New option for AATA trip planning

You won't find a link to it on the AATA site but Google maps has added Ann Arbor to the list of cities for which you can get transit directions as well as driving directions. It's also pretty hard to tell by looking at the page that you're there but this seems to be where you start: Google Transit Ann Arbor

Perhaps one reason AATA isn't really promoting this is that it has its own trip planning site. In not-very-extensive testing, each site seems to have its own quirks, but they definitely have advantages over using the printed route maps and timetables. Even experienced transit users can find it a little daunting to figure out a new route with them; for people who are considering taking the bus for the first time, trying to make sense of them can be a big barrier. Any new options that help potential transit users become actual transit users can't hurt efforts to increase ridership.

Hauling things by bike

I had really hoped to have a more spectacular re-launch of CFA2 in time for Curb Your Car Month 08, but it's been way busy on the non-motorized transportation front lately (which is a good thing) and it turns out it's not that easy to find bloggers who are not already blogging. So we'll do the best we can and maybe hope to have lots of new posts in time for World Carfree Day in September.

I'm (finally) prompted to post by an excellent recent Grist article on cargo bikes. Who could resist a title like Haul's Well that Ends Well?

Now, anyone know if anyone in town has an Xtracycle?

photos of East Quad Bike Coop Fixup

HD points out:

Two weekends ago, the East Quad Bike Coop held a bike fixup and giveaway.

At the end of the event, 7 or 8 of the really really junky ones found
their way into the Ghost Bike project.

Here's a couple of shots from Matt Hampel's Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a2community/2396966827/in/photostream