From pmarmite at gmail.com Tue Oct 13 10:57:47 2009 From: pmarmite at gmail.com (Philip Morton) Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:57:47 -0700 Subject: [Bfbc-news] test - please ignore Message-ID: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.lmi.net/pipermail/bfbc-news/attachments/20091013/13fd8b12/attachment.html From hankr at earthlink.net Tue Oct 13 15:02:35 2009 From: hankr at earthlink.net (Hank) Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:02:35 -0400 Subject: [Bfbc-news] BERKELEY BICYCLING NEWS AND UPDATES--TUESDAY, OCT. 13, 2009 Message-ID: <000101ca4c50$df77b760$9e672620$@net> BERKELEY BICYCLING NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE BICYCLE-FRIENDLY BERKELEY COALITION (BFBC) TUESDAY, OCT. 13, 2009 Please see the end of this message for information about how to subscribe. Please note that this is an announcement list only (BFBC-News), not a discussion list. The end of this message also contains information about how to subscribe to BFBC's discussion list (BFBC-Talk). Items in this bulletin: 1. UC BERKELEY CAMPUS BICYCLE COMMITTEE MEETING, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14, 1:30-3:00 P.M. 2. BUS RAPID TRANSIT MEETING OF OCT. 17 CANCELLED-INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON BERKELEY'S PLANS 3. BERKELEY BICYCLE SUBCOMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING, THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 5-6:30 P.M. 4. BIKE BOULEVARDS ARE THE COMING THING-NOW IT'S SANTA ROSA 5. LOCAL CITY PLANNER HAS A VISION OF BICYCLE-FRIENDLY STREETS 6. BFBC IS SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS ___________________________________________________ 1. UC BERKELEY CAMPUS BICYCLE COMMITTEE MEETING, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14, 2-3:30 PM The next meeting of the UC Bicycle Committee is confirmed: Wednesday, Oct. 14 1:30-3:00 pm 370 University Hall For more information, contact Glenda Waugh Assistant to the Director Parking & Transportation 2150 Kittredge Street, # 5746 Berkeley, CA 94720-5746 phone: 510-643-6894 glwaugh at berkeley.edu 2. BUS RAPID TRANSIT MEETING OF OCT. 17 CANCELLED-INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON BERKELEY'S PLANS Bus Rapid Transit Oct 17 Public Workshop CANCELLED The City of Berkeley has released a major new report titled "BRT for Berkeley: A Proposal for Consideration," which presents the staff proposal for a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the proposed East Bay BRT project. The public workshop originally scheduled for Saturday, October 17, has been postponed, and there is no new date for an upcoming public workshop. For more information on the BRT project and Berkeley's plans for future meetings, go to http://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=27038. BFBC's statement on the LPA BFBC prepared a detailed statement on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), prior to the public workshop planned for October 17. You can read it here . 3. BERKELEY BICYCLE SUBCOMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING, THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 5-6:30 P.M. Join other Berkeley cyclists to talk about improving your cycling experience in Berkeley. The Berkeley Bicycle Subcommittee advises the Transportation Commission on matters related to cycling. City staff and volunteer commissioners need to hear from you. Interested? Come on out on Thurs., Oct. 22nd, 5-6:30 p.m., 1947 Center St., 3rd floor. If door is locked (after 5:30), call 510-981-4990. Questions, or for the agenda, email Marcy Greenhut (Chair) at imgreen07 at att.net. 4. BIKE BOULEVARDS ARE THE COMING THING-NOW IT'S SANTA ROSA Santa Rosa's first bike boulevard received high marks when it opened recently, but the 150 people who gathered to issue its first report card suggested more than a dozen changes they believe will make it better and safer. "It is starting to work, people (bicyclists and motorists) are feeling more comfortable in the street," city Traffic Engineer Jason Nutt said, summarizing some of the comments about the Humboldt Street project. The 1.5-mile, two-lane stretch of Humboldt between Lewis Road and Fifth Street was converted in mid-August into the city's first bike boulevard, a street shared equally by motorists and bicyclists. For the conversion, most stop signs were removed, traffic roundabouts were installed at four intersections, the roadway's center line was blacked out and dozens of signs and pavement markings were installed to alert those using the street of its shared purpose. To read more about it, go to http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091008/articles/910089868 5. LOCAL CITY PLANNER HAS A VISION OF BICYCLE-FRIENDLY STREETS Berkeley resident and city planner Daniel Parolek contributed the following article to the San Francisco Chronicle on Oct. 4, 2009. He has high praise for Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood and Berkeley's bike boulevards. Cars, bikes can coexist in vibrant cities The American neighborhood since World War II has been built on the back of the automobile. In some parts of the country, it's impossible even to run out for a gallon of milk without a car. The growing threat of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means we can't continue building like it's 1949. But the ubiquity of cars in our lives and our urban environments makes it unlikely that the