Alternative Fuel partnership benefiting the community!

n 2009, Jittery Joe's introduced Alternative Fuel, a special coffee blend designed to support the programs and activities of BikeAthens. Available ground or whole bean, Alternative Fuel sales directly enable BikeAthens' safety & advocacy efforts as well as direct service programs such as Holiday Bikes for Kids.

Thanks to the support of Jittery Joe's and drinkers of Alternative Fuel, BikeAthens was able to refurbish and donate over 60 children's bicycles to local families in need this holiday season. Every bicycle was thoroughly cleaned and repaired by volunteers, then delivered in time for the holidays with a brand new helmet.

Proceeds from the sale of the Alternative Fuel coffee blend have been instrumental in the growth of programs like Holiday Bikes for Kids. The extra revenue has allowed for the purchase of tools, work stands, cleaner, helmets, and much more. Since the partnership began, Jittery Joe's has contributed $1,169.50 to BikeAthens!

There's still time to get your Alternative Fuel - a great gift for the cyclist in your family!
Order online here, or visit the Jittery Joe's Roaster on E. Broad St or any of the Athens-area Jittery Joe's locations.

BikeAthens extends its sincerest thanks to our generous neighbors at Jittery Joe's for supporting our work. Fore more about Jittery Joe's and Alternative Fuel, please visit www.jitteryjoes.com/fundraising/alternativefuel.html

Holiday Bikes for Kids delivers 41 bicyles

Thanks to the hard work and organizing efforts of the Bike Recycling Program volunteers, this morning BikeAthens delivered 41 fully refurbished youth bikes and brand new helmets to Fowler Drive Elementary School!

The bikes will be picked up tomorrow morning by parents, who will pass these along to some very happy children on Christmas morning.

Way to be, BRP!

Some pics of the delivery below:

Art Bash & Holiday Party

Thanks to everyone who contributed art, helped organize, and attended. We had a blast!

Thursday: BikeAthens Art Bash!

Holiday social & silent auction on some very cool bike-themed pieces from local artists.
6:00 - 10 pm at The Globe, upstairs

1/2 price pints of New Belgium beer all night!

New thinking @ Atlanta Regional Commission?

Tad Leithead, the newly elected chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, looks like an advocate for better public transportation in Georgia:

He is keen to resurrect the North Cobb to Akers Mill to Perimeter light-rail line that would alleviate congestion along interstates 75 and 285. Commuter lines from Atlanta to Macon and Athens rank high too. The so-called Northern Arc, connecting interstates 75 and 85, deserves serious reconsideration, Leithead said.

Marta needs a steadier flow of money to maintain, let alone upgrade, its system. Public-private partnerships could turn HOV lanes into toll lanes.

Leithead said the General Assembly must give the 10-county metro region the financial tools to solve transportation woes. A penny sales tax would raise $7.9 billion, he said, with federal matching dollars adding another $5 billion.

“To be a great metropolitan city, we must have that great transit system,” Leithead said.

I'll amend his comments a bit: to be a functional, responsible, and sustainable society, we must have a reliable, convenient, and valued transit system. Here's hoping Leithead succeeds in his transit goals.
The northern arc...not so much.
You can't build automobile infrastructure and expect people to use transit. Every road widening and new road construction project guarantees the congestion you're trying to eliminate.

Video from holiday parade

BikeAthens' "float" featured in this video at minute 17:50.

Holiday Bikes for Kids

The Holiday Bikes for Kids project got some coverage in the ABH today.

Also, tonight & Wednesday we are preparing for Thursday night's Downtown Parade of Lights. If you can't make it for the prep sessions, be sure to come down to Dougherty St, across from Denney Towers, on Thursday between 6 and 6:30- all walkers and cyclists are welcome to join our float!

Map of campus bike racks

UGA has a campus map indicating the locations of bike racks (pdf).

Thanks, Nina, for the heads up!

Downtown Parade of Lights - Dec. 3rd!

Join the BikeAthens "float" through the annual Downtown Parade of Lights.

Dress as an elf or get otherwise festive...walk or ride your bike, and if you have a unique or interesting bicycle, please ride it!

After the parade, we'll convene at Little Kings for refreshments.

We had a blast last year, and we even won the "best Novelty Float" award. We will be on the LEFT side of Dougherty across from Denny Towers. Please join us by 6:30 pm.

Hope to see you- the more the merrier!

Here are pictires from last year's parade:

On the air! Bike Recycling on the radio

Board member Mike Ely is about to be interviewed on News/Talk 1340. He'll be discussing our Holiday Bikes for Kids project.
Tune in online!

For those who couldn't tune in, Mike discussed our Holiday Bikes for Kids.
Press release below:

Holiday Bikes for Kids

Got an old child-sized bicycle taking up space in the garage? Unclutter your life and support a great cause: BikeAthens' popular Bike Recycling Program is gearing up for the seventh annual Holiday Bikes for Kids project!

Bicycle donations are requested, and volunteers are needed to clean and repair children's bikes for giveaway during the holidays.

The Holiday Bikes for Kids project seeks to provide a happy holiday season to underprivileged youth by providing them with a quality, fully refurbished bicycle. Through the program, volunteers clean, polish and tune up donated youth bicycles. The refurbished bikes are then donated to local agencies and schools for distribution. Last year, over fifty bicycles were presented to children in the Athens community!

To ensure that as many bicycles as possible reach local children in need, BikeAthens encourages the community to donate used children's bicycles, volunteer time, supplies, and money. More donated bicycles and volunteer hours mean more holiday wishes fulfilled! Supporters may also send in shop supplies, such as rags, all-purpose degreasers, very fine steel wool, paper towels, and bicycle lubricant. Cash donations allow for the purchase of needed parts and will offset the cost of the new helmets that are distributed with every bike.

Volunteers will repair bicycles during regular shop hours (Sundays 2-4 PM and Mondays and Wednesdays 6-8 PM) until the week of Christmas. Individuals seeking to donate bicycles, supplies, or other gifts can stop by at these times or contact bicyclerecycling@bikeathens.com.

BikeAthens’ Bike Recycling Program repair shop is located in studio 6 of the Chase Street Warehouse (149 Oneta Street). Additional information and directions available at bikeathens.com/activities/bike_recycling/

Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day), from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, BikeAthens will formally kick-off the Holiday Bikes for Kids project at the Bike Recycling Program workshop.

