public parking workshop

As part of the Ann Arbor Discover Downtown (A2D2) project, the City is hosting two public participation events on long-term parking strategy. Tonight (March 28), the project team will facilitate a work session to obtain input and direction on the parking study at the Ann Arbor Downtown Library 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There will also be a public workshop on downtown access and parking issues Thursday, March 29 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall. More details at the A2D2 page.

So, why should you care? You either don't own a car or don't use one often. How is fixing downtown parking going to impact your life? If you aren't sure why you would attend these meetings or what you would say if you did, here are a few ways that parking affects carfree folks:

1) Community decisions are made by those who show up at the meetings. It is easy to blame the auto-centric design of cities on a Detroit conspiracy, but the fact is that decisions are being made at these meetings and the people who are most likely to show up are those who want more, better parking. If no one shows up to say, "hey, I ride my bike and take the bus. We need to include these options in this discussion," then those options won't be discussed.

2) Increased parking facilities reduce downtown density. Carfree life is always easier when parking lots are not spreading out the distance between destinations. We should be advocating for minimal increases in parking supply.

3) Parking is part of the larger transportation system. Increasing parking leads to a need for other changes to accomodate increased traffic (if more parking won't result in more traffic, why are we adding parking?). That means more competition between people and cars for public space.

4) Instead of more parking, we should be considering more convenient parking. Even when half of the spaces in town are empty, visitors end up circling the block looking for one of the few spaces on Main St. They do this because a) they want convenience, and b) they don't know about other options. We need to provide better information to drivers about where parking is available and make parking in a structure more convenient than parking on the street. Once they have parked their cars, we need to provide convenient ways to get around downtown without going back to the car. A good network of transit, sidewalks, and bike lanes, along with other facilities will help. Not coincidentally, these are the projects that the carfee community wants more of anyway. This is the perfect venue to explain that connection.

The workshop is an open house, so you won't get stuck sitting through a boring public policy lecture. Just stop in and let the leaders know that parking design is important to you and you want to know what alternatives they are considering.

Thanks to Nancy Shore for the heads-up!

transportation enhancements funding threatened & bike commute tax break considered

Every blike blogger and her brother have mentioned this recent threat to trail funding, but League of American Bicyclists has a good summary.

Basically, Congress told states to return some of their transportation budget (after checking on this, we found that "no take-backs" is not actually a constitutional right). Governors have to decide what programs will be cut in the next few weeks, and bike paths and lanes are an easy target. Follow the link above for more information on contacting the decision-makers with appropriate please and threats.

Fortunately, Ann Arbor sets aside city funds for cycling improvements. But massive cuts to State bike budgets will certainly have a regional impact.

At the same time, the Bicycle Commuter Act has been introduced in Congress. This act would allow employers to offer bike commuters commuting incentives similar to transit riders. Maintenance, bike gear and riding clothes would be not be taxed up to a monthly maximum ($105 ofr transit riders).
Dingel, Stabenaw and Levin are not currently supporting the bill, so drop them a note of encouragement via the above link.

cycm rumors: bike vs. car

That's right, as the weather gives us a Spring preview, it's time to start thinking about Curb Your Car Month. All through the month of May, the getDowntown program organizes events, lectures, parties, and give-aways to celebrate and promote the carfree lifestyle in Ann Arbor.

There is nothing that whips up the excitement for upcoming events like unsubstantiated rumors, so we'll pass on some info that a little bird whispered in our ear. It sounds like one of the events may involve a cross-town race between a bike and a car. Details are sketchy and the route is not set, but the race will involve a couple of check points in order to factor in Ann Arbor's infamous parking "problem."

We previously mentioned that Cranksgiving would be a great event to include in CYCM. According to the rumor mill, this race is not for general participation. But really, who would stop you from riding along?

