Bicycle Donations

2011-02-01T22:47:00.001-05:00

R Community Bikes Inc. (RCB) is a 501c3 charitable organization which provides refurbished bicycles to needy children and adults in our community.

This service is provided free of charge but RCB depends on the generosity of individuals who donate bikes.

If you have an old bike in your garage or basement please consider donating it to RCB.

Last year RCB provided 2,474 bikes to our brothers and sisters of Rochester.

For R Community Bikes to continue this ministry, more bikes are needed.

Visit www.rcommunitybikes.net, email to rcombikes@yahoo.com or call 865-9872 for more information.

Thank you.

2011 Rochester Bike Week Volunteer Meeting

2011-01-25T22:27:00.001-05:00

Rochester Cycling Alliance Advocates...

If you missed the volunteer meeting last Sunday you still have an opportunity to find-out more and participate in 2011. The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 7th at 7pm - LOCATION: RIT Center for Student Innovation RM: 1100.

RIT Center for Student Innovation.

Google Map Directions available at: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=217907132599489201628.00046c64b3d338283858d&t=h&source=embed&ll=43.085564,-77.679884&spn=0.008259,0.022724&z=16&iwloc=00046c652a700dba32e55

In line with our objectives for the 2011 Bike Week our volunteer needs will follow three main tracks:

Meeting details below.

Bike Week 2011 planning is upon us once again! As the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Project (http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/) takes shape, the RCA is looking to grow Bike Week 2011 and build more community partners in an effort to put Rochester on the bicycle friendly map. We are currently recruiting volunteers for the following positions:

1. Bike Shop / Bike Club Ambassador (4 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To make contact with all local bike shops and bike clubs to solicit the following: donations/sponsorships, ride and event support for Bike Week, and to secure distribution sites for Bike Week flyers.

2. Community Relations Ambassador (4 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To identify and contact potential community and business partners that can benefit from helping Bike Week grow in their area. For example, Neighborhood Associations (NA) may be a good partner, due to their political influence and ability to disseminate information to their NA members. Once relationships are established we need to solicit the following: donations/sponsorships, ride and event support for Bike Week, and to secure distribution sites for Bike Week flyers.

3. Ride Leaders / Support (6 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To lead and or support bicycle rides at their planned times. Make sure all participants are safe and accounted for. Leaders and support will also be responsible for maintaining an accurate sign-in sheet used for tracking and recording the number of participants on each ride, while also documenting the ride through photographs.

BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEER OBJECTIVES

Build Relationships

The Rochester Cycling Alliance is just that…an alliance of cyclists in Rochester. However, we cannot have a very strong alliance if we are not actively seeking and building support from the community of cyclists that live and work in Rochester. As volunteers connect with shops, clubs, businesses, and communities we want to inform our target communities about the RCA, Bike Week, and the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Project, while providing multiple levels of involvement. The three volunteer positions listed above are very public positions and require volunteers that can leverage established relationships with our targeted communities or have the ability to develop the necessary relationships.

Secure Involvement, Donations and Sponsorships

Ambassadors will be supplied with our 2011 Bike Week Donation/Sponsorship letter to deliver to each potential bike week partner. The letter will detail how shops, clubs, businesses, and communities can participate at various levels and even financially or through in-kind donations (time or product). The letter should be delivered in person, rather than mailed, in order to help establish a face-to-face relationship with the potential partner. Our goal is not to make money with this effort, but to solicit involvement and funds to help cover the 2011 Bike Week event expenses. As the RCA develops into a 501c3 (non-profit entity) this year, we will be able to receive and appropriate tax deductible donations from contributing partners.

We look forward to seeing you at the Volunteers meeting! Please feel free to email me with any questions.

Thanks!

Jason Hammel

jasonjhammel@gmail.com

RCA Bike Week 2011, Director

Bike Week 2011 Volunteer Meeting

2011-01-19T19:43:00.004-05:00

It may only be January, but the Rochester Cycling Alliance is already thinking ahead to Bike Week 2011, May 20-27. We want to build on the successes of last year's Bike Week by expanding the event and bringing in more community partners to get the message out that bikes belong on Rochester's streets.

But we can't do it alone! We have several volunteer positions that need to be filled to make sure that Bike Week 2011 is a success. We're holding a volunteer meeting this Sunday at 7 pm for anyone interested in helping out. Join us at the RIT Center for Student Innovation (map) to find out how you can help.

In line with our objectives for the 2011 Bike Week our volunteer needs will follow three main tracks:

Monroe County Legislature endorses GRATS!

2011-01-07T19:32:00.004-05:00

Monroe County Legislature endorses the

Greater Rochester Active Transportation System

pdf

Bicycle Sharing Systems

2010-12-18T10:33:00.000-05:00

Alta Planning & Design, http://www.altaplanning.com/ announces its sister company Alta Bicycle Sharing, Inc. (ABS) launches bike sharing systems in Melbourne, Australia and Washington, D.C. There’s no question that the success of bike share programs rests upon not just great technology, as provided by companies like Bixi, but on top-notch operations management, as provided by ABS.

Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map @ Google Maps

2010-12-11T11:59:00.001-05:00

Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map
Genesee Transportation Council -- 2010

These ratings represent the opinions of experienced bicyclists on the rideability of major roads based on existing road conditions and features such as pavement width and quality, traffic volumes, presence and type of shoulders, and posted speed limits.

Please be aware that road conditions may change and bicyclists must always be aware of vehicular traffic, potholes, and other road hazards.

Further information is available at: http://www.gtcmpo.org/Bike_Map/BikeMapInfo.htm

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=https:%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fgreaterrochesterareabikemap%2Fmap%2Fv2GreaterRochesterAreaBicyclingMap.kml%3Ft%3Dp&sll=43.14183,-77.570686&sspn=0.067137,0.219383&ie=UTF8&t=p&lci=bike&ll=43.157297,-77.606306&spn=0.073381,0.181789&z=13

A new study of data from Lyon’s bike-share system could help planners

2010-12-02T16:57:00.002-05:00

Grist by Sarah Goodyear 1 Dec 2010 10:24 AM

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-12-01-a-new-study-shows-that-bike-share-users-beat-average-car-speeds-

A couple of weeks ago, Elly Blue wrote here about the need for better data about bicycling here in the United States. In Lyon, France, the hugely popular Velo'v bike-share system is providing a source for at least some of types of bicycling numbers, having to do with travel times and routes.

The Lyon study looked at 11.6 million trips taken on the city's bikes between May 2005 and December 2007. It shows, among other things, that . From an item on the Physics arXiv Blog of MIT's Technology Review:

Over an average trip, cyclists travel 2.49 km in 14.7 minutes, so their average speed is about 10 km/h. That compares well with the average car speed in inner cities across Europe.

During the rush hour, however, the average speed rises to almost 15 km/h, a speed which outstrips the average car speed. And that's not including the time it takes to find a place to park, which is much easier for a Velo'v bike than a car.

Other results reveal the habits of the urban cyclist for the first time. For example, there is a clear peak in average speed at 7.45 am and 8.45 am on working days, when presumably there is rush to get to work. The average speed drops to a more leisurely 10 km/h at weekends....

The data also shows that bike journeys between two points are shorter in distance than the corresponding journey by car. There are no bike lanes in Lyon so this suggests that cyclists use other techniques to make short cuts, say [the researchers]. Their shocking conclusion is that cyclists often ride on the pavement, along bus lanes and the wrong way up one-way streets.

That kind of information will be useful for urban planners. For the first time they have real data to show where to build cycle lanes and how well they will be used.

Bike-share systems now up and running in Denver and Washington, D.C., could be a source for similar data. Let's hope it's made available to researchers.

Presentation of Final Rochester Bicycle Master Plan 6pm-8pm Monday, Dec 13

2010-11-28T21:12:00.003-05:00

The final resentation of the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan will take place on Monday, 12/13, from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Rochester Central Library - Bausch & Lomb Building (116 South Ave). Your attendence and input will be most welcome.

The final version of the report will be available on the Web approximately one week prior to the meeting on the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Website:

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/

I hope to see you there.

Scott

Ithaca Bike Symposium and Bike Boulevards

2010-11-25T20:58:00.002-05:00

With the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan almost completed, one of the options for providing access is bike boulevards as noted below.

Summary Jon Schull and Scott MacRae’s Trip to Ithaca Bike Symposium 11- 19 &20, 2010

We were fortunate to attend the Ithaca Bike Symposium. Unable to make the afternoon sessions, we joined the Bike & Beer Gathering Friday Night. We met some Ithaca bike advocates and were introduced as the “Rochester Brothers” because Jon and I both put Rochester after our first names.

The next morning Mia Burke, Alta Planning, former bike coordinator for Portland, Oregon 1993-1999 who now runs a 60 employee national bike consulting company gave a talk on Bicycle Boulevards” or “Neighborhood Greenways”. Here are the highlights.

60% of the population is classified as “Interested and Concerned” and these folks are that the population that responds Bike Boulevards appeal to. (There are the 1% young and fearless and 7% are enthused and confident, 30% are uninterested in bicycling.)

Bike Boulevards or Neighborhood Greenways, have been very successful in Portland but the first one is a challenge since the community does not know what to expect. The cost is $250,000/mile so they may not be cheep compared to the $10-20,000/mile for painting lanes. They are ideal to set up on streets that run parallel to preferred routes. The preferred traffic volume is 3,000-4,000 but 1,500 or lower is ideal. Some bike boulevards are now shooting for <500 cars/day.

There are different levels of commitment for Bike Boulevards or Neighborhood Greenways. The first level is signage and pavement markings. Another is prioritizing traffic so that the cyclists don’t have to stop frequently. They also traffic use traffic calming (slowing) techniques like elongated speed bumps, traffic circles and curb extensions to slow traffic ideally to 15-25 mph. A higher level of commitment is auto traffic diversion to a different street. Adjoining street dwellers often complain about this driving more traffic to their streets but this is typically less than expected because traffic disperses more to other non adjacent streets.

Public involvement is important and the process should not be rushed into. The neighborhood needs to be surveyed and canvassed as well as ride and public workshops all contribute to educating the neighborhoods on the positive effects. This includes the increase in land values of neighborhoods around bike boulevards.

They use median and refuge islands which are separate from the pedestrian islands to allow the cyclists to cross busy streets. A street may be blocked off from 2 way car traffic and become a one way street but allow bikes to go 2 ways.

A popular trend is to combine “bike boulevards” with “green streets” which includes bioswales and storm water management as well as green plantings to improve the livability for everyone. The park service people like this because it can create an atmosphere of a mini park in a park inaccessible area. Bike Boulevards are one part of the puzzle of making a community bike friendly.

A great video on Portland, Oregon’s Bike Boulevard Program is available at:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/11/portland-mode-share-tops-7.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+treehuggersite+(Treehugger)

Scott

University of Rochester Bicycle Active Transportation Forum, Monday Nov. 15, 5:30pm SMH, Flaum Atrium Case Method Room

2010-11-11T13:34:00.006-05:00

University of Rochester Bicycling – Active Transportation Symposium – Workshop

5:30 pm, Monday, November 15th, Case Method Room # 9576, 1st floor Adjacent Flaum Atrium off the Mezzanine

The University of Rochester Center For Community Health and the Rochester Cycling Alliance are sponsoring a forum on bicycling and active transportation with a specific focus on educating the audience on the successes of Northern cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota and Madison, Wisconsin as well as opportunities for Rochester.Dr. Brad Berk Strong Health Systems CEO, will be introducing a symposium on bicycling and active transportation. The City of Rochester is in the final stages of developing its Bicycle Master Plan that will be finalized in early 2011. The University of Rochester will play a critical role in the success of encouraging the Greater Rochester Community to promote bicycling and walking as economical, safe and healthy modes of transportation for adults and children.

