World Commute is a project created by CatEye to “track the use of non-motorized transportation around the world.” From the site:
World Commute is a not-for-profit, free social-network website to encourage, promote and track the use of non-motorized transportation around the world. We promote the idea of “Greater Health. Healthier Environment” through a unified effort of individuals engaging in physical activity for transportation purposes. The site allows users to create a profile and record non-motorized trips including daily commutes to work or school and “taking care of business” trips to the store, coffee shop, etc. Because we also want to promote physical health through activity, users can also record recreational and fitness activities scoring “health points.” Even though a run at lunch may not contribute to reduced carbon emissions, it is physical activity that promotes a healthier individual.
It’s time to get your bike down from the rafters, dust off the cobwebs, top off the tires, and check out this bike commuting thing. Why now? The weather is fine, gas prices are on the rise, and in many cities, Bike to Work Day is tomorrow or Friday. Check out some of the events talking place across the country:
And for the cities that I missed, here’s a Google search for you.
There’s never been a better time to get out of your car and join those people you’ve been passing on the road everyday; you know the ones with the big bike-induced smiles on their faces and the wind blowing in their hair.
So get out there, have fun, and remember: bike commuting should be a relaxed and casual endeavor — it’s not a race! The goal is to get to work without pulling a muscle or breaking a sweat… :-)
[In our local region (Sacramento), Bike to Work Day falls on May 21. —ed.]
The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates have been providing valet parking services for bicyclists in the Sacramento area for over a decade. They estimate they’ve parked over 50,000 bicycles in their portable secure parking areas set-up at various outdoor events, concerts, etc. Recently they’ve acquired a custom bicycle trailer from Bikes at Work that will enable them to use pedal power to transport the fencing, bike racks, tables, and other equipment used for the parking service. As far as we know, SABA’s is the only bike valet service in the country that hauls their equipment by bike.
Vauban, Germany is an experimental suburban neighborhood in which street parking, driveways, and home garages are forbidden. In fact, Vauban is nearly car-free, with 70 percent of its 5,500 residents getting around solely by bicycle, foot, and transit. The suburb was designed with stores more evenly dispersed among homes than in a typical suburb, making for easy access on foot or bicycle. Vauban’s car-sharing club provides rentals for those times when someone has the need. A similar community called “Quarry Village” is currently in the works for Hayward, CA.
May is Bike Month and bike thieves all over the country are salivating at the opportunities provided by unsuspecting neophyte bike commuters. Before your shiny new bike falls prey to these rascallions, take a minute to watch Hal Grades Your Bike Locking 3: The Final Warning!. This is the third in a series of videos from Streetfilms featuring legendary NYC bike mechanic Hal Ruzal on how to lock a bike properly.
A recent article in the New York Times covered the closure of the Third Street entrance to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Apparently, some motorists are inching around the barriers and driving through the park, ignoring the “Do Not Enter Except Bikes” signs prominently displayed at the entrance. This is not so surprising, and on its own wasn’t worthy of a blog post, but I couldn’t help but notice the language used by Seth Solomonow, the city Department of Transportation spokesman who was quoted for the article. He said, “The idea is to reduce the spots where cars conflict with people.”
The concept is great, and I support closing roads to automobiles where it’s appropriate, but I’m sorry, cars don’t conflict with people; motorists conflict with other road users. Without a driver, a car doesn’t do anything. This kind of language, whether spoken subconsciously or purposefully, moves responsibility away from the vehicle operator and places it on an inanimate object (the car).
Some will say that I’m picking nits, and I’ll admit that I may be over-sensitized to this issue, but this sort of bias is so widespread that it astonishes me. Start looking for it and you’ll be amazed by how often it turns up. We bicyclists do ourselves a favor by being aware of it and pointing it out whenever language of this sort shows up in the mainstream press.
For more on the pro-motorist/anti-bicyclist bias, check out Bob Mionske’s article linked below.
