If you already own a bicycle (a road or mountain bicycle perhaps), but you are unsure as to whether or not that bicycle is capable of handling the demands of the specific type of bicycle touring you wish to conduct, please leave a comment below describing your situation.

In your comment, please tell me:

• What type of bicycle you currently have (Make, model, year and condition).
• What type of bicycle tour you are planning to conduct (There are 5 major types of bicycle tours. See this article for more information).
• Where in the world you are planning to go on your bicycle tour.
• How much gear you plan to carry on your travels.
• Whether or not you plan to camp or cook your own food while you are on tour.
• And what type of road conditions you will be covering on your bike tour (For example: paved roads, gravel fire roads, rocky single-track trails, etc.)

After leaving your comment below, I will reply at my earliest possible convenience with an opinion as to whether or not the bicycle you currently have can be used on your upcoming bicycle tour or whether you need to purchase a touring-specific bicycle that is better designed for the type of bicycle tour that you have in mind.

For additional assistance, please see: The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles

Eddie Solis leaves the Metro Red Line, which serves as one part of his hour-long commute from his day job in Hollywood to his home in Boyle Heights. Much of the inspiration for his band It's Casual comes from his observations as a car-free bus and subway rider, and a skateboarder. Photo courtesy of Eddie Solis

A few weeks ago, the hardcore band It’s Casual posted “The Red Line” music video on Youtube and quickly caught the attention of local and national blogs for it’s simple yet creative critique of Los Angeles freeways. A resident of Boyle Heights, guitarist and vocalist Eddie Solis sat down with Streetsblog to talk about how his car-free lifestyle inspires his music and how he encounters the smell of Boyle Heights tortilla factories on his morning walks.

You do a lot of music that’s very transit oriented; can you explain why you went that route?

Sometimes I think there’s a lot of content out there that’s too, I want to say, too fiction. Kind of make believe. And I notice all my favorite music that hits home to me in my heart and that I kind of step back and see these bands still going… are bands that write timeless music with timeless contact that basically come from the truth of actual events and someone’s perspective. So I said I really want to find an avenue and report on it. And I go, wait, you know what, my daily commute. I see LA different because I take the bus and subway everywhere. And the freeways are just sitting there, and people are in their cars just frustrated about it, but I’m just like sightseeing everyday. So I took that concept and said, “You know what, I’m basically going to report on what I see and interpret it.”

If only it could be like this...

THE MAN WHO LIVED ON HIS BIKE from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

Blumenauer does not take attacks
on bicycling lightly.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

As arguably the most bike and transit-sensitive member of the U.S. Congress, Earl Blumenauer has had a trying week.

Yesterday, the widely-maligned House transportation bill, a bill that eliminates the Safe Routes to School program and basically strips out all of the pro-bike provisions, moved through a marathon hearing and was passed out of committee this morning. Also this morning, Blumenauer saw the House Ways and Means committee debate — and then pass — a bill that severs the 30-year link between gas tax revenue and transit funding.

"If we do it right I think we'll come out of this stronger. If not, it could really complicate the next two years."

Reflecting on the actions of his Republican colleagues over the past two days, Blumenauer said, "I don't think they had a clue about what they were doing." While he was understandably baffled at what has transpired, he's already thinking ahead to what this means to the national bicycling movement.

The way Blumenauer sees, the direct threats to bicycling and transit should galvanize a nationwide response. "We're going to see if the networks we've been building around the country translate into something," he said.

"If we do it right," he added, "I think we'll come out of this stronger. If not, it could really complicate the next two years."

What does "doing it right" mean exactly? I asked...

"Now's the time to put the hammer down."

While the news from the Hill was troubling, Blumenauer pointed to the vast coalition of support that came together on very short notice to oppose the transit funding provision. He sees that as a very good sign:

"We had representatives of over 600 individuals and groups from the Chamber of Commerce to the Sierra Club... For the first time in history we are part of a very impressive, broad coalition that is all pulling in the same direction. We've got an administration that has been the most supportive in history and we've got facts on the ground. The work that has been done with the cycling community, to broaden the base, to deal with things like economic development and Safe Routes to School, it's all there...