The forum will present a concise overview of the safety, health, economic and lifestyle benefits of active transportation (bicycling and walking) and will invite the audience to comment on the barriers to promoting bicycling and walking both on and off campus. Transportation challenges of the University Master Plan and Rochester Bicycling Master Plan as well as logistics of bike commuting will be presented. The workshop is to educate and organize individual’s interest in promoting better access to biking and walking in Rochester.

This is the first of 4 progressively larger symposiums on bicycling and Active Transportation which will be held over the next 6 months.

For further information contact Scott MacRae via Scott_macrae@URMC.rochester.edu or Glenn Cerosaletti at Glenn.cerosaletti@rochester.edu

Don't Be Ridiculous! How one Swedish city gets people to trade silly car trips for bikes

2010-11-02T12:49:00.004-04:00

Here is a Swedish video about how to motivate, cajole and humerously encourage people to use active transportation, biking and walking, rather than hopping into the car for short trips. They've used some non conventional techniques for social marketing. Scott

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-29-how-one-swedish-city-gets-people-to-trade-silly-car-trips-for-bi/

Dutch Cyclists Shun Helmets - Wall Street Journal Article

2010-11-02T12:37:00.003-04:00

Dutch cyclist are fighting the recommendaton by health professionals to wearing helmets. This is a familiar controversy where some cycling advocates are wary of encouraging helmets because it sends a message that cycling can be dangerous. The other side argues that not wearing a helmet is risky behavior. I think we've heard this argument before but which ever side you are on you can read about it below in the motherland of cycling in Europe. I personaly perfer to maintain as many brain cells as I can. Link below: Scott

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304248704575574250616160146.html?mod=ITP_TEST

Bicycling Master Plan Meeting # 3

2010-10-24T17:57:00.004-04:00

Things are getting interesting and exciting!

The Rochester Bicycling Master Plan had it's third meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21nd with the Master Planning Advisory Committee and the Rochester Cycling Alliance members, Bill Collins and Scott MacRae participated. Sprinkle, the national consulting group gave a summary of the Draft Recommendations and Prioritization on Street Changes with weighting based on a customary fomulae along with the public & committee's suggestions.

The target "Level of Service" for this project is to get roads up to a "C" level although we'd all love to get most of the roads up to a C or better. We're currently at a D+ rating. There were some who argued that we should be shooting higher (for an A or B) but the Sprinkle group was confident once we get the process going then we can up our target level later.

The prioritization identified 4 major categories:

Existing Bicycle Facility 4% of roads (6 miles) which have 4 foot bike lanes and meet criteria. This also includes roads that are programmed for next year as well.
Target Bicycle Level of Service Met 29% (41 miles). These streets are typically low volume with infrequent parking which don't require striping
Roadway Restrip Candidates 46% (65 miles) These are streets where roadway restiping is the first option to meet the C level of service. Streets with minimally utilized on street parking are good candidates for high ranking in this category.
Detailed Corri9dor Study Needed (DCSN) 21% 30 miles. These streets don't lend themselves easily to the above criteria and restriping. These streets need more detailed extendsive and detailed operational -level investigations of the constraining factors and opportunities along these roads.

The exciting thing is that we will have about $400,000 worth of restriping and infrastructure improvements that the city will be acting on over the next few years. We will be seeing some bike symbols on bike lanes more and more over the next 2-3 years. It is very inexpensive to do this when a road is reconditioned. The $400,000 will be spent on roads that have already had repaving but need restriping depending on the priority score that was derived and the opportunity to do this in a cost efficient maner.

The mood of the meeting was definately upbeat and the engineers and designers from the city, state and county were very enthusiastic about what will be happening.

Sprinkle has identified Boulder, Colorado, Montreal, Canada, Minneapolis- St Paul, Minnesota and Madison, Wisconsin as our "Peer Cities" that have already made significant advances and can help us establish best practices for Rochester. More on this later. The Rochester Bicycling Master Plan Website is noted below

PS. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz of Madison, Wisconsin is coming to the Rochester Community Design Center Lecture Series "Reshaping Rochester" on April 26th, 2011, 7-9pm. He is a terrific bike advocate and gave a great talk at the National Bike Summitt in Wash. D.C. this spring on how Madison has became a bike friendly city despite being in a cold snowy enviroment. I spent some valuable time talking with him on the economics of biking and how it transforms communities. He went with his transporation team to Holland for a site visit on how they designed their infrastructure to encourage bicycling and active transportation. This is something we should consider when we meet our new mayor. Holland has programs which sponsors mayors and city leaders from around the world to visit to study their transportation system. Scott

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/

Improving quality of life by changing street use

2010-10-08T23:30:00.000-04:00

RIT Alumni Jason Berry

2010-10-02T23:25:00.002-04:00

Jason Berry is an RIT Alumni and film professional who has just completed a feature film on the Tour De France. The film depicts the history of the Tour De France and follows the tour team High Road and sprinter, Mark Cavendish as they journey through France. The filming and soundtrack is terrific!

Due to an outpouring of requests and with the help of the RIT
Alumni
Association we are having another screening of "Chasing
Legends" in
the Rochester area. Wednesday, October 6th at 8pm, Webb
Auditorium
on
the RIT campus. Please help us spread the word and I hope to
see you
at the show! Scott
Here is the description:
Chasing Legends screening in Webb Auditorium
The Office of Alumni Relations is hosting a special screening of alumnus filmmaker Jason Berry's gripping and award-winning documentary on the toughest and most celebrated sporting event in the world — the Tour de France — on Wednesday, October 6 at 8:00 pm in Webb Auditorium. Experience the heartfelt narrative story told by the athletes and announcers who bring this epic race to life each July. Go inside the peloton with Mark Cavendish, Lance Armstrong, and George Hincapie while cameras mounted on bikes, cars, helicopters and helmets take you on a ride that doesn't let up.

$10 per person/$7 students.

To purchase tickets, please click here.

This event is expected to sell out. Tickets are first come, first serve so register today!

Questions? Contact Jon Rodibaugh in the Office of Alumni Relations at jprrar@rit.edu

RIT Alumni Filmaker Jason Berry Encores Bicycling Tour De France Film "Chasing Legends

2010-10-02T23:21:00.001-04:00

2010-09-21T14:06:00.000-04:00

For cyclists interested in cycling adventure stories, the "Books Sandwiched In" series at Rundel is having a discussion of the book "The Lost Cyclist" on September 28- hosted by the owner of Full Moon Vista bike shop. I'll be out of town that day, but it looks fun!

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589944052

Rails WITH trails? Advantage to Railroads

2010-09-18T12:58:00.000-04:00

from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy www.RailstoTrails.org

They should see their rates go down. Sometimes people will walk on
the track as a shortcut, then don't hear the train in time and get
hit. This is eliminated by having a multi use path next to it.

http://www.railstotrails.org/ourwork/trailbuilding/toolbox/informationsummaries/rails-with-trails.html

Rochester Bicycle Master Plan, Brighton, Wegmans and 360/365 Movie Festival

2010-09-01T22:07:00.005-04:00

The last 2 weeks have been very productive for Rochester Cycling Advocacy. Two weeks ago RCA members Jon Schull, Scott MacRae and Tom Robinson (EDR) met with Brighton Town Surpervisor Sandra Frankel to discuss ways to make Brighton more bike friendly. She agreed to initiate creating a Brighton Bike Advisory group and with the help of RIT's Center For Student Innovation perhaps create a Brighton Bicycle Master Plan which would integrate Rochester's Plan as well. GROC also had a major victory getting their County Parks programs approved. Congratulations GROC.

Last Wed. the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Group met which included RCA members Bill Collins, Jon Schull (substituting for Andrew Dollard, Richard DeSarra (also representing RBC) and Scott MacRae all participated in the discussion and critique of the Existing Conditions Map which was very detailed for each major street. Rochester rated a D+ on "Level of Service - LOS" which is above average but leads lots of room for improvement. This input as well as the input from 4 city community quadrant meetings which also allowed riders to compare their real life experience of riding the streets to the survey ratings to further refine the ratings. The participants were also able to rank which destinations and streets are higher priority and this information will also go into the master plan to help create priorities for the plan. You can review the plan at;
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/

Go to the existing level of service map and review it. If you agree or disagree, let them know. There will be a more detailed description street by street listed soon.
You can also give your comments to Erik Frisch City of Rochester at: Frische@CityofRochester.gov

Jon Schull, Richard DeSarra and Scott MacRae met with Judy Cama Community Relations Coordinator and Marcie Barcotta of Wegmans about getting Wegmans support to make Rochester more bike friendly. We discussed getting support for Jon's Active Transportation Network Map adnthe suggested Richard help them create some maps for their Passport to Family Wellness Program which currently encourages people to walk for Wegmans credits and gifts. The new program would encourage biking in the community. We also discussed how to make the New East Ave. Wegmans the poster child for a bike friendly store and neighborhood with indoor bike parking, lockers and showers for employees and incentive programs such as bike days with gifts for cyclists. They were very interested in supporting us.

Richard and Scott then met with John Richardson Director of the 360/365 film festival about incorporating 2 recent full lenght films involving bicycling at the 360/365 film festival in 2011. They are now also considering having a contest for the best 3 minute film on bicycling in 2011 as well.

Bill Collins is continueing to lead the dialogue with RGRTA's on the new transit center and is coordinating a meeting with RGRTA to discuss ways to make the center and the system more bike friendly.

Scott

This is it! Bicycle Master Plan Public Meetings Wedesday and Thursday Night 6pm Aug. 25-26

2010-08-24T20:17:00.002-04:00

Dear Cyclists,
Here is a repeat listing of the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Rochester Quadrant Citizens Meetings if you have not seen the listing already. We are welcoming all citizens and cyclist to attend. The meetings will be facilitated by Bruce Landis and his team of bicycle design consultants from Sprinkle Inc., who are nationally recognized for their expertise on urban bicycle master plans.

The information gathered here will be combined with the other information already gathered through an extensive street by street analysis of the bicycle friendliness of existing conditions. A prioritization of streets with recommendations on next steps will be completed by early 2011. There are also numerous other recommendations that will be made as noted above in the BMP (Bicycle Master Plan) in the above enclosure.
Scott MacRae
Rochester Cycling Alliance

If you cannot make the meeting you can send your comments directly to Erik Frisch, Transportation Specialists at the address below or at:

Frische@CityofRochester.gov
Erik Frisch | Transportation Specialist
City of Rochester | DES | Architecture & Engineering Bureau
City Hall | 30 Church Street | Room 300B
Rochester | New York | 14614-1279

NORTHWEST QUADRANT

DATE: August 25, 2010 TIME: 6:00 PM – 8:00PM

LOCATION: Aquinas Institute, Cafeteria
ADDRESS: 1127 Dewey Avenue, Rochester

SOUTHWEST QUADRANT

DATE: August 25, 2010 TIME: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

LOCATION: Phyllis Wheatley Community Library

ADDRESS: 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way, Rochester

NORTHEAST QUADRANT
DATE: August 26, 2010 TIME: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

LOCATION: North Street Community Center

ADDRESS: 700 North Street, Rochester

SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
DATE: August 26, 2010 TIME: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

LOCATION: Artisan Church

ADDRESS: 1235 South Clinton Avenue, Rochester

Save Recission $$$ for Bikes!

2010-08-17T17:23:00.002-04:00

Protect vital bicycle funding programs- demand proportionality in rescissions! Take Action!

The Jobs Bill passed by Congress last week contains a $2.2 billion rescission of transportation funds from state Departments of Transportation. In many states, the DOT will likely target bike funding programs for the money to send back to the federal government – unless local advocates speak up and make sure that doesn’t happen. States must report which program funds are affected by August 25th- so action is needed this week!

Unlike previous rescissions there is no proportionality requirement calling for equal distribution of funding program cuts. Instead, the law gives the States maximum flexibility to choose the unobligated balances of funds to be rescinded.

