Oh, Canada

Saskatoon City Council gives in to NIMBYs, and removes a cycletrack from downtown:

City crews are already hard at work removing bike lanes from Fourth Avenue N in Saskatoon. In April, city council voted to remove the protected bike lanes from the street after members of the public complained.

The dedicated bike lanes were added to the city’s downtown two years ago as a way to keep cyclists safe and a way to promote cycling in the downtown. Detractors were concerned about the lanes limiting parking spaces and creating an unsafe, confusing situation for drivers.

Previously, council had wanted to begin expanding the city’s bike lane network by 2021, but that plan’s timeline now seems to be up in the air.

This was a parking-protected cycletrack, so the complaints about loss of parking is bizarre. And just for giggles, here is the Saskatoon Climate Action Plan.

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Nevada democrats want mandatory bike helmet law

Because riding in 100+ degree desert heat with a helmet is so comfortable:

Assembly Bill 187, which was introduced on the Assembly Floor on Monday, would require that anyone 17 years old or younger to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, scooter, roller skates or something similar. The bill is sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel, D-Henderson, and is co-sponsored by four Assembly Democrats from Las Vegas: Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, Bea Duran, Ozzie Fumo and Connie Munk.

“One of the things that differentiates children from adults is that children don’t have the ability to make these decisions for themselves. So I want to make sure that they’re safe,” Spiegel added.

Apparently, Spiegel does not believe parents have the ability to make decisions for their kids either.

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Santa Monica bans bikeshare on bike path

The Santa Monica Beach Bike Path is a popular place for riding bikes. However, the city has now decided to prohibit bikeshare bikes from the path. To be clear: they are banning bikeshare bikes, but not regular bikes:

Perhaps this is just a typo, as there is nothing (that I can find) in the administrative record about banning human-powered bikeshare from the bike path. But it is interesting to note that there are private bike rental firms along the path which benefit enormously from this rule.

 

 

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Lunatic bus driver puts dozens of lives at risk on Mount Diablo

This video like something out of a Hollywood movie. A bus driver hauling school kids goes flying up Mount Diablo Rd like a bat out of hell, crossing the double yellow line dozens of times, going around blind corners and running cyclists off the road. Will the Park finally take seriously the safety concerns of cyclists?

The good news is that the videos grabbed the attention of state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, and Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, who have called for meetings to discuss vehicular safety on the mountain.

“These videos clearly show unsafe conditions for cyclists and bus riders,” Glazer wrote. “These are unacceptable circumstances and the parks department and highway patrol must give this matter urgent attention.”

State parks spokeswoman Gloria Sandoval admits “there is a public safety issue.” The bad news is that the person who should be leading the charge, park Superintendent Ryen Goering, generally dismisses the concerns. As he has with past safety issues, Goering drags his feet, resisting change.

The Mount Diablo Cyclists wants 40′ buses banned from the narrow park roads, and more work to improve road safety around the blind corners.

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CA DMV celebrates “Blame the Victim Month”

If only the DMV required vision tests for getting a driver’s license. Then bicyclists and pedestrians wouldn’t have to wear hi-viz clothing whenever they went out…

 

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This is how Berkeley will be celebrating Bike-to-Work Day

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Berkeley protects citizens from the scourge of dockless bikeshare

Limebike, the dockless bikeshare service, is sprouting up in the East Bay. But one exception is Berkeley:

This image above is what users saw a month ago.  The dire warnings have since been removed from the app, but there is still a gaping hole in service within Berkeley city borders. Limebike has been trying to reach out to Berkeley to start service, but to no avail:

The irony is that Limebike was begun in Berkeley, at the Skydeck incubator center. Just goes to show how anti-environmental and anti-business Berkeley has become.

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