Contact: Jason Perry & Mike Ely, bicyclerecycling@bikeathens.com

Reed Alley update

The state Board of Regents won't approve this renovation proposal until next spring.

Bike/ped designs for "Reed Alley"

The University of Georgia's architects have plans to breathe some life into the forlorn alleyway between Sanford Stadium and Memorial & Reed halls. The alley currently serves as a dirty & forgotten loading area, but the paved corridor connects Sanford Dr to East Campus Rd.

Instead of gray concrete and cracked asphalt, pedestrians and bicyclists will travel a covered walk by the stadium with plants and other landscaping features.

"It connects more of our open space and pedestrian pathways; it will facilitate east-west pedestrian and bicycle flow. It's going to create a much nicer kind of pedestrian walkway," [says UGA Campus Architect Danny Sniff].

Before and after images featured in the full article.

Kudos to UGA for once again taking the lead on increasing bicycle and pedestrian connectivity in Athens!

BRP in the news

The Red & Black, UGA's student-run newspaper, profiles our Bike Recycling Program today.

BRP is gearing up for its annual Holiday Bikes for Kids campaign. Want to get involved? Come by the shop during open hours to volunteer:

Sunday, 2:00-4:30 pm
Monday & Wednesday, 6:00-8:30 pm

More deck discussion

Flagpole's Kevan Williams analyzes the downtown parking deck's context in downtown, as well as alternative exterior designs that might liven it up as a valuable component of the streetscape (See James Kunstler for another perspective on the suggested alternative facade.)

Is it cool or an abomination?

Bicycle tour of Athens

After speaking with a writer from Bicycling magazine yesterday (our cycling scene will be profiled in the March issue!), I realized there is no digital resource for visitors who'd like to tour Athens' many sights and destinations by bike.

Take a look at this first stab and let us know what you think. Suggestions most welcome!



View Bicycle Tour of Athens, GA in a larger map

Also, here's a map of a possible ride route.
P.S. this online map would work very well with our soon-to-print 2010 Bike Map. Stay tuned!

Downtown deck approved

A 520-space, mixed-use, downtown parking deck got the go-ahead from the ACC Mayor & Commission. This deck will be built in the lot behind and adjacent to the Georgia Theatre.

ABH provides this artist's rendering of the deck design:

SPLOST projects submission workshops TODAY

Late notice, but heads up!

The SPLOST presents a great opportunity to propose bike, ped, and transit oriented projects, which will be funded by a 1 cent sales tax. The Multi-Modal Transit Center was funded by SPLOST!

Stay tuned for news on a BikeAthens-led brainstorming session. You can help us determine what projects we will submit for consideration. If you already have an idea, comment on this post or send us an email.

Vote on the cover for the new Bike Map of Athens!

VOTING CONCLUDED.

Pic # 2 won with 50% of the vote.

Your candidates:

Do you work at UGA? Do you like what we do?

Attention, UGA employees!

The 2009-2010 Campaign for Charities is now underway.

As a member of Georgia Shares, BikeAthens is eligible to receive contributions through this workplace giving program.

To choose BikeAthens as a recipient organization, just enter our ID number, 194064, on your donation form.

You may also designate your charitable contributions online at https://webapps.ais.uga.edu/PBCC/home.seam
First, log in with your UGA MyID and password.
Choose "Federated Charitable Organizations," then select
"194000-Georgia Shares," and then
"194064-BikeAthens"

Donating to your favorite local transportation advocates couldn't be easier!

For more about the annual Campaign for Charities, visit http://www.busfin.uga.edu/charities/

All donations support our outreach programs, advocacy, and educational efforts. Thank you for your continuing support of transportation choices in Athens!

Walking to school

A video from streetfilms on the recent International Walk to School Day:

Comment on MACORTS Transportation Improvement Program

The Madison Athens Clarke Occonee Regional Transportation committee is now seeking comments on the Transportation Improvement Program, the short list of local projects to be funded by federal, state and county budgets. Comments will be accepted through Wednesday, October 21, 2009.

Use our convenient webform to send your comments to MACORTS!

See this earlier post for more information.

BikeAthens Receives Grant

Thanks to the Athens Area Community Foundation, BikeAthens has received $1,560!

The funds will buy helmets, lights and locks for the refurbished bicycles we redistribute in the community through our Bike Recycling Program's "Ride Home" Initiative.

Many thanks to the AACF!

Downtown parking deck

Parking costs downtown may increase dramatically due to the proposed parking deck & mixed use development near the Georgia Theatre.

Bus plans & greenway meetings

ABH Sunday reading:

A plan exists for improving transit, but will there be money to implement it?

Also, "the Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Department will hold two public meetings this week about its plans to build a greenway along the Middle Oconee River."

Timothy Rd Elementary observes Int'l Walk to School Day

From the ABH:

Each year schools across the country organize a Walk to School Day to promote physical activity, identify areas in the community that need safety improvements and reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

As a youngster, Okech walked five miles each way to get to his school in Kenya. Before Wednesday, Okech's daughters didn't walk to school often, though they live less than a mile from Timothy Road Elementary.

"Walking's good, but I find we're becoming more Americanized now because we're like, 'Oh, it's a short distance. well, let's jump in the car and drive,' " Okech said. "It's not good."

This year, the Timothy PTA - led by Heesacker - created a Safe Routes to School committee to organize monthly walks to school to ease more students and parents into the practice, while advocating for more crosswalks and crosswalk lights to make the trip safer. The first came Wednesday, but others are scheduled every month through April.

And tonight, the Clarke County Board of Education plans to approve a seven-school Safe Routes to School plan that asks the Athens-Clarke government for more crosswalks and signs, caution lights and sidewalks.

The county received $110,000 from the state Department of Education to fund part of one project envisioned in the school district plan - improving the Five Points intersection to benefit Barrow Elementary School students.

The intersection work - including raised crosswalks, countdown pedestrian lights and flashing signs that display cars' speeds - won't get started for another 15 months, according to David Clark, county transportation and public works director.

How a town becomes bike friendly

This video, from Bikes Belong, shows how Boulder, CO became bike friendly (and how Athens could too):

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Bike rentals at UGA?