The amount each state has to rescind is up to $200 million for the largest states. Many programs that fund bicycle projects are threatened by these rescissions including. These programs are often unfairly targets for cuts or rescissions, and in some cases have been completely gutted.

Take action now! Please contact your Governor and ask that rescissions be done equitably across programs, and that those that traditionally fund bicycling projects not be unfairly targeted.

Go to League of American Bicycles and send your message thought their website:

http://www.bikeleague.org/

Scott

Getting the word out

2010-08-12T10:41:00.003-04:00

Mostly, I just wanted to hightlight the GRATS idea with the article below that I have posted in various venues--and to mention that I hope the next meeting of the RCA includes some time devoted to communications--getting the word out about RCA's mission alternative transporation as a real option in our area.

So, here's the article:

Rochester bike commuting, the tipping point

Remember when you were a kid and used to watch water drops form? You’d stare at a point where a water drop was building, then after a while a tipping point would be reached and the drop would, well…, drop. Magic didn’t cause it; it was physics and surface tension and (not to bore you) things were building up.

Something like that is occurring in Rochester, NY on alternative transportation. Things are building up. 1. The public’s desire to do something about Climate Change. 2. Rochester, NY’s location at the confluence of several major off-road trails. 3. Many influential organizations willing to work together to solve the transportation conundrum facing us. 4. A five-mile direct trail from Rochester Institute of Technology, Genesee Valley Park, the University of Rochester, and downtown Rochester. All of this is coming together in a new concept by Professor Jon Schull, interim Director, Center for Student Innovation at Rochester institute of Technology. The concept is called GRATS: Greater Rochester Active Transportation System.

Here’s the skinny on the GRATS project: “Rochester has an enviable network of bikeable and walkable trails and boulevards that connect neighborhoods, campuses, and natural attractions. Connect the dots and a few gaps, and give Rochesterians, visitors and businesses new options for local travel, regional recreation, and economic development. With intermodal links to bus stations, train stations, waterways and airports, GRATS gives us a sustainable transportation system. Over half of our trips are under 5 miles. Why not bike? Why not walk? HELP MAKE GRATS A REALITY.” GRATS.

What’s compelling about GRATS is the map. Instead of the usual busy road/bike map, you see a lean, instantly comprehensible grid that conveniently intersects our community north, south, east, and west. You spot your house, your job, or your local grocer and you see how close you are to GRATS. You and GRATS will get you to those important short distances without polluting the planet or costing you an arm or a leg.

Of course, there will be much resistance to the kind of changes needed to seriously change direction on transportation and mitigate its effect on our environment. Some resistance will come from those of us disinclined to change our driving habits. It’s convenient to simply hop or jump into our car and buzz down the road. But the personal fossil fuel vehicle is expensive. The sticker price is only a fraction of the cost of a car. You have to ask yourself: How much did your vehicles cost? The second car? How much does it cost to run it? How much of your taxes go for the upkeep of the infrastructure for your vehicle? How much for insurance? How much do you pay to park? Repairs? Inspection? Insurance? Accidents and deaths? How many jobs do you work to pay for your vehicle? Subsidies to the oil industry? What if gasoline prices start to reflect their true cost—some say $10 per gallon?

More resistance will come from the car and fossil fuel industries. They’ll feel threatened by a public willing to forgo the car for the bike, though that’s a great big hypocrisy: When you’re an employee and your job is being replaced by outsourcing or by new technology, they tell you to get over it. Get retrained and deal with it. But if you are an industry that pollutes and compromises our environment, they don’t succumb to reason and deal with it, they hire lawyers to fight it. They spend a zillion bucks on advertizing and influence peddling to convince you and your representatives that life without a car is unthinkable.

So, what’s the tipping point? What will it take for us to adopt an alternative transportation system like GRATS? What about bicycling in winter? What about getting sweaty and going to work? What about bike storage? The answer is: The tipping point is you. Get involved. Go to Rochester Cycling Alliance and chime in.

2010-08-04T22:04:00.001-04:00

Comrades- they're on to us!

"Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes knows you might think bicycles and bicycle riding are harmless, but beware: "That's exactly the attitude they want you to have."

The Denver Post reports that Maes, a Tea Party friendly candidate facing former Rep. Scott McInnis in the August 10 Republican primary, has come out against a public bicycle program run by the city of Denver. Denver's mayor, John Hickenlooper, is the presumptive Democratic nominee, and a cycling supporter.

"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes said at a small campaign rally last week, according to the Post. "These aren't just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor. These are very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations program that mayors have signed on to."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/co-gov-goper-maes-hickenloopers-bike-love-is-a-un-plot.php?ref=fpblg

-Bill Collins

Dangerous Pedestrian Crossings PBS Special

2010-07-28T13:38:00.002-04:00

Dear Group,

Here is a nice link to a PBS treatise on dangerous pedestrian road crossings which has plenty of relevance to our travials trying to get safe bike lane design in challenging places like Monroe Ave around Pittsford Plaza. During the presentation they mention that the current trend is unsustainable and very bad for the evolving demographics, ie more older people who won't be able to drive and are stuck in their suburban houses locked in by 6&7 lane roads.

I had a discussion a few weeks ago with Rich Perrin, head of Genesee Transportation Council who made the same point. Our current road design strategy of continually adding lanes and moving further away from the city is unsustainable. The federal govenment is only able to fund 40% of the roads and bridges that need repair. That is why we are so appealing to tranportation planners. We represent a solution that is not expensive and essentially puts everyone on a "road diet".

Scott

http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2010/07/26/pbs-dangerous-crossing/

GRATS map: newer and improveder!

2010-07-24T19:55:00.002-04:00

Click for the newest and improvest PDF

Greater Rochester Active Transportation System brochure

2010-07-22T12:25:00.005-04:00

Click on images for a printable PDF.

Spread the word!

Now seeking endorsements and logos from allied organizations.

GRATS schematic v2

2010-07-18T14:52:00.000-04:00

Dark forces are waiting for us to let down our guard

2010-07-10T22:51:00.002-04:00

Electronics companies try to start a pro-distracted driving lobby, but backtrack quickly when the Secretary of Transportation raises a fuss.

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=205706&type=newswires

-Bill Collins

"Safe Passing" Law passes NYS Legislature

2010-06-30T10:45:00.002-04:00

A bill that mandates cars to pass a bicyclist at a "safe distance" passed the Legislature yesterday:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100630006

Thanks to Richard, Harvey, and all the other NYS cyclist advocates that worked hard to get this bill passed! Hopefully the governor will sign, but it appeared to pass both houses with more than 2/3 vote, so an override shouldn't be difficult, if it comes to that.

-Bill Collins

And another City bike tour

2010-06-29T07:01:00.001-04:00

This one focuses on Artwalk and Cobbs Hill area, July 20th:

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943294

-Bill Collins

Guided Bike Ride

2010-06-29T06:51:00.003-04:00

Free guided bike tour of Marketview Heights and the Arts District, sponsored by the City of Rochester and MVP, July 6th:

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943292

-Bill Collins

Golden Gate Bridge via Google Street View on Vimeo

2010-06-27T14:25:00.000-04:00

Golden Gate Bridge via Google Street View on Vimeo

I want this tool.

Golden Gate Bridge via Google Street View from Nathan de Vries on Vimeo.

2010-06-26T01:26:00.003-04:00

A group of cyclists in Canada gets impatient with government inaction regarding cycling infrastructure and takes measures into its own hands.

-Bill Collins

Beyond The Motor City Screening Monday, June 28th Dryden Theater George Eastman House 7pm Open to Public

2010-06-22T12:36:00.003-04:00

Below please find info about a free documentary screening at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theater on Monday, June 28. This film and the panel discussion that follows will address issues pivotal to the future of our region. This is a film about the past and future of transportation. Info requests to RRCDC phone 271 0520.

We hope you can attend the screening and panel discussion on June 28. Please forward and post to your Facebooks, Twitters, etc. etc. etc.!

Evan Lowenstein
Empire State Future (www.empirestatefuture.org)

Bike Master Plan website now up

2010-06-11T13:55:00.001-04:00

The City of Rochester has launched the website for the Bicycle Master Plan currently being developed. It's pretty limited right now, but more information will be added as the project progresses. Check it out!

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/

No Kidding!!! Business Week: Los Angeles plans to spend $230 million on 1,700 miles of bicycle paths

2010-06-09T12:05:00.002-04:00

SPECIAL REPORT June 3, 2010, 3:09PM EST
Fighting Carbon Emissions: Cities Take the Lead
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam, city hall is becoming the best hope for climate action
By Mark Scott and Jeremy van Loon
Los Angeles: city of freeways, smog, and...bike lanes? That's where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to take his town. In one of the less likely
transformations in the global effort to cut carbon dioxide emissions, Los Angeles plans to spend $230 million on 1,700 miles of bicycle paths. Most of the
program will be completed by 2015 and includes changing rooms, showers, and bike storage areas operated by the city and private partners. It comes on
top of subsidies for installing solar panels and incentives for planting trees and switching to electric vehicles. "We have to make a change," says Michelle
Mowery, senior coordinator for the bike program. "We can't fit any more cars in."
From the freeways of Los Angeles to the canals of Amsterdam, cities are taking the lead in the fight to reduce carbon output.

As world leaders squabble
over how to cut greenhouse gases, city hall is becoming the best hope for climate action. Given their smaller jurisdictions, local officials can green-light
eco-projects faster than nationwide schemes can be implemented. "We're not going to wait for national politicians, we're acting right now," says Toronto
Mayor David Miller, who plans to invest more than $1 billion in public transport and eco-friendly air-conditioning systems for buildings by 2017.
The efforts could have a profound impact: Cities are home to more than half the world's population and pump out more than two-thirds of global carbon
dioxide. That share will surely grow as people flock to megacities in the developing world. "It's obvious where the fight for a sustainable civilization will be
decided, and that's in large cities," says Peter Loescher, chief executive officer of Siemens (SI), which aims to profit from selling its streetcars, wind
turbines, and other technologies to municipalities worldwide.
Just as no two cities are alike, there are vast differences in local strategies. In Toyko 68 percent of trips are already made by bike, subway, or on foot.
Houston residents, by contrast, make 95 percent of their journeys by car. So while the Texas city is giving officials electric vehicles to reduce emissions,
the Japanese capital in April announced a citywide CO2 cap-and-trade program—the kind the U.S. Senate has been unable to pass so far. Copenhagen
will spend $1.6 billion by 2012 on bike paths, green energy projects, and retrofitting city buildings. Melbourne plans to bar cars from downtown and offer
incentives to developers who invest in efficiency. "It's a green gold rush," says Robert Doyle, Melbourne's Lord Mayor.
In Amsterdam, city elders are in the midst of a five-year, $1 billion program to improve creaking infrastructure. Amsterdam's 2,400 houseboats have been
fitted to use electricity instead of diesel, and cargo barges are now being converted as well. Some 300 homes are testing display panels that show energy usage in real time, a program that may be expanded citywide. If residents can be persuaded to use the technology to cut power use at peak times, their
electricity bills could fall by up to 40 percent, says Ger Baron, who oversees the project. "Our biggest challenge is changing people's habits," he says.
New York, meanwhile, has laid out a program called "PlaNYC." The scheme includes tax breaks for solar panels, legal changes that spur property owners
to make buildings more energy-efficient, and power plants that use food waste and wood chips. Though a proposal to charge a congestion fee for drivers
entering much of Manhattan couldn't pass the state legislature, the Big Apple hopes to quadruple its 450 miles of bicycle paths by 2030. New York's plan
has even sparked envy on the West Coast. "Los Angeles isn't New York," says L.A. cycling chief Mowery. "But we're getting there."
The bottom line: As national governments fail to cut carbon, cities are starting to take the initiative with programs aimed at reining in emissions.
With Stuart Biggs. Scott is a correspondent in Bloomberg Businessweek's London bureau. Van Loon is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

The times,they are a changing: Posted by Scott MacRae

A NYC view on our Upstate sprawl

2010-06-08T07:20:00.002-04:00

A very interesting essay from a resident of NYC, who feels that they are paying the price for upstate sprawl:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/06/04/why-nyc-residents-should-care-about-the-upstate-sprawl-bomb/#more-222391

-Bill Collins

Rochester bicycle boulevard ride a success

2010-05-29T10:42:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, May 23 at 1 PM in Cobbs Hill Park, over forty bicyclists began a bicycle boulevard demonstration ride through the Upper Monroe neighborhood in Rochester, New York. They were not racers, or members of a single bicycling club, or recruits for a charity ride. They were just ordinary folks finding out what a bicycle boulevard would look and feel like in our area.

