Does your street have special bike clothing?

This is the first of at least two parts about defining "streets".

Mikael Colville-Andersen from Cycle Chic travels to Dublin as part of events held by the Danish Cycling Embassy in the capital of Ireland. Looked like lots of chic-y fun. About the same times on it's sister blog, Mikael - the analyst-provacateur - comes down hard on "Vehicular Cycling" and gets lots of reactions (best to read that first before you continue here).

As always "infrastructure" is mentioned as something necessary for lots of cycling.

But was this always the case for Dublin...

Vehicular cycling in Dublin, 1961. Photo courtesy www.copenhagenize.com (Mikael). A great photo he has used more than once to show how popular cycling used to be in Dublin and how it could be again.

Or in other cities?

Vehicular cycling in Copenhagen, c. 1950s. Photo courtesy www.copenhagenize.com. Even if this is not literally Vehicular Cycling - if the cyclists have some XXXL bike lane - they so dominate the road that any cars would need separated facilities to protect them from the cyclists!

With all due respect, am I missing something here? Why does Mikael use two examples of what is - more or less - vehicular cycling - with a small "v" and a small "c" to show that separated infrastructure is needed?

I feel very safe cycling in Copenhagen and Amsterdam and so on. The authorities, designers, advocates and activists do a great job. I am not arguing for VC in these cities under current conditions (primarily too high speeds). Perhaps the whole frame for this discussion is a little off, so I want to suggest alternative definitions of the two ways bikes and cars are dealt with in cities:

Vehicular Cycling: In its pure sense, this follows a serious underestimation of the subjective and objective danger cyclists feel towards drivers.

Separated infrastructure: While definitely better in encouraging a higher modal share of cycling, it is the result of accepting that heavy, privately-used vehicles traveling at 50 km/h (30 mph) or higher are necessary, or inevitable, in built-up areas.

A few years back - if I remember correctly - many cyclists in Dublin protested the plans for separated infrastructure, and it seems like they lost.

So... is separated infrastructure special bike clothing? Are bike paths helmets? Mikael and many others in the "Cycle Chic" movement have fantastically shown that people can wear whatever they want - or as nice as they want - whilst cycling, but how come this logic does not carry over into how the streets themselves are adorned?

What kind of street do you live on? How is it clothed?

"Freedom Muffins!!" - USA government, aided by automobile industry, prepares attack on UK

The U.S. Department of State held a surprise press conference in Detroit late on Tuesday evening to announce that it would launch a pre-emptive strike on the UK on the Fourth of July of this year, the 234th anniversary of the USA's automobile-enabled victorious revolution against British rule.

At the press conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that English muffins would now be called "Freedom Muffins" The spokesperson for Google, the owner of You Tube, introduced a short video which it said it would help go viral.

The spokesperson for Chrysler-owned Dodge said that the video would speak for itself.



The USA ambassador to the UK, Louis B. Susman, was summoned to 10 Downing Street. But the ambassador instead went to a T.G.I.Friday's restaurant in London, where he was joined by a large, patriotic crowd of armed "American" expats, who robbed journalists of their equipment, thus ending reporting at the scene.

Sources later reported that the Yankee mob later moved throughout the UK capital, leaving armed men and women at key Italian government entities and businesses, which they pledged to protect, due to Fiat's minority ownership of Chrysler.

(Please also see this related story)

Sailing safer than driving?

Probably many readers know the story about Abby Sutherland, a 17 year old "American" who just got rescued from her boat the "Wild Eyes" in the Indian Ocean. Earlier, she was trying to become the youngest circumnavigator of the planet, but she had some problems earlier near South Africa or something, which somehow disqualified her, but she decided to continue the voyage.

Of course, billions - including sailing experts - are complaining about this, some saying it is child abuse.