An undergraduate student is proposing a bike rental program at UGA.
Great idea!

Greenways as transportation

Flagpole discusses.

More about the TIP

ABH covers the Transportation Improvement Plan:

State funding for transportation is hard to come by lately as the Department of Transportation prioritizes a backlog of projects it cannot fund with declining fuel taxes. A proposed six-year transportation plan for Clarke, Oconee and Madison counties includes only a fraction of the projects listed in years past.

Among the projects that are scheduled to move forward over the next three years:

► Buying land for a new Athens Perimeter-Peter Street-Olympic Drive interchange scheduled for construction in 2014.

► Extending the North Oconee River Greenway from Oconee Street to College Station Road.

► Turning an abandoned East Athens railroad into a walking trail.

► Buying land to eventually widen Mars Hill Road.

► Completing Jennings Mill Parkway, which runs parallel to Atlanta Highway.

► Rebuilding the College Station Road bridge over the North Oconee River.

Those projects mostly are federally funded, but some also include funding from state and local governments.

red = not so much
green = yes, please

BikeAthens will host a TIP review & analysis meeting on Thursday, Oct. 1st, 6 pm at Trappeze.

All are welcome!

U.S. Trans Sec rightfully disses GA

Via Blake Aued's blog:

For decades, Athens residents have despaired of ever seeing a much-needed and much-discussed commuter train to Atlanta move forward while our leaders pay lip service to the concept.

Georgia is the largest state in the nation that does not fund mass transit. Do not expect any help from the Obama Administration – which has set aside billions for light rail – until state officials make a commitment.

“The Northeast (high-speed rail) corridor has its act together,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told AJC columnist Jay Bookman. “The Midwest corridor has its act together. The governors there have set aside their own egos and their own ambitions” to work together on bringing high-speed rail to those regions.

“If the people of Atlanta think it’s OK to sit in traffic for an hour and a half on the way to a doctor’s appointment, so be it,” LaHood said (hat tip to JMac).

Come to think of it, just about every politician I’ve ever interviewed, from governor on down to county commissioner, has been in favor of the Brain Train. Yet it never gets done. Funny how that works.

Indeed. Haha.

Regional Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan

The Northeast Georgia Regional Commission (NEGRC; www.negplanning.org) has created the first in a series of two online surveys to help guide the planning process for the 2010 Northeast Georgia Regional Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan. This first survey is here .

It should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and is available until Friday, October 30, 2009.


The Northeast Georgia region includes the following counties: Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton. Please help us gather as many responses as possible by sending the survey link to other residents in the 12-county Northeast Georgia region.


Thank you for your participation. Please pass this announcement forward to any individual or group within the 12-county region that may be interested.

Speed records

Dang.

Bus study

Flagpole summarizes a recent analysis of Athens Transit.

Also, an interesting conversation on road sharing.

Athens area Transportation Improvement Program

Recently, we called for public comment on the "Long Range Transportation Plan" for the Athens area. Many thanks to all who submitted comments!

Now, we urge you to comment on the "Transportation Improvement Program."

The LRTP, as its name suggests, is a 25 year plan.

The TIP, on the other hand, is the 3-5 year "ready-to-be-constructed" list of transportation projects. The projects in the TIP come from the broader LRTP list.

Commenting on the TIP (hopefully) affects the more immediate short-term prioritization of projects.

Stay tuned to our website, this blog, and our listservs. We'll be posting info soon on a TIP review meeting as well as a convenient comment submission form through our website.

Here's the official announcement from MACORTS planners:

The public comment period for the MACORTS FY 2010 - 2013 Transportation
Improvement Program begins on Monday, Sept. 21st and ends on October 21,
2009. The full Draft TIP and supporting materials are now posted on the
MACORTS website (www.macorts.org) along with a comment form that can be
submitted directly from the website. If you would prefer materials in
hardcopy or on CD, please contact:

Sherry F. Moore
Transportation Planner
Madison Athens-Clarke Oconee Regional Transportation Study
Athens-Clarke County Planning Dept.
macorts@co.clarke.ga.us
(706) 613-3515

International Walk to School Day @ Timothy Elem

From our friends at Timothy Road Elementary School:

Roadrunners from Timothy Road Elementary School in Athens will join students from schools around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Students will gather in their neighborhoods and at three central locations and walk, bike or scoot, accompanied by parents and teachers.

Walkers and bikers will gather at Academy Sports on Atlanta Highway, Chestnut Grove Baptist Church on Epps Bridge Parkway and in the Kingswood Neighborhood, and arrive at school by 7:30 a.m. when a Safe Routes rally will be held. While students are encouraged to walk together frequently during the school year, future organized walks to school will be held monthly in coordination with Parent/Principal coffee hours.

“Since we have become a neighborhood school, now is the perfect time to kick off a Safe Routes initiative at Timothy,” said Timothy Principal Angela Nowell. “In the interest of student safety, it’s important to do all we can to reduce the number of cars on Timothy Road and provide a safe environment for our families. Even better, everyone will have so much fun participating!”

In the U.S., International Walk to School Day is expected to include 5,000 schools from all 50 states. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world. Two other schools in the Clarke County School District, Barrow Elementary School and Chase Street Elementary School, have active Safe Routes programs.

“Walk to school events like this not only make getting to school safer,” said Amy Heesacker, Timothy Safe Routes Coordinator. “They provide another opportunity for children to be active, practice pedestrian safety, engender concern for the environment and build connections between families, schools and the broader community. “

The event is being organized by the Safe Routes to School Committee of the Timothy Road Elementary School PTA.

Media are invited to cover the event beginning at 7:00 a.m. on October 7 at Academy Sports on Atlanta Highway and accompany families and local officials to the rally at Timothy Elementary School, 1900 Timothy Road, Athens, GA. For additional local information, please contact Jim Hilliard at (860) 798-0657 or jim@hilliards.org.

Parallel universes

AJC journalist Jay Bookman deconstructs Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine's plans to solve metro Atlanta traffic problems by building more multi-lane, interstate-style highways:

The highway "would run about two miles east of the existing [I-285] connector. It would start at the intersection of Ga. 400 and I-85 and travel south to connect with I-20 and then I-285, a 15-mile route."