We'll be posting a few more bright ideas that we'd like to see as part of Curb Your Car Month. If you have suggestions, post them in the comments or send an email. Also, remember that ideas are useless without action, so volunteer with getDowntown to help organize events!

bike advocacy how-to

cyclicio.us has posted an interview with Dan Grunig, Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado, on how to participate in, improve, or jumpstart bike advocacy efforts locally. He doesn't offer any magic tricks or short-cuts. Mostly he hammers home the fact that "our governmental decision making process is dominated by people who show up." Well worth a read for those who want to get involved as well as those who think there is no reason to participate.

meeting round-up

For all of you who can't get enough NMT policy discussion, these gatherings are taking place this week.

Walking for transportation and health: contributions from urban design and planning
Friday, Feb 2 12:30 noon - 1:45 pm
University of Michigan Art & Architecture Bldg
Sandwiches provided
Speaker:
Anne Vernez Moudon (Visiting Professor, TCAUP Winter 2006; and Professor of
Urban Design and Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, University
of Washington, Seattle)


Traffic Calming
Tue Jan 30 6pm -7:30pm
100 N. Fifth Ave.,Ann Arbor, MI (City Council Chambers,2nd Floor, Guy C. Larcom, Jr.
Municipal Building)
The City of Ann Arbor will hold an informational meeting to discuss the City’s Traffic
Calming Program. There has been wide reaching interest expressed, both by neighborhood groups and individuals, about this program. Some neighborhoods are currently petitioning for this process. There will be plenty of time for discussion to answer any questions. It should prove to be an informative and enjoyable evening! We hope you can join us.

WBWC Monthly Meeting
Thu Feb 1 7pm - Thu Feb 1 9pm
Ecology Center, 117 N. Division St. Ann Arbor
The monthly meeting of the Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition. Everyone is welcome to attend.

WINTER BICYCLING TALKS
Sat Feb 3 2pm - Sat Feb 3 3pm
Bicycles In Town bike shop, 116 W Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti
Don't put your bicycle away for the winter! Learn how to dress for cold weather riding, what precautions to take, what equipment your bicycle should have and what special maintenance procedures are needed. Also, indoor cycling using your own bicycle on a wind trainer will be discussed.


WBWC has all of these meetings, as well as other events, listed on their google calendar. It is worth checking frequently.

monday night smackdown: bike lanes vs. parking

AANews revs up the public's ire in preparation for the Monday night public hearing on the proposed non-motorized plan by pitting the sacred cow of parking against the holy grail of NMT infrastructure, bike lanes. The NMT plan, prepared by Norm Cox of the Greenway Collaborative, recommends removing on-street metered parking on some streets to make room for bike lanes.

So, Batman, as an innocent child plummets toward the gaping maw of the volcanic furnace, the pendulum laser-saw of death takes aim at the love of your life. Who will you save? Rene Geff offers up the most obvious solution, explaining "I would be willing to sacrifice parking ... to get bike lanes, but it has to be replaced somewhere else." The plan actually does call for adding parking on other streets to make up for the loss.

We don't generally advocate for parking supply increases. Instead we would like to see more effort towards efficient use of existing parking and more emphasis on encouraging non-car options. However, as our downtown relies on a lot of out-of-towners for financial support and we don't offer much in the way of inter-city alternatives, now does not seem the time to cut back on the overall parking supply.

After he finishes wagging the parking-vs-bikes dog, Gantert does touch on an issue raised by cycling groups. WBWC has been working for some time to remove signs promoting sidewalk cycling routes. City staff has spent a lot of time looking for reasons they can't get rid of them while agreeing that they are not a good solution. According to the article, City Transportation Guru, Eli Cooper, pointed out that the green ad white signs are advisory, note regulatory. The implication (perhaps more from Gantert than Cooper) is that no one is forcing cyclists to use the sidewalk. But, consider other green and white, advisory signs like highway exit signs and signs directing one to public parking. We generally assume that this advice is coming from someone who knows better than we do. We do not usually question whether the green and white advice is guiding us into situations that are proven repeatedly to be the more dangerous option.