Maybe it is a harbinger of things to come. Portland, Oregon’s next generation bicycle boulevards is already achieving what we are attempting here: “A low traffic volume and low traffic speed street where bicycles, pedestrians and neighbors are given priority.” Already, this concept is being introduced as one of the choices for the Bicycle Master Plan being developed by the City of Rochester and the county of Monroe.

Preparation for this demonstration ride began almost a year ago by choosing a neighborhood properly situated near the heart of the city, en route to popular generators. A generator is a destination that attracts traffic, like a supermarket, a city center, a theatre district, or, in Rochester’s case, its wonderful network of trails (including the New York State Canal Trail) which come to a hub at Genesee Park.

For this specific demonstration ride, a route from the Upper Monroe neighborhood was mapped out and temporarily signed, pointing out each turn of the ride. When fully developed, this bicycle boulevard would not only have permanent signage, it might have many other features like auto speed reduction, auto traffic reduction, and various changes to make crossing busy streets easier and safer. (http://www.bta4bikes.org/) Ultimately, Upper Monroe bicycle boulevards would be linked to a series of other boulevard routes throughout all our neighborhoods providing safe and enjoyable routes that make our neighborhoods more neighborly. Not to mention fewer fossil-burning vehicles, fewer ozone alert days, and a lighter impact on climate change.

What might tip the community from one that views bicycles, walking, and public transportation as peripheral ways of getting around to a city that is designed specifically around these transportation options? Maybe we could take our lead from Portland, Oregon, pack up all our influential community leaders, and send them to Boulder, Colorado or The Netherlands and let them see how they do it. Don’t laugh, it’s been done—and it worked!

Bike 4 Breakfast

2010-05-24T23:53:00.003-04:00

Bike 4 Breakfast (a Bike Week event) took place on Sunday, May 23rd from 8:00am - 11:00am. The ride started at Eastern Mountain Sports in Pittsford Plaza and followed the Canal Path to the Genesee River Path in route to the South Wedge Diner (located in Rochester's South Wedge neighborhood). The people, weather and ride were all great! The total number of riders that participated was 14. Great event - look forward to offering it again sometime this summer.
Thanks to Chintana for helping out.

Get that pothole filled!

2010-05-24T08:36:00.002-04:00

For motorists, potholes are an annoyance, but they can be extremely dangerous for cyclists! If you encounter potholes in the City of Rochester, you can use this on-line form to report them to the City for repair:

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/app.aspx?id=8589937206

In my experience, the City fills the pothole within a couple of days.

2010-05-21T08:23:00.003-04:00

Rochester Cycling Alliance / Bike Week Commuter Race just finished - cyclist won after a close race. Times will be updated later and possibly a video too! Thanks to everyone who helped out with the race. Great way to start out Bike Week. Don't miss the Light-up the River Ride tonight at 9:00PM. Visit: www.rochestercyclingalliance.org for details.

Rush hour.

2010-05-20T13:38:00.002-04:00

Here's a time-lapse video of rush hour in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Dream big, folks.

Friday, May 21st - Commuter Race (First Bike Week Event)

2010-05-20T12:49:00.003-04:00

Rochester's Bike Week starts tomorrow! Tomorrow is also National Bike to Work Day - BIKE TO WORK! Come support the Bike Week Commuter Race at 7:00am (Bicyclists vs. car vs. bus). Race will begin at Starbucks (Corner of Winton and Monroe) at 7:00am and terminates in front of the museum on Monroe Ave (just before Manhattan Sq Pk).

City Newspaper Covers RCA Bike Week

2010-05-19T15:15:00.003-04:00

Click City Newspaper to see coverage of RCA Bike Week.

RCA T-shirt Orders

2010-05-10T16:32:00.005-04:00

Anyone interested in a limited edition RCA T-shirt please email us
with your name, T-shirt size, phone number, and email. T-shirt cost
will be $20 per shirt. This cost is based on buying 12 T-shirts to start. The more people who buy them the cheaper they will be. We need orders by 10AM tomorrow (5/11) in order to get the shirts by this Friday. Please pass this message along and let all RCA'ers know about the shirts.

Shirts will be Red 50/50 cotton shirts with a white RCA Chain ring /Cityscape logo on the front and white "ROCHESTER CYCLING ALLIANCE" lettering on the back across the shoulders. To place an order for your shirt click here.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

2010-05-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

ATTENTION all RCA members with a Facebook page! If you have been looking for a way to help and support the RCA and Bike Week, but have been too busy to make it to meetings, etc. you can help-out by letting your friends know about the event through Facebook or email.

If you have a Facebook page please cut and paste the following message into your status:

Rochester Bike Week is May 21st thru 28th. For a list of events visit: http://www.rochestercyclingalliance.org/

If you do not have facebook, but have an email account.. then simply send the above message to your friends via email.

Your help with messaging and getting the word out is crucial to the success of this event! What good is this event if no one knows about it! Also, frequent posts to your Facebook page over the next two weeks leading up to Bike Week will increase our messaging success!

SPREAD THE WORD! Thanks for your support...

Bike Week Committee

LAST Rochester Bike Week Volunteer Meeting

2010-05-08T11:42:00.002-04:00

ATTN: All RCA Members and Volunteers...

We will be having the last volunteer meeting at Spot Coffee on Tuesday, May 11th from 7-8PM. At this meeting we will cover: upcoming confirmed events, distribute fliers to volunteer (for later distribution), discuss where fliers have been distributed thus far (bike shops, etc.), schedule volunteers for flier distribution at the Lilac Fest, determine the number of Bike Week shirts to purchase, and implement Social Media strategies and get our network of volunteers involved with spreading the word via FB, Twitter, Blogs, etc.

Please come to see how you can help support the event.

Thanks,
RCA Bike Week Committee
For more info. please email: info@rochestercyclingalliance.com

Maplewood Bike Rodeo needs volunteers!

2010-05-07T09:42:00.002-04:00

The Maplewood Library is having a bike rodeo for kids next Saturday (May 15) at 10:00, and needs additional volunteers, preferably people who have some experience with minor bike and helmet adjustments/repairs. About 26 kids, all active users of the Maplewood Library, will be attending. It will take place in the front parking lot of Aquinas High School. The RPD will be supervising the actual cone riding course. Volunteers will be needed for the helmet/bike adjustments and possibly helping kids learn to ride. Please contact me if you are interested: alamedajunk@yahoo.com .

-Bill Collins

Transportation reform IS health reform

2010-05-07T09:09:00.002-04:00

Via Streetsblog, an article about a CDC report quietly issued last month which affirms that reforming transportation policy to encourage pedestrian and bicycle use will improve the health of our country-

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/05/06/centers-for-disease-control-transportation-reform-is-health-reform/

This CDC brief should be mentioned every time we advocate for better cycling facilities.

Rochester Rated 18th of US Cities in Bicycle Commuting

2010-05-06T08:54:00.004-04:00

In 2008 Rochester has the 18th highest of 51 cities over 1 million population based on US Census Data with a bicycle commute rate of 0.6%. The rate has grow substantially from it’s 0.2% rate in 2000 based on US Census Data.

I’ve been in contact with Steve Clark, who works for Transit for Livable Communities in Minneapolis and is highly respected in the Minneapolis cycling community. He notes that they are seeing an increase in all year bike commuting as well as an overall increase. One third of Minneapolis bike commuters are now cycling year round as born out by the bike counts. Minneapolis's bike commuting rate is 4.2%, Ottawa's is 1.9%, Toronto's is 0.8%. Minneapolis built the lanes and trails and they cycled.

Steve also gave me two terrific links that are used to educate the public as well as maintenance personnel on winter street care. He recently completed an all day workshop with street maintenance workers and the have bought into the program as well and some are now cycling. These are enclosed below.

http://www.c-d-g.org/projects/TLC/WinterWalkBike/LeadershipBreakfast.htm

http://www.c-d-g.org/projects/TLC/WinterWalkBike/Dec4WinterWorkshop.htm

Steve also attached his research on winter riding. "What we have found is that winter riding is especially high on commuter routes. Not so high on paths that have high rates of recreational use during the summer months. Based on all of our counts, we conclude that nearly a third of regular bike commuters continue to bike during the winter." He also sent us a nice 4-3 conversion image shown here. Scott

Sustainability Mobility Fair

2010-05-05T15:39:00.002-04:00

Sustainability Mobility Fair “Future Transportation Choices for Short Trips" Admission is free and open to the public. At the May 8th Sustainability Mobility Fair you can view over 20 full-size alternative vehicles in a casual setting.

WHEN & WHERE: When: Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 10:AM - 2 PM
Where: The Center for Student Innovation at RIT, 1 Lomb Memorial Dr Rochester, NY 14623-5698

Most of the trips we take are 6.5 miles from our homes. Either traveling to work, to school, to shop, or just for fun, you will have many transportation choices in the future. Whether your reasons for considering alternative transportation are to cut commuter costs, concern over greenhouse gas emissions, or to improve your health, get an idea of your choices by coming to our first Sustainability Mobility Fair. This event is sponsored by The Center for Student Innovation at RIT (CSI) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Center for Environmental information (CEI).

Our vision for creating this expo is to offer the public an opportunity to see and examine possible alternative transportation for those short distances.
Attendees will be exposed to what is new and now available on the markets and able to experience the latest choices in electric (bicycles, trikes, cars and motorcycles), hybrid electric, GEM car, Zip car, hydrogen, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, propane hybrid, plug-in electric, ethanol, Walking School Buses, bicycles, ‘veggie’ vehicles, and cycling transportation technologies.. All alternative fuel options will be on display. As more commuters become aware of travel choices, we expect to see more of them regularly choosing transportation alternatives because of the benefits. For more information, please check out: http://ceinfo.org/

3 Foot Passing Law in NY?

2010-05-04T12:32:00.004-04:00

Via Streetsblog, an article about the current status of bills to help keep cars away from bikes in New York State. David Gantt, a Rochester Assemblyman, is currently Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, and is mentioned in the article as being currently opposed to a 3 foot rule, preferring instead a "safe distance" rule. Any area bicyclist, but especially constituent's of Mr. Gantt's, should contact his office about these bills.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100502/NEWS02/5020388/-1/ARCHIVE/3-foot%20rule%20proposed%20for%20cyclists+'%20safety

-Bill Collins

Rochester Bicycle Master Plan

2010-05-02T21:34:00.004-04:00

The first "pre kick off" meeting of the Advisory Committee met on Friday. RCA members Andrew Dollard, Bill Collins, Richard DeSarra also representing Rochester Bicycle Club and myself (representing U. of R.) as well as others, were there as well as city representatives Chuck Thomas, Steve Beauvaias, Pete Siegrest and Erik Frisch. Scott Leathersich represented Monroe County and a proxy GTC rep was there.

