Gas shortages in NE Georgia, Transit ads

ABH reports.

Excerpt:

Gas should be available across the Southeast in the next week, once Gulf Coast refineries resume normal production levels, analysts say. The storm, which struck the Texas coast 10 days ago, caused less damage to refineries than feared, but some refiners still are working to get electricity restored and their equipment restarted - a process that can take several days.

For now, the major pipelines that deliver fuel to many parts of the eastern U.S. are ready for shipments - the supplies just aren't available.

Meanwhile, it's likely that gasoline will get more expensive in short order following a $20-per-barrel spike in the price of oil Monday.

Although officials are working to reassure drivers, area convenience store owners and their customers were finding it hard to stay calm when so many gas pumps are out of service.

Also, the Commission has decided to proceed with a tentative ads-on-buses revenue generating program. This has the potential to greatly stabilize and boost local transit funding.

BikeAthens commends the Commission's commitment to exploring funding for transit expansion!

Fatal bicycle accident

Very depressing news from the ABH:

A 25-year-old Athens man died Thursday from injuries he suffered last week when a sport utility vehicle hit his bicycle in southern Clarke County.

Brandon D. Miller was biking on Macon Highway at about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 11 when a man driving a Chevrolet Tahoe turned from Macon Highway onto South Lumpkin Street and collided with Miller’s bike, Athens-Clarke police said.

The impact threw the cyclist onto the SUV’s hood and then onto the ground, police said.

Miller was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, police said, and he died on Thursday.

Police noted that Miller’s bicycle wasn’t equipped with lights, but said an investigation was continuing.

It could not be immediately learned this morning if the investigation had been completed.

Our deepest condolences to this young man's family.

Pay attention, be visible, be aware, and be safe out there.

Rewards for carpooling at ARMC

ABH reports that Athens Regional is providing incentives for employees who carpool.

not quite rock bottom

The League of American Bicyclists, a national bike advocacy group, has published their ranking of states, based on their commitment to supporting cycling as a safe & effective form of transportation and recreation.

The League of American Bicyclists has announced our first annual ranking of Bicycle Friendly States, scoring all 50 states on more than 70 factors. The states were scored on responses to a questionnaire evaluating their commitment to bicycling and covering 6 key areas: legislation; policies and programs; infrastructure; education and encouragement; evaluation and planning; and enforcement. The highest and lowest scoring states overall were:

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Wisconsin
3. Arizona
4. Oregon
5. Minnesota

Bottom 5

46. North Dakota
47. Mississippi
48. Alabama
49. Georgia
50. West Virginia

Way to be, Georgia! We're not the absolute worst! Good grief.

While this ranking is probably accurate for the state overall, our happy town is making some decent headway toward being friendlier and safer for all modes of transportation, including bicycles.

Obviously, plenty of work remains to be done!

Transportation news a-plenty in Flagpole

The Flagpole that hit the streets today is chock full of transportation-related articles: get up to speed on downtown parking rates, the Pulaski Creek Greenway, and plans for a downtown parking deck next to the Georgia Theatre.

There's also a humbly submitted comment piece by yours truly on sharing the streets. Enjoy!

Getting closer to ad revenue for transit

See today's article in ABH.

Four Athens-Clarke commissioners said Tuesday they want to experiment with the ads within limits, hoping they'll bring in revenue to market Athens Transit or add more bus service.

"We're going to try this," Commissioner Carl Jordan said. "We can reverse direction at any time."

County officials had said they were concerned about free-speech lawsuits if they rejected an ad because of its offensive content, but by only selling ads to commercial entities and banning all political ads, the county can protect itself from lawsuits, county Attorney Bill Berryman said.

If officials allowed some nonprofit advocacy [link added]or political groups to run ads, they'd have to allow all of them, Berryman said.

Take the Transit Survey

GCA, Inc. has been contracted by Athens Transit to obtain feedback from the public on Athens Transit services and rider attitudes. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey:

Fillable PDF form of survey

When complete, return the survey to:

Ellen Keys Shellabarger
Director of Planning
GCA, Inc.
1800 Peachtree St., Suite 825
404.355.0604 (f)
ekeys@gcaeng.com

Thank you! Your feedback will help local planners and elected officials understand the demand for expanded transit service in Athens.

http://bikeathens.com/transportation/transit/Transit_survey.pdf

Bus news

Flagpole's got a couple of bus-related stories this week in "City Pages."

Go here, then scroll to the 2nd and 3rd articles, about night service and more art shelters, respectively.

Increased parking fees for downtown discussed

From today's ABH:

The Athens Downtown Development Authority will ask the Athens-Clarke Commission to raise parking fees and fines to encourage drivers to turn over on-street spaces more quickly or to use downtown decks, as well as generate more revenue for the ADDA.

Full story.

Award for Multi-Modal Center!

http://www.athensinbox.com/2008/09/athens-multi-modal-station-up-for-big.html