It's a chance for us not just to beat back this bad legislation, but to educate elected officials."

Blumenauer then told a story (as politicians often do):

"I was in North Carolina a few weeks ago to do some events around livability... In the middle of the morning and with just one weeks' notice, there was a packed room in Durham for a talk about transportation and bicycling... There were business people, local officials, cycling activists... I think it's safe to say it really impressed my colleague [House Rep David Price (D-NC)]... He was really taken aback. He couldn't believe the energy and the interest, and this happens nearly everywhere we go.. it's gone viral."

Now Blumenauer says it's the perfect time to take that support and put it into action:

"This is the time! This is the time to take our game up a step, to make people realize that bashing cycling and pedestrians activities isn't a freebie but there are costs and consequences... That a community doesn't work without transit, walking, and biking."

Blumenauer is already strategizing, meeting with stakeholders, and prepping for a possible vote on the House transportation bill which he says could come within the next weeks. When it does come up for a vote, he figures, "There's an outside chance we could defeat it on the floor."

What's at stake for the U.S. bike movement? "This is chance to prove that the movement is real," said Blumenauer, "There have been a couple of times when they attacked Planned Parenthood and public broadcasting and they got their nose bloody. I think there's an opportunity for us to come out stronger. I think it's a springboard."

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The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Two passengers, including a pregnant teenager, were killed when a driver crashed into a concrete pillar on the Major Deegan Expressway. The driver also died and two others passengers were seriously injured. Photo: Daily News

Fatal Crashes (5 killed this week, 16 this year, 3 drivers charged*)

• Grant City: Colleen Mallon Dizeo, 48, Dies From Injuries After Truck Driver Runs Her Down; Police: Death Appears Accidental (Advance)
• Major Deegan Expressway: Daniela Abreu, 16; Jose Henriquez, 22; Eduardo Nunez, 30, Killed, Two Others Critically Injured in High-Speed Crash (News, Post)
• UES: 31-Year-Old Passenger Killed By Hit-and-Run Driver on FDR Drive (DNA)

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

• Sunset Park: Hit-and-Run Driver Critically Injures Pedestrian; Driver Later Turns Self In (News 1, 2)
• Jamaica: Pedestrian in Serious Condition After Driver Hits Him (DNA)
• Hudson Square: Cyclist Seriously Injured After Hitting Lane Divider Near Holland Tunnel (DNA)
• Forest Hills: Several Injured in Two-Car Crash on Jackie Robinson Parkway (Times Ledger)
• Williamsbridge: Pedestrian Struck Near Bronx River Parkway (DNA)
• Bulls Head: Driver Hospitalized With Life-Threatening Injuries After Crashing Into Pole (Advance)
• Greenpoint: Photos: Another Crash on McGuinness Blvd. (NY Shitty)
• SI: Police Arrest Four for DWI, One After She Crashed Into Fence, Parked Car (Advance)
• Lower Manhattan: Van Catchs Fire in Foley Square (DNA)

A 47-year-old pedestrian was seriously by a hit-and-run driver in Sunset Park and fled. The driver later surrendered to police and is charged with leaving the scene. Photo: Daily News

In the Region, Out of Town

• Mahwah, NJ: Rockland County Man Dies From Injuries in Head-On Collision (AP)
• Yonkers, NY: 89-Year-Old Pedestrian Hospitalized After Being Struck By Driver (LoHud)
• Highland, NY: Driver Killed After Hitting Embankment, Overturning Car (Poughkeepsire Journal)
• New Haven, CT: Police Chase Ends With Car Crashing Through House, Critically Injuring Resident (Hartford Courant)
• Gainesville, FL: Ten Injured, 18 Killed in Multi-Vehicle Highway Crash Blamed on Fog, Smoke (News)