But,

Even the chairman of the state Transportation Board, Bill Kuhlke, has acknowledged that the era of major road-building is over in the metro area.

“Transit is going to be the biggest part of the answer for this particular region, “ Kuhlke said earlier this year.
Unfortunately, that realization is not widely held among the state’s elected political leadership.

Far more common is Oxendine’s claim that “we got to build a lot of roads around metro Atlanta,” a mind-set that blinds people to other possibilities.

For example, the so-called “Brain Train” — a proposed commuter rail line linking Athens, Gwinnett County and a downtown Atlanta multimodal station — would provide a more efficient and less destructive means of moving passengers from the northeast suburbs to the airport than the parallel connector, and at a fraction of the cost. But that kind of solution just can’t get a serious hearing from the state’s current leadership.

Given that reality, one of three things has to happen to address metro Atlanta’s transportation crisis:
We have to change the mind-set of state leaders; failing that, we have to change state leadership, period; and failing that, the region has to demand the authority to plan and finance its own transportation solution.

In other words, instead of a parallel connector, we need a parallel universe.

Transit in Oconee?

ABH covers a push in Oconee County for better transit options.

UGA Campus Transit

The Red & Black features a story about campus buses and pedestrian safety. As a central campus employee, I see dozens of hair-raising near misses between pedestrians and buses on Sanford Dr & Baldwin St.
Folks, the physics are pretty simple:

Watch where you're going, and take a rest on the texting while you're mobile.

R&B editors also call for bike racks on Campus Transit.

Cities of the future

Some folks envision futuristic, urban utopias like this:

One city in Germany has taken a different approach.

The cause of accidents

From the NYT:
A study in Toronto "found that clumsy or inattentive driving by motorists was the cause of 90 percent of [bicycle-car] crashes. Among the leading causes: running a stop sign or traffic light, turning into a cyclist’s path, or opening a door on a biker."

Annual Meeting recap

Thanks to all the folks who came out for our annual meeting at ATHICA last night!

Many thanks also to ATHICA, for hosting us, and to Dondero's for providing the tasty noodles.

If you missed the meeting, you can see the slide show presentation of our accomplishments from the past year. A few pics from the evening below.

Cash & prizes

If you walk, bike, ride transit or carpool, Clean Air Campaign wants to give you Visa gift cards and other prizes.

Check out their Commuter Rewards program. Register, enter your commuting method and be entered to win cash & other prizes. The more who register, the more who win. Pretty sweet deal.

UGA students reminded to obey traffic laws

Red & Black, the campus newspaper, reminds UGA students who bike or walk that they need to obey traffic laws and use some common sense.

I'll add that cyclists need to a) wear a helmet and b) be visible.

For you students who are driving around Athens, watch for pedestrians and cyclists. Give them plenty of room, and save your harrassing comments for Florida and Auburn fans.

State reviewing Lexington Rd after deaths

Banner-Herald:

State traffic engineers will review the circumstances surrounding three recent pedestrian deaths on Lexington Road to see if the five-lane roadway needs crosswalks or other safety improvements.

Athens-Clarke police say two of three pedestrians who were hit on the road in the past eight weeks had been drinking, but traffic investigators say they may never know exactly what happened in the latest fatality early Saturday morning.
...
"We collect fatality information on every state route and interstate and look for the cause of the accident and see if there's anything we can do to improve the roadway," said Teri Pope, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
...

Sober or not, people have no choice but to venture across the busy road, also known as U.S. Highway 78 and Georgia Highway 10, [Sgt. Don Eckert, a supervisor with the police traffic unit] said.

...traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are two miles apart, at Winterville Road in the west and at Cherokee and Gaines School roads in the east.

It's an area where Edward Pittman regularly hears the screeching of tires, oftentimes followed by crashes while working at his business, Pittman's Tire Service, at the corner of Lexington and Winterville roads.

"I hear it two or three times a week," he said, "This is a dangerous place."

In short, Lexington Rd "needs crosswalks or other safety improvements."

That's Civilization!

David Lowery (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven) on Athens: "Its intellectual energies have never been spent on creating material things. You can play in a band, and work a part time job, and not have a car, and ride your bike to work—to me that’s civilization.”

From Flagpole.

Burley recalls child trailers

FYI!

Third pedestrian fatality on Lexington

Another pedestrian was killed on Lexington Rd yesterday morning, the Banner-Herald reports.

There have been three fatal pedestrian accidents on Lexington in six weeks.

Elected official contacts here. The state Bike/Ped Coordinator is Byron Rushing: brushing@dot.ga.gov.

Demand safe pedestrian infrastructure on Lexington Rd.

Rummage Sale a huge success!

Many thanks to all the BRP volunteers and supporters who made today's Rummage Sale a great success.

Pics of the day below:

Long Range Plan in the news

Banner-Herald reports.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a comment!

GDOT's new director approved

Todd Long, the governor's pick for the newly created statewide transportation planner, was unanimously approved today.

In his comments, Long assured the House Transportation Committee "that while the director of planning has a close relationship with the governor, he would weigh the governor’s priorities alongside others, and that he was dedicated to serving all of Georgia’s transportation needs, not just urban, suburban or rural."

And:

He ... threw cold water on the notion that he’ll be able to solve congestion and throw new roads all over the state, especially in metro Atlanta. “Our goal cannot be to widen every road wide enough that your trip no matter where it is is going to be free flow 100 percent of the time,” he said. “There’s just not enough money to do that…You’ve got to provide options.”

By "all of Georgia's transportation needs," let's hope you mean this, and by "options," how about some of this, this, or this? You can take a lesson or two from D.C.

Decent bike parking

Slate.com's Tom Vanderbilt asks, "What would get Americans biking to work?"

His answer: decent bike parking

Surveys have shown that the leading deterrent to potential bicycle commuters is lack of a safe, secure parking spot.

A number of American cities are now waking up to the fact that providing bicycle parking makes sense. Philadelphia, for example, recently amended its zoning requirements to mandate that certain new developments provide bicycle parking; Pittsburgh's planning department is weighing requiring one bicycle parking space for every 20,000 feet of development (admittedly modest compared with the not-uncommon car equation of one parking space per 250 square feet); even the car-centric enclave of Orange County, Calif., is getting in on the act, with Santa Ana's City Council unanimously passing a bill requiring proportional bicycle parking when car parking is provided. In Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities, pilot projects are investigating turning car-parking meters—once semireliable bike-parking spots, now rendered obsolete by "smart meter" payment systems—into bike parking infrastructure.

