http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress Encouragement, Education & Advocacy for Bicycling in the Real World Thu, 24 May 2012 02:02:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Encouragement, Education & Advocacy for Bicycling in the Real World Commute Orlando no Encouragement, Education & Advocacy for Bicycling in the Real World http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/category/in-the-news/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/31/related-stories/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/31/related-stories/#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:31:25 +0000 Keri http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=15063 Blighted Landscape An op-ed in the New York Times by Eran Ben-Joseph calls for the transformation of ugly surface parking lots. It’s estimated that there are three nonresidential parking spaces for every car in the United States. That adds up to almost 800 million parking spaces, covering about 4,360 square miles — an area larger than Puerto Rico. In some cities, like Orlando and Los Angeles, parking lots are estimated to cover at least one-third of the land area, making them one of the most salient landscape features of the built world. Such coverage comes with environmental costs. The large, impervious surfaces of parking lots increase storm-water runoff, which damages watersheds. The exposed pavement increases the heat-island effect, by which urban regions are made warmer than surrounding rural areas. Since cars are immobile 95 percent of the time, you could plausibly argue that a Prius and a Hummer have much the same environmental impact: both occupy the same 9-by-18-foot rectangle of paved space. His ideas for designing parking lots as more useful space (solar panels, permeable surface material, rows of trees) are intriguing. But who pays for that? The externalities of providing massive amounts of storage space for cars are [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/31/related-stories/feed/ 23 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/22/all-aboard-orlando-to-miami-by-train/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/22/all-aboard-orlando-to-miami-by-train/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:25:43 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=15035 From the trade journal Progressive Railroading: A little more than a year ago, Florida Gov. Rick Scott killed the state’s high-speed rail project when he returned federal High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail funds to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now, a privately owned railroad has plans to implement passenger-rail service connecting Orlando and South Florida. Today, Florida East Coast Industries Inc. (FECI) announced it plans to develop All Aboard Florida, a privately owned, operated and maintained passenger-rail service that would run 240 miles to Miami, Cocoa and Orlando. The service would operate along 200 miles of existing tracks between Miami and Cocoa, and along 40 miles of new track into Orlando. The system eventually could be expanded to include connections to Tampa and Jacksonville. The project will cost about $1 billion. The company launched a feasibility study for the project several months ago, and an “investment-grade” ridership study and engineering work are under way, according to a press release. Now, FECI will begin to work with local, state and federal officials, as well as communities along the route. Because the project currently is in what All Aboard Florida spokesperson Christine Barney terms the “due diligence” phase, FECI has not yet determined [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/03/22/all-aboard-orlando-to-miami-by-train/feed/ 4 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/02/03/man-in-canada-reunited-with-bicycle/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/02/03/man-in-canada-reunited-with-bicycle/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:19 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=14627  Stolen bicycle returned to owner after 28 years The Esquimalt resident figured he’d never see his 10-speed Norco bicycle again after it was stolen in broad daylight outside a Victoria pub 28 years ago. . . . Roche, now 49, was 21 years old when he and a friend rode their bikes to a Douglas Street pub. When they came out to ride home, Roche’s bike, a gift from his older brother, was gone. “Mine was locked and my buddy’s, which was a way better bike, wasn’t,” said Roche. “We were killing ourselves (laughing). Why would they take the locked one? That’s the irony of it.” . . . Where the 10-speed has been all these years is a mystery to police, who traced a nine-digit number stamped on the bike’s frame back to Roche. The bike’s chain is rusty and the tires are flat and bald, reason why Roche is wary of taking it for a spin. But the bike may still have some years left in it. “I’m going to throw some money at it if it’s worth fixing and then donate it,” said Roche. “I’m sure some kid will say, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ “Maybe all his [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/02/03/man-in-canada-reunited-with-bicycle/feed/ 0 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/16/the-senator/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/16/the-senator/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:02:24 +0000 Keri http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=14534 This post isn’t about cycling. Though, the last visit I paid to the Senator was on a bike ride, last October. Big Tree Park is a destination on the Cross-Seminole Trail. Lisa and I took a couple friends from California to see Central Florida’s oldest landmark. The photo is from that trip. Early this morning, the Senator burned. Firefighters tried to save it, but the 3,500 year old tree is gone. Leaving a community in shock and disbelief. I always pondered the stories it could tell.]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/16/the-senator/feed/ 2 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/14/too-complicated/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/14/too-complicated/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:21:02 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=14517 I think I am on pretty safe ground when I say that eleven pages shouldn’t be necessary to explain a single, tiny aspect of traffic design to drivers. Yet, that is exactly how many pages the City of Minneapolis used when they published “Bike Lane Basics” complete with diagrams just in case the text doesn’t do it for you. Here are all the different types of bike lanes a driver is likely to encounter in Minneapolis. Nine different types of lanes. Nine different rules. Tons of ways to get a ticket. It gets better. At intersections, they have something called “shared space” where the cars are supposed to yield to a cylist on his right when making a turn. Yet, the cyclist is instructed to, “use caution and assume turning or merging motorists do not see you.” Gee, I wonder why they wouldn’t see you. After all, you are in the bike lane which is supposed to make you safe from those evil cars that are trying to kill you. I can assure you that motorists have absolutely no trouble seeing me when I am in the middle of the lane and crossing the intersection with the cars rather than [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/14/too-complicated/feed/ 19 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/01/here-is-a-column-i-never-thought-i-would-read/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/01/here-is-a-column-i-never-thought-i-would-read/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:51:14 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=14411 Not in my lifetime, anyway. From the “Road Warrior” column in the The Morning Call (Allentown, PA 12/29/11 by Dan Hartzell I have nothing to add.]