This meeting was to prepare for the outside national bicycle planning/consultanting group Sprinkle from Tampa, Fl. who will be coming the week of May 24-28th to do their preliminary assessment. This visit will overlap with bike week and we are planning to see if we can get Mayor Duffy and Sprinkle to participate in some of our Bike Week activities. The details of this need to be worked out but it looks encouraging that this will fall into place. Local firms ERD a landscape design and engineering company as well SRF, which offers expertise in transportation planning, pedestrian and bicycle safety, traffic calming ect. will be assisting Sprinkle. They want to do this plan expeditiously in 8 months since all parties are eager to move forward because of potential funding opportunities.

We discussed a variety of issues which need to be addressed by the master plan including how to meter progress, weather, representation of low income groups and the format of the upcoming meetings. Overall everyone involved seems committed to making a difference in making Rochester a more bike friendly town. More later.

Scott

Rochester Critical Mass Ride Friday @ 6PM (Liberty Pole)

2010-04-27T23:27:00.003-04:00

View Larger Map

RCA T-shirt Design

2010-04-25T23:49:00.002-04:00

Please provide feedback about this t-shirt design (graphic, colors & pricing). Would you support our efforts and mission by purchasing one of our t-shirts?

Make custom t-shirts at CustomInk.com

Trails, Canals, and Project Green

2010-04-22T12:39:00.002-04:00

Rochester's routes have shaped its history and will determine its destiny. From its Native American days to the present, Rochester's historical pathways continue to shape and affect its vibrancy. We've come full circle.

Trail. Indian trails shaped today's street arrangement. Instead of a simple urban grid we have Genesee Street, Plymouth Avenue and the trail along the east bank of the Genesee River.

Canal. Our nineteenth-century canal system built on these Native American routes. The largely-forgotten Genesee Valley Canal followed closely South Plymouth Avenue and the Feeder Canal paralleled much of today's Mt. Hope Avenue. The Erie Canal followed a curving West Broad Street route as it entered downtown.

Rail. Starting in 1878, railroads began supplanting canals. Five different railroad systems operated in downtown Rochester around the early 1900s.

Fail. But interstate highways, suburban development, governmental policy, and automobile lobbies eventually supplanted the dominance of the railroads.

Stale. In the 1970s, urban redevelopment gave us the Inner Loop, suburban sprawl, and neighborhood separation. Subsequently, the city economi staled and people moved elsewhere. Many of Rochester's core urban neighborhoods inherited surplus housing beyond reclaiming.

Trail! New hope now comes with the City of Rochester's Project Green. The idea is to turn swaths of vacant and substandard housing into greenspaces that will enhance property values and quality of life. Some greenspaces would be used for community gardens. Some greenspaces would be "land-banked" for future development when the economy improves. And some greenspaces will be developed as linear parks for pedestrian and bicycle reconnecting neighborhoods, encouraing active living, reducing carbon footprints and parking pressures, combatting obesity, and generally making life better!

The Rochester Cycling Alliance strongly supports the City's efforts to re-envision and re-provision former canal and rail routes, and to develop a bicycle master plan that uses them to reconnect and re-invigorate our city.

Rochester will blaze new trails by recovering old ones. Bike to the future!

Google Maps - Bikes Is Working & Responding To Route Recommendation

2010-04-19T23:02:00.005-04:00

Google maps bikes is now up, working and responding to suggestins. It is in beta testing so they are continuously refining things and encourage us to critique thier suggested routes. I'd encourage you to use it and post your favorite cycling routes to work, schools shopping etc. This can be a powerful tool to direct cyclists to the safest routes. It automatically takes into consideration things like hills ect to make it easier for cyclists. Here is my experience as an example:

I checked out a route my wife wanted to take for a bike trip from Park Ave. to Pittsford and it suggested she go down Monroe Ave directly which was the most direct by car but not the safest.

I typed in an alternative route down Clover using the bike lane and then to the Erie Canal and East as a safer alternative. A week later Google responded with this message. Very cool!

Hi scott, Your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right!
We'll update the map soon and email you when you can see the change.

Report historyProblem ID: EDE2-41E3-816A-096AYour report: I would suggest that one continue South on Clover even though this is not the greatest road, it has a 4-5 foot bike lane and certainly better than Monroe Ave which is a 4 lane road with no bike lanes. I would continue south and then pick up the Erie Canal trail and take a left which would lead me into into the town of Pittsford without the danger of Monroe Ave which is a mess and dangerous especially south of Clover where it turns into 5 lanes, has lots of stores and cars turning without remotely considering cyclists or pedestrians. Scott MacRae Rochester Cycling Alliance

--Thanks for your help,The Google Maps team

Check it out by going to Google Maps and then click on the "More" icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen, then click "bicycling" and it will give you a preferred route. If enought of us refine the routes, it should be very handy for folks with time. The system learns by our direct feedback.

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevard Ride

2010-04-11T20:21:00.000-04:00

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevard Ride

The Upper Monroe Avenue Neighborhood Association has stepped up to the plate and become the first neighborhood in our city to endorse the City of Rochester’s decision to include bicycle boulevards in its Bicycle Masterplan. Eventually, we want to provide the Rochester community with an example of bicycle boulevards designed to connect neighborhoods with the city-wide trail system and to encourage bicycle use by casual bike riders to nearby destinations.

We can support them by riding on May 23!

Please consider riding your bicycle with us on our our first Upper Monroe bicycling boulevard ride on May 23rd. This is just one of the events for Rochester's Bike Week to show off our neighborhood and the bicycle boulevard concept.

We'll meet up at Cobb's Hill Park and bike to Ford's Street Bridge then on to Boulder Coffee shop on 955 Genesee Street and back.

When: 1 PM, Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Where: Cobbs Hill Park (near the corner of Norris Dr. and Culver Rd.
Helmet required
Total bicycling distance: 7.34 miles of fun.
Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Free and Open to the public
Ride lead by a Rochester Bicycling Club Board member

Bicycle Boulevards

This is the route we will be taking on May 23rd.

View Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevard Ride in a larger map

Tour de New York returns to Rochester in August

2010-04-11T15:54:00.000-04:00

http://rocnow.com/article/sports/20104100326

ANNETTE LEIN file photo 2007

This summer’s five-stage Tour de New York bicycle race in Rochester is expected to draw 125,000 spectators.

...

Mayor Robert Duffy has called pro cycling a major tourism engine for the region.

“He’s been my saving grace,” Page said. “He’s always been supportive and he’s had the vision of where this thing is going.”

While the event is labeled Tour de New York, the race’s long-range intention is to remain centered on western New York.

Unlike the Tour de France or Tour de California in which riders and their entourages move from location to location, the Tour de New York will use Rochester as its base of operations.

TOUR DE NEW YORK

What: 5-day stage road cycling event for professionals and elite amateurs sanctioned by Union Cycliste Internationale.
When: Aug. 7-11 on courses through Rochester and Finger Lakes.
Format: Criterium downtown, Saturday, Aug. 7; 10-mile time trial on Lake Ontario Parkway, Sunday, Aug. 8; three road races of varying lengths Aug. 9, 10 and 11.
Information: www.tourdenewyork.com.

Weather Factor: 5 of Top 10 US Bike Cities in Cold Snowy Climates

2010-04-11T08:57:00.006-04:00

Well the word is out as Bill has posted. Cold winters are no longer a good excuse for cities being hesitant to build bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. If you build it they will come. Incidentally, Rochester bike commuting rate in 0.6% and rates sixteenth highest of US Cities.

Minneapolis was given the # 1 Bike City rating and 5 of the top 10 US bike cities are in cold climates. These include Minneapolis, Boulder, Madison Wisc., NYC and Chicago. Minneapolis has a 4.3 % bicycle commuting rate and an impressive 6.1% walking commuting rate. That rate grew by 68% between 2006 to 2008 because of trail and bike lane expansion, grass roots advocacy and supportive politicians. Mayor RT Rybak is a regular bicyclist and the County Commisssioner is also strongly supportive.

I've had the opportunity to discuss with Dorian Grilley, of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota and Steve Clark of Bike Walk Twin Cities about their programs. The program has grown because of infrastructure investment and they plan to expand bikeways 40% over the next few years. The average temperature in Minneapolis is around 25 degrees F in January and Febuary which is similar to Rochester. This is also true for Milwaukee and Madison which are also biking cities. They get less snow, about 54 inches, compared to Rochester's 94 inches which gives us a bit more challenge. In discussions with Steve Clark he noted that they are working directly with the city maintance crews discussing ways to improve the snow clearance using maintanance equipment and salt brine. The winter cycling rates have climbed as a result of this so that now one third of bike commuters are commuting year round. The bike commuters percentage drops down to 10% on cold snowy days but may climb to 40% on nice mild winter days. Walkers use the trails even more consistantly with three forths of walkers continuing to walk through the winter which is a very good argument for why we should be keeping our trails plowed and maintained year round. I've been investigating how northern climate cities have implemented their bicycle/pedestrian friendly strategies because this is the most common question that politicians, administrator and community leaders have asked when discussing Active Transportation with them.

My sister lives in St. Paul and I've cycled around Minneapolis and the trails and bike lanes are terrific. The following video gives you a feeling for the spirit that the Minneapolis community has in about biking and walking. We can learn a lot from them and use thier example to show it can be done in Rochester:

http://www.bikewalktwincities.org/bike-walk-twin-cities-video

The Bike Walk Twin Cities Wesite is excellent. Check it out. The Midtown Greenway Website is also excellent and gives you a feel for their 5.5 mile trail from the Mississippi to Minneapolis.

http://www.bikewalktwincities.org/
http://www.midtowngreenway.org/

Scott

Cyclists are traffic! Welcome to Capital Coexist

2010-04-07T14:22:00.001-04:00

CAPITAL COEXIST is a localized education campaign geared towards cyclists and motorists safely coexisting when using the region’s roadways.

This project was developed by the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) in response to the recently completed Albany Bicycle Master Plan and public requests for bicycle education and safety information.

It is anticipated that the Capital Coexist website will become the clearinghouse for bicycle education material in the Capital Region; a one-stop location for bicycle educational material, safety tips, current bicycle projects and events.

http://www.capitalcoexist.org/

Rochester is #50!

2010-04-03T15:53:00.002-04:00

Rochester NY is listed as #50 on Bicycling magazine's list of "America's Best Bike Cities". The link to the map of the cities is here: http://www.bicycling.com/topbikefriendlycities/. Click on the pin for Rochester to see our slide. The article is in the May 2010 issue.

-Bill Collins

Sustainability Mobility Fair - May 8th FREE

2010-03-31T11:08:00.001-04:00

“Sustainability Mobility Fair - Future Transportation Choices for Short Trips"
Admission is free and open to the public.

When: Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 10:AM - 2 PM
Where: The Center for Student Innovation at RIT, 1 Lomb Memorial Dr Rochester, NY 14623-5698

Attendees will be exposed to what is new and now available on the market and able to experience the latest choices in Electric, Hydrogen, Biodiesel, Natural Gas, Propane, Hybrid, Plug-In, Ethanol, Walking School Buses, and cycling transportation technologies.

All alternative fuel options will be on display. As more commuters become aware of travel choices, we expect to see more of them regularly choosing transportation alternatives because of the benefits. Sponsored by Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Center for Environmental Information (CEI).