Few cities are doing more than Portland—which has been experiencing a particular boom in bicycle commuting—to increase bicycle parking. In September, for example, the City Council will vote on code changes that would require residential buildings to have the same bicycle parking requirements as commercial buildings. Granted, Portland, Ore., is an unusual place for the United States: a place where business owners actually petition the city to build "bike corrals," or collections of racks that tend to swap one or two car parking spaces for a dozen bike spaces, in front of their establishments, and where residents casually drop lingo like staple, meaning the type of bicycle parking structure that looks like a staple stuck into the concrete. And in a move that is sure to give John McCain fits, the city is spending $1 million of federal stimulus funds on bicycle parking at transit hubs.

Much more in the full article. Thanks to Mike E. for sharing this article.

Lexington Rd pedestrian fatality

Banner-Herald shares this awful news:

A Winterville man was killed trying to cross Lexington Road between Winterville Road and Barnett Shoals Road on Saturday night, according to Athens-Clarke police.

Kyle Haynes, 23, was crossing the highway when he apparently stumbled and was struck by an east-bound Ford F-150 around 9:30.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to this young man's family.

Folks, always be careful out there, but especially this next few weeks. Thousands of 18-year old new arrivals are driving Athens' streets, and they may not be used to sharing the road with buses, cyclists, or pedestrians. Be extra watchful out there, and drivers: keep it slow, and watch carefully for other users of the road. Share the road. Save a life.

GDOT ok's sprawl in Oconee Co

Banner-Herald:

GDOT "will give Oconee County officials the go-ahead to buy 150 pieces of rights of way along Mars Hill Road in North Oconee."

" The new Mars Hill Road will be a four-lane, divided highway... and [will] help spur business growth in the area. "

The affected area:



View Larger Map

The Athens area "Long Range Transportation Plan" needs your input

The LRTP is a document which outlines the transportation plan for the Athens region for the next 25 years. Now is your chance to tell local planners what kind of transportation choices you would like to see in Athens.

Your input on this plan is critical!

Use our convenient comment form (with suggested comments), or download the hard copy form from MACORTS (pdf).

Comment deadline is August 18th.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to share your thoughts on this important document!

D.C. demonstrates

If you make the investment, the people will come.

Watch & learn!

Perdue's pick for trans planner moving ahead

In a Tuesday vote, the state House Transportation Subcommittee approved Gov. Perdue's pick for the newly created statewide "transportation planning director," Todd Long.

Long, a Georgia Tech-trained civil engineer, worked at GDOT prior to his nomination.

Perdue selected Long to "lead the state’s road planning efforts, via a position created by the transportation reform bill approved this past legislative session."

If confirmed, Long will work for the governor, but have to navigate the sometimes conflicting interests of Perdue, legislative leadership and the state Department of Transportation board.

If there were spots of disagreement between Long and the subcommittee, it often focused on the split of state transportation dollars between metro Atlanta and rural parts of the state.

How about the split between sprawl-subsidizing road projects and the paltry amount spent on rail and transit in this state, much less bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure?

If past actions are any indication, Long will be encouraged to explore other solutions.

Welcome to Athens

Welcome to Athens, new UGA students! And welcome back, all who summered elsewhere.

Check out bikeathens.com or this blog for everything you need to know about transit, walking, and cycling in Athens. If you like to volunteer, we have plenty of opportunities! You can always check out the great local weekly, Flagpole, for transportation news and event announcements as well.

In its orientation-to-Athens issue, Flagpole generously mentions BikeAthens quite a few times...

* BikeAthens Co-Chair Amy Johnson is quoted in a story on the Long Range Transportation Plan.

Don't forget to come by Trappeze at 7 pm tonight! We'll be discussing the LRTP and finalizing BikeAthens' formal comment on the plan. If you can't make it, be sure to submit comment on the plan. If you haven't read it, don't worry! While we strongly advise you to read the plan, you can submit any comment you like on the future of transportation in Athens. It will all be considered. You can email comments to macorts@co.clarke.ga.us until August 18th. Or, stay tuned for our soon-to-be-live online comment form, where you can tailor your comments on the LRTP and submit them from a single web page.

* Also, City Dope talks sidewalks, Athens Rising covers downtown and parking decks, and a feature for new arrivals points folks to our free Bike Map.

* Finally, the events calendar reminds the volunteer-minded to consider our ongoing Bike Recycling Program.

BikeAthens encourages you to walk, ride a bike, or take transit whenever possible. It's easier than you think to get around without a car! It will save you money, keep you healthier, and reduce traffic all around.

When you do drive, watch for pedestrians and cyclists, and give them the right-of-way. It's not just neighborly, it's the law!

And when you bike or walk, just remember:

• Be aware of your surroundings
• Be visible
• Ride legally & predictably
• Wear a helmet
• Share the road with all users

Enjoy yourself, and take advantage of all that Athens offers. We hope you'll get involved with BikeAthens!

Rummage Sale - 8/22

Need a bike? Come out to our 2nd annual rummage sale!
8/22, 10 - 2 pm at the Chase St Warehouse

We're selling fully refurbished cruiser, road, mountain, and kids bikes. Parts and accessories also available.
Proceeds support the BikeAthens Bike Recycling Program. Photos of available bikes below:

The ghost of ped malls past

In a story on the old urban renewal plan for downtown Athens, the ABH revisits the idea that College Square could be converted to a pedestrian mall.

This topic has come up on the BikeAthens discussion listserve, in the ABH, and on the letters page of Flagpole. The discussion never fails to rile folks up, one way or the other. Personally, I'd love it. The pedestrian-only zones I've seen in other cities are the most pleasant places to hang out. They are full of people and full of thriving businesses. The key, of course, is to design them well.

The story also mentions that New Urbanism will be the guiding principle behind whatever future downtown development plan Athens creates. New Urbanism "espouses a return to the close-knit communities that existed before the car transformed American life... people should live near where they work and shop, and should be able to walk where they want to go."

You can always count on GDOT

Good-frikkin-grief.

