Bicycling

During the next three days, I'm on extensive baby duty and there's no guest articles in the hopper that I know of.  Since I don't like leaving readers who have grown accustomed to two longer stories everyday with less than their usual fare, each of the next three days I'm going to spotlight original reporting issues within our usual coverage sphere.

 

Thanks to Joe Anthony of Bike Commute News and Errin Vasquez of Frontage Roads for helping with the tech stuff last night. I'd wish Anthony luck on his race today, but LASB is $90 richer if he loses...

It's been almost two years since Councilman Bill Rosendahl first proposed an ordinance to better protect cyclists as vulnerable users of the roadway from harassment from empowered and obnoxious drivers, but now his proposed ordinance will finally get it's final hearing at City Hall.  The full City Council is expected to hear the ordinance at next Wednesday's meeting at 10:00 A.M.  The idea was first floated publicly in 2009 but had been discussed behind the scenes for months beforehand.  If passed, the law would be the first of its kind anywhere in America, a fact not lost on safe cycling advocates from around the country.  You can read the ordinance at the LADOT Bike Blog.

(Last month, Huntington Beach announced a new program to offer scofflaw cyclists a chance to go to bicycle safety school in lieu of paying what can be a hefty fine for illegal cycling.  The program received some pretty harsh feedback on social media, but when I looked into it, I thought it was a pretty good program so I asked Huntington Beach Council Member Joe Shaw to write a piece for our best practices series explaining the program.  Incidently, this is Shaw's third piece for Streetsblog having written for StreetHeat, our predecessor site, in 2007 and again for Streetsblog in May of 2008.  You can follow him on twitter at @joeshawforhb)

Regular reader and occasional commenter Bob Davis is in Memphis for vacation, doubtless having a great time riding their electric streetcar system.  However, he also sends word that not only does Tennessee have a three-foot passing law for cyclists, but the Volunteer State just made the law more powerful and easier to enforce.  He writes:

(Update, July 7: Jane Choi from the Planning Department called me to inform me that the "40 miles per year" goal didn't start until July 1, 2011, the start of the fiscal year.  While it seems an odd date to start an implementation plan for the 2010 Bike Plan, it is the start of the first fiscal year after the Mayor promised cyclists "40 miles per year."  Regardless, this means the clock is ticking.  L.A., you have 358 days to provide 40 new miles of bike facilities. - DN)

View "Bookending the Week With Bike and Bus Parties" on Storify