Sorry Bicyclists- No San Rafael Bridge Trips Anytime Soon

photo courtesy of wikicommons

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Caltrans' recent rejection of a proposal by Bay Area bicyclists to open the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to bike traffic. The ongoing tension between bicyclists and Caltrans has lasted for 30 years with the current proposal projected to cost US$55 million.

Caltrans officials said Wednesday that they will reject a consultant's recommendation that a movable barrier be installed on the upper deck of the bridge to permit bicycle and pedestrian access 21 hours a day on weekdays and all day on weekends. Caltrans views such an arrangement as unsafe.

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition was instrumental in getting the proposal to this point and worked with consultants for the rejected proposal. Caltrans has contended that the project isn't feasible given safety concerns.

11 Most Bicycle Friendly Cities

Wired Magazine reports that Virgin Vacations has put together a list of the 11 most bicycle friendly cities in the world.

1. Amsterdam, Netherlands : see their Bike Dispenser
   
2. Portland, Oregon : see a New York Times article on bicycle-friendly Portland
   
3. Copenhagen, Denmark : see the Streetsblog Notes on biclycling in Copenhagen
   
4. Boulder, Colorado : see the City of Boulder's bicycling transportation resources page
   
5. Davis, California : see the League of American Bicyclists' extensive article on what makes Davis bicycle friendly
   
6. Sandnes, Norway : see Marco Zanussi's profile on Sandnes Byke City (pdf)
   
7. Trondheim, Norway : see the Trondheim bicycle hill-assist in action on YouTube
   
8. San Francisco, California : get the 511 on bicycling in San Francisco
   
9. Berlin, Germany : read the CBS News report on Berlin's bicycling boom
   
10. Barcelona, Spain : see the Barcelona bicycling resources guide
    
11. Basel, Switzerland : see stats and history of bicycling in Basel
    

The eleven cities were chosen based on "The Five Es" -- criteria drawn up by the League of American Bicyclists

• ENGINEERING : facilities for accommodation of cyclists
  
• EDUCATION : provision of funds for teaching safe cycling
  
• ENCOURAGEMENT : how the community promotes and encourages bicycling
  
• ENFORCEMENT : do bicycling laws exist and are they enforced
  
• EVALUATION & PLANNING : is there a bicycle master plan
  

Bicyclists Beware!!

I just visited the Google HQ in Mountain View and saw some employees riding this thing around. Apparently it's called the "conference bike." It's only a matter of time before bicycling is supplanted by this technological marvel.

Conference Bike!

-jt

Bicycling in Davis, California

Ted Buehler, a graduate student at ITS Davis, has a nice online presentation on 50 Years of Bicycling in Davis, California, based on his masters thesis. Davis has been called the cycling capital of the world, and Buehler gives an outline of the development of cycling and cycling facilities. His research revealed that despite the city's pro-bicycle policies, cycling in the city began to decline in recent years. Possible reasons for this are explored, and suggestions for future development are suggested.

More information on Buehler's research is available in articles in DavisEnterprise.com and the California Aggie.