So, the first question to ask is how safe are different types of boating? Quite obviously - so obvious that I will not provide a reference link - the two best things to do are to wear a life vest and take classes. However, the unavoidable still happens, so probably the best thing to do is to not mix sailing and war. (Once when I went sailing --- okay at the risk of sounding unadventurous or poor, I will state more accurately: the one time I went sailing was in Long Beach harbour in 1982. At the time the USS New Jersey was being retrofitted there, destined for subsequent service in the Lebanese Civil War.). In other regards, well, think about it, boats have huge permanently-installed airbags in-between them called "water". Boats for the most part do not have brakes -- this also means that they are safer, because if you don't have brakes you don't need them.

On the other hand, cars are relatively much more dangerous, whether you are drinking sea water, milk or caffeinated drinks, and slightly more if you are drinking alcohol.

But comparing boating to driving? Perhaps traveling on the Congo River vs. driving a car (are there equivalent roads?) is possible. If someone can do it, I will make a link to it here.

In the meantime, I will start to end this voyage with a quote by Abby Sutherland's father, taken from the UK Guardian:

"I never questioned my decision in letting her go. In this day and age we get overprotective with our children," Laurence Sunderland said. "Look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it'd be silly if we didn't."

In closing, while I would support driving age and voting age being the same in USA, I think a great supporting measure would be massive investment in ocean and fresh water boating for transport (and e.g. floating "boat ins" for movies) and not just de-paving of the roads of the world, but their transformation into canals.

"Unmanned Commercial Flights Could Become A Reality"

Ha ha ha, I sometimes cannot believe the crap they spend our money on.

From PSFK: "The US Federal Aviation Administration is undertaking a research project to explore the possibilities of pilotless commercial flights. The project is part of its NextGen initiative which is aimed at modernizing the country’s flight infrastructure."

At first all lifts had an operator, now almost none do and no one questions it. Driver-less metros have been operating for some time in many places and are said to have improved things by reducing operator errors, but they operate on a track, in two dimensions.

Are there plans for captain-less boats and ships? Or riderless bicycles?

Better might be unmanned, virtual reality flights :-) or at the very least, flying only when there is no convivial land transport option.

While some military investments trickle down into civilian technology (well, often not "civil", per se...), I wonder if this is a kind of trickle-up thing, and The They Corporation wants to use this tech to fly huge bombers long distances. In other words, indirect military budgeting.

Staying on the science fiction theme, 35 years ago the movie Airport '75 showed (taught) us how a justifiably crazed flight attendant could guide a jumbo jet with damaged controls through the Rocky Mountains, with no training, a bad radio connection and a joy stick. More recently, a group of better trained persons were said to have flown several normally-operating commercial airliners into high value targets in the eastern United States.

Image of Karen Black from Cinema de Merde

Se beber, não ande de bibicleta e nem a empurre

From AMOBIKE, this video has two titles: The one above says "Drunk pushing a bicycle" and in the video itself it says "Drunk on the Road."

In scenes like this one of the first things I notice is the reaction of passersby. In this case, first another cyclist seems to have some concern, but perhaps it is only because he notices that this is being recorded.

But after the guy collapsed my strong assumption was that the first car would not stop... and I was happy it did: Perhaps readers could share experiences of the same or opposite... or if as a cyclist they have helped a driver. As always, the videographer's lack of intervention should be questioned.

The Netherlands: "Volvo introduces helmet to protect against Volvos"

Couldn't possibly think of something better, so I took the title for this entry from the latest at Bakfiets-n-Meer, from Henry Cutler of Workcycles in Amsterdam. (Cartoon by Wulff Morgenthaler via Copenhagenize).

Volvo Cars is promoting bicycle helmet use for Dutch children.

Very sad, the Cult of Dangerization which has its object and lead symbol the styrosafetycap, is infecting one of the best practice national examples of both urban and rural cycling, ever, in the entire universe: the Netherlands. That the Ford Motor Company-owned Volvo Cars is behind it is not surprising, but also sickening. It is perhaps also ironic this campaign will very likely continue after the completion of the sale of Volvo Cars to Geely Automobile, based in China.

Up until recently these activities were focused on the south or southwest of the country, but the virus is creeping northwards, as the Volvo Cars project was focused on Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam. They are targeting the kids with parents who travel to Amsterdam daily or quite frequently for work or pleasure.