For more information and directions, surf over to ceinfo.org or http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/SMF.html

2010-03-28T21:58:00.002-04:00

Safe Routes to Schools, Obesity Issues and RCA The Safe Routes to Schools groups were at the National Bicycle Alliance Meeting in Washington DC. Through my contacts there I contacted Kathy Cook a coordinator of Safe Routes to Schools in Portland, Ore. She told me of their program in Portland and the program that was funded in New York last year but wasn't renewed this year. She suggested identifying parents, teachere, PE, health teachers, and principals who like to cycle and encouraging them to get involved with the safe routes programs. I've enclosed the Safe Routes Websites which can be of help to these individuals. I'd consider it a big win if we could identify one or 2 individuals/champions to get things started with Safe Routes to Schools and then move forward from there. The web sites are below: I also had an excellent discussion with Andrew Dolinger MD, County Health Comissioner, who is very interested and sympathetic to our work. He has a huge task of trying to combat an epidemic of adult and childhood obesity and things like pedestrian and cycling activity are music to his ears to promote exercise and health in Monroe County. He is working with a number of health organizations including Greater Rochester Health Foundation and the Adult Obesity Coalition, the latter run by Nancy Bennett, Head of Center for Community Health - U of R. who are very sympathetic to what we are doing. These are natural alliances that can help us with time and support our efforts to get people more active.

Here's the main website link for Safe Routes To Schools for our reference as well as a tips for starting a program. There may be some walking bus programs in the area according to Dr. Dolinger :

www.saferoutespartnership.org

The tips for starting up SRTS in your backyard are here:

http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/media/file/school_resources--health_and_green_version.pdf

Join us here:

http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/about/3302

And also, check out your State's page on our website:

http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/state/5043

Scott

Commuter Race

2010-03-24T21:19:00.003-04:00

I have been talking with bike advocates in Madison and Minneapolis and getting some interesting ideas from them. One idea is to have the mayor ride the bike in the race. The mayor of Minneapolis who is a bicyclist and an strong bike supporter has won the commuter race against the car and bus every year he has done it.

I think we should invite the mayor to do the race on a bike. We should do some dry runs prior to the race to make sure the route is safe, passable ect. and then get him involved. There would be no better way to get him into what we're doing than by asking him to jump in. I'd be glad to approach him with the idea. I think we're ready for a meeting with him anyways. If we want to do it, we need to do it soon to get on his calender. I've also got lots of ideas on how to deal with the snow and northern climate issue from the midwestern city folks west of us.

Scott

2010-03-23T22:50:00.000-04:00

2010-03-21T19:01:00.002-04:00

Bike Share is Happening in the US.

I think this has excellent potential on college campuses in Rochester. Read on. Scott M.

Public bike share is gearing up in Minneapolis
Blue Cross to be lead sponsor, bike share equipment featured at State Fair
September 2, 2009 (MINNEAPOLIS) – Mayor R.T. Rybak said today that Minneapolis is on track to launch the first large-scale bike share system of any city in the country. In May 2010, Nice Ride Minnesota will launch a bike share system in Minneapolis, similar to systems in Paris, Barcelona, Montreal, and more than 100 cities across the globe.
Nice Ride Minnesota will put 1,000 bicycles onto Minneapolis streets, locked in 80 self-service kiosks. Bike share kiosks will be located in downtown Minneapolis, on the University of Minnesota campus and in nearby commercial districts, including Uptown, Eat Street, Midtown, Seward, Dinkytown, Cedar Riverside, and the Warehouse district.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) today announced it will be the major sponsor of Nice Ride Minnesota. Nice Ride previously received a $1.75 million award from Bike Walk Twin Cities, a federally-funded initiative to increase biking and walking and reduce driving.

Case Statement For Active Transportation Genesee - Finger Lakes Region, New York

2010-03-14T22:41:00.004-04:00

I had a very productive discussion with Bob Torzynski head of bicycle and pedestrian affairs at Genesee Tranportation Council (GTC) and got some background on the proposal discussed by Rich Perrin head of GTC when he visited us last month. This $50 million proposal is just for the Rochester area and is part of a bigger proposal. (More details are in Jeff Mapes's book Pedaling Revolution on page 59. )
After the 2006 elections Rails To Trails started shopping a plan around the country to give forty communities, $50 million dollars to increase bicycling and pedestrian use - that's a total of $2 Billion, yes $2 Billion, nationally.
This is being made possible by the introduction of Oregon House Representative Earl Blumenhauer's Active Transportation ACT of 2010 or ACTA or House Bill # 4722 which asks for $ 2 billion dollars over 6 years. This is the potential source of our funding for our $50 million dollar application. Today I sent a 10 page draft of the Rochester Case Statement to Rails to Trails to critically review and make suggestions to strengthen our proposal. The draft was originally created by the Rochster Area Community Foundaton inconjuction with the GTC. Rails To Trails is very supportive of our application and encouraged us to move forward when we visited their offices when when in Wash. DC.

If the Active Transportation bill passes, they will porbably fund 40 communities. Currently they have 53 case statements from different communities and we would have a very good chance of getting funded. All this is dependent on getting house Bill # 472 passed. We need to encourage all of our congressmen to support and more importantly cosponsor house bill # 4722. This is the most important national letter we can do probably this year so I'd encourage you to do write your congress man or woman. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Scott

Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About

2010-03-14T16:27:00.001-04:00

I hope no one is offended, but I've lifted this entire article from RochesterSubway.com.

Our friends at GTC are presenting again Wednesday morning. We should be there.

Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About

$510 Million No One Seems To Care About

March 14th, 2010

Comment on this Article

Last Tuesday I attended a public presentation by the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) to review their Draft 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program Project List . It contains over $500 million in new transportation spending for our region over the next few years. And I don’t mind pointing out that I was the only one in attendance. I don’t mean the only one from RochesterSubway.com… or the only one from my neighborhood… I mean THE ONLY PERSON in the entire city of Rochester and 7 county region in attendance. No one from the community, no one from the press, no raging activists… no one. It was literally me and about 5 or 6 representatives from GTC.

I’m more than a little perplexed by the lack of interest. Especially given the amount of money on the table and the shear number of proposed projects and purchases. For example, $6 million for work on the Aqueduct/Broad Street Bridge and subway tunnel, nearly $50 million for new transit buses, and over $45 million for a new RTS Transit Center. These are not small potatoes—there are over 200 other projects and purchases in this draft proposal—and if you wanted to speak your mind about any of it you may have just missed the boat. Don’t blame me, I posted the meeting on theRochesterSubway.com Facebook page and pleaded with our 460+ fans to come out. You can’t even blame GTC—the meetings are posted on their site and the Democrat & Chronicle announced them last Sunday.

A Second Chance To Give A Damn…

I can hear reading this and saying to yourself, $510 million is a lot of money and you’d like to bitch and complain about how MY MONEY is being spent! Okay, you know what? This is your lucky week. GTC is holding 2 more public meetings this Wednesday (3/17) in Henrietta and Ogden. See the times and locations here . And if you really really REALLY can’t make be bothered to show up in person, you can write, fax, or email your comments and concerns to GTC until March 26.

I don’t have nearly enough time to get into all the projects that are on this list so you’ll have to download the PDF and thumb thru it on your own. But I will touch on the one that you may have heard of before. Item #144 on the list is $45.7 million in federal, state, and local funding for a Downtown Transit Center—formerly Renaissance Square. Looks like we can forget any dreams of a real intermodal transit station. RGRTA is moving ahead with it’s plan to build a slightly scaled down version of it’s bus terminal on Mortimer St. and Clinton Ave.

RGRTA CEO Mark Aesch says, “We picked this site and worked on it for 10 years for a reason. Mortimer Street is the right location to build a transit center. It’s environmentally approved. We’ve spent millions of dollars getting the design to where it is today. That’s the right place to build this project. We’re hopeful that’s where it’s going to be.”

According to Aesch the terminal will cost in the mid to high $40 million range. If the GTC’s Draft Project List becomes reality, and I’d judge by the lack of public interest that it will, Aesch will have his $45.7 million and we’ll have a bus garage downtown very soon. Goodie.

I’ll save my comments on line #69, Broad St. Tunnel & Aqueduct, for a future post. I’m awaiting comments from the City on this one. Though I’d say it reeks pretty heavily of the canal re-watering plan . Stay tuned.Share this on Facebook

National Bike Summit & Alliance for Biking and Walking Top 10 Suggestions

2010-03-14T14:03:00.004-04:00

Andrew Dollard, Jon Schull and I attend the National Bike Summit on Weds, March 10th and Jon went to advocate on March 11th with members of congress. It was a terrific conference and we all learned a great deal which will come in very handy.

I attended 3 break out sessions. The first one was held by The Alliance for Biking and Walking which was intended for advocacy communities that were just getting started and talked about the grants program ($15 K) they have to get communities started as well as the regional trainings they have for starting communities. I've attatched the "Top 10 Tips" the give for starting organizations. This includes the need to start a 501(c) (3) which I think we need to innitiate soon since it takes at least 3 months to get. I also caught the tail end of a Progressive Cities Session which featured Tom Miller who is Portland Mayor Sam Adam's Chief of Staff and the person who convinced Sam Adams that a bike friendly policy is the way to go. He was impressive and is a potential speaker for our upcoming bike summit.

The second session covered the health benefits and I met with the President of the American Public Health Asscociation and Ken Rose of Tranporation Policy Director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health both of were very informative and helpful. They were both willing to share their slides which may come in handy.

The third session was on Madison Wisc. and the mayor, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz gave a great talk. When I asked him about the snow problem, he was a bit perplexed, since he didn't view it as too big a problem since they have a policy that the bike trails get plowed preferrably before 7am. and that seems to work out. He is also a potential speaker for the bike summit.

Included is the the "Top 10 " list from the Alliance for Biking and Walking -- Scott

Writing Women Back into Bicycling - Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

2010-03-13T12:54:00.000-05:00

Writing Women Back into Bicycling - Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

3/31/2010

When:

Wednesday, March 31
3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT

Registration Information
Online registration is available until: 3/31/2010 Register for this event »

Details

Some say that transportation culture will change when more women are cycling. What's the key to making that change happen? Hear all about it during APBP's free webinar, Writing Women Back into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle. This presentation is linked to the encouragement recommendations of the International Scan. Consider hosting a site and inviting your colleagues to attend.

This webinar is made possible by a generous contribution from the Family of Mrs. Neil L. Miller (1938-2005) Barry University HPLS Faculty.

« Go to Upcoming Event List

BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEERS

2010-03-10T02:15:00.001-05:00

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The RCA Events Committee will be holding their first volunteer recruitment meeting at the Genesee Waterways Center today (Wednesday, March 10th) from 7PM - 9PM.

Directions to the site can be found here: http://geneseewaterways.org/directions_gwc.htm.
GWC Boathouse Address:
149 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, New York 14611

Please spread the word to all those who may be interested and post this message to your Facebook and Twitter accounts (if possible). The meeting will focus on explaining our overall events and strategies for bike week in order to recruit volunteers. Bike week will help RCA fulfill its mission to create better cycling infrastructure and a stronger voice for cyclists in Rochester, NY.

Thanks for your support!
Jason Hammel and the RCA Events Committee

Commuter cycling in Iceland

2010-03-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

If they can do it, we can do it.
http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2010/03/reinventing-wheel-why-cycling-saves.html

New Bicycle/Pedestrian bridge

2010-03-05T11:57:00.002-05:00

Was anyone able to attend last night's meeting about the possible new bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the Genesee? I was not able to attend, but am interested in what was discussed. Please leave any info in comments below, or e-mail me at alamedajunk@yahoo.com .

Thanks!

-Bill Collins

Act now to get Congress to enact the ACT Act

2010-03-03T11:23:00.000-05:00

Dear Jon,
Read about yesterday's historic milestone for trails, walking and bicycling, and take action now!

Yesterday, H.R. 4722, the"Active Community Transportation Act of 2010"was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives!

Now, your voice is needed to ensure that this legislation becomes reality.
Please act now!

For years, you have been speaking up for active transportation. Through both critical victories and short-term setbacks, your phone calls, e-mails, and support have persisted.

And finally, we have the most tangible result yet that our calls for more active transportation will be answered.

Late yesterday, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) introduced H.R. 4722, the "Active Community Transportation Act of 2010" (ACT Act), on the floor of the House of Representatives!