We encourage you to show up and speak at Monday. But we also encourage you to read the original report before taking the bait that the News has laid.

ann arbor critical mass

While not widely publicized, a group of cyclists meet up at the corner of State and North U at 5:15 on the last Friday of every month for Ann Arbor's Critical Mass ride. These organized coincidences began in San Francisco and now occur in cities all over the world. While the general themes are advocating for cyclist rights and raising awareness of cycling as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving, the tone can vary drastically by location, from friendly, pedaling sing-along to aggressive traffic confrontation. Not surprisingly, the A2 rides tend toward the free love end of that spectrum.

We don't hear much about the A2 CM rides. The intentional unorganization inherent in Critical Mass is partly to blame. They don't have a website. The Ann Arbor link on criticalmass.org is dead. A google search turns up a few expired upcoming.org announcements, but not much more. Local cycling and "alternative" transportation groups haven't done much (in some cases intentionally) to promote the rides either. getDowntown, WBWC, and AABTA all overlook CM rides in their events announcements. The lack of support may be because of the negative, confrontational image of CM, the difficulties in communicating with CM's leaderless structure, or concerns of inadvertently becoming responsible for the rides. Likely it is some combination of the three. The result is under-rated rides in an over-rated town.

Given the non-issue status of A2 CM rides, we were surprised to find a reprint of a NYT editorial in the AANews that labels the recent CM conflicts in New York a "losing proposition" for both sides. Cycling and public space advocates are quite aware of the stormy relationship and constant political and legal maneuvering that plagues the New York rides. But why does the AANews feel obligated to inform the average Ann Arborite of this issue, and why are they choosing this particular perspective?

On one hand, we are happy to see the local press reflecting the interests of the large cycling and carfree communities in town by initiating discussion of national events like the New York Critical Mass fiasco. The issue highlights how cooperation might accomplish more than conflict in advocating for biker's right on the road.

On the other hand, the inclusion of this editorial suggests that the New York issue informs our local context in some way. Certainly Critical Mass in Ann Arbor is not worthy of such attention. The majority doesn't even know the ride exists. Is the News suggesting that other bike-car conflicts require that "everyone gear down a notch" as the NYT editorial suggests?

Consider these closing recommendations from the borrowed editorial:

The police should pay more attention to the real problems - everyday cyclists who ignore red lights and one-way street signs, and motorists who crowd and cut off bikers.

and

Law-abiding bicyclists could win a lot of hearts if they focused more on bad behavior by fellow bikers.

Now replace the words "cyclists" and "bicyclists" with "motorists" and "drivers". Does it make any more sense to hold cyclists in general accountable for the law-breakers who share their mode of transportation than to hold all drivers accountable to those who speed? Similarly, would cracking down on motorists' rolling stops and lack of lane-change signals be considered an effective solution to dangerous driving?

Our biggest gripe with the above quotes are the implied similarity between coasting through stop signs on a bike and using your vehicle to bully cyclists. The editorial seems to overlook the disparate levels of danger between the two.

Noticeably lacking in the proposed solutions are better education & outreach on sharing the road, as well as structural improvements that recognize and accommodate cyclists' and pedestrians' use public space, including our city streets.

As many commenters on Arborupdate and AnnArborIsOverrated have pointed out, Ann Arbor is hardly comparable to the Big Apple, and we should stop pretending it is.

new year news round-up

In the first few days of the new year, while the cfa2 editorial board was loafing on the sunny beaches of a tropical island, a few noteworthy news items surfaced in the local rag.

Cagers will be issued brand new tracking identifiers this year. They'll be trading in the blue license plates for plates that are more visible at night. This would have been a perfect time to include a cycling & pedestrian awareness requirement for renewal. The we would know which drivers have at least some education on sharing the road, and by the end of the year, all car owners might be enlightened. Sadly, there is no mention of including such a program (which should probably be linked to driver's licenses anyway).