So check out that new entry in Henry's Blog as it also leads to other related good places... I first heard about this new campaign in a short article in Bike Europe, which takes some info from the press release Henry refers to his Blog.

The article ends with some words by the marketing director of Volvo Cars Netherlands: “It’s important for the helmet to also withstand an accident caused by a third party, as such accidents are usually linked with high speeds and extreme impact situations. This is a crucial breakthrough in the current thinking about bicycle helmets.”

Ha. The "also" he refers to is the product he is promoting, and I think the illustration above shows how helmets deal with the "accidents" which he refers to.

But before that the article also notes that this give-away is controversial: "Volvo’s activity in this field gets a lot of flak as it would make people afraid of cycling. Critics say that Volvo should make their new pedestrian safety detection system standard on each car, instead of offering it as an option on just one model the Volvo S60. Handing out free helmets for kids was received with skepticism and seen as the next step of the automobile industry to get a bicycle helmet mandatory. Experience in countries like Australia has shown that mandatory helmet laws only results in a reduction of cyclists."

As I mentioned to a new friend in the Netherlands, pro-choice (or anti-) helmet forces are still in the lead.... so, what to do? Provinces take the lead in communication, but laws are national, so let's hope that today's election does not lead us to the right, or more specifically the wrong side of helmet regulations.

Further, we need our own pro-choice helmet campaign, perhaps loosely inspired by this, something which makes me proud of the looser end of corporate media in the USA (For some details on that Photoshop hack job please also see here).

For those fortunate enough to be able to attend Velo-City in Copenhagen, near the end of this month, I hope at least some brain-storming can be accomplished, as conference co-organiser ECF is focused on the helmet issue.

Perhaps one point which could be addressed is the conference's co-main sponsorship by Clear Channel, which has done some nice things for cycling in places like Barcelona, but also works extensively and intensively with the automobile industry in advertising and facilitating the function of its products. (No, I don't have the numbers, I am sure their business with the automobile industry dwarves their bike share activity).

** If you're on Facebook, please considering joining a related initiative.

(Full transparency: Velo-City Global 2010's other co-organizers are the City of Frederiksburg and the City of Copenhagen. The Danish capital and the adjoining local authority held the Copenhagen Bike Share Design Competition last year, in which my team shared a first prize).

Green Idea Factory wins 1st Prize in Copenhagen Bike Share Design Competition

The team of Koucky & Partners, LOTS Design and Green Idea Factory has developed an innovative bike share concept, called OPENbike, for the city of Copenhagen. They have been awarded a shared first prize amongst 127 international entries in the design competition. The awards ceremony was held on 10 December, during the COP15 summit.

The City of Copenhagen, Denmark, one of the world leading cycling cities, aims at establishing a new bike share system and initiated an open international design competition earlier this Fall.

OPENbike is user-focused and proposes a system that is easy to use, flexible and fully scalable. The design goal has been to create a system that seamlessly integrates with public transport and becomes a natural part of Copenhagen’s existing bicycle culture. The system proposes a smart card system and positioning solutions integrated in each bicycle to create a fully floating bike share system.OPENbike does therefore not need special stands and bicycles can easily be repositioned to adapt the system to the city's changing needs.

"We are particularly happy the jury appreciated our intentions with this iconic bicycle design that relates to Copenhagen bicycle history and, at the same time, contributes to the new branding of Copenhagen," says Erik Nohlin, a specialist in bicycle design from LOTS Design in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Michael Koucky of Koucky & Partners, also in Gothenburg, adds, "We aimed to make this bike feel like an owned bike for a Copenhager or a commuter to the Danish capital. The bike is not meant to be on a pedestal, both literally and figuratively. It should be a natural part of the lives of local cyclists, and a great example for tourists."

"It is clear to me that leading cities are ready to embrace what is now the 4th Generation in bike sharing systems," says Los Angeles-born Todd Edelman of Green Idea Factory, currently based in Berlin. "The attention and generosity shown by the City of Copenhagen in holding this competition hopefully indicates that cities are also starting to take a leadership role in implementing this important component of a seamless public transportation solution."

