Bruce Drees, TBA's respected Advocacy guru has a piece in the Pilot today

Read the entire piece at his website:

Cities with extensive growth in bike use often see their crash totals hold steady or even decrease. For example, ridership in New York City recently increased from 100,000 to 180,000 a day through bike friendly improvements, yet their number of injuries and fatalities decreased. The same trend has been noted elsewhere. Evidence suggests the more cyclists around, the better everyone does in being alert and working together.

Cars and bikes are compatible to the extent we are willing to make them so.

Help promote Cycling & Pedestrian Awareness Week

This should be every week! The "event" is September 13th - 20th.

Did you know:

Just last year 90 people died walking or cycling on our Virginia roadways. In addition, 716 cyclists and 1,696 pedestrians were injured. A single death or injury is one too many. Increasing knowledge of roadway regulations and safe behaviors may help reduce those numbers.

We all know, that tragically, Shore Drive is the deadliest road in Virginia Beach. Please! Do your part in making it safer everyday by sharing the road respectfully & wisely.

When all users of the transportation system know the law and respect their mutual rights and responsibilities, sharing the road is safe and predictable.

Check info & get materials from Drive Smart Virginia.
Check info & get materials from Sharing The Road In Virginia.

DeSteph working to change legislation to make it illegal to follow bicycles too closely

Following Bicycles too closely - change in legislation

Resolution recognizing bike accomodations passes!

City Council approved the resolution this past Tuesday!
Thank you.


VB Bike Accommodations Resolution - Draft

Resolution recognizing bicycle accomodations will be presented to City Council on August 25th

Va Beach City Council member Rosemary Wilson recently introduced a resolution which recognizes the safety and other advantages of on-road bicycle accomodations, ie. bike lanes, wide curb lanes, shoulders, or signed/marked shared roadways.

Most importantly, it also signifies council's support for inclusion in future major road improvement projects where ever feasible, as well as a look at and backfit of on-road bike facilities within existing roadways. This would be done in a cost effective manor on a priority basis determined by the Public Works department in consultation with the Bikeways and Trails Advisory Committee.

The resolution is on council's agenda for a vote on Tuesday, August 25th at 6pm. Council chambers are located at City Hall Bldg 1, second floor.

This is the moment we've waited on for nearly two decades. It is a giant leap toward a better cycling environment in VB. However, to get the resolution passed we need a significant show of support from each and every cyclist in the city.

Please come show your support for on-road bike facilities at Tuesday's council session. Let's fill every seat and the adjacent hallway too. I am working on two or three speakers on behalf of the resolution in the event it doesn't make the consent agenda.

Ride safe and I hope to see everyone at City Hall this Tuesday night!

Bruce
p.s. Questions or concerns- please contact me at 757.647.3987 or mailto: hrcyclist@cox.net.

A GPS run/walk/ride as an idea for an event

Running, walking, riding, sharing and arting as an idea for an event that includes gpsin'.

This sounds cooler than geocaching.

Part sport, part art, GPS drawing lets runners, walkers, cyclists and hikers imagine themselves... neo-cartographers, jumbo-size doodlers and bipedal pencils, mapping their track lines[.]

Article at NYTimes.com.

Everytrail.com:

With EveryTrail, sharing your trip experiences has become a lot more fun: using a GPS device you can easily plot the exact path you traveled on an interactive map, with your photos positioned on the map at the exact location you took them.

A cool gallery of someone doing this for 10 years.

How cool & appropriate would it be to include this in our Columbus Day Weekend event?

Daily ride in Tijuana, Bicyclists Ride To Make Streets Safe

Thanks to Bruce for the tip to this story at NPR.

I've spent a lot of time in Mexico, and this is not like any other event I've ever seen. Not only does it start exactly on time, the organizers are sticklers for safety and follow every rule of the road.

They have monitors all along the route. They stop at every red light, and everyone has to wear a helmet.

If you've ever been to Tijuana, and rode a taxi blazing down a sidewalk because the streets were "too crowded", you know what a challenge this daily ride must be!

Community evaluation of speed limit reduction on Shore Drive

The following survey is being sponsored by the Cape Story by the Sea Civic Association (CSBTS), Cape Henry Shores Civic Association (CHSCA)and Shore Drive Community Coalition (SDCC).

The survey will be used to help determine the effectiveness of the temporary speed limit reduction from 45 mph to 35 mph along Shore Drive between Great Neck Road and First Landing State Park.

If you share Shore Drive, please, take the online survey now!
Get started > Survey Background & Instruction Page.

Virginia Cyclist & Pedestrian Awareness Week Sept 13-20

From BikeWalk Virginia:

Partner with us for Virginia Cyclist and Pedestrian Awareness Week!

September 13-20, 2009

BikeWalk Virginia and Drive Smart Virginia are partnering to raise awareness of safe practices that help make roadways safer for all users!

Just last year over 90 people died and 2,300 people were injured while biking and walking on Virginia Roads. Collisions can be reduces and even prevented in many instances by following simple guidelines.

If you, your business, or your organization would like to be part of the Bike/Ped Awareness Week network, please contact us by phone or email. We will provide you with a toolkit, list of event ideas, and other resources. Visit us again soon for downloadable files.
Everyone Uses the Roads:

Some people drive because it is the most convenient mode of transportation. They might want to bike or walk at times but decide not to because they are concerned about their safety. Other people don’t own a car or can’t drive a vehicle so they must bike, walk, or use public transportation. Still others choose to bicycle or walk to keep the air clean and neighborhoods quiet, save fuel, and improve health.

Despite the mode of transportation, Virginia’s citizens and visitors have a right to safely share the Commonwealth’s transportation network to get to neighborhoods, parks, schools, stores, churches, and businesses.

Note: posted this message in its entirety as there was no direct link on their website to it. Emphasis was added by us.

Shore Drive speed limit change comments needed now

From TBA:

Shore Drive Speed Limit- Comments Needed

On Aug. 3rd Virginia Beach lowered the speed limit from 45 mph to 35 mph on Shore Drive between N. Great Neck Rd and the state park. This is a temporary change while a road safety audit is being conducted. If you biked this section before and have since the new speed limit was instituted, TBA would like to hear your comments regarding the change. This is a very fast moving issue, and we would appreciate a response by Sep. 3rd in order that it may be given full consideration. Please contact TBA advocacy chair Bruce Drees by email or 757.647.3987.

Create your own bike lane lighting system

Saw the idea in an email about a month ago but never found a link until now.

From this World Changing post:



That seems to help sharing the road easier as the cyclist would be more visible at night.

Check out LightLaneBike.com design for their lighting system coming out soon.

Cyclists are important users of transportation systems

From Fastlane article Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said:

I hope they were pleasantly surprised because I am committed to investing in programs that encourage bikes to coexist with other modes and to safely share our roads and bridges. And there’s strong support in Congress for these goals as well.

Fastlane - The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
Hattip VaBike.org from this article on a call for a Distracted Driving Summit.

Streit's article about Tour de Virginia Beach

Read & comment on article at Pilotonline.com:

The ride was organized by McKay and City Councilman Bill DeSteph, an avid cyclist. Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson also participated.

“It’s all about awareness,” DeSteph said. “Some folks on bikes think they always have the right-of-way and some folks in cars think cyclists shouldn’t be on the road.”

Advocacy for increased safety measures for cyclists and pedestrians – particularly through the Shore Drive corridor – have steadily gained steam since the April death of Daniel Hersh, who was struck and killed on an early morning ride on Shore Drive.