States give cyclists room to ride

From USA Today- Some states have passed the 3 foot law which requires drivers to give cyclists 3 feet when passing.

"It can't always be that the fastest, heaviest vehicle wins," Amen!

See the full story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-03-bikes_N.htm

Long Range Transportation Plan

Transportation planners are working on the regional Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). Planners started taking formal public comments on July 20th. Comments can be submitted through August 18th.

Submitting your comments on the LRTP is a huge opportunity to help direct the transportation development in Athens for the next twenty years.

If you would like to learn more about what the LRTP means, come to the BikeAthens discussion meeting at Trappeze Pub on Wednesday, August 12th, 7pm.

More information below:

MACORTS Public Comment Period

The Public Comment Period for the Draft MACORTS 2035 Long Range
Transportation Plan (LRTP) will begin Monday, July 20 and ends Tuesday,
August 18th. All of the public involvement materials and the Draft LRTP can
now be found at, www.macorts.org or at the Planning Departments in Athens,
Watkinsville, or Danielsville. Contact Sherry F. Moore at
macorts@co.clarke.ga.us for additional information. Please take the time to
read over the plan and give your input!

helmet improv

win-win-win

Reuters discusses the best way to "strike a blow against rising transit fares, costly oil, global warming and obesity at one fell swoop."

'Southern Living' profiles BikeAthens

The August issue of Southern Living features a nice story about BikeAthens!

Here's a scanned image of the article:

Click the image for a larger version.

Rail-Trail progress

Also from Flagpole, a nice status update on the rail-trail project:

" Long in coming, Athens-Clarke County’s rails-to-trails project has passed a major land-acquisition milestone and ought to have plans before the Mayor and Commission perhaps by year’s end. This first phase of the project will create a multi-use bike/pedestrian path along the old Georgia Railroad bed from downtown’s Multi-Modal Transportation Center through Dudley Park and then roughly parallel to Oak Street to the planned site of a park-and-ride lot where Lexington Road meets the 10 Loop."

The article pays particular attention to what remains of the "Murmur Trestle over Trail Creek—so named because a photo of it appeared on that R.E.M. album ... All along, the trestle has inspired the rail-trail project by offering a level route over steep topography into downtown."

New crosswalk on Prince

Via Flagpole:

A Safer Crossing: Here’s hoping the new light-up crosswalk signs on Prince Avenue will contribute towards improving safety there. In an encouraging (if anecdotal) report, ACC Planning staffer Lara Mathes reports seeing a man in a motorized wheelchair cross safely at the Grit under cover of the flashing lights in the first week they were installed—a good sign!

Athens Transit & UGA buses to receive filters

A federal grant will allow both ATS and UGA Campus transit to install emissions filters on their fleets:

For an average city bus, the filter would reduce the amount of harmful particulates by 60 percent, he said.

"It will have a substantial air-quality impact. ... It will reduce the number of tons of particulates in the atmosphere in the air that we breathe in, not just at the bus stops, but countywide."

South leads in obesity rates

A recent nationwide study on obesity rates shows the southern U.S. still in the lead.

Aside from our country-fried diet of chicken and biscuits, our inactivity is a major factor in our collective girth. We've built our communities to accommodate car use, to the almost complete exclusion of enabling a walk or bike ride.

If we incorporate physical activity into our daily routines - commuting by bicycle, walking to and from the bus stop, spending weekends strolling greenways - we will make significant headway against the obesity epidemic. The best way to encourage walking and biking is to make it as safe and as convenient as driving, which means we need:

- an interconnected network of well-maintained bike lanes and greenways
- an interconnected network of well-maintained sidewalks and crosswalks
- a bus system that takes people where they want to go, when they need to go

While Athens-Clarke and UGA, especially, have made modest gains towards these goals, we are only half-way there. Many still feel unsafe riding a bicycle in Athens. Long stretches of foot worn paths evidence the need for more sidewalks.

As Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, notes, the obesity problem is "not going to be solved in the doctor's office but in the community, where we change norms."

Athens Transit begins selling ads on its buses

From the Banner-Herald:

Hoping to make enough money from advertising to add routes and frequency without raising fares or taxes, Athens-Clarke officials will begin selling ads this week on the sides, back and interior of buses.
...
The money could be enough to increase frequency on an hourly route to every half hour or run a couple more buses at night or on Saturdays.

Mass transit continues to become more popular. People made about 1.7 million trips on Athens buses in the past year, up almost 200,000 from 2006.

But fuel costs remain high, federal operating grants are flat, and the state offers no support, so the system is struggling for funding.

Fares will go up 25 cents to $1.50 on Wednesday. Even with the increased fares and anticipated ad revenue, though, the Athens-Clarke Commission did not expand bus service this year.

Safe Routes Athens

Flagpole covers the history of & current developments in our Safe Routes Athens initiative.

Greenway news

In "a couple of years," you'll be to walk/ride the Oconee River Greenway from Sandy Creek Nature Center to College Station Rd.

Thanks to the Greenway Comission for patiently pursuing the property for this extension!

Firefly rail-trail: Athens -> Greene Co.

From the Banner-Herald:

Plans are in the works to convert an abandoned railroad from Athens to Greene County into a 38-mile trail.

Firefly Trail, still in the early stages, would run from the Multimodal Transportation Center in downtown Athens through Winterville, Arnoldsville and Maxeys before ending in Union Point.

An informal town hall meeting to unveil preliminary plans is scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. today at the Depot in downtown Winterville, but alternative transportation advocate John Devine cautioned that the trail is a long way from coming to fruition.

Kudos to John Devine and the staff at NEGRDC for pursuing this exciting project!

Sweet job

Who wouldn't want to ride a tricycle around leafy college campuses all day?

Federal funds available for rail in Georgia

High-speed and traditional rail may yet come to Georgia.

Though the revival of passenger rail service has been talked of and dreamed of for decades, the federal government now is offering huge sums to states that could provide the locomotion to finally pull the train out of the station.
...
The board of the Georgia Department of Transportation voted last month to draft a statewide proposal for submission to Washington as a way of tapping into the flood of federal money. Six months earlier, it had hired a young hotshot, Erik Steavens, to begin coordinating its modest rail line with bus service and highways. He began by dusting off railroad plans sketched out in the 1990s. Georgia lawmakers in the '90s had mandated the order in which trains would be put into service, starting with a line between Atlanta and Macon, because the power in the legislature at the time was centered in South Georgia. The first phase of that line was to run 26 miles from Atlanta to Lovejoy, to be expanded next to Griffin.

