AZ Daily Star reminds us to remember that bicyclists do not pay for infrastructure
Oh for the love of . . .
Andrea Kelly, whose journalism I have praised in the past, finished her AZ Daily Star piece on the new 4th Avenue bike-paving with this doozy:
And while many won’t care whether there’s a new strip of pavement placed where bicyclists will likely ride, plenty of others will see that as a problem and will undoubtedly remind us that bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure.
What does it mean to be “reminded” of something? It means to be made aware, once again, of something you once knew but had forgotten.
Is she trolling for on-line comments? Because that’s what it seems like. She admits in her own article that the project is being paid for with a sales tax, and surely she does not believe that bicyclists don’t ever buy anything.
There are so many problems with the “bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure” argument that it is hard to know where to begin. Bicyclists don’t pay gas taxes for the miles they cover on their bikes, but that’s about where it ends. They pay for infrastructure in the normal ways like through state and federal taxes.
And of course, bicyclists pay dearly for infrastructure they don’t use, just like everybody else does. I pay for schools, but have no children. I pay for a military that I wish would stay at home. I pay to subsidize various industries I loathe and whose products I vow never to use. But like everyone else I also benefit in incomprehensible ways from living in a civilized country where there is give and take, and I’m proud of it.
Bicyclists also pay for infrastructure by not harming it in the first place. People on bikes don’t take up (many) parking spaces, don’t hold you up at the light, don’t wear down pavement, and almost never kill you if they hit you.
But everybody knows all this. The “bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure” is not an argument about facts. Facts have nothing to do with it. It’s an argument about values. And the values argument is this: bicyclists get in my way. They are different from me and just by being there they make me feel guilty and lazy for sitting around on my fat ass, and I wish they would go away. Therefore, because they make me feel lazy, I am going to call them lazy: they always want to get something for nothing. And I am going to accuse them of not paying their way to do their silly, effete, elitist activity. They don’t contribute. They aren’t Americans.
–Erik Ryberg
Developers to Tucson bicyclists: Eff you and the bike you rode in on
(Apologies for the advertising in the above video)
Tucson has embarked on what it calls a “Sustainable Land Use Code Integration Project,” whose objective is “…to prepare a sustainability analysis of the Land Use Code, identify a series of recommended amendments to the [code], and ultimately to draft amendments that implement the City of Tucson’s sustainable goals and policies.”
A well-known threat to Tucson's sustainability is its over-abundant bike parking, which experts like Jason Wong,the developer interviewed in the above story, tell us is currently limiting our business's ability to prosper and thrive. So the City Council will be voting on a proposal to improve our sustainability by reducing the onerous bike parking requirements that are currently inhibiting sustainable development in the city.
You can attend the meeting and voice your support for more sustainability and fewer bikes at 5:30 PM on March 8 at the Mayor and Council Meeting, 255 W. Alameda Street.
Lots more information about this issue can be found here (Living Streets Alliance Website) and here (TucsonVelo.com story).
In case you are curious about what sustainable development looks like in the eyes of Mr. Wong, here's a satellite view of one of the properties he developed:
According to the internet (ahem), Mr. Wong is Director of Development for Red Point Development, Inc.. Here's what their Website says: "Red Point envisions, and succeeds, in creating sustainable and timeless communities and projects that are in balance socially, economically and environmentally. Our mission is to combine all of the resources, experience and knowledge available to us, and through our associates, to develop high-quality projects that create value for our partners as well as the surrounding community."
It's pretty to think so, isn't it?
--Erik Ryberg
Get’chyer bell on
–EBR
Over a year on a Workcycles Transport Bike
For Christmas in 2009 I bought myself an Azor/Workcycles Transport bike from Dutchbikeseattle.com. Now that I have had it for a year and ridden it nearly every day, I thought I should write up a review.
First of all, this bike gets an awful lot of attention. I get complimented on it just about wherever I go. I have had strangers yell at me from across the street that they love my bike! It is not at all unusual for me to notice people stopping to admire it when it is locked outside a store. Last summer I was buying pads for a swamp cooler and the salesman started telling me about this beautiful bike he had seen parked at Time Market. After a few moments it became obvious he was describing my bike. So, it clearly has style.
It was also expensive. $1750.00 worth of expensive. That part was pretty hard for me to swallow.