Following Up

• Security Video of Fatal Hit-and-Run Doesn’t Match NYPD Descriptions (Streetsblog)
• Crossing Time Where 12-Year-Old Dashane Santana Was Run Down One of the City’s Shortest (DNA)
• Accused Drunk Driver Who Killed 6-Year-Old Queens Girl Sentenced to Probation, Avoids Prison Time (News, Streetsblog)
• Wrong-Way Driver Pleads Guilty to Driving Drunk in Fatal Westchester Crash; Faces Three to Nine Years in Prison (Post)
• Boxer Who Survived Cross-Bronx Expressway Crash Recovers from Coma, Returns Home (News)
• Man Killed on SI Expressway Apparently Left There by NYPD After Car Breakdown (Advance)

* Based on latest available reports

The House has finished marking up its transportation bill in what shaped up to be a very Groundhog Day-esque ordeal of unending, repetitive partisan theater (if you missed it, follow coverage on twitter).

Spoiler alert. Photo: TruckinWeb

The centerpiece was yesterday’s/last night’s/this morning’s Transportation & Infrastructure committee markup, where members debated more than 80 amendments for over 18 hours before finally approving Chairman Mica’s bill, 29-24, at about 3:00 a.m. Not one Democrat voted for it, and only one Republican — Tom Petri of Wisconsin — voted against it. Energy and financing titles were also approved by their respective committees.

Streetsblog has already pointed out that there’s plenty to dislike in the bill, especially for pedestrians, cyclists, city-dwellers, transit riders, and the environmentally-conscious. But believe it or not, there are a few groups out there who still like this bill a whole lot. In fact, at today’s markup in the Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Dave Camp submitted for the record a letter of support from over 50 organizations.

It’s worth noting that the list of supporters is getting smaller. The T&I bill may have enjoyed the support of AASHTO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but both have now opposed the Ways & Means committee’s financing title. In fact, over 600 organizations have voiced their opposition to that particular bill. However, there are still some hold-outs.

For starters, there’s trucking. Bill Graves, the American Trucking Associations’ CEO, called the bill “a major step forward, not just for trucking, but for all users of our transportation system.” Graves was disappointed when new rules allowing longer, heavier trucks were put off pending further study, saying, “We hope that Congress will see that wasting taxpayer money on further study is not necessary and as this legislation moves forward, enacts these long overdue reforms.”

Then there’s the retail sector. David French, the National Retail Federation’s VP for Government Relations, has said, “Our neglected transportation system has created bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the supply chain that stifle U.S. companies’ ability to grow.” Those “inefficencies” could refer to the same regulations the trucking industry is excited about. But bigger trucks (and longer driver hours, another pet issue of the trucking industry) would mainly benefit the largest shippers — the WalMarts, Home Depots and Best Buys.

And then there is oil industry, who would be able to drill far more freely in Alaska and off the American coast. Speaker Boehner’s inclusion of the Keystone XL pipeline makes the bill even more appealing to the petroleum industry. American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard believes that most Americans “know America will need more oil. They see the benefits of importing more from Canada while also producing more at home… [Keystone XL] is essential to our nation’s energy future.”

So, more drilling (oil companies make money) and lax regulations (trucking industry makes money) mean slightly lower shipping costs (mega-retailers make money). Big Oil, Big Truck, and Big Box — whose business models each depend on wider highways and sprawl — are the major beneficiaries of this bill.

Crown Point is a popular biking destination.
(Photo: Carye Bye)

For four months beginning this fall, a Federal Highway Administration project in the Columbia River Gorge will come with a road closure that will prohibit vehicle access — including bikes — to popular bicycling routes on the Historic Columbia River Highway (HCRH).

The Crown Point Viaduct Project will replace the aging, 600-foot long "half-bridge" that supports the sidewalk around Vista House, a popular viewpoint and destination. The project area also includes restoration to portions of the HCRH between Larch Mountain Road and Crown Point, and between Crown Point and Latourell Falls. (Fun trivia: The HCRH is one of only two roads in the United States designated as a National Historic Landmark, a National Scenic Byway, and a National Historic District.)

