Another interesting post on Streetsblog New York, this time about research that correlates proximity to traffic with kids health.
“Children living within 150 meters of high-traffic areas were found to have, on average, BMIs five percent higher than those living near low-traffic areas. The researchers put forward two explanations for why high traffic contributes to obesity. The first is that real or perceived danger from cars reduces walking and biking. The other is that too much traffic contributes to high asthma rates, which make physical activity more difficult and less frequent.”
“High speed is the critical factor which makes transportation socially destructive. A true choice among practical policies and of desirable social relations is possible only where speed is restrained. Participatory democracy demands low-energy technology, and free people must travel the road to productive social relations at the speed of a bicycle.” – Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity, 1974.
On February 3rd, 2010, Muscle Powered and Bike Carson attended the 2010 Northern Nevada / Tahoe Regional Bicycle Summit in Reno, hosted by the University of Nevada Reno Cycling Team and the Tour de Nez Outreach. Over 40 cycling groups met in the UNR Student Union to give a brief presentation of who they were and what they were working on. The groups represented just about all the facets of cycling that you can imagine, from racing, advocacy groups, trails organizations, city and state government, urban planning, law enforcement, on and off road cycling clubs, disabled groups, various causes, and more!
Post Meeting Social: Mike Henderson, Colin Loretz, Nico Aguilera
Each group did around a 5 minute presentation, and by the end, I think everyone was pretty amazed at how many people are putting in their time to make cycling better in Northern Nevada. Rather than try to discuss all that was presented, I’ve compiled a list of attendees with links to their organizations. Some groups weren’t able to attend, and others showed up that aren’t on the list below, so let me know if your group is not represented or if the links are not accurate. I wasn’t able to find links for all the groups, but it’s nearly complete. Go explore these links and see what’s going on in Northern Nevada! It should keep you busy for a while…
A Special Thank You to Tim Healion, Executive Director of the Tour de Nez Outreach Organization. Thanks for getting us all together and directing the summit!
Attendees:
- Alta Alpina Cycling Club: http://www.altaalpina.org/
- Bike Carson: http://bikecarson.com/
- Bike Tech at School
- Black Label Bike Club
- Black Rock Pedal Transportation
- BLM: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en.html
- Bootleg Bicycle Couriers: http://www.bootlegcourier.com/
- Canoe Hill Trail: http://www.facebook.com/people/Canoe-Hill-Trail/1695350779
- City of Reno Parks, Recreation, and Community Services: http://www.cityofreno.com/Index.aspx?page=194
- Critical Mass: http://twitter.com/RenoCM
- Disabled Sports USA: http://www.dsusa.org/
- Free Wheeling Foundation
- Galena Fest: http://renogalenafest.com/
- Gonads and Strife Bike Club: http://gonads-n-strifebikeclub.org/index.html
- J Broski Delivery: http://jbroskidelivery.blogspot.com/
- Kiwanis Bike Program: http://www.kiwanisbikes.org/
- Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition: http://www.tahoebike.org/
- Livestrong: http://www.livestrong.com/
- MS 150: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NVL/index.aspx
- Muscle Powered of Carson City: http://musclepowered.org/
- NDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Division: http://www.bicyclenevada.com/bikeped_home.htm
- Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board: http://bicyclenevada.com/
- Nevada Bicycle Coalition: http://nevadabike.wordpress.com/
- Nevada Department of Public Safety: http://ots.state.nv.us/Nevada_Bicycle_Pedestrian_Safety_Program.shtml
- Northstar at Tahoe: http://www.northstarattahoe.com/
- Procrastinating Peddlers: http://www.pedalers.org/
- Regional Transportation Commission: http://www.rtcwashoe.com/
- REMSA and Bike to School: http://www.remsa-cf.com/POI/SKWC.html
- Reno Bike Project: http://blog.renobikeproject.com/
- Reno Police: http://www.cityofreno.com/index.aspx?page=198
- Reno Wheelmen: http://www.renowheelmen.org/
- Ride to Defeat ALS: http://www.ridetodefeatals.com/
- Sparks Police: http://www.ci.sparks.nv.us/governing/departments/police/
- Sparks Public Works Engineer: http://www.ci.sparks.nv.us/governing/departments/public_works/
- Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway: http://www.tpbikeway.org/
- The Poedunks: http://www.poedunk.com/
- Tour de Nez Outreach: http://www.tourdenez.org/outreach.html
- Truckee Donner Lands Trust: http://www.tdlandtrust.org/
- Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance: http://www.BikeNevada.org/
- Truckee Trails Foundation: http://www.truckeetrails.org/
- Tuesday Night Ride Group: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/TNRG/
- University of Nevada Cycling Team: http://www.nevadacycling.com/
- VeloReviews: http://www.veloreviews.com/
- Washoe County Safe Rides to School
- World Bicycle Relief: http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/
2010 Northern Nevada / Tahoe Regional Bicycle Summit
“America’s century-old love affair with the automobile may be coming to an end. The U.S. fleet has apparently peaked and started to decline. In 2009, the 14 million cars scrapped exceeded the 10 million new cars sold, shrinking the U.S. fleet by 4 million, or nearly 2 percent in one year. While this is widely associated with the recession, it is in fact caused by several converging forces.” – Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute
See the rest of the post on treehugger.
Muscle Powered will be having our first board meeting of 2010 this week on Wednesday, January 20th at 6:30 PM in the Doppelgangers back room. If you are a Muscle Powered member, or just interested in learning more about what we do, you are invited to attend!
