the bikescape podcast

This showed up on StreetsblogSF. It originates with NYCBike Maps. The video shows how New York is on the forefront of cutting-edge street design with its separated bike lanes, car-free pedestrian walk ways and plazas. If we can make it there, we can make it anywhere!

There will be an excellent podcast with former Bogata Columbia mayor Enrique Peñalosa eventually after I take care of some family issues, I promise! In the meantime, listen to this great NPR segment about biking in NY with The Bike Snob.

It's going down! July 25th 2pm Lake Merritt 468 Perkins St. You don't want to miss this!! its going to be off the chain!!!

Bikes 4 Life 2nd Annual Peace Bike Ride ending at Defremery Park 3pm 1651 Adeline St Oakland
in collaboration w/ 100 yr anniversary of Oakland Park & Rec (celebration, food, and entertainment)

for more info email admin@bikes4life.com
510-238-8080 ext. 310

After nearly three years of stalemate due to a court injunction, the San Francisco Bicycle Plan has its environmental impact report unanimously certified by the Planning Department and is adopted by the Municipal Transportation Agency.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition turned out over two hundred supporters for the MTA meeting to speak in favor of the plan. Friends of Bikescape, Nancy Botkin and Mike Smith joined me and my partner Karen Franklin to discuss how the meeting went and how bike advocacy has changed over the last decade. Interspersed in this informal discussion are audio clips from the meeting.




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Photo from the sfbc flickr pool by Rhonda Winter

While you wait for my take on last week's MTA meeting that approved the log stalled San Francisco Bicycle plan, here's an hour long round table discussion that aired this morning on KQED's Forum.

Guests were
• Charlie O'Hanlon, owner of Charlie's Place on 17th St. in San Francisco
• Jamie Whitaker, vice president of the Rincon Hill Neighborhood Association
• Judson True, media relations manager for the San Francisco MTA
• Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
• Rachel Gordon, reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle
• Rob Anderson, party to the litigation of the EIR, blogger and anti-bicycling activist

On June 26, 2009, the SFMTA Board unanimously voted to adopt the long delayed Bike Plan and gave the green light to 45 new bike lanes. This was the result of three years of intense SF Bicycle Coalition advocacy culminating with a very impressive show of grassroots support at the MTA meeting where over to hundred supporters showed up to speak.

The next step is to bring this to court and have the tree year long injunction lifted so that work can begin on doubling the number of bike lanes in the city.

Congratulations all around! Now that we're back on track let's start to think about what's next!

Courtesy of Urban Repairs.

Another year goes by and another bigger and better Bike to Work Day beats expectations. We visit the San Francisco City College Campus and chat with Gus from The Bikery. Then we bike across town to hand out goodies at the Chinatown energizer station where we meet San Francisco's only car-free supervisor, Board President David Chiu.

But its not all about bikes! It seems that across the nation, just when transit use is unprecedentedly high, fares are going up and service is getting cut. We go to protest SF's transit budget and meet with Supervisor John Avalos as we walk to confront MTA Director Nat Ford.

Also, we've got lots of news about upcoming events such as Sunday Streets in the Mission. I dropped in som audio from the last Sunday Streets event where we encountered the piano bike.




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Photo by Greg Z

Recently I was in Sacramento where coincidentally the Amgen Tour of California was holding its opening time trial. I stopped into the R-16 bar to have a few beers with some of my favorite bloggers. It was noisy. There was beer.

A visit with family offers a chance to report from Hong Kong. We visit the densest square kilometer on Earth then ride in bike paradise Lantau Island. Along the way, we meet Martin Turner of the Hong Kong Bicycle Alliance and stop in at the stylish RodaFixa bike shop.

Then back home in San Francisco, The Bicycle Coalition kicks off the Big 56 Campaign as the long awaited Bike Plan awakes from the court injunction.

Pictured: Brian and Woods from hkfixed

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From the Bike Commute Tips blog:

Coming to Sacramento for Valentines Day--and also the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California? Finish the day at the AToC Social Media Meetup. Join the inimitable Fritz (Cyclelicious, CommutebyBike), David Bernstein (The FredCast), Jonathan Tessler (Bicycle.net), Jon Winston (Bikescape), Paul Dorn (Bike Commute Tips Blog), and others this Saturday, February 14 at 7 p.m. at Bar R15 in Sacramento (15th and R Streets.)

This is a casual, no-host get together, meaning you're responsible for your own food and drinks. Some bicycle parking is available (one rack, nearby poles), so you may need to use your kickstand and self-lock your bike or leash it with a friend's bike. Theft danger is present, but not huge. To find us, look for cowbells, bike race media passes and paraphernalia, or helmets. No RSVP is necessary, but leave a comment if you think you can stop by.

During your visit to Sacramento, try to visit the new Bicycle Kitchen if you have time. And also try to take a ride on the American River Bike Trail, one of the premier bicycling facilities in the nation. The Amgen Tour prologue course will be open for riding at 11:30 a.m.; enjoy a ride on traffic free streets.

I'm on vacation visiting family in Hong Kong and I couldn't resist shooting some geeky transportation videos to post here. Bear in mind that these were shot on a cheap casio camera that I only just learned could be used for video. So its rough but hopefully illustrative of my uninformed impressions.

Where are the bikes, you ask? Stay tuned for a full on audio podcast to come some time in the next month.

Here are some off-the-cuff impressions of high density living, Hong Kong style in the upper crusty Mid Levels neighborhood



Here's a view of De Voeux Street taken from above on a pedestrian walkway



A ride on the MTR, the privately operated subway system which is more like a horizontal elevator than a train.



The MTR is always clean, cheap and efficient and the advertising is entertaining too!



If you have some time, the "ding ding" streetcars are a treat.



Here's a longer video from the shotgun seat on top as we trundle down De Voeux Street.



Some shaky video of the streets of Kowloon in the densest square mile on earth.

In this episode we welcome the legendary Gary Fisher to the show for a long, rambling chat. We talk about growing up in Marin County during the dawn of mountain biking, the growth of the industry he and his friends started. We also touch on the future of bicycling as the business gears up to tap the new markets that want bicycles for every day transportation and the massive infrastructure changes that will be necessary.

After the interview there's an update on the Octavia Blvd and Market Street intersection where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority want to remove a hard won bike lane.


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Photo courtesy Fisher Bikes

One overlooked advantage of the Obama win is that we are going to have the first non-suburban or rural president in recent memory. His years as an inner city community organizer tell us a lot about how he'll lead but underlying all of that is a deep understanding of how cities work and what makes them succeed or fail. Obviously transit, walkability and cycling are an integral part of urban living whereas parking lots and freeways invariably cause its downfall. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to me that our president can actually speak extemporaneously about my heroine Jane Jacobs and has even read her book. Even Biden seemed interested!

Of course, this video was shot during the campaign season. Now that Obama's headed for the White House, He's not speaking about a big infusion of money towards transit. Let's hope its just astute political gamesmanship! Go to his website and push for the things that will result in the successful life of great American Cities.

h/t to Beyond DC

Tim and Cindy Travis have been on the road on their bikes since 2001. They checked in with Bikescape when they passed through San Francisco. Here's the interview.

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Visit Tim and Cindy's website to stay in touch with their travels and order their books here. The first chapter of The Road That Has No End is available in audio format!

Bikescape is now a member of the Streetsblog Network!
Transportation for America is the antidote to the Freeway lobby.