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2012/01/01/here-is-a-column-i-never-thought-i-would-read/feed/ 5 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/12/14/blue-ridge-parkway-reality-check/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/12/14/blue-ridge-parkway-reality-check/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:52:47 +0000 Keri http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=14278 One of my favorite places to go for a cycling vacation is Asheville, NC. I enjoy a number of routes that include sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. So naturally, I was alarmed last week when I received several email alerts and calls to action with titles like “Blue Ridge Parkway Under Attack!” and “Blue Ridge Parkway: Closed to Cyclists?” While several of the alerts indicated that the Park Service wanted to close the parkway to cyclists, the text of most published articles talked about the Park Service favoring a plan that didn’t include “accommodations” for cyclists. Well, accommodations mean different things to different people. The ones specifically referenced were mountain bike access on trails and some paved  multi-use paths. LAB’s action alert avoids discussion of banning, it’s concerned with impacts to bike-specific infrastructure: We are asking the park planners to: 1) Halt the National Historic Landmark application process. The designation would make it harder to make future improvements for bicycling access, such as wider shoulders and trails. 2) Recognize and promote cycling in the Draft Management Plan as a viable and important aspect of Parkway visitation. 3) Work with cyclists, the surrounding communities, and the general public to meet the needs of today’s [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/12/14/blue-ridge-parkway-reality-check/feed/ 7 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/08/16/orlando-pedestrians-make-the-nyt/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/08/16/orlando-pedestrians-make-the-nyt/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:48:54 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=13649 on the front page of the New York area edition. The oft heard blame the tourist argument is always a nice, ironic touch. To them, it sounds like, “If you are dumb enough to come here, we are dumb enough to run over you.” On Wide Florida Roads, Running for Dear Life By LIZETTE ALVAREZ Published: August 15, 2011 ORLANDO, Fla. — As any pedestrian in Florida knows, walking in this car-obsessed state can be as tranquil as golfing in a lightning storm. Sidewalks are viewed as perks, not necessities. Crosswalks are disliked and dishonored. And many drivers maniacally speed up when they see someone crossing the street. Then there are the long, ever widening arterial roads — those major thoroughfares lined with strip malls built to move cars in and out of sprawling suburbs. It is no wonder that four Florida metropolitan areas, led by the Orlando region, ranked as the most dangerous places to walk in the country, according to a recent survey by Transportation for America, a nonprofit safety advocacy organization. –MORE–  ]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/08/16/orlando-pedestrians-make-the-nyt/feed/ 4 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/06/22/help-save-sunrail/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/06/22/help-save-sunrail/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:33:12 +0000 Mighk http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=13115 If there was ever a time for you to attend a public hearing, this is it. At the request of the Governor’s office, FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad will be conducting a series of public meetings on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 regarding the SunRail project.  These are to ensure that all partners understand their respective obligations and to obtain additional public input that will be considered by the Governor in making his decision on the project. 6:45-7:45 a.m. Volusia County at the Volusia County TPO Office in Daytona Beach 8:30-9:30 a.m. Seminole County at the County Administration Building 12:00-1:00 p.m. City of Maitland at Maitland City Hall 2:00-3:00 p.m. City of Orlando at Orlando City Hall 4:00-5:00 p.m. Orange County at the County Administration Building 6:00-7:00 p.m. Osceola County at the Country Administration Building This is your final physical opportunity express to the Governor the importance of the SunRail project to Central Florida.  The opponents of SunRail are organized and will certainly be in attendance. If you are not able to attend and you have not personally contacted the Governor already to express your views about the project, this is the time to do so.  You can do this by letter [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/06/22/help-save-sunrail/feed/ 15 http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/05/24/who-wooda-thunkit/ http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/05/24/who-wooda-thunkit/#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 15:53:07 +0000 Eric http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/?p=12908 So I open my Google News this morning and this headline catches my eye. Matt Reed: It’s time to let cyclists join traffic on Pineda Causeway I don’t think I have ever read anything like this in a newspaper before. Lacking a reasonable alternate route over the Indian River Lagoon, they risk tickets by disregarding a few small white signs that warn of a ban that makes no sense. Total bicycle fatalities on the four-mile span during 10 years, according to the state Department of Transportation: One (1). In 2002, a pair of 14-year-old boys were riding to the beach before dawn when they were run over by a drunken driver in a pickup truck. and  . . . To the press, people act like it doesn’t happen. But I watch it daily. The safety records say as much about today’s levelheaded drivers as it does the safe bicyclists. “We really don’t have any record of bike accidents on the Pineda,” said Leigh Holt, Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization program manager. So, by all means, let’s get on with a pilot project we already know will work. Did I get that right? Did he actually say that riding on a [...]]]> http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/05/24/who-wooda-thunkit/feed/ 5