KC proposes new bicycle parking guidelines

As part of its update of city zoning ordinances, KCMO is proposing bicycle parking requirements. This would be a great step forward for mainstreaming bicycling within KCMO.

Eric Rogers has posted the proposed ordinances here.

Why I Ride My Bike to Work

By riding my bike to work I plan to change the world.
I declare freedom from the petroleum mongering machine.
There's no war in Iraq fought for my gas.
I live on a human scale, and I transport my own ass.

I ride in the dark, before the sun comes up.
A silent prowler sliding along the side of the road.
Cars usually change lanes to briefly pass me by,
Rushing in their boxes, do they ever wonder why?

I rode for poverty, because my car is a piece of shit.
Then there's the forty pounds I lost doing it.
Every day that I ride is a better day.
That's the bottom line for me.

Riding my bike to work puts me in a good mood.
When I drive, stressed is how I arrive.
There's more interactions on a bicycle:
Weather, pavement, daylight, and of course the drivers.
Almost every day someone honks to educate me
Telling me I don't belong where I have a right to be.

In America, your most powerful voice is what you buy.
Whey send dollars to people who want to kill us?
For one day, just try biking or taking the bus.

-Corinna West

Where bikes are fast

5.18.2006
President of Fuji Bikes Races Car and Train to Work
By: Ryan LaBar

As you may know this week is "Bike-to-Work Week" and Friday is "Bike-to-Work Day". So you may be wondering what the time difference between biking, driving or taking the train would be?

On Monday the president of Fuji Bicycles, Patrick Cunnane, "raced" a car and a train to work for Philadelphia's Bike to Work Challenge, which is organized by the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition. Dressed in a tie, a collared shirt, and khakis (plus a safety yellow vest), he raced from the corner of 15th Street and JFK Blvd. to the corner of 46th Street and Chestnut during rush hour. Cunnane won the Challenge, edging out the train by two and a half minutes and the car by over twelve. The only thing he didn't beat to work was the weather, which ended up catching him at the finish in the form of rain.

In LA, they cover this?

Much kudos to Mike Hendricks for this but the Star didn't really cover Bike to Work Week.

Other Good Stuff from the Bicycle Kitchen

Riding the City:

1. The most important thing about riding in the city is that you MUST BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE TRAFFIC AND YOU BELONG IN THE STREET!!! Yes city traffic is dangerous. Yes cars are moving fast. Yes cars are bigger than you. Yes cars are not watching for you. But if you ride like you BELIEVE you are traffic (which you legally are) you will be safer and riding Los Angeles will be the best experience ever!

2. The next most important thing is to be visible. Be loud! Make yourself noticeable, wear a wig or whatever, but make sure those motorists know you're there.You have to be in plain view all the time while riding through the city. A good rule of thumb is to stay a car door's width away from parked cars and keep that position. When the parked cars end, don't swerve into the open space, be consistent and hold your position and remember that you are traffic and belong exactly where you are - in the flow of traffic.

3. Don't ride on the sidewalk, entering the street at every corner and then back up on the sidewalk is unsafe and inconsistent. Cars will not know that you are entering the street and when they go to make a turn they could easily run you over. Be visible all the time. Also, the sidewalk is a bad idea cuz you are trying to get somewhere right? It will take you forever on the sidewalk. Hit the street and ride yo!

4. The city streets at night - are the BEST!!! None of our lives stop when the sun goes down - many of our lives actually are just beginning - cuz your job ain't your life right? It is the law that all bicycles must have lights on them while riding at night. The Police can and sometimes do pull you over if you do not have lights on your ride. More importantly you will be - yup - VISIBLE if you use lights while riding at night, and that will help make you safer. Don't change anything about the way you ride at night from your daytime style - keep being part of traffic and keep a consistent position in the street. Man, Los Angeles ROCKS at night - the taco trucks, the lights, the folks waiting for the bus, the temperature, going out to the clubs - everything in L.A. is better at night if you are riding a bicycle. Folks going out in their cars will be searching for parking spaces and you will be pulling right up to the front door of the club ready to boogie - whoooweeeee! And then when you want to head to the next hot spot, BOOM, there is your ride, front and center ready to roll!!!
(Jeff - This isn't true about KC. The loneliest place in KC is downtown at night. It's slowly, no, glacially, changing but downtown at night is a fun place to ride.)
5. Now we are not anybody's mothers, but - It is very important to wear a helmet. Some folks don't - that's cool. Personally I think it is foolish to not wear a helmet. The best rider in town, will all the skills, and the slickest ride can be hit by a car that broke the law or was not watching. No amount of cool will save your skull from breaking into a jigsaw puzzle once it hits the ground - WEAR YOUR HELMETS!!!!