Amtrak reports some happier news in the new year. Michigan, and Ann Arbor in particular, had record Amtrak ridership this year. Ann Arbor was up 22% from last year! Amtrak confesses that they have no explanation for the jump other than the assumed reaction to rising fuel costs. In addition, SEMCOG continues talks with Amtrak about a demonstration commuter rail to Detroit. Given the glacial progress of SEMCOGs Ann Arbor Detroit Transit Study, we're not holding our breath. We'll report more when something definitive comes out. With or without the commuter rail, we hope Amtrak will consider the increase a good omen and make a resolution to get more people on more trains (is asking for a lower ticket price going too far?) this year.

There were also a number of car crashes reported over the holidays. While our sympathy goes out to anyone who suffered at a time we should all be celebrating, we were happy to note that none of the crashes included pedestrians and cyclists. But one odd event is worth mentioning. Apparently, some pervert tried to break into the bathroom stalls of a couple young girls, failed, and escaped. The interesting point for us is that he was spotted by the father later that day in the parking lot, where the father reportedly hit him with his car, repeatedly.

The father drove toward the man and tried to block him in, striking him twice and sending him onto the hood of the car, reports said.

The suspected pervert escaped again. Police continue the search for the pervert, but there is no mention of pressing charges on the father for assault with a deadly weapon. We are in no way condoning the bathroom incident, but we wonder how the police's response to the father's vehicular attack reflect authority's view of vehicles as potential weapons. When, exactly, is it acceptable to intentionally run someone over with your car?

Finally, in this season of resolutions, we encourage you to add a carfree component to the list of commitments. A great one for people who are already carlite is to try winter cycling. It will add a little exercise to your January hibernation and hopefully winter will fade before your resolve does, meaning you don't have to feel guilty about another resolution failed come July. Since much of our carfree lifestyle is heavily impacted by municipal policy, committing to contribute to a bike, ped, or transit issue would be great. WBWC has lots of ideas and is only lacking the people power to move them forward. Attend a meeting and see for yourself. For inspiration on what kind of carfree communities are possible, see this article on a carfree neighborhood in Germany.

And of course you could finally muster up the courage to post an ad on craiglist and sell your car...

bike valet

We recently came across a video of professional bike valets in Japan. In uniforms including white gloves, these gentlemen are staioned throughout Tokyo to park and protect bikes while their owners are shopping, dining, or attending class.

You may be thinking, "ah, yes, another example of bike infrastructure that would never work in the US." But did you know about the extremely successful bike valet program at SBC park in SanFransisco? The park has been offering valet bike parking for Giants games for over a year now.

We've even had valet for bikes in Ann Arbor a few times. The getDowntown program has organized valet service for event like Midnight Madness and outdoor film screenings. This leads us to contemplate other events with heavy traffic within easy biking distance from downtown and campus. Yes, we're talking about UofM football games.

Ypsidixit recently reported on a sustainability meeting where the speaker mentioned the need to link sustainability with fun. Over 100,000 people show up on game days for the rivalry and revelry of UofM football. The biggest hassle of the day is getting to the game. Bike valets could help link the fun of football with the benefits (and fun!) of getting around by bike.

What do you think? Would townies and students be more likely to bike to games if they knew they would have a safe place to park? Would you be willing to volunteer an afternoon as a bike valet?

Thursday night bike/ped meetings

The planning commission meeting scheduled for Thursday night includes reconsideration of the Nonmotorized Plan, part of which will entail discussion on signs peppered throughout town encouraging cyclists to use the sidewalk. WBWC has been advocating the removal of these signs for some time now. City staff recently issued an official response to this request.

The staff's response was a straight-forward "yes, but no". The staff has determined that while signs encouraging cyclists to use the sidewalk are a bad idea and increase pedestrian-cyclists conflicts, they must remain for now. They defer to the legal/engingeering excuse:

Sidewalk Bike Route signs are a traffic control device and as such they have the potential to be scrutinized in accident litigation. Removing all of the signs immediately without any change in the physical conditions is not aligned with sound engineering practice.