Steavens intends to follow that framework, which would include connections in Macon to other Southern cities.

Advocates and real estate developers also have lobbied for a line between Atlanta and Athens that they dubbed the "Brain Train" because it would link so many universities. Joined by environmentalists, they have been the most vocal supporters of passenger rail service in Georgia.

Don't forget your Alternative Fuel!

Jittery Joe's Alternative Fuel coffee blend is flying off the shelves!

Proceeds benefit our programs and outreach efforts- we've already raised over $500 thanks to Alternative Fuel.

Please get your can(s) today!

GDOT transformation update

AJC has the latest on the restructuring of GDOT and profiles the contenders for the department's chairmanship.

ACC wins Safe Routes grant

Thanks to the efforts of Athens-Clarke government officials, the ACC School District and the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center, Five Points will benefit from a $110,694 Safe Routes to School grant for pedestrian improvements.

Kudos to the grant writing team!

Bikes on sidewalks

The state legislature has clarified the law regarding bicycling on sidewalks.

In short, don't do it.

The bill "allows local governments to let kids 12 and under bike on sidewalks, and states that this is the only group allowed to operate vehicles on sidewalks."

Read the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition blog post linked above for some excellent safety reasons for not biking on the sidewalk. It may not seem like it at first, but riding on the sidewalk is not as safe as riding on the street....and now it's not as legal.

REI's Novara bikes recalled

If you ride one of these, be sure to take it to REI for a very important repair.

Bus fares rise

The Athens-Clarke commission voted 8-2 last night to raise Athens Transit fares from $1.25 to $1.50.

Bikewise: hazard maps for cyclists

Check out Bikewise, a Google map where you can report bike-related hazards, thefts, accidents, etc.

More on transit fares

Flagpole takes a closer look at Athens Transit's plans to raise fares and eliminate The Link service.

Transit debate continues

Commissioners and community advocates continue to toss around ideas about how to manage transit service in the face of higher costs and ever-present demands for more service.

Cuts in transit service

Via ABH:

To offset revenue that has fallen by millions of dollars in recent months, Athens-Clarke officials likely will both raise some taxes and fees and cut spending. Among the dozens of proposals:

► Reducing bus frequency along Hawthorne Avenue, saving $158,000.

► Eliminating The Link, an on-demand van service, saving $54,000.

► Raising adult bus fares by 25 cents, generating about $375,000.

Rail in GA

Flagpole's editor discusses our missed chances and potential opportunities for rail in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Kevan Williams delves into the role of maps and images in communicating development project proposals.

State trans planning overhaul complete

Gov. Perdue signed SB 200 into law, overhauling "the state Department of Transportation and the way the state plans for and executes transportation projects"

Let's review:

While leaving the DOT board in place, the bill takes away much of its authority and gives it to a new director of planning, who will be named by the governor with the approval of the House Transportation Committee.

But the bill also gives the General Assembly power to decide how to spend a goodly portion of the state’s road-building money.

As reliable as our legislature has been, what could possibly go wrong with this arrangement?

ACC taking public input on Oak/Oconee St & prince Ave

See the background details and let 'em know what you think here:
www.accplanning.com/corridorstudies.php

Twilight pics

We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

In the U.S., stats show less driving, more transit use

Reuters discusses the decline in American automobile dependence and the concurrent rise in public transportation ridership.

"[It's] as if people... started a new travel behavior, a new habit. And they have stuck with their habit."

Bike to Work Day

Pictures from this morning's Bike to Work Day event here.

Thanks to all the sponsors, organizers & participants!

UPDATE: See the Banner-Herald's coverage of the event.

Bike auction: sweet 70's Jeunet

BikeAthens is auctioning this bicycle during Twilight weekend. It's a 70's Jeunet (Franche-Compte). This is the 630 model which is reynolds double butted steel. The frame is 60cm (center of BB to top of seat tube).

Stop by our tent on College Ave, in front of Walker's Pub, to see the bike and make your bid. You may also bid by emailing your full name, telephone, email, and bid amount, to bicyclerecycling[at]bikeathens.com

Minimum bid is $200.

We will stop taking bids at 3 pm on Sunday, 4/26.

Twilight, intra-city light rail

Flagpole features an edifying history of the Twilight Criterium - this weekend's race is the 30th for this annual event!

Full event details & schedule here.

Be sure to visit our tent in the College Ave expo area!


Also in this week's issue, columnist Kevan Williams explores the viability of intra-city rail for Athens, as opposed to the long-postponed inter-city "Brain Train" from Athens to Atlanta. Definitely an intriguing idea!

Public meeting: Oak Street/Oconee Street and the Prince Avenue Corridor

A community-wide public meeting regarding the Oak Street/Oconee Street and the Prince
Avenue Corridor Studies will take place on Thursday, April 30 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm in the
Planning Department Auditorium:

View Larger Map

The Mayor and Commission of Athens-Clarke County have requested that the Planning
Department evaluate the existing conditions along Prince Avenue and Oak Street/Oconee
Street. Based on what is discovered, recommendations will be prepared regarding the future
of these corridors. These recommendations can include changes or additions to public
policies and development regulations designed to improve, enhance, alter and/or conserve
the future quality of these corridors.

The primary focus of this project is on land use and design outside of the right-of-way, with a
secondary focus on right-of-way improvements as they relate to the land use and design
goals.

Planning Staff will give a short presentation at the beginning of the meeting and then again
at 6:30. Public comment on the future of these corridors will be welcomed and is
encouraged.

The Oak/Oconee Street study area boundary includes an area on either side of the corridor
from the intersection with Broad Street, east to the intersection with the Athens Perimeter.

The Prince Avenue study area includes an area on either side of the corridor from the
intersection of West Dougherty Street with North Hull Street, west to the intersection of Prince
Avenue with the Athens Perimeter.

For more information, contact the Planning Department at 706-613-3515, or visit our website
www.accplanning.com.