The ACT Act is the direct result of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s (RTC)Campaign for Active Transportation. The Act would create a $2 billion program to fund dozens of communities around the country to improve their trail, walking and biking networks. Your community could ultimately receive some of these funds, better allowing you and your neighbors to walk and bike to the places you live, work, play, shop and learn.

Across the country, Americans have made clear that we want more transportation options, and the ACT Act goes a long way toward making such safe and convenient options a reality. Research clearly shows that funding active transportation is a wise investment, saving our nation substantially over time.

Now that Rep. Blumenauer has introduced the legislation in the House, we need to ensure that other representatives support the bill's passage.
Encourage your representative to co-sponsor this very important legislation now.
This push for co-sponsors is the first step of a larger strategy to ensure that we get the strongest possible congressional support. Next Thursday, hundreds of advocates from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C., for the League of American Bicyclists' annual Bike Summit, to lobby for the ACT Act.That same day, Thursday, March 11, we'll ask you to join a national call-in day in support of the ACT Act. Please stay tuned.
Thank you,
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

2010-03-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

In order to adopt a city-wide system of bicycle boulevards, they must be coordinated across many neighborhoods. UMNA stepped up to the plate and became the first neighborhood in our city to endorse the City of Rochester’s decision to include bicycle boulevards in its Bicycle Masterplan. Eventually, we want to provide the Rochester community with an example of bicycle boulevards designed to connect neighborhoods with the city-wide trail system and to encourage bicycle use by casual bike riders to nearby destinations.

City Bicycle Master Plan

2010-03-02T23:02:00.001-05:00

What the heck- I thought the City wanted to get our input regarding the choice of contractor for the plan. It looks like they've settled on a choice:

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/City-Wants-to-Study-Bicycle-Amenities/HsmyaPZuAEKFJMx7BOJouA.cspx

Dewey Avenue Reconstruction

2010-03-02T23:01:00.001-05:00

The City of Rochester engineers will re-present their plan for repaving of Dewey Avenue at the meeting of the Maplewood Neighborhood Association tomorrow, March 3, at 7:00 PM at the Aquinas HS cafeteria. It's looking like they feel that bike lanes are OK from Driving Park to Flower City Park, but want 4 lanes of traffic from Flower City Park north to Ridge, without bike lanes.

Call for Volunteers

2010-03-02T14:16:00.001-05:00

The Rochester Cycling Alliance needs your help!

Rochester Bike Week 2010 will be held from May 21-28, and we're planning to make a big impact with a week loaded with events. But we can't do it alone!

We're looking for volunteers to help us plan, publicize, and pull off the events we've got planned for Bike Week. If you want to help raise the profile of bike riders in Rochester and encourage public officials to build a more bike-friendly city, then we want you!

In particular, we're looking for people to join street teams to publicize Bike Week at events like the Lilac Festival, and to post flyers in various public gathering areas in the city. If you've got graphic design skills, we're also looking for people to help us develop a logo and produce our promotional materials. And when Bike Week gets here, we're going to need help setting up our events and taking care of all those last-minute details.

If you'd like to help out, we'll be holding an informational meeting on Wednesday, March 10th at 7 p.m. at the Genesee Waterways Center in Genesee Valley Park. Directions to the GWC are available at http://geneseewaterways.org/directions_gwc.htm. If you can't make it to the meeting but would still like to help out, send us an email at info@rochestercyclingalliance.org.

And, if you're part of another bike organization or run a bike-related business, and want to host your own event, we can help you plan and promote it. The more cool events we can squeeze into Bike Week, the bigger the effect we'll have.

The time has never been better to transform Rochester into a true cycling city, and the RCA is working hard to make sure that cyclists have their voices heard. Come out and help us make it happen!

Take our bike use survey!

2010-02-27T14:30:00.014-05:00

The RCA is trying to gather some basic information about how cyclists in Rochester use their bikes and what they think would make Rochester a better biking city. It's not very long - please take a minute to fill it out and let us know what kind of cyclist you are!

RCA Bicycle Commuter Survey

Dewey Avenue Reconstruction

2010-02-26T11:05:00.002-05:00

I was stuck at LaGuardia airport last night, and wasn't able to get to the public meeting until 8:30. By that time, the meeting had broken up. However, the one person left was Richard Koss, an engineer with the City of Rochester. He was very helpful and was nice enough to stay and give me a run-down of the meeting and the repavement plan. The main part of the plan is to reduce Dewey from 4 lanes to three, while keeping existing on-street parking for the apartment dwellers and merchants along the street. I noted that on the plan drawings, bike lanes were NOT visible. Richard said that the bike lanes were an "option" that the City was discussing (would involve narrowing the lanes), and that he believes that the City has gotten the County "on board" with allowing the bike lanes. Bike lanes WERE brought up at the meeting in a positive way, with residents noting that the area has a large immigrant (Burmese and Bhutanese) population who use bicycles as their main transportation. However, the desire was expressed to have arrow pavement markings showing the correct direction of travel, as bicyclists along Dewey are often seen going the wrong way. Richard indicated that the City was going to check to see if arrows were an allowable pavement marking.

The presentation will be re-given at the monthly Maplewood Neighborhood Association on March 3rd, at the Aquinas Cafeteria.

National Bike Summit 2010 March 9-11 Wash DC

2010-02-22T21:44:00.003-05:00

Jon and I are strongly considering going to the National Bike Summit, March 9-11 in Wash. DC. thanks to Jaesun's earlier posting. Is anyone else planning to go? The more the merrier, since there are many sessions we will not be able to attend since they split them into 2 separate breakout sessions, each with 6 different meetings.

We look at this as an opportunity to learn and network. If anyone has gone to the meeting previously and has tips on how to maximize the meeting, we'd love to hear it. Better yet, come with us.

Scott

Tour de New York

2010-02-21T15:44:00.000-05:00

The Tour is Coming ...

The Tour de New York is a 6-day professional cycling stage race that's coming to Upstate New York in August 2010. The race will explore the Greater Rochester area and portions of the beautiful Finger Lakes region.

The inaugural 2010 UCI 2.2 Tour de New York will explode onto the international cycling scene and showcase the beautiful Western New York and Finger Lakes Regions of upstate New York from August 7th through August 12th. The six-day stage race will bring world-renowned professional teams to the Rochester Twilight Criterium on Saturday, August 7th, a 10-mile Individual Time Trial on August 8th and the tour will continue through August 12th with three road races and one circuit race.

Rochester-Williamsport Greenway in the Williamsport Sun Gazette

2010-02-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Rochester-Williamsport Greenway in the Williamsport Sun Gazette

NY-PA trail blends recreation, conservation
By PATRICK DONLIN - pdonlin@sungazette.com

POSTED: February 21, 2010

Save | Print | Email

When they decided they had a common interest of creating recreational trails, two professors determined it was time to band together with one another and others to blaze a 230-mile path connecting Williamsport and Rochester, N.Y.

Jon Schull, Rochester Institute of Technology associate professor of innovation and invention, said he and Allen Kerkeslager met a couple months ago in Philadelphia, where Kerkeslager is a professor at St. Joseph's University.

"We talked about the synergy between his (Kerkeslager's) work in the Genesee Wilds Association and my work which I call the 'Rochester Greenway,' " Schull said. "We realized the two sections we had been focusing on were the two end points of this project."

Schull, one of the founders of the Rochester Cycling Alliance, is excited about the recreation possibilities.

Kerkeslager described different reasons he wants to get involved. He grew up in rural New York, near the proposed trail project, and continues to go home to see family there, driving through Williamsport on the way.

The trail project also is a chance for Kerkeslager, a religions of the ancient world professor, to delve into something he admits isn't as obscure.

'A breather ... for humanity'

"Much of this (trail project) is a breather to do stuff for humanity," he said.

It comes with a price.

Kerkeslager said the cost for the 230-mile connection could be $100 million, but he offered an explanation.

To offer it completely with trails, he expects a $50 million expense.

There would be another cost of $50 million for the water conservation measures he recommends.

It'll take time, too, as Kerkeslager said, "Twenty years, I think that's a fair estimate to be completely off-road."

Kerkeslager, who rides a bicycle 10 miles round trip on his daily work commute, said he's a proponent of the proposed cycling recreation.

Environmental improvements

But, he's also an advocate for environmental improvements possible through the trail plan.

The project spans the Susquehanna, Genesee and the headwaters of the Allegheny River, all watersheds Kerkeslager intends to protect.

Kerkeslager believes building a riparian buffer along the trail is a cost-saving conservation alternative to building expensive rock wall dams.

Greenway planning preserves forests and conserves nature, according to Rick Biery, regional planning program manager for Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission.

Biery embraces plan development and the possible trail if it's conducted responsibly.

"From a concept standpoint, these things are great," Biery said. "It brings an opportunity to tap into a resource hikers and bikers may not get to go through unless we look at the possibilities."

Through connectivity, the recreational system experience improves, according to Kerkeslager.

He said it will connect the nationally renowned Pine Creek Gorge bicycle trail to the Genesee River's gorgeous waterfalls.

Jobs will be created, Kerkeslager added, especially in the sectors of tourism, hospitality, recreation and tour guiding.

He intends to bring the plan to the forefront at meetings of the Northcentral Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission in Ridgway.

Facing up to the challenge

Some consider the most challenging interstate link to be completed as a 40-mile proposed trail running northwest from Wellsboro to the New York border.

A connection just west of Wellsboro is in the conceptual stage, according to Biery.

"We're working with a consultant to develop a greenways open space outdoors recreation plan. It's an overall concept plan," he said.

Matt Marusiak, project coordinator for the Northcentral Pennsylvania Greenways and Open Space Plan, said land deals still need to be made there to acquire trail property, much of which lack old railroad beds ideal for making recreation trails.

In areas where land can't be bought, Kerkeslager said the trail may have to go along Route 6.

Railroad beds ideal

A recreational trail using a road area isn't uncommon, as Kerkeslager said portions of the Appalachian Trail he's explored are the same way.

Railroad beds like what are used in the local Pine Creek Trail are ideal, but alternatives can be used if necessary.

Kerkeslager said there's often a section here and there where planners have to route a trail along roads where landowners want to keep their property or where an area is undevelopable.

Since July, Biery's been involved in what he described as an outreach process including public meetings, contact with stakeholders, and thousands of resident surveys in the counties of Tioga, Sullivan, Wyoming and Susquehanna.

Biery hopes to reach the next goal by early June, which includes a direct recommendations document he said is drafted for review by the planning partners.

"That's where projects will come from," Biery said of further details to be unveiled.

Project offerings

Bicycle recreation is important but so is waterways enjoyment, organizers say.

Like the canoe and kayak launches already offered along the Genesee and Pine Creek rail trails, Kerkeslager plans on offering more boat launches where possible.

He hopes his entire New York to Pennsylvania circuit can be as beautiful as the Pine Creek trail residents enjoy here, but he realizes some adjustments may be necessary.

A hurdle in New York is not to have a trail, but to have it off-road.

A 20-mile section from Belfast, N.Y., to Wellsville, N.Y., can be offered as soon as this summer if it's presented on an existing country road.

"In the long run, we'd like to get these trails off the roads entirely," Kerkeslager said.

Using a combination of existing roads and trails, he said a route from Williamsport to New York could be offered later this year.

Organizers would merely have to offer maps, a Web site and post some trail sections with markers honoring the trail.

"It could say future home of (the NYPA Greenways)," Kerkeslager said, reminding it's only a working name.

"To open for usage with provisional usage on roads, we can do that as soon as it gets warm," he said.

People already bicycle from Rochester to Williamsport, according to Schull.

"They ride on trails and ride on roads when the trail peters out," he said.

It can be done now, but Lycoming County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jason Fink doesn't suggest competing with traffic along the Route 14-15 corridors.

