More bike racks installed

Spiral Diner, and the Belmont Hotel/Cliff Cafe, have both installed their new bike racks provided by our pledge drive:

Where a bike lane would have saved a life

Though we usually avoid the anti-bike lane blog, Cycle*Dallas, setup by Dallas bike coordinator PM Summer, we do find it odd that his last posting was of an accident in Portland, showing a woman hit by a right-hook incident in 2007, with the observation that the bike lane was at fault. His inference being, had the cyclist just “taken the lane”, she would be alive today.

Ironically, in September of 2008, a cyclist riding East bound on Arapaho, in Richardson, was struck and killed from behind by a truck. The driver claimed the sun was in his eyes (an all to common occurrence when driving in relatively flat Dallas, with little landscape to block the sun at sunrise and sunset), and did not see the rider. The cyclist had done exactly what PM preached and “taken the lane”. Sadly, he would be alive today had a bike lane existed.

We’ve noted regularly here at BFOC that PM is militantly opposed to Bike Lane infrastructure, and uses his blog as a platform to antagonize those who wish to seek an environment similar to Portland, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. Our greater point is that Summer uses any incident he finds in cities with bike lanes, as examples to why lanes are complete failures, while avoiding the realities of the accident rates in his own community. The truth is that the accident rates in cities like Portland are less than Dallas. And in Copenhagen, accidents have dropped off to decimal point levels. An amazing feat given the amount of interaction between car and bicycle, and the shear number of cyclists.

Bike lanes increase ridership. With increased ridership, comes increased awareness. With increased awareness come decreased accident rates. It’s as simple as that…the data doesn’t lie.

Councilwoman Linda Koop, Chair of the city’s Transportation Committee wants Bike Lanes

On Tuesday, the Dallas Transportation committee held its monthly meeting on transit planning for the city. On the docket were updates on the proposed light rail link to Lovefield airport, and a presentation on streetcars for the arts district. Before the presentations, the chair of the committee, Linda Koop, stated to the group that the city needs to begin researching the creation of complete streets, and singled out the addition of bike lanes as one of her goals. Ms. Koop expanded on this by saying she and the committee’s co-chair were planning a trip to Washington DC to learn more about the new administration’s push for infrastructure development stemming from the new stimulus package, and to lobby for multi-modal transit funds.

Oak Cliff People previews Lee Harvey Oswald ride

“Super Bowl XLIII won’t be the only event boasting large crowds and elaborate helmets on Feb. 1.” Nice.

BFOC closing in on 100 members!

We’re up to 96 members. Sign up as a group member at our Facebook site to be notified of the latest rides, events, and more. Also, increasing our membership allows us to further our efforts for promoting bicycle infrastructure in Dallas.

Stay tuned for an upcoming feature here at BFOC: Member profiles and their rides.

PSU Professor Straps GPS Units on Bike Commuters to Study Bike Habits

Jennifer Dill, an Associate Professor in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies (PSU), strapped GPS units to 164 bike commuters to study ride behavior for seven days between April and November of 2007. Collectively, the riders took over 1,700 trips. After studying the data, Dill has found that “bike infrastructure” such as bike lanes, bike routes, and so on really does encourage people to get out of their cars and steer bikes away from busy thoroughfares that aren’t designed to accommodate them.

The Portland Tribune covers Dill’s finding in an October 2008 article located here. The article notes that

“although only 8 percent of city streets are equipped with any kind of bike infrastructure, 51 percent of trips were taken on them. To Dill, this means that most riders are seeking out such routes, even if they are not the shortest.”

The article continues with the following finding from Dill’s research:

“…Most regular bicyclists are young men. This means that if the city wants to substantially increase the number of people riding bikes on a regular basis, it needs to reach out to young women and older people. And, Dill said, that is what public spending on bike infrastrcture can accomplish, as she herself demonstrates.”

Prof. Dill participated in a congressional briefing in Washington DC sponsored by the Congressional Bike Caucus and the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Biking Your Way to a Healthier Community in May of 2008. Her work is partially funded by the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium.

Ice Cream Racers

 

La course de triporteurs: a regular event in Paris in the 1930s

 Imagine 30 Paleta vendors racing down Jefferson!  Perhaps 2009 will bring such an event, stay tuned.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6i410_course-de-triporteurs_news

Press for the BFOC Bike Rack Install

The Oak Cliff People Newspaper ran a story on the unveiling of our first bike rack. You can read the full story here.

Group Ride: Tracing the Footsteps of Lee Harvey Oswald

1/29/2009 Update! We’ve had 76 people confirm to date, and an additional 85 “maybe attending”. This should be a great ride!

Join BFOC for a group bicycle ride on Sunday, February 1, at 2:30PM starting at Dealey Plaza in Downtown Dallas, and passing the infamous residences of JFK’s alleged assassin. Our ride will take us over the 1912 Houston Street Viaduct, crossing into North Oak Cliff, and stopping at pivotal spots from that fateful day in 1963. The president of the Texas Theatre Renovation project will open the doors to the theatre and give our group a tour of the building Oswald was eventually captured in. We’ll end up our ride passing through the Bishop Arts District, stopping for drinks at Eno’s.

This ride will be weather permitting. We’ve had an unseasonably warm winter so far, but if temperatures drop below 50 degrees, we’ll plan on rescheduling. Check back prior to the ride date for updates. Also, this is on Super Bowl Sunday, but it’s well before start time, so we should all have plenty of time to get back and enjoy the game.

Highlights of the trip will include:

- Meeting in front of the Sixth Floor Museum
- Riding over the 1912 Houston Street Viaduct
- stopping at 1026 N. Beckley, last residence of Lee Harvey Oswald
- Following LHO’s escape route to the site where JD. Tippit was shot
- Tour the inside of the Texas Theatre, site of LHO’s capture
- Ride through the Bishop Arts District and stop at Eno’s Tavern
- stopping at 214 W. Neely, site of infamous Oswald “Backyard Photos”

The following link is a map of our proposed route: http://tr.im/4fdy

BFOC afterhours!

Several BFOC members arrived for a photoshoot at Oak Cliff’s newest hotspot, Bolsa, to celebrate the unveiling of one of the bike racks put in place by our successful community pledge drive. Our group is growing fast and have already reached over 80 members! Be sure to join our facebook group here and stay up to date with the latest news on upcoming BFOC rides and events.