A new community bike group known as Common Cycle is looking to raise some money via Kickstarter.
Common Cycle is “a community-based organization empowering Ann Arbor to ride bicycles by providing access to education, workspace, and resources.”
They regularly set up a Mobile Bike Repair Stand at the Ann Arbor Artisan’s Market on Sundays in the Summer and just conducted their first bike repair workshop.
At a recent Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) Board Meeting, I was able to hear a presentation on the AATA’s new Transit Master Plan process.
And before you go looking for the plan with all it’s components on the new Moving You Forward website, let me emphasize that what was presented was a process, not a plan?
Why?
Because what the AATA wants to do (with the help of several consultants) is engage the community on several different levels:
1. First, the AATA wants to find out what Washtenaw County citizens need and want for the County for the next 5, 15, and 30 years. Do we want a thriving economy? Do we want to attract more young professionals? Do we want more focus on the environment? Do we just want to party?
2. These needs will then be looked at in terms of what types of transportation could help meet the needs. If we want a thriving economy, does that mean we focus on trolleys or bus rapid transit? Or better bike lanes?
3. Finally, all of these different types of technologies will be mapped on some different scenarios to determine how they would all fit into a particular plan.
I like this approach because it reminds me what a marketing professional once instructed me to do: You see, when you want to make a pie, you don’t just make a little dough, but you make enough so that you can make sure you’ll be able to cover the whole pie. And then you cut that dough down until you have just what you need. So the AATA is going to use the public’s input to make a lot of dough and then work through the process of cutting that input down into something that looks and tastes delicious.
The whole Moving You Forward process has already begun, with the head of the AATA Michael Ford, meeting with many members of the community. There will also be lots of time for public input beginning later in the year.
If you are at all interested in seeing a plan for transit for this community (including how biking and walking fit into the picture) I encourage you to check out Movingyouforward.org and be a part of the discussion.
If you regularly commute by or otherwise enjoy the Border to Border Trail you might be interesting in helping clean it up:
Its that time of year again along the Border To Border Trail, lots of rain causing lots of vegetation to grow next to,and over, the trail. To help make the trail more passable (although it is really not that bad), there will be a trail-clearing session this coming Thursday, June 24th at 7pm. The assembly point will be the Border To Border Trail at Cornell Street, just west of the main EMU campus. For a map, click here.The plan would be to clear overhanging branches along the Trail going west to the Dixboro Bridge. The plan would be to be done by 8:30pm. The only thing you would need to bring are pruning clippers and possibly garden gloves. The worst areas are on the trail between Cornell and Hewitt and the Dixboro Bridge.If anyone could help with this event it would be appreciated!Bob KrzewinskiFriends of the Border To Border Trail
This just in:
From 1990 to 2009, the number of trips taken on foot more than doubled from 18 billion to 42.5 billion. Similarly, the number of bike trips increased from 1.7 billion to 4 billion. (from Ray LaHood’s Blog)
That’s according to a recent Federal Highway Administration Study. And in other good news, at the same time as walking and biking trips has increased, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed is decreasing.
While all of this is great news, it’s clear we still have a ways to go to make it both practical and safe for people to bike and walk to their destinations. But these numbers are encouraging!
Tomorrow is National Dump the Pump Day. National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to ride public transportation (instead of driving) and save money.
There are lot’s of reasons to think about using transit, including:
FYI:
A local ride to remember those who have been killed on public roadways will be held tonight. Gather at Wheeler Park 6:30pm for a 7 mile ride.
The following post was originally sent to getDowntown as a comment about the Commuter Challenge. I asked if I could post it on our blog to see what others had to say. Please read on and provide your own comments in the comments section.
I’m writing because I think that marketing alternative modes of transportation to commuters is great, but I would love to see [getDowntown] focus more energy on driver education to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. This week – and the irony of it being the first week of the Commuter Challenge is not lost on me – two cyclists whom I know personally were hit by cars in Ann Arbor. They’re both okay, but one spent several hours in the emergency room, and both bikes were damaged. One driver didn’t even realize she’d hit a cyclist at first – it was a classic right hook accident – while the other appeared to strike the cyclist on purpose.
