From the Michigan Business Review: http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2007/12/congress_approves_auto_fuel_ec.html

FYI:

Ravi Gajendran and David Harrison conducted an analysis of 46 studies on telecommuting and published the results in the Journal of Applied Psychology as The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown About Telecommuting (18 page PDF).
They found that small amounts of telecommuting have small but mainly beneficial effects on perceived autonomy, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, performance, turnover intent, and role stress, with no detrimental effects on the quality of workplace relationships.

  http://news.gilbert.org/clickthru/redir/6585/47590/rms

Apparently there’s a lot of buzz about this bike: https://www.ktrakcycle.com/index.html

Looks like you can put a ski on it and some crazy studded tires.

Anybody have one of these?

From Ride Around Town (RAT) organizer fjs:

Bikes belong in the streets!  Join us for a merry ride through the streets of Ann Arbor to demonstrate that bicycles can interact safely with cars and pedestrians.  We don’t create traffic … we ARE traffic!  As per norm, wear reflective clothing, helmets, front light, tail light (or one of those incredible Planet Bike strobes!!), and, if you have one, bring a bell.  We’ll ring in the New Year by something other than a Julian calendar.

I just read that the latest and greatest weather prognostication, based on Siberian snow cover and “energy waves” pushing into the Arctic stratosphere (!!), indicates that we’ll be in for a warming trend until about MLK day, when another arctic blast should ooze down from Canada.  So best plan the January ride on the 4th rather than later.

Weather for the Worst Day of the Year Ride looks good … or bad, depending on your perspective. Jan 4 should be balmy!

However, if we have ice and snow on the streets, this unstudded cyclist will walk to the post-ride venue, bell in hand to ring as the studly cyclists ride by!  So, bring a bell and join me and my rat for a wintry walk if you’re not prepared for ice and cookie dough.

After the ride we’ll gather at either the traditional Tios for a wet burito, or a close-by not too crowded bar for warming libations.

From the Washtenaw Biking Walking Coalition:

This is a good time to remind everyone that it’s important to remove snow and ice from sidewalks promptly, and most local communities have ordinances to that effect.  As Ann Arbor’s says, “…the city depends on its citizens to be helpful, responsible, and aware of the need to remove all snow and ice from the public sidewalks including walks and ramps leading to a crosswalk.”

To help with this effort, WBWC has once again collected local snow removal ordinances and contact information at http://www.wbwc.org/snow.shtml. 

If you’re a cell phone user who walks in Ann Arbor, stop reading and put this number in your phone right now: (734) 994-1788.  That’s what you call to report sidewalks that haven’t been cleared within 24 hours after snow accumulates, and it does work.

If you want to try to get the message across to property owners without reporting them to the local authorities, our “Sidewalk Clearing Reminders” are also available from that page.  If you try these and get some results, please let us know.  Also let us know if any information on the page needs to be updated.

Making a New Year’s Resolution to

• Reduce your carbon footprint?
• Lose weight?
• Get more exercise
• Have more fun?

Then why not check out the getDowntown Calendar of events for January: http://www.getdowntown.org/programs/events/?200801

From the LA Daily News:

“Two years ago, Simon Pastucha - an urban designer and planner for the city of Los Angeles - left his Mercedes SUV at the dealership and hasn’t looked back.

But how does a professional with children and far-flung meetings survive in car-centric Los Angeles without owning an automobile?

Quite easily, I found after tagging along with Pastucha on his commute.”

Read the article here: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7636604