'A safer way'

"This would be a safer way to enjoy it," said Fink, himself an avid local bicycle rider. "To ride up to Rochester would be a very exciting thing for a bicyclist."

Because the existing Pine Creek Trail is extensively used, he believes a new trail would be popular around here.

It would be quite an experience to explore a different terrain in the Great Lakes region up north, according to Fink.

The trail is more than just about recreation to Schull, who said, "it becomes a plan for real development and transportation development."

He said bicycling is especially popular among the five cycling clubs in his city.

Schull said there are great places to ride around the Erie Canal, Genesee Riverway Trail, Lake Ontario and Finger Lakes. He said his region already had wonderful trails but they can be improved.

"There are stretches where there's roads that we ride that could be more bikeable," Schull said. "And there's stretches that could be more scenic or more direct."

Extending their outreach

Attracting expanded stakeholders interested in conservation is critical to success, according to Kerkeslager.

"With more interest in the trail, we'll expand the profile," he said. "Get people using it and once they're using it, it promotes more stakeholders to build up funding."

"If there's enough support out there, the right people should be able to find those funds out there," Fink said of needed grants.

Separate but similar projects are happening elsewhere, as Schull said a national network of trails is developing.

"There's an emerging view of greenways all over the country," he said.

The East Coast Greenway project from Cape Cod to Key West, Fla., is being developed along a proposed 3,000-mile trail, which runs down the eastern seaboard, incorporating the Philadelphia area.

In addition to his planning involvement with the Pennsylvania Wilds, Jerry Walls also is a board member of the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, which he said may benefit from the NYPA plan.

From the headwaters of the West Branch in Cambria County to Williamsport to Sunbury to the Chesapeake Bay, Susquehanna Greenway partners including Walls are planning a 500-mile recreational route that he said could tie into Kerkeslager's plan.

Brighton Monroe Avenue Charette

2010-02-17T13:16:00.005-05:00

Any Brighton residents who want bike facilities on Monroe Avenue, Brighton is holding a "charette" (a community-led design process) to specify what the community wants to see for future Monroe Avenue road projects. This is an opportunity to get bike improvements into the charette design:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100217/NEWS0210/2170353/1003/NEWS01

Brighton councilwoman Sheila Gaddis is overseeing the Monroe Avenue Streetscape Design Charrette, a $33,000 project that was part of the town's 2009-10 budget. It will define a vision for changes along the corridor between Highland Avenue and Clover Street to make it more attractive for use by shoppers, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders.

"If I can have my dream, Monroe Avenue would be one flowing, vibrant corridor of stores, restaurants, parks and bike paths from Rochester to Brighton and right on through to Pittsford. We are pretty close to this dream, but the goal this time is to build on our past successes and fill in the blank spots," said Gaddis.

Hal Grades Your Bike Locking

2010-02-15T10:02:00.001-05:00

from http://www.streetfilms.org/hal-grades-your-bike-locking/

Portland, Ore. 20 year Plan

2010-02-14T16:26:00.005-05:00

The Portland, Ore. City Council recently approved a 20 year cycling plan which is very ambitious (site below) . The plan reaches far but has the strong backing of Mayor Sam Adams (he's former Head of Portland Transportation) and the city council with unanamously approved it. The mayor in his recent State of the City address announced that they want to increase their bicycle commuting rate from 6.5% (the nations highest) to 25% over the next few years. The Daily Journal of Commerce, the local business newspaper reported on a projection to spend $600 million Yikes! over the next 20 years on the bike plan, and they will need to tap multiple sources including the city's general transportaion revenue, Oregon Dept. of Transportation and the federal government are prime resources which they'll need to work with.

I spent some time at the site and it has a wealth of information on their planning and implementation process. The plan is rich in detail and can be helpful giving us an idea of how they approached and plan to approach their growth. The "Executive Summary" in the Introduction section nicely summarizes things.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=44597

I also found it insightful to look at their application (included below) to the League of American Bicycles which povides a great deal of detail on how they have made their city bicycle friendly. There is a lot of concrete information on what they did to become the first city in the US to get the first Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community status. Check it out. PS Ave. temp. in Portland in Jan. - 41 degrees F. vs 25 degrees F. Rochester & we've got more of that "Pesky Snow". More on that later.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=50736&a=194342

Rochester City's Project Green Plan's Appendix on Bicycle Access Strategies

2010-02-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

Who knew?

Last year the City, along with our friends at the Rochester Regional Community Design Center published a most excellent document entitled "Project Green: From Blight to Bright." The whole document is available here, but embedded below is Appendix 1: Bicycle Access Strategy.

RochesterProjectGreenMasterPlan-BicycleAccessStrategy

ENVIRONMENT: Biking’s benefits �" realistically - Letters - Rochester City Newspaper

2010-02-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

ENVIRONMENT: Biking’s benefits �" realistically - Letters - Rochester City Newspaper

...A pragmatic approach to improving cycling in a city like Rochester would include a collaborative effort between non-profit entities, residents, cycling shops and clubs, city government, and state legislators to consolidate funds for relatively low-cost solutions like painting bike lanes on arterial routes and installing bicycle racks at public meeting places.

For example, a bike lane along Monroe Avenue stretching from Cobb's Hill to downtown (or even more optimistically, from Pittsford), would have positive impacts on the businesses lining the route and on the quality of life of people living in or visiting that area. ...

ERIK REINERT, ROCHESTER

2010-02-11T12:52:00.002-05:00

I just found out that the City will be holding a public meeting regarding the resurfacing of Dewey Avenue (including restriping) on February 25, at 7:00 PM, in the Aquinas High School Cafeteria. The project involves resurfacing Dewey from Driving Park up to Eastman Avenue, which is north of Ridge Road.

The community charrette for this area currently calls for bike lanes along the entire length, but a charrette is only a plan, and it will be up to the community to hold the City's feet to the fire and actually put them in the project. This is an excellent chance for bicyclists to make known their demands for bike lanes- and this would be a lane along a very long stretch of major thoroughfare. It enacted, it would undoubtedly be the longest and most useful bike lane in the County.

I plan on attending, but it would be great if we could get a bunch of cyclists there to advocate for the lanes. Some merchants may speak out against them, believing that they the lanes will interfere with their parking (it won't) or that narrowing Dewey from 4 lanes to three will hurt their businesses (it is likely to INCREASE their business). The more cycling advocates speaking out, the better.

RTS Town Meeting in Chili

2010-02-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

I can't attend this meeting, as it conflicts with another meeting that night. However, it would be great if some west side cyclists could go and advocate for 3-bike racks and covered bike parking at park and ride locations:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=276442592741&ref=mf

New Road Projects

2010-02-04T09:57:00.002-05:00

It's great that the C of R is now sending us e-mails regarding public meeting for street improvement projects:
-----------------------------------------------------------
It was brought to my attention that the Rochester Cycling Alliance would like to be alerted when public meetings for street improvement projects are announced. I will be emailing you the notifications going forward. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Oakwood Rd

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589941248

Mt Hope Ave

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589941363

Kara A. Noto

City of Rochester | Dept. of Environmental Services- Commissioner’s Office

City Hall | 30 Church Street | Room 300B

Rochester, New York 14614

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked at the Oakwood project, and it seemed to be a residential street, with no important connections to other streets, not really a priority for bike lanes.

The Mt. Hope project seems like it should be a priority for bike lanes, but the notice said that the meeting was for a final design presentation. I think we would have to make A LOT of noise before the city would amend a final design.

-Bill Collins

Introducing Scott MacRae

2010-01-30T11:58:00.003-05:00

Hi group. I finally made onto the blog. Jon and I met for 2 + hours brainstorming on bringing the U of R and RIT together as well as my Portland Ore. Experience. Jon posted the Portland Livability Video which is terrific. It has a great video explanation of Biking Boulevards and a variety of creative solutions to integrate cycling into their city. It is well worth your time.

Cheers,

Scott

Rochester Cycling Alliance

Active Transportation attitudes in Rochester, NY

D&C Bike Article Thursday & Complete Streets Legislation Approved in Both NY Houses

Happiest Cities are Biking Cities

Mayoral Candidates to Discuss Rochester’s Future

While Rochester searches for its next mayor to take office and begin the arduous task of planning the City’s future, Reconnect Rochester is taking the issues to the candidates and the candidates to the people.

Congressional Field Hearing in Rochester on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Transportation Equity Town Hall

U.S. House Transportation & InfrastructureField Hearing in Rochester

R Community Bikes needs Bicycle Donations

2011 Rochester Bike Week Volunteer Meeting

Bike Week 2011 Volunteer Meeting

Monroe County Legislature endorses GRATS!

Bicycle Sharing Systems

Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map @ Google Maps

A new study of data from Lyon’s bike-share system could help planners

Presentation of Final Rochester Bicycle Master Plan 6pm-8pm Monday, Dec 13

Ithaca Bike Symposium and Bike Boulevards

University of Rochester Bicycle Active Transportation Forum, Monday Nov. 15, 5:30pm SMH, Flaum Atrium Case Method Room

Don't Be Ridiculous! How one Swedish city gets people to trade silly car trips for bikes

Dutch Cyclists Shun Helmets - Wall Street Journal Article

Bicycling Master Plan Meeting # 3

Improving quality of life by changing street use

RIT Alumni Jason Berry

RIT Alumni Filmaker Jason Berry Encores Bicycling Tour De France Film "Chasing Legends

Rails WITH trails? Advantage to Railroads

Rochester Bicycle Master Plan, Brighton, Wegmans and 360/365 Movie Festival

This is it! Bicycle Master Plan Public Meetings Wedesday and Thursday Night 6pm Aug. 25-26

Save Recission $$$ for Bikes!

Getting the word out

Dangerous Pedestrian Crossings PBS Special

GRATS map: newer and improveder!

Greater Rochester Active Transportation System brochure

GRATS schematic v2

Dark forces are waiting for us to let down our guard

"Safe Passing" Law passes NYS Legislature

And another City bike tour

Guided Bike Ride

Golden Gate Bridge via Google Street View on Vimeo

Beyond The Motor City Screening Monday, June 28th Dryden Theater George Eastman House 7pm Open to Public

Bike Master Plan website now up

No Kidding!!! Business Week: Los Angeles plans to spend $230 million on 1,700 miles of bicycle paths

A NYC view on our Upstate sprawl

Rochester bicycle boulevard ride a success

Bike 4 Breakfast

Get that pothole filled!

Rush hour.

Friday, May 21st - Commuter Race (First Bike Week Event)

City Newspaper Covers RCA Bike Week

RCA T-shirt Orders

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

LAST Rochester Bike Week Volunteer Meeting

Maplewood Bike Rodeo needs volunteers!

Transportation reform IS health reform

Rochester Rated 18th of US Cities in Bicycle Commuting

Sustainability Mobility Fair

3 Foot Passing Law in NY?

Rochester Bicycle Master Plan

Rochester Critical Mass Ride Friday @ 6PM (Liberty Pole)

RCA T-shirt Design

Trails, Canals, and Project Green

Google Maps - Bikes Is Working & Responding To Route Recommendation

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevard Ride

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevard Ride

Bicycle Boulevards

This is the route we will be taking on May 23rd.

Tour de New York returns to Rochester in August

http://rocnow.com/article/sports/20104100326

Weather Factor: 5 of Top 10 US Bike Cities in Cold Snowy Climates

Cyclists are traffic! Welcome to Capital Coexist

Rochester is #50!

Sustainability Mobility Fair - May 8th FREE

Commuter Race

Case Statement For Active Transportation Genesee - Finger Lakes Region, New York

Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About

$510 Million No One Seems To Care About

A Second Chance To Give A Damn…

National Bike Summit & Alliance for Biking and Walking Top 10 Suggestions

Writing Women Back into Bicycling - Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEERS

U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure
Field Hearing in Rochester

The Tour is Coming ...