Letter to the News-Journal: Bike tails, not autosprawl

Nice to see community support of alternative transportation in today's paper.

Bikes, not cars, for Freshman in Coral Gables

I like the idea of providing bicycles to students, with the bikes in school colors.  But why sell the bikes to the students, how about a loan program. Bike parking is far cheaper than asphalt parking lots.

A bicycle friendly community!

Andy Singer has some terrific cartoons about bicycles and the problems caused by cars and highways.   Several years ago he was kind enough to send me a CD with many of his cartoons from his book CARtoons.  Thanks Andy! This is one of my favorites.

“Get on the sidewalk!”

I've heard something like this from more than one local motorist.  In every state, including Florida, cyclists have the same rights as motor vehicles.  I've only been shouted at a few times for being on the road, but I know riders who have been hit by debris thrown by motorists.  It can get ugly out there.  This recent story in the NY Times discusses cyclist/motorist confrontations which are apparently on the rise as more people start riding.  Yesterday, I was quoted in an nice article in the local paper.

Better Bicycling Infrastructure for Daytona Beach

Last year I volunteered as a researcher for the Daytona Beach Vision Infrastructure Action Team.  The final draft of the Daytona Beach Vision Plan is available here.  The infrastructure section (which begins on page 20) lists twenty-three strategies to improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety, Street Improvements, and Mass Transportation.  According to Action Team leader Derrick Henry, the City has voted to adopt the plan. We now need to encourage the City to implement the plan.

A document worth reading

Does the State of Florida know what a good bicycle commuting system looks like? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Check out the Florida Bicycle Facilities Planning and Design Handbook.  The implementation of these designs would vastly improve bicycle commuting in our area.  

Daytona Bicycle Commuters Unite!

I've been commuting to work by bicycle nearly everyday for two years in Daytona Beach and regularly do errands by bicycle in surrounding Port Orange and Ormond Beach. While the State of Florida has sound bicycle laws and Volusia County has plans to extend and improve the bicycle paths in the area , many more improvements are needed to make Daytona truly bicycle friendly and safe.   Bicycling is for more than just recreation and needs of bicycle commuters need to be considered as more people seek alternatives to automobiles.  In this blog I'll comment are what I've learned bicycling the area and how bicycling might be improved.  I welcome your comments.