See OPENbike and click here for detailed information on the Design Competition and all the other entries.

High resolution images for publication or viewing can be downloaded here.

"Dog and Cat Collars" (2009) by Chris Jordan

Depicts ten thousand dog and cat collars, equal to the average number of unwanted dogs and cats euthanized in the United States every day*.

from "Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait".

Chris Jordan entry on Wikipedia.

* Statistics from HSUS seem to originate with this org., but I cannot find them.

Regarding "Compleat Streets"

Transportation for America wants people in the U.S. to send this letter:

Dear Secretary LaHood, I am alarmed by the continually high pedestrian fatality rate in this country.
Just this week, a new study by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership and Transportation for America reported that in the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. Overwhelmingly, these deaths occurred on poorly designed roadways that encouraged speeding cars and made little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs, or on a bicycle.
The study shows the strong correlation between a metro area's Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) and its spending on pedestrian safety projects. The metro areas in greatest need of improvement are spending the least.
The study also shows how many communities are creating safer streets - by making sure that every road project provides for the safety of everyone who will be using the road, including pedestrians. More than 100 communities across the country have adopted Complete Streets policies to do just that.
Nationwide, less than 1.5 percent of funds authorized under the federal transportation law, SAFETEA-LU, have been spent on projects to improve the safety of walking and bicycling. Yet pedestrians comprise 11.8 percent of all traffic deaths and trips made on foot account for almost 9 percent of total trips.
Your work on combating distracted driving and establishing a new Safety Council shows that you are passionate about transportation safety. Please add to that record of achievement by supporting Complete Streets policy adoption across the country. This is a strategy that will not only can make our streets safer, but will help make our communities more livable by providing people with attractive transportation options.
We need your leadership on Complete Streets with Congress and within USDOT.
Sincerely, (Your signature)

to which I say:

(to the tune of your favourite rap or folk song...)

Some had the space for a horse for a ride
Or trees so the neighbours and birds could hide
On others all agreed bikes could be ridden
Or a tram to sit in when you want your legs hidden

Streets were complete before cars came along
The sidewalks so wide you could dance your own song
The sidewalks so proud that they met in the middle
The compromised think that this must be a riddle.


***

"Better", "Slower" are qualitative and acceptable; "Streets for People" used elsewhere, is vague but might be okay, but please ask yourself:

* Don't these terms mean something different than "complete"?
* What about the noise and tailpipe emissions of motor vehicles, in particular private cars... they also share the street, and not in a nice way.
* Why pretend to treat everyone equally regarding safety?
* Just how much does this encourage "alternative" transport? (Probably a bit to a bunch, depending on the quality of complementary measures... so that's good.)

"Complete", re-contextualised to include private urban cars, sends a strong signal that this subgroup of automobiles (which can be appropriately used) will be a permanent feature of the built environment -- that it deserves a place as much as other modes.

So, it's a pity that local authorities are confused (and confusers), and it's a shame that various community and advocacy organizations - such as "Transportation for America [sic]" which has an otherwise decent agenda - push this new kind of "complete". It is deceptive... even Orwellian language. If enshrined as law it's very, very dangerous.

Dogs on Board! 1 of 4

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Dogs on Board! 2 of 4

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Dogs on Board! 3 of 4

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Dogs on Board! 4 of 4

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BikeBridges

BikeBridges is part of the Bikes on Board! (BOB) project. (EuroVelo map only used for reference; Green Idea Factory is the initiator and co-director of BOB).

Adverts: Bus vs. Car or Bus not vs. Bike?

CLICK on image to enlarge.

ON the left is a well-known ad which appeared in Canada five years ago. It was pulled after protests from transit advocates. On the right is my version.

Bikes on Board! 1/4

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Bikes on Board! 2/4

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Bikes on Board! 3/4

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Bikes on Board! 4/4

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Dogs on Board!

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