Comments on: Help shape a new city’s transportation plans

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:33:05 +0000

Based on my personal experience (9km commute each way, daily), I would put a priority on wide bike lanes or ideally separate paths for bikes and SHADE. If there is an old rail right-of-way, then rail to trail conversions are /beautiful/ for bike commuters. I got to commute along the Minuteman Bike Path (a converted railway) from Arlington to Cambridge, MA, and would love to see that replicated as much as possible.

By: Jett

Jett — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:27:49 +0000

Hey Jason,

Your neighboring town of Roswell is where Eric Broadwell has done great work for the cycling community. You may have run across him, but his contact information can be found at http://www.bikeroswell.com/Contacts/contacts.html.

The PATH Foundation (http://www.pathfoundation.org/) has been building Bike Trails for Metro Atlanta since 1991. Ed McBrayer has lots of practical experience getting cycling facilities on the ground and enjoys both name recognition and the respect of local governments.

By: Aidan

Aidan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:27:07 +0000

Great stuff. Just don’t do what Toronto is doing. For a city of three million, it’s a joke. Look to what Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal have done, for a Canadian perspective, as they have double to quadrouple the lanes in km/person than Toronto has.

One Toronto mistake to avoid is putting bike lanes beside parking: door prize and cutting-off. Also, unlike Toronto, you’d need your police to ticket those who park cars and trucks in them. You’d also need to educate drivers the way it was done about drinking years ago. Finally, make the lanes visually obvious to the oblivious.

The only advantage we have here is free health care when we get hit!

By: Michel Phillips

Michel Phillips — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:11:06 +0000

Hey, Jason — turns out other cities are using the Paris bike-rental plan. Details:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/16/75845/3531

By: Michel Phillips

Michel Phillips — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:52:48 +0000

Don’t forget Peachtree City and their golf cart trails. I have never been on them, but I suspect they are good for bikes, too.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:44:18 +0000

Thank you Michael! Your information is very helpful. I also came across http://www.bicyclinginfo.org which is very comprehensive. Keep up the great work by bicycle commuting!

By: Michel Phillips

Michel Phillips — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:56:18 +0000

Hi, Jason. I commute by bike about 7 miles each way from my home in the Smyrna/Mableton area to my office in Marietta.

I suggest looking at these:

http://www.bike2015plan.org/

http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=9520176

http://www.johnforester.com/

Forester strongly advocates putting bikes in with regular traffic. Having myself ridden hundreds of miles on the Silver Comet, roads, and sidewalks (yes, I often ride on sidewalks to avoid busy roads), and having encountered cyclists while driving my car, all my intuition tells me he’s dead wrong. But he claims to have scientific studies to back him up.

Now here’s something really cool:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301753.html

If I understand it right, this Paris plan is free-to-cheap for riders, and FREE for the city — it’s 100% advertiser-supported. Seems like a no-brainer.

One more thing: BIG SHADE TREES. If you want people to ride in warm weather, SHADE will really encourage that. There are some new varieties of American elms that resist Dutch elm disease, tolerate heat, drought, pollution, and soil compaction, grow fast, and make beautiful large street trees. Some elm links:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2006/060613.htm

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/american.html

http://www.peacevalleynaturecenter.org/elm.html

http://treehealth.agsci.colostate.edu/research/nationalelmtrial/NationalElmTrial.htm