AnnArbor.Com reports that the City of Ann Arbor recently acquired some federal stimulus dollars that will allow for some new bike lanes near downtown Ann Arbor.
The locations of these new bike lanes will be along Catherine Street, North University Avenue, Ashley Street and First Street.
Since many people feel better about biking when bike lanes are present, these new additions should be a good move.
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.
If you are looking for a place to get your bike repaired that is close to downtown, you might want to check out Sic Transit. They are located a little under a mile from downtown Ann Arbor on Broadway.
Their specialty is fixing up vintage bikes, but they also do repairs of all sorts.
Check out their new website at sictransitcycles.com
For a complete listing of all of the Bike Shops in the Ann Arbor area that sell quality bikes and do quality repairs, check out our Guide to Bike Commuting in Downtown Ann Arbor.
While we might not be as big of a city as Toronto, we certainly have to deal with cycling with traffic. Biking Toronto is providing a series of 10 “secrets” (not really secrets but definitely great tips) for biking in traffic.
Click here for a rundown of all of the Secrets.
Read on and stay safe!
Our updated guide to commuting into downtown Ann Arbor during the Art Fairs is now up on our website!
This year there is a new shuttle from the West Side leaving from Maple Village Shopping Center, a trolley that circulates around the downtown, as well as the other Art Fair shuttles that run from Pioneer High School Park & Ride Lot and Briarwood Mall. This information plus great maps, biking information and more are all found here.
If you have questions or need more information, please contact us at 734-214-0100!
According to IBM’s Commuter Pain Survey, driving in many large metropolitan cities is pretty unpleasant.
What is causing all of this pain? IBM looked at 10 different factors:
1) commuting time, 2) time stuck in traffic, agreement that: 3) price of gas is already too high, 4) traffic has gotten worse, 5) start-stop traffic is a problem, 6) driving causes stress, 7) driving causes anger, 8. traffic affects work, 9) traffic so bad driving stopped, and 10) decided not to make trip due to traffic.
Whoah. Not good stuff. Cities ranking high on the commuter pain index include Beijing, Toronto, London, Paris, New York, and of course, Los Angeles.
Interestingly, some of the countries with high commuter pain also have high rates of transit, biking and walking (I am thinking of Toronto and New York in particular).
While IBM looks at commuter pain, I’d love to switch this around to check out a commuter happiness index. What sort of things could measure commuter happiness? Short commuting time would definitely be one of them. But how about some of the things that make biking, walking and busing so great? Like stronger connection to community, better personal fitness, and lower stress. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what cities rank high on the Commuter Happiness Index and what makes those cities work so well? It might help understand the reasons behind the pain of these other places.
During the warmer weather months many, many more employees are biking to work in downtown Ann Arbor (as well as the rest of the country).
One of the needs for some of these employees is a shower when they get to work. Currently, if you wanted to shower up after your bike-ride in downtown Ann Arbor, you’d have the following options:
1. Consider non-shower options first. In a previous post, I listed some suggestions from others regarding how to avoid being too sweaty when you get to work.
2. Get a membership to the Ann Arbor YMCA and shower over there before you get to work (useful for employees who work on that side of town).
3. If you are a County or City employee, you should have access to showers in the County Admin Building. Unsure about this? Contact getDowntown and we’ll give you the details.
4. Work for an employer with a shower in the office. I don’t know where all of these places might be, but I do know that the Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative offers showers for their employees.
5. If you are an employer, consider putting in your own shower. I’ve done a little research and found that the estimates for retrofitting an existing bathroom to accommodate a shower to putting in a shower stall can range from $2,000 (for a retrofit) to $13,100 (for one stall and one room) to $30,000 (for two stalls and two rooms). These two estimates were from individuals outside of Ann Arbor, so it’s hard to know if they are entirely accurate for this area. A local architect did note that a employer should keep in mind the following if they are looking at a shower install:
Some considerations are achieving barrier free access (which [can be] solved using the european shower model ie no stall) and if there is a floor drain–connected to the sanitary in the space. . . A renovated toilet room would be required to be barrier free unless it was accessed through a private office and not a “required” to meet the plumbing code (ie for the office occupant only).
Any other thoughts, ideas and suggestions can be listed in the comments section.
I am going to be on CTN’s Ecosense program soon. As part of the topic of biking and walking, CTN created this short video. Check it out below.
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