MACORTS surveying interest in rural bus routes

MACORTS, our regional transportation planning body, is conducting a survey to measure interest in running public transit to Madison & Oconee counties.

Officials said any rural transit system likely would consist of smaller vans that would, for example, ferry elderly residents from home to the doctor and back.

There are no plans to expand Athens-Clarke bus service into outlying counties, Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie said, but he does get requests from carless commuters in small towns like Winder, Danielsville, Watkinsville and Lexington for some form of public transit.

This Friday: Bike to Work Day

Join other riders from your neighborhood to try out or show support for bike commuting.

Group rides will converge on College Square (College Ave. between Clayton and Broad) at 8:00 am for refreshments and speakers.

UGA Bike Planning Workshop

If you cycle to, on, or around the UGA campus, you are invited to a ...

UGA Bike Planning Workshop

When: Monday 27, 2009, drop in between 4:00 - 5:30 PM

Where: Jittery Joe's Roasting Co. (780 E. Broad St. Athens, GA)

Why: The Office of University Architects is working with a graduate student in Community and Regional Planning to develop a Bicycle Plan for UGA. The intent of this workshop is to verify existing conditions; identify areas of concern for cyclists; and document ideas for improving bike facilities to, from and within the UGA campus. Feedback from the workshop will provide a basis for planning and design. The result of this study will be a refined bicycle plan for campus with recommended steps toward implementation.

Multi-Modal Madness a huge success!

Many thanks to all of our volunteers, sponsors, and participants for making this inaugural event a great success! We will definitely be doing this one again.

See the Banner-Herald's recap, and view some pics from the event below:

National rail plan includes GA

"President Barack Obama announced plans Thursday for a national high-speed rail network that would include lines crisscrossing North and South Georgia connected through a hub in Atlanta."

Full story.

Now Hiring: part-time Administrator

BikeAthens is now accepting applications for our part-time Administrator position. We are looking for someone who can give us at least a 1-year commitment and who has experience with database management, membership recruitment, event organization, and fund development.

See the full job description.

To apply, email your resume' and a cover letter to chair[at]bikeathens.com.

Anti-public services mobs ride public transit

Nice.

Tying it all together

Tom Crawford, author of the "Capitol Impact" column run in Flagpole, provides an excellent summary of - and insightful predictions based on - the dramatic reorganization of transportation planning in Georgia:

SB 200 will drastically revamp the Department of Transportation, shifting much of the power over the agency’s $2 billion yearly budget to the governor and, to a lesser extent, the legislators. The office of governor, already one of the strongest in the country, becomes that much more powerful with the ability to control which highways get built and which do not.

“Mark my words,” said Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell), a longtime House member. “It may take three years; it may take six months, but we just changed the face of politics in Georgia.”

...

Perdue’s ultimate goal in getting SB 200 adopted may be to facilitate the awarding of major contracts to private companies that want to take over the construction and management of public highways in Georgia. One of the world’s leading private developers of toll roads is Cintra, an international conglomerate based in Spain. Cintra has built and operated such major American highways as the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road.

When Perdue flew to Spain last September with a contingent of business leaders - at the same time that Georgia motorists were struggling to cope with a severe gasoline shortage - one of the companies he met with was Cintra. That could be the ultimate legacy of SB 200 - Georgians paying high tolls to drive on highways owned by a European conglomerate. You heard it here first.

Bike commuting & tax benefits

This NYT article discusses the federal stimulus bill's provision offering a monthly tax benefit of $20 for bicycle commuters.

Accor Services USA, one of the nation’s larger administrators of commuter tax-free benefits, began offering a bicycle commuter check to employers only last month, said Jeremy Doak, a marketing manager with Accor. But interest in the program was high. Mr. Doak estimated that an average of 100 businesses per month since the law was passed had asked about offering the credit to their employees.

So far, the company has set up accounts only with smaller companies, those with fewer than 50 employees. And a majority of those that have actually ordered credits, perhaps not surprisingly, come from the West Coast, primarily from the San Francisco Bay area. Mr. Doak noted that the company had orders from Illinois and Massachusetts as well.

For more information, look at Commuter Check, and definitely talk to your workplace about offering this tax incentive!

I've already written UGA administrators about this. I'll pass along the response I receive.

This Saturday: Multi-Modal Madness!

Register Online Now!

...or use the mail-in form

Quick! How would you get from downtown to south campus, then to the east side and on to Normaltown, as quickly as possible without using a car,a moped, or taxi?

Multi-Modal Madness is your chance to find out.

In the MMM challenge, teams will try to reach as many checkpoints as possible in three hours- no private combustion engines allowed! Checkpoints will feature trivia and transportation-related challenges. Teams will accumulate points by completing challenges, correctly answering trivia, and reaching more checkpoints than other teams.

On the day of the event, each team will receive a packet, that will include a BikeAthens Bike Map, Athens Transit's Saturday bus schedules, and a list of checkpoints where teams can earn points by completing challenges. Teams will try to complete as many challenges as possible before returning to the event HQ by 3:00 pm.

Prizes available from The Hub and Athens Downtown Development Association!

Registration forms are now being accepted- register online today to ensure your team's participation. We will also accept hard copy registrations the morning of the event, but space is limited.

Email chair[at]bikeathens.com to express your interest in helping to make this happen, come to one of our weekly meetings at Trappeze Pub (5:30 pm, Tuesdays), or join the planning team list-serv.

MMM is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 2009

Event schedule

11am: Mandatory team arrival & check-in at the Jittery Joe's Roaster (we recommend arriving at 10:30am)

12 pm: Event begins

3 pm: Teams must return to Jittery Joe's Roaster

UGA-ACC land deal opens door for greenway expansion

From the Banner-Herald:

The University System Board of Regents today should approve the University of Georgia's decision to donate 1.35 acres of land off East Campus Road to the Athens-Clarke County government.

[R]iverside acreage [will] extend the North Oconee River Greenway from Oconee Hill Cemetery all the way south to College Station Road.

Athens-Clarke will get land along the North Oconee River to extend the North Oconee River Greenway from Oconee Hill Cemetery to College Station Road. The planned bridge will allow cyclists on the greenway to get to bike lanes on College Station Road.

A serious form of transportation

The Infrastructurist brings you "A Vehicle for the Times":