automobile will disappear any time soon. One solution to this dilemma can be found in a number of great American neighborhoods, including Shaker Heights in Ohio and the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland. These places have room for cars. But they're not structured around them. By striking a delicate balance in their street design and overall layout, these places accommodate cars within attractive, walkable and bikable environments. The key point is coexistence. What can we do to create and reinforce environments that allow cars, bikes and pedestrians to coexist? We can figure out ways to safely mix them. There already are a number of useful models for safely accommodating bikes, pedestrians and cars in one system - some of them in the Bay Area. For instance, Berkeley's Bike Boulevard network incorporates uninterrupted routes that encourage bikes to use the whole road, giving them the same road rights as cars. It's safe enough that I use it to take my daughter to school. Many European cities take transport integration to a higher level. In the Netherlands, a popular street design known as the woonerf dramatically reduces speed limits for motor vehicles and opens up the entire street to pedestrians and cyclists, creating a friendly and interactive environment. The boulevards of Paris are another classic example of successful integration. Because there are access lanes at the side of the road in which cars move more slowly, and bikes and pedestrians have equal right of use, it's not uncommon to see a 6-year-old on a scooter on the same roadway that carries tens of thousands of cars and buses daily. The commonality in all these systems is that they accommodate cars without becoming defined by their presence. Unfortunately, a combination of car-centric parking requirements and one-way circulation in a number of U.S. cities has created unattractive, dysfunctional places that are intimidating for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate. In order to correct this imbalance, we need to start thinking of streets as the roots of communities, not just conduits for vehicles. Every city and town needs to rethink its street standards, its parking requirements and its goals and policies. It's not a small task. It's very possible for cars, bicycles and pedestrians to coexist in a vibrant urban environment. What's more, it makes economic sense: More and more people across the United States are expressing a desire to live in walkable communities. For the good of our cities, our environment and our quality of life, it's important that regulatory barriers to the creation of these places be removed. We need to redefine streets as important public spaces, give bicycles and pedestrians equal priority and prevent cars from driving the character of the places where we live and work. Daniel Parolek is the founder of Opticos Design Inc., an architecture and urban design firm committed to creating and reinforcing walkable, sustainable places. He is the co-author of "Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers." 6. BFBC IS SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition is seeking candidates for one-year terms on its board of directors. If you want to be part of making Berkeley one of the country's most bicycle-friendly cities, BFBC is the group for you. For the past 15 years BFBC has supported and promoted bicycle improvements in Berkeley and gathered input and ideas from local cyclists. For more information, please contact BFBC board member Hank Resnik at hankr at earthlink.net. ___________________________________________________ Please send any information items you want posted to this list to BFBC Bulletin Editor Hank Resnik at: hankr at earthlink.net Founded in 1994, the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC) is a charitable, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on improving conditions for bicycling in Berkeley as a means of everyday transportation and recreation. For more information about BFBC, go to our website: www.bfbc.org. BFBC maintains two e-mail lists that are open to anyone who subscribes. BFBC-Talk is a discussion list that addresses issues relevant to bicycling in Berkeley and the East Bay. To subscribe, send a message (can be blank) to bfbc-talk-subscribe at mailman.lmi.net. BFBC-News is an announcement list that provides regular updates, at least once a month, on news of interest to bicyclists in Berkeley and the East Bay. To subscribe, send a message (can be blank) to bfbc-news-subscribe at mailman.lmi.net. If you have received this bulletin via the BFBC-News list, you are already a member of that list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.lmi.net/pipermail/bfbc-news/attachments/20091013/1c208a5d/attachment-0001.html From pmorton at lmi.net Thu Oct 15 11:30:36 2009 From: pmorton at lmi.net (Phil Morton) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:30:36 -0700 Subject: [Bfbc-news] EBBC meeting 10/20. Wrong address for the Meridian. References: Message-ID: <4E2715F3-5C77-4C99-8675-97D752AD92E3@lmi.net> It's at 2050 University Avenue, not 250 University. -phil > The East Bay Bicycle Coalition is holding a casual, social general > monthly meeting for October at the Meridian Sports Cafe, 250 2050 > University Avenue in Berkeley on Tuesday, Oct 20, 7:30-9:30pm. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.lmi.net/pipermail/bfbc-news/attachments/20091015/34507d72/attachment.html