Right on, ride on

Right on the heels of yesterday’s news that Boston is looking to bring a bike sharing program to the city: Boston police could cut horse (and bike) unit(s), lay off recruits to help fill budget gap. Emphasis mine, things missing from the title.

Now, I realize this is the Commissioner’s idea where the bike share program is the city’s, but come on – this doesn’t look like a consistent message!

You’re going to need more bike units, not less, to help keep our community safe from the raging vehicularists. The best way to know the issues is to submerse yourself in them, keep the bike cops! How are you going to know what we cyclists deal with in our city travels if all of your officers are riding around in (costly) steel-reinforced cars or SUVs? And how is that saving money, again?

It may come as soon as 2010… up right now on Boston.com is the article “Boston takes first step on bike sharing program”

In my opinion there’s still plenty to do before this can become a viable reality.

A BBC article titled “Thefts puncture Paris bike scheme” brings bad news to the very popular Paris bicycle rental program.

JCDecaux, the company that operates the rental program, is having trouble replacing the loss of over half of the fleet of bicycles which have disappeared and are thought to be stolen. Each bike costs 400 euros ($519) to replace, and since the inception nearly all of the original bicycles have been replaced.

Hung from lamp posts, dumped in the River Seine, torched and broken into pieces, maintaining the network is proving expensive. Some have turned up in eastern Europe and Africa, according to press reports.
…
Various videos have appeared on YouTube showing riders taking the bikes down the steps in Montmartre, into metro stations and being tested on BMX courses.

London, San Francisco, and Singapore are all in the process of copying the model of Vélib. If the current model is unsustainable then they will have to make some quick changes to prevent such losses. (Paris, in turn, copied the idea from Lyon which doesn’t have an much of a problem.)

Although the article hits a sore note, there was this quote which made me smile a bit:

Not all the bicycles receive rough treatment however. One velib repairman reported finding one of the bikes customised with fur covered tyres.

The latest article from Boston.com is set up as a sounding board for all road users who use the bridge.

The biased title “BU bridge plans could spur road rage” comes from the prediction of Stanley Spiegel, you’ll see the quote in the third paragraph on the page. The article itself gives fair play to both sides of the story, then opens up for discussion among the community.

So, pay a visit, maybe even make your voice heard. Don’t get into too much of a tizzy over the comments, it’s not worth raising blood pressure over, but do try to read them and keep yourself informed. This is a microcosm of the daily struggle that a lot of riders face in the Boston/Cambridge area. I found that after a certain level of detachment is reached a comical sadness can set in.

Update

A genuine-appearing comment from DCR Commissioner Rick Sullivan offers up an e-mail address targetting public response for the Accelerated Bridge Program, of which the BU Bridge reconstruction falls under, and encourages people to contact them with their comments.

I think I might leave a couple there myself. Anyone else care to voice up?

As Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), I am sensitive to the varying perspectives that surround this and other DCR bridge projects. We are extremely fortunate that Governor Patrick has made repairing the state’s bridges a high priority through his Accelerated Bridge Program, and we are working hard to balance the public’s many viewpoints and interests as we move forward on all our projects statewide. Regarding the BU Bridge, we are still trying to find the best ways to accommodate all traffic – including cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians – and I would urge anyone who would like to comment on the plans to contact the agency directly at dcr.updates [at] state.ma.us. That e-mail address has been set up specifically for feedback from the public on the Accelerated Bridge Program, so you can send your comments there for any bridge project. Also let us know if you would like to receive regular updates and notices of DCR public meetings on the agency’s bridge projects. We are doing our best to create a transparent process so that everyone’s concerns can be heard.
Rick Sullivan

The comment can be found on page 13 of the comments for the article.

Boston.com has an interactive map up right now that you can use to view noted potholes in the Boston area. You can submit your own doozies as well.

Remember, ride safely everyone! Keep an extra buffer around you if you can: with increased numbers of potholes comes more unexpected swerving from clunky cars and conscientious cyclists. (Ahh, who’m I kidding – most of you know this already, amiright?!)

Hooray, another weekend roundup!
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Here’s a roundup of the things I liked that I saw this week. I hope everyone had a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving

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This is a very sad story [CityNews].
Via TreeHugger.

Road rage is an epidemic. It is pervasive and spreading.

Car culture (in it’s broadest sense, anyone who drives regularly) was innocent enough at first; it was meant to grow the economy. Society’s focus has changed and hardened, though, due to myriad reasons. This change permutes into all aspects of society. The end result is that car culture today doesn’t resemble that of yester-year’s. It’s more aggressive, hostile, and irresponsible.

(Let’s not kid ourselves, the same can be said of bicycle culture.)

Stories like this highlight the fact that people have gotten too used to getting their way and have forgotten the civil practice of brokering a compromise. People in their anger will use their cars in a fight. Cars are two-ton weapons. Human beings, being fragile in comparison, will lose in a fight with them every time.

This story’s a little old, I couldn’t find any updates to see what became of the cyclist, or the driver.

Yes, yes, it has been a while! Well, here is a massive roundup from the last couple of months to make up for it.

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Found via a Reddit link. I have not heard of Ian Hibell before, I think now I’m going to have to buy his book. His story sounds amazing; unfortunately it came to and unhappy ending as he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Greece.

Ian took cycling to incredible places. It seems such a waste to have a unique person like that taken away – after everywhere that he travelled and all the challenges he overcame it was another human’s crime that he could not in the end avoid.

I wonder what accomplishments that driver thinks he would have taken away for having a faster car than another guy. How is that even impressive? And because of him a true adventurer rides no more.

Makes me sad and feel sick. RIP Ian.

On second thought: Ride on, Ian.