The cold, cabin-confined months of winter are the perfect time to mull over the state of the nation's bicycle commuting infrastructure.
The good news! Obama is knocking around names like Earl Blumenauer (congressman from Oregon-- perhaps the friendliest state toward bicycle traffic) and Jim Oberstar (congressman from Minnesota, mountain biking state extraordinaire) for Transportation Director. These bicycle advocates would almost surely make some positive changes in our lagging national transportation network. If you look at Blumenauer's site and transportation priorities, it all looks incredibly positive. I'm hoping that a bipartisan effort will be made to renew and reinvent (sometimes for the second time) our infrastructure. A return to rail and bicycles? It really, really, really wouldn't hurt to gradually abandon our car culture.
Synopsis of that site:
- Street cars and "Smart Starts"
- Amtrak and Rail Freight
- Bicycle and Pedestrian needs
Anyway.
St. Louis proved to be a harrowing bicycling experience, mostly for lack of light and space on Ladue Rd. Now that I'm downtown, I'm more concerned about the kinds of people lurking nearby. There seems to be ample space for bicyclists to assert themselves-- downtown is hardly cramped. The western portion of the city could really benefit from some city street redesign. By that I mean slapping some paint down on the pavement and declaring it bicycle and scooter territory. I can't help but feel anxious as I see scooter drivers in open lanes asserting themselves as cars. They're so very vulnerable.
Is cramping automobile traffic so very bad? They would perhaps be obliged to drive a bit slower, perhaps.
Bike commuting news!
A big no-brainer
New bicycle lanes in Manhattan
Pedal powered cabs in Pensacola now!
The case for separated bike lanes. And how.
While it wasn't too long ago, that my colleague and I were driving to work solo, we have recently joined the seeminly small population of carpoolers in St. Louis city. With highway-40 closed for 5 miles of critical commuting territory, you'd think other people would get a clue as well.
Just this morning Tara observed that most of the east-bound traffic on Forest Park Parkway were cars with just one passenger. Carpool, fools. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to sit in a car and ride for a week at a time than contend with traffic behind the wheel personally.
Apparently, we're part of something that's developing
On a final note,
Are you kidding me? Metro to make cutbacks in St. Louis.
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