As for the mechanics, I have gotten one flat tire, the second day I had the bike. It’s outfitted with Schwalbe Marathon tires that are supposed to be practically invincible. I hope so, because taking the wheels off of this bike, especially the rear wheel, is an ordeal. I’ve never done it and don’t ever want to. I should mention that my commute involves a short stretch of dirt in a place where the local kids go to break bottles. I daily ride over the glass fearlessly, so the Schwalbe’s have lived up to their reputation.
Other than that one flat tire, my kickstand came a little bit loose once and the small mudflap fell off the front fender. I had to adjust the shifter cable tension once with the thumb-screw thing. And I had to tighten the nut that holds the front light in position after it came a little loose. Other than that I have had no mechanical issues at all.
The bike employs the famous Dutch-bike upright riding style, which I like a lot. It makes the rider about as aerodynamic as a two-story barn, but the general riding experience is way more relaxed. When I get on my road bike I immediately start wondering why I am bent over in such a horrible position.
The basket is mounted directly to the frame, so it does not turn with the wheel. Anyone who has ridden with a handlebar-mounted basked will quickly understand why frame-mounting is an enormous improvement. I’ve carried a basket full of river rock in that front basket, and hardly noticed a thing.
It has eight speeds, internally geared. I use three of them. The lowest appears to be about 1:1.
You can lock the rear wheel with a clever lock that is mounted to the frame.
It has drum brakes, and a front generator hub powers front and rear lights. The rear stays on for a few minutes when you stop. The rear rack has some very clever bungee-cords that, unlike most bungee cords, do not threaten to snap and blind you. I also have a waterproof set of panniers that strap directly to the rack.
I don’t know how much this bike weighs but I will say that you would not want to carry it up a flight of stairs every day. Honestly, I don’t much notice the weight except when I am going up a hill (read: the 4th Avenue Tunnel) or starting from a dead stop. Once I get moving all I notice is how much I like riding this bike. I should say though that I have noticed that when I think I may have to ride all the way across town — say to River Road from downtown — I find myself riding the road bike to work. However, I’ve also ridden the Transport twelve miles at a stretch, and it takes longer but I don’t arrive any worse for the wear — in fact probably better, because I’ve been more comfortable along the way.
The convenience of having lights, a basket, and a lock all mounted to the bike is huge for me. I don’t really have to think about, or look for, anything when I get on the bike. And the full chaincase cover means I can be wearing whatever, including a suit, and not have to worry about getting grease marks on my clothes.
Finally, the components on this bike seem to be quite good. How long does it take to wear out a Brooks B-19 saddle? The thing is built like a tank, but it rolls like a Mercedes. I couldn’t be more pleased. It was worth the money.
Pedestrian deaths up, First Lady Michelle Obama cited as the cause
First Lady and pedestrian-killer, Michelle Obama.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Association reports that, for the first time in four years, pedestrian deaths are up. This is particularly notable because traffic fatalities as a whole have fallen eight percent in the last four years. According to the report, 1,891 pedestrians were killed in the first six months of 2010 (the last six months have apparently not yet been tallied).
But don’t worry, we won’t let the story get side-tracked into irrelevant issues like increasing safety for the community that is at risk. Here’s how the Washington Examiner reports the story:
First lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to get people to exercise outdoors might be a factor in an increase in the number of pedestrian deaths during the first half of last year, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
GHSA executive director Barbara Harsha said her organization doesn’t know why there were more deaths in the first six months of 2010 than in 2009, but the increase is notable because overall traffic fatalities went down 8 percent during this period, and the increase ends four straight years of steady declines in pedestrian deaths.
But the “get moving” movement, led by Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to eliminate childhood obesity, could be to blame, Harsha told The Washington Examiner.“There’s an emphasis these days to getting fit, and I think people doing that are more exposed to risk [of getting hit by a vehicle],” said Harsha, who conceded to having no scientific evidence that the Let’s Move campaign has led to an increase in walkers and runners, or deaths.
“This is all speculative,” Harsha said. “Obviously, further study is needed.”
The first lady’s office did not respond immediately Wednesday to a request for comment.
Is this a great country or what?
–Erik Ryberg
Thank you Sheriff Dupnik
Pima County Sheriff Dupnik had the following to say about the horrific shooting yesterday:
I think it’s time as a country that we need to do a little soul searching. Because it’s the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the tv business, and what we see on tv and how our youngsters are being raised.
