Cycling for Cities to Bring Innovation to Urban Streets

A new effort called Cycling for Cities has just been launched to help speed the transformation of American cities into places where bicycles are chosen more often by more people for a larger share of their daily trips.

The effort, announced by a network of transportation officials from some of the nation's largest cities known as the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), is supported by national bicycle industry group Bikes Belong and the SRAM Cycling Fund.

As part of the program, a website has been created where the best practices in making cities more usable for bicyclists from around the country and the world are listed. Among the innovations described on the site are "Shared Lane Markings" like the Sharrows that the City of Cincinnati put in place this year on Madison Road in O'Bryonville and on Clifton and Ludlow Avenues in Clifton. The City of Cincinnati applied for and received Federal permission to put Sharrows in place as an experiment.

The increased interest in bicycling as transportation in the U.S. in recent years has spurred city planners and engineers in places as different from one another as Portland, OR and New York City to develop new approaches to making their streets work for bicycles as well as for cars. Federal policy has been criticized for lagging behind and in some cases impeding progress at the local level. NACTO also hopes their program will spark change in Federal policy.

Innovative approaches are especially important for the older cities that make up the core of our region and are retrofitting their streets for bikes - not only Cincinnati proper, but also Newport, Covington, Norwood, and other 'first suburbs'.

Here's hoping that our cities not only move quickly to adopt best practices from elsewhere, but also do some innovation on their own.

Have a Pedal Powered Christmas!

First Cincinnati Bike Report Card Results Just In!

Six hundred area cyclists completed the first-ever Cincinnati Bike Report Card in an on-line survey conducted as part of the Cincinnati Bike Master Plan process.

Overall, Cincinnati was given a "C" grade as a city for bicycling. Initial coverage of the survey and more on the thinking behind the new bike lanes on Dana Avenue can be found on www.soapbox.media.com. More analysis of the results will be done in the weeks ahead.

While non-cyclists may think the weather or hills are the main obstacles to using bicycles as transportation here, the need for more bike facilities ranked higher to survey respondents. 72% of female respondents and 56% of males cited "not enough bike lanes" as a factor preventing them from cycling more.

Other important differences between men and women respondents were also found. 60% of women and 48% of men named "unsafe/unlawful motorist behavior" as a disincentive to riding. For both sexes, this was the second most frequently named factor.

These results show that women are more concerned about on-road safety and making roads safer for bicycles than men. According to national surveys, women are underrepresented among street bicyclists, yet we know that women value the health, environmental, and other benefits of bicycling as much if not more than men. Getting more women to ride will require careful attention to their needs, and at the same time will make riding safer for men - and children - as well.

Melissa McVay of the Department of Transportation & Engineering said in the Soapbox Media article, "The feedback about bike lanes being such an important factor compliments much of the research we've seen on obstacles to increasing mode share - particularly for women. This gives us additional incentive to build as many on-street facilities as we can."

The survey is part of the City of Cincinnati's commitment to measure and improve the area for bicyclists. Michael Moore, Interim Director of the Department of Transportation & Engineering is quoted in the Soapbox Media article as saying, "The City is working to utilize every opportunity we can to install bicycle facilities. Dana Avenue was an especially cost-effective opportunity for us because the street was already being repaved as part of the City's Street Rehabilitation Program."

That's just the kind of commitment we need to make sure that we become the kind of people-friendly bicycling region that everyone at Queen City Bike wants to see.

Rock Throwers Injure Cyclist at Golf Manor Overpass

On Monday night, November 23rd, a bicycle commuter was the target for rocks thrown from an overpass on Langdon Farm road. As if cars were not enough to watch out for. Here's his story:

I hope this was a one time anomaly but thought I'd share it with you all anyway.

Last night(Monday, November 23) on my way home from work. I was attacked by some jerks who used me for target practice with rocks. I was heading east on Langdon Farm road near Wiehe road in Golf Manor. These idiots shot rocks at me from an overpass.

Fortunately, I only caught one in the leg while several others bounced off my bike and I dodged a couple by ducking down. Had I fallen off, I could have been killed by traffic behind me. I moved a few yards away from the overpass and then called 911. I was now a stationary target instead of a moving one!

The police and EMTs did show up but by then the culprits had gone. My injuries looked minor so I got back in the saddle and headed home. It was after washing my leg I realized the depth of the gash the rock had put in my shin. So, I ended up in the emergency room and a couple hours and X- rays later (yes, it was deep enough to get to the bone so the docs were worried that something was lodged in there), they had to put three stitches in to put my skin back together.

I am lucky I didn't get hurt badly or killed. Oh well, got to pedal on.

Overpasses seem to be a favorite location for rock throwers, so remember to be aware of your surroundings in all directions. And do what this cyclist did and call the police to report it, but from a bit farther away if you are not hurt.

Please let us know of any other incidents so we can see if there are any patterns or particular locations to watch out for.

New Bike Lanes on Dana Avenue

New bike lanes have been added to Dana Avenue between Madison Rd and Duck Creek as part of one of the first "road diets" to be realized in the region. Dana is the major route between Xavier University in Avondale to Hyde Park and the rest of the east side.

Please let us know what you think by adding a comment below or by sending an e-mail to queencitybike09@gmail.com. We will let the City of Cincinnati know their efforts are appreciated. And pass word on that these lanes are there!

The weather turned too cold before the familiar bicyclist symbol were painted in the lanes. Look for those this spring. The photo above shows the lanes on Gilbert Avenue.

We hope to see the entire route from Xavier to Avondale improved for bicyclists in the future. It's good to know that bikes are in Cincinnati's plans for a brighter future.

Cooper Rd Bike/Ped Lanes Suffering from Clutter

An alert area cyclist took these photos of a partially blocked bike/ped lane in the 3700 block of Cooper Road in Blue Ash on Friday, November 20 about 9:20 a.m. The location is on Cooper between Reading and Plainfield near the Raymond Walters Campus and the Blue Ash Airport.

Here are that cyclist's comments in a message sent to the City of Blue Ash Administration:

I realize that some containers are as far back as they can go against the grass and aren't really a "huge" issue but it would be better if they put them in their driveways. The exception to this is the placement of the recyclable containers in the [top] picture. They are always in the middle of the lane.

Are there any rules/regulations about acceptable usage of this lane? If so, consider making them available to these property owners. The other residents have the respect to never have their containers in the bike/ped lane.

We will post the City of Blue Ash's response when it is available. In the meantime, please let us know of any issues you encounter in your rides anywhere in the region. We will be glad to publicize these as a way of helping to get them resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Sorry You Missed It? Bike Newport's Tweed Ride

Fact for those who think it's too hilly to ride here: There are no hills between Newport, Covington, and downtown Cincinnati.

Take a look at these great photos from Bike Newport's Tweed Ride.

You can see that Newport and Covington are great places to ride a bike built for comfort, if not for tweed (apologies to Willie Dixon).