The agenda will include the election of the 2010 board members, 2010 Potential Projects, and miscellaneous administrative items.
Doppelgangers is located at 302 N Carson Street at the West Proctor intersection.
Muscle Powered has embarked on a project to make Carson City, NV a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC). A BFC is a designation awarded by the League of American Bicyclists to communities that have proven to posses safe accommodations for cycling, and that encourage people to bike for transportation and recreation.
2010 BFC kick-off meeting
On January 6th, we had the official 2010 BFC kick-off meeting. In attendance (pictured above left to right) were Denis Coyne, Bill Story, Dan Allison, Mark Kimbrough, Tim Rowe, Ty Polastri, Jeff Moser (me), and Anne Macquarie. This group of people represents Muscle Powered, the State of Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board, and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition (some of the folks mentioned here represent multiple entities). Ty Polastri from the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition has been through this drill before, and was largely responsible for South Lake Tahoe earning a Bronze Award as an BFC. Ty has been instrumental in laying out the road map for us to proceed, and we’ve already made progress on completing the first step. A few of us have already discussed BFC with Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell, and he is enthusiastically behind the idea!
The BFC application will provide a comprehensive picture of our community by asking questions across five categories often referred to as the “Five Es”. These categories are Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation & Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in these areas in order to be considered for an award. Communities with more significant achievements in these areas receive superior awards.
It is important for communities to strive to become bicycle friendly, as bicyclists are an indicator of a healthy, vibrant community. A few of the benefits of the BFC program are:
* Health benefits from increased physical activity
* Less traffic congestion
* Improved air quality
* Bicycle facilities provide both transportation and recreation, and serve all ages and incomes
* Bicycle tourism stimulates local economies
Currently, there are no official Bicycle Friendly Communities in Nevada. In fact, Nevada is one of the only western states that does not have a community with this designation! It is Muscle Powered’s opinion that Carson City has what it takes to become Nevada’s first official BFC.
More information about Bicycle Friendly Communities can be found on the League of American Bicyclists’ website at www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/.
I’m sure we’ll need more help as this project progresses. Stay tuned for further developments!
Chas Macquarie provided this update on the potential freeway bicycle trail.
As most people familiar with the Freeway Trail saga know, NDOT was forced to design and construct a multiuse trail on Phase 1 of the freeway from Silver Oak Dr. (formerly Broadleaf) to Hwy 50. However, there are sections that are bike lanes on two streets – Retail Court and Russell Way adjacent to the new Boys and Girls Club. As part of the deal the City cut with NDOT, NDOT is not required to construct a trail on subsequent phases of the freeway, though they did construct the east-west link that connects the linear ditch trail to Butti Way where it joins up with the trail the City paved on the south side of 5th Street. So there is now a good east-west trail across Carson City east of Roop Street. NDOT also agreed to design the freeway so that it did not preclude the future addition of a trail “to the extent practicable”.
Here is a very well written blog post on alternative fueled cars as not being a solution to climate change, and other things we care about: http://ridinginriverside.blogspot.com/2010/01/you-cannot-have-your-car-and-your.html.
“…instead of pursuing unproven technologies in a desperate last-ditch attempt to hang on to the way of life we’ve been living for the last 50 or so years, why don’t we look ahead and try to build a better world.”
I got this link from StreetsBlog, which if you don’t already follow it, is a great resource for transportation alternatives since it collects some of the best blog posts from Internet.
The December 2009 edition of the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) has been released by the Federal Highway Administration. Say what? What is the MUTCD? It is the federal standard for signs and pavement markings, so you see the results of it every time you are out on a roadway. More importantly, it specifies how and when many traffic controls can take place, so has an influence much broader than just what you see.
A good introduction to the impacts on bicyclists and pedestrians is on Bike Portland at http://bikeportland.org/2009/12/16/new-fhwa-rules-will-give-engineers-more-tools-for-bike-traffic/.
It has been a hard week of bicycling commuting for me. The winter snow and ice have made my trips slow going, doubling the time it takes to make my simple two mile journey. Before the storms hit, my backup plan was to simply walk to work if the conditions got too bad. But after traveling the roads for a week, it became apparent that walking may be even tougher. Very few sidewalks had been cleared, offering pedestrians only the option of walking out in the street with the cars. Muscle Powered’s Dan Allison recently wrote a letter to the editor discussing just this issue.
Shovel those sidewalks!
Clear sidewalks for City’s School Children
by Dan Allison (originally published in the Nevada Appeal)
Our recent snowfall, the biggest since January 2005, has left our sidewalks deep in snow. Many people have cleared their sidewalks already, and those who did so Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, and had direct sunlight on Tuesday, have clear and dry sidewalks.
Many students walk to school in the snow, some because they chose to, and others because their families have no other transportation options. An uncleared sidewalk is a great hazard to these students, whether they are walking on the snow or are forced into the street.
On behalf of all students in Carson City, I’d like to thank those homeowners, apartment managers and business owners who promptly clear their sidewalks after a storm. Whether on their way to school or the bus stop, these students will be safer because of your effort.
It may be that the city’s snow removal policy, which accepts that sidewalks will be blocked, has not changed, but in actual practice, the city’s snowplow drivers have been much more careful about not throwing snow onto sidewalks this time around.
Drivers, please keep in mind that children and adults will be forced into walking on the edges of the streets until sidewalks are cleared or melt off. Please slow down and give them a wide berth — they are our most vulnerable users and are doing the best they can getting where they need to go.
Dan Allison
Safe Routes to School Coordinator