The response continues to point out that, while the 1992 Bicycle Master Plan repeatedly recommends eliminating such cycling routes, the city will not do so until other accomodations are made for cyclists, because it isn't safe to ride on the road.

There have not been any changes to the environment where these signed routes remain. The traffic speed and density remain high and the physical space is insufficient to define a shared or separate facility for bicyclists.

We see two problems with this argument:
1) The signs contradict all other bicycle policy goals of shared use. They directly contradict other signs downtown indicating that sidewalk cycling is illegal. They suggest that it is safer to ride on sidewalks even though studies repeatedly show this riding location to be more dangerous than on-street. Thus, we think the signs are at best confusing, and at worst a serious safety risk.
2) The response states that the signs cannot be removed until other accomodations for cyclists are made, then states that there is no way to provide other accomodation given the limited road space. The response also completely overlooks the importance of education and enforcement in making roadways safe for cyclists. The response seems to imply that the city cares enough to maintain the current, questionable safety of cyclists, but not enough to actually find an effective solution.

Cyclists may be torn over the issue, especially since many Ann Arbor cyclists do use the sidewalk. But keep in mind that this is not an effort to ban sidewalk cycling, only to stop encouraging it through signage. Pedestrians are more likely to see this issue in terms of blatent apathy to their safety.

Email from WBWC recommends:

if you didn't get a chance to attend the last Planning Commission meeting, please consider attending and saying a few words on this subject. Many of us who spoke at the last meeting will be at the WBWC meeting this week, and it's really effective when a number of people actually show up and speak on a given topic.

which brings us to the next announcement. WBWC is also meeting on Thursday night at the Ecology Center and will vote on board positions. Their email indicates that they'd much rather you speak at the Planning meeting. But if you've always wanted to get involved with WBWC, they are open and welcoming to everyone.

yellow cards for cars

Most everyone who walks or bikes around town has encountered a driver who has, out of frustration, anger, or ignorance, made bad driving decisions that put your life at risk. Even if you are willing to take the time to educate motorists on the danger that their choices put you in, they have often driven away before you get the chance.
We've debated and (shamefully admit, in some cases, to having) acted out a few methods of addressing the problem of getting the message across quickly:
* shouting and waving for the driver to stop
* cursing profusely
* fist shaking and finger waving
* slapping and kicking the offending vehicle
* designing a bike-mounted gun that shoots eggs
* calling the police
Sadly, none of these have been very effective. Often, rather than resolving anything, they create a bigger problem.

With all else failing, maybe this idea is worth a shot. This is a design for a business card sized magnet with a little message about brotherly love on the road. They are designed to be tossed onto the metal hood, roof, or side panels of a car that has made a bad decision at your near-peril.

Everyone is free to download the PDF file and print out their own magnets. You can order magnet sheets from labelgear.com to print at home, or use it for a design at cafepress. If you ride a steel frame, you can probably keep a few easily accessible on your top tube.

We haven't read any reports on how successful people have been at getting these to stick to cars or in the stickiness of the message in drivers' minds, but it would be nice to see one of these provoke a Letter to the Editor at the AANews.

today is World Carfree Day

While there is no officially registered celebration in Ann Arbor, don't let it keep you from going carfree today, and maybe celebrating a little on your commute. Join millions of people in thousands of cities around the world in recognizing that there is mobility beyond the automobile

Happy World Carfree Day!

bike buddies

In a comment on a previous post we wistfully suggested,

It would be great if we had some volunteers willing to ride with people to show them how to do this and build some confidence. I'd like to support a "riding buddy" list on this website. Even better if a couple of police folks would sign up!

C.I.C.L.E. bike blog reports on the kind of thing we were imagining, matching up bike "students" with volunteer "coaches". Courses, class, and manuals are all great, but nothing beats "expert" advice on your own commuting route.

Maybe this is something that could be organized for Curb Your Car Month. Any volunteers?