When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
He is taking heat for that statement from Senator Kyl, who said that Dupnik’s comments had no place in a police briefing.
Let’s remember that Giffords’ opponent in last year’s election, Jesse Kelly, invited his supporters to “Get on Target for Victory in November — Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly,” and Sarah Palin offered a map with a gunsight target over Giffords’ district with a tweet urging her supports “Don’t Retreat, instead RELOAD.” And don’t get me started on Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh, who often “joke” about solving political differences by murdering their opponents and their opponents’ supporters. Or Sharon Angle, who nearly became a Nevada senator, and who called for people to exercise their “Second Amendment remedies” if the elections didn’t go her way.
And any regular reader of this blog is familiar with the anonymous comments sent to newspaper Websites that call for killing bicyclists. That kind of rhetoric isn’t funny, isn’t constructive, doesn’t belong in the polis, and its cowardice and repugnance need to be condemned more often.
So I’m here to thank Sheriff Dupnik for doing so in such a public fashion, and you can count me among the thousands of others in this city who are offering their condolences to all the victims of yesterday’s shooting and their families and friends. That includes the family of Mr. Loughner, who are also suffering this day.
Sheriff Dupnik’s address is 1750 E Benson Highway, Tucson, Arizona 85714. I sent him a note already.
–Erik Ryberg
New Year’s musings on our energy addiction
A recent New Yorker article about energy conservation has taken a lot of the wind out of my already drooping environmental sails. Now, before you fall straight asleep at the words “energy conservation,” consider the thesis of the article, which is: contrary to conventional belief, measures designed to conserve fossil fuels by improving energy efficiency actually have the effect of increasing our use of those fossil fuels.
In other words, when we force auto manufacturers to improve the fuel efficiency of their offerings, we invoke market forces that will cause more fuel, not less, to be consumed. Same with anything that increases energy efficiency, from light bulbs to steel production.
Sounds wacked, right? But consider, when you make the change to energy-efficient light bulbs, what have you done except decrease the amount of money you have to spend to achieve a particular quantity of light? At least after the initial outlay, you have made electricity cheaper. And what happens to services and products when their price falls? Consumption increases. QED.
An example from my own life is the solar modules I am about to have installed on my roof, at tremendous cost. Once they are up, my electricity is going to be essentially free. And what am I going to do with that money and free electricity? One thing I’m not going to do is freak out about leaving my computer on overnight, like I do now. And most likely I am going to use my extra cash to buy more stuff — most of which will probably have been assembled in China at huge human and environmental cost, and then wrapped in a mountain of plastic and shipped across the ocean to my door.
When you think about it, just about the only thing you can do with money that is not environmentally repugnant is burn it in your yard.
And so the earth graciously provides us with yet one more argument for fatalism.
–Erik Ryberg
Safety check
Here is an example of a bicyclist performing some basic safety checks of the sort that probably would have prevented the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Ajo Bikes (below) from breaking his arm.
Cool video, too.
–Erik Ryberg
Ouch! Half-million dollar judgment against Ajo Bikes for failing to tighten axle nut
Now, I don’t know a lot about this, but Ajo Bikes lost a case yesterday in Pima County Superior Court in which they were alleged to have failed to properly tighten a rear axle nut on a BMX bike. The rider suffered a concussion and a fractured arm. I am not aware of the full extent of his injuries, but those appear to be the big ones.
After a four-day jury trial, the rider was awarded over $500,000.00.
–Erik Ryberg
BICAS Art Auction this weekend!
Do I even need to say anything about this? The BICAS Art Auction is my No. 1 Favorite event of the year, and pieces like the one above by Troy Neiman are a big part of the reason. Yes that is a 100 lb chicken made almost entirely out of front derailleurs. And yes there will be more like it.
Anyway there is a preview show on Saturday night and the auction is Sunday from Nine PM to midnight. six to nine PM. It’s at the Old Market Inn at 403 N. 6th (pretty close to 6th Street and 6th Ave). This event, if you’ve never been, packs a real punch. There’s food, there’s music, there’s bikes, there’s puppet shows, and there’s lots and lots of people. And gobs of great holiday gift shopping opportunities too — everything from jewelry to photos, prints, sculpture, toys, and ingenious objects of indeterminate status. The show won’t disappoint. And of course, all proceeds go to BICAS.
I’ll see you there!
–Erik Ryberg