This is our Sword

I spotted this thsi morning

as published originally in BikepLAgue #3

this is our sword.
this is our tool for disarming the wars being fought across the planet. the magnitude of the weapons used grinds everything to pieces. bloddy messes, and meat from all species torn across the land and the streets and the sky. these are no times to stand disarmed. the bicycle is the ideal weapon for the transnational citizen. a simple non-destructive mean for liberation, tool for internal and external battles, companion and critic. a Way. our form of iron. our form of irony.
when in the streets, alone in the battle field, the warrior tempers its spirit confronting weapons of mass destruction with the simplicity of his self powered weapon. like a candle that dares to shine like ten thousand suns. such is our stupidity and our glory. and such is the humor that the world has given to us: an autonomous form of transportation that is at the same time a weapon of Mass creation.
non-violent battles with non-violent weapons in ultra-violent contexts for daily metaphor bending are being fought. and we fall to pieces. and we paint the soil-asphalt with our blood and bone and we dare others not to paint it with the blood and bone of the opressed, of those for whom the simplest way out of war is death.
the transnational-citizen/warrior rides knowing that his life and the life of others are at stake with every decision. that's what we call riding at sustainable speeds. and within the limits of its weapon the transnational-citizen/warrior porsues elegance in motion. and this is how freedom occurs in the interstices of slavery, like riding in the gaps of a traffic jam.
many of our swords come from places where metaphorical wars are confounded with real ones. where bikes are meant for competition and pride seeking. we gave them nakedness and taught them the humble ways of the streets. our bikes are swords to deconstruct the war metaphor. and like swords of the past they have names and mythical stories to be told, and some of them have been the companions of warriors that lost their lives in the battle field.
bicycles are our vehicle in the mythic grid
our vector in and out of the integrated circuit
our passport as transnational citizens
our cybernetic implant for recrafting bodies
our strategic advantage
our mighty pen
our sword

To our friend Morgan master of the sword in the extended battlefield.

All buses now have bike racks!

Bridget Moss with the KCATA just confirmed that as of today virtually all Metro buses now have bike racks. These are the 20 and 40 foot buses used on fixed routes. The only exception are the short buses used on MetroFlex routes.

Joco buses already have racks. Anyone know about KCK's "The Bus?"

Part of the problem, definitely not the solution.

How much further can these people get from our reality?

KC's bad sidewalks--a plan?

The KCStar has an article about a new plan proposed by KC auditor Mark Funkhauser to improve Kansas City's currently terrible sidewalk conditions:

Kansas City has an embarrassing array of dilapidated and long-neglected sidewalks. They are badly cracked, overgrown with grass or have been lifted up by bulging tree roots.

These sidewalks are unsightly blemishes on neighborhoods throughout the city. Some are downright hazardous. Repairs, when they are done at all, sometimes take years.

Once again, City Hall has taken poor care of a basic city asset. And not just recently but for many years.

In a recent report to elected officials, City Auditor Mark Funkhouser offered nine sensible recommendations to improve the city’s sidewalk repair and inspection programs. City Manager Wayne Cauthen and Public Works Director Stan Harris agreed with the conclusions.

More Gems from Kent Peterson

Thanks, Kent.

From the City where Nobody Walks

Why can't our elected officials have that kind of vision? I still harbor a grudge over the former mayor killing light rail with a flip comment of "touristy frou-frou" when his claim to fame of Brush Creek and the 18th and Vine district are nothing but that.

Bicycling Policy around the World

Thanks to Richard Risemberg for this one.

KC region's police pursuit policies threaten all road users

Bicyclists Doug Rushing, John Anderson, Laurie Chipman, Carol Hatcher, and Maggie McCoy are co-authors of an editorial in today's Kansas City Star about the dangers of police chases.

High-speed police pursuits can be like shoot-outs in a crowded shopping mall. They should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, that is too often not the case. In July 2003, Toni Sena was killed during a needless police chase while riding her bike on a quiet street in the Waldo area of Kansas City.

. . .

Kansas City police learned a lesson in July 2003. Independence police have not yet learned this lesson and continue to defend a policy that is badly flawed because it:

* Allows for pursuits when public safety is not threatened.

* Gives too much leeway to officers to initiate a pursuit.

Speeding cars may become deadly weapons, making a pursuit a high-stress situation. Stress impairs sound decision-making.

For the safety of the whole metropolitan area, Independence police should join with other jurisdictions to adopt the Kansas City pursuit policy. Such standardization for the region would make streets safer for everyone — pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers and police.

A recent police chase by officers from Independence resulted in the death of one person and the serious injury of another.

Carfree Sundays

Randy Neufeld of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation recently wrote about Bogota, Columbia's, car-free day, the "Ciclovia":

Bogota's car-free day is really better characterized as private-car free day. Taxis and buses, of which there are many, still use the roads. The Sunday Ciclovia closes a 120K network throughout the city. Chicago hopes to pilot carfree "Sunday Parkways" after the Bogota model on a 3 or 4 mile route on three Sundays this fall.

What a good idea to import to Kansas City--how about closing a few selected streets like Blue River Road and Cliff Drive on Sundays and encouraging people to come out to walk and bicycle.

New MAX routes on the way

Looks like the KCATA is beginng the work of adding routes to the popular MAX rapid bus line currently runing from Downtown to Waldo. Next up are lines for Troost and North Oak, which are also priority corridors in the Smart Moves plan.

The current #25 Troost bus is already one of the busiest Metro routes. The North Oak corridor is slated for significant redevelopment between NKC and Gladstone, including mixed-use projects and pedestrian improvements.

More info to come on Wednesday when MARC's transit committee meets at 10:00 a.m. at the KCATA offices. (details)