If we’re going to encourage more people to bike and walk in Ann Arbor we need to make this a safer place to do so. As it stands, the more pedestrians and cyclists we have on the streets, the more people we’re going to have being hit by cars. It’s terrible.
I understand that your job is to make it look like Ann Arbor is a wonderful place for alternative transportation so that more people will use alternative transportation, but we have a really long way to go, and unfortunately, the behavior we need to change is from the people who drive and will keep driving. We need a real share the road campaign, we need brief, pithy instructions for how to pass a cyclist safely, we need police who don’t assume when a cyclist gets hit by a car that it was the cyclist’s fault, we need to tell people to look before they open their car doors, we need big, constant reminders that bikes have a right to be in the road – even in the middle of the road – and while we’re at it, we need drivers to understand that if a pedestrian is in a mid-block crosswalk it’s the law to stop and let the pedestrian cross the street.
I’m sorry, this has become a bit of a rant. Between my two struck cyclists and spending 30 minutes in the rain this morning waiting for an extremely late bus, I’m feeling like a very challenged commuter today. Last year I didn’t participate in the Commuter Challenge because my commute is “alternative” 365 days a year so I thought it was silly to count it, and I also didn’t want to give fodder to the people who say Ann Arbor is a great place for non-car commuting because I don’t think it is. This year I am participating, because I care even more about advocacy for non-car commuting and I thought maybe I should work from within the establishment instead of just whining about it from the outside. So here I am. Sending you a long-winded message to say “Please do more about safety for pedestrians and cyclists. We need it badly.”
I’ve got to say… I am really excited about participating in the Commuter Challenge this month. My entire company, SRT Solutions, will be competing. We hope to do better than last year when we took 3rd place in our bracket. During the month of May in 2009, SRT Solutions saved hundreds of dollars worth of parking costs alone – enough to purchase a nice gift for the employees. They have committed to do the same this year to help motivate the team.
Why am I participating?
There are several reasons why I will be participating in the challenge this year. The most prominent reason is somewhat selfish – I want to get more exercise. I will be commuting 5 miles each way by bicycle on most days. It takes me 21 minutes to ride into town, door-to-door. In contrast, it takes me 20 minutes to drive my car, park, and walk to work (again, door-to-door). The difference is inconsequential. It does, however, let me get two brisk sessions of exercise in every day. How great is that?
I can’t say that exercise is the only reason for commuting. I will also be commuting to save costs, both monetarily and environmentally. The Huffington Post recently published “7 Things You Can Do For Earth Day That Actually Matter.” Of the seven things, “don’t drive,” is one of them. I figure that by riding my bike to work, I can save at least 7 gallons of gas a month. Think about how quickly that savings adds up! In addition, I will save over $20 per month on gas in addition to over $160 per month in parking costs for my company. Being a small company, these savings are significant and noticeable.
I am also commuting for fun. Just last week, I purchased a sweet new bike, specifically for commuting. It is a Specialized Tricross, which is technically a cyclocross bike (not a road bike). One great thing about cyclocross bikes is that they are built for roads AND dirt. In other words, they handle the potholes of Ann Arbor roads really well. This bike is a dream to ride and I look forward to riding it every day.
Finally, I work with (and sit next to) Mike Woelmer, the only Velomobile rider in Ann Arbor. He commutes 20 miles each day on his “bike.” With an influence like that, wouldn’t you be compelled to ride?
AnnArbor.Com has two articles on cycling in the Ann Arbor Community that might interest you:
Treehugger recently posted an interesting set of ideas for how to make your City more bike and ped friendly.
Their suggestions (in sum):
The interesting part about many of these ideas is that Ann Arbor is already doing many of them. The idea of no turn on red was suggested in the Ann Arbor Non-motorized plan. We have lots of parties downtown (Art Fair, Green Fair, the Car Show, etc), which I think definitely makes it more pedestrian friendly. Downtown people can’t really go more than 20 mph and I know the City as a whole has struggled with speed limits. We might not have a Tweed Ride but we do have the Ride Around Town (RAT–thanks WBWC!). Especially downtown, I think we are moving in the right direction on many of these items.
What do you think is missing from this list? What else could we do downtown and elsewhere to create a better environment for peds and cyclists in Ann Arbor?