The viaduct.
(Photo: ODOT)

Due to construction, a portion of the road will be closed to all vehicles (that means bikes too) from September 4th through December 31st of this year. Here are the specifics on the two closures that impact bike access:

September 4 - September 30, 2012: From Crown Point to Latourell Falls, the historic highway will be closed to all vehicles, including bicycles

October 1 - December 31, 2012: From its intersection with Larch Mountain Road to Latourell Falls, the historic highway will be closed to all vehicles, including bicycles.

The project is slated to begin in August, so stay tuned to the official project website for the latest info about road closures and other issues.

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Boston and New York are vying for more than just a Super Bowl title this weekend. These two cities are also competing to be the best in the country when it comes to other foot-powered pursuits--specifically bicycling and walking.

In a new report, Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, the Alliance for Biking & Walking ranks the 51 largest U.S. cities (and all 50 states) on bicycling and walking levels, safety, funding and other factors. Patriots fans can cheer Boston's No. 1 rating for bicycling and walking levels--but Giants fans can take heart that New York is No. 5. (Cowboys fans, take note: Dallas and Fort Worth pull up the rear at 49th and 51st, respectively.)

In addition to the helpful city and state rankings, the report is packed with other useful information. For example, did you know the number of commuters who bicycle to work nationwide increased by 57 percent from 2000 to 2009? Or that seniors are the most vulnerable group of bicyclists and pedestrians? Or that bicycling and walking projects create almost twice as many jobs as highway projects for each $1 million spent?

The report also highlights the health benefits of active transportation-human-powered mobility--showing that states with the highest rates of bicycling and walking have some of the lowest rates of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.

"The benchmarking report shows that biking and walking are smart solutions to many of our country's most pressing challenges when it comes to transportation, job creation and health," says Jeffrey Miller, president of the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

The release of the report comes just as Congress takes up the next federal transportation bill, which dictates how billions of tax dollars will be spent in the next few years. The study reveals that, although 12 percent of all trips in the United States are by bike or foot, less than 2 percent of federal transportation spending goes to pedestrian and bicycle projects-a measly $2.17 per capita.

These findings offer a powerful complement to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) new report: Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers: Walking and Bicycling in Small Towns and Rural America. The report debunks the myth that walking and bicycling are a "big city" phenomenon--and that rural Americans can't benefit substantially from investment in bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

To find out how your city or state ranks, visit www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/benchmarking. You can also explore an interactive tool as part of Beyond Urban Centers that allows you to learn more about your community, including local bicycle infrastructure, congressional districts, bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and local stories of active transportation.

Benchmarking cover courtesy of Alliance for Biking & Walking.  

In case you’re just tuning in, all that taxpayer-subsidized parking built for the new Yankee Stadium has failed beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.

Yankee Stadium parking in its natural state. Photo: Daily News

In today’s Daily News, Juan Gonzalez reports that Bronx Parking Development Company LLC is expected to default this year on the $200+ million in triple-tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York City Industrial Development Agency, the financing arm of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Since the threat of default has loomed for some time now, let’s look at the more recent developments cited by Gonzalez.

The promise of jobs to be created by the garages was never that grand to begin with — 12 full-time and 70 part-time positions, with an average wage of $11 an hour. But Bronx Parking LLC is so desperate for cash, writes Gonzalez, that “the company plans to slash the salaries of a handful of full-time garage employees and to reduce the number of game-day parking attendants from 76 to 57.”

“The people who continue to pay the price for this thing are the kids who lost their park space, and now the handful of people who got jobs and are going to lose them,” says Bettina Damiani, project director of Good Jobs New York, an NGO that has tracked the stadium project from its inception.

On top of that, a proposal to lure a hotel to complement or replace the garages has apparently cratered after four developers who expressed interest in the deal wanted “major city subsidies.” Gonzalez reports that Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who inherited the stadium parking disaster from his predecessor Adolfo Carrion, “has been pressing City Hall to come up with an emergency plan to restructure the bonds, tear down some of the garages, and replace them with low-income housing.”

How bad is it for Bronx Parking LLC? According to Gonzalez its garages are 38 percent full on Yankee game days. When the stadium is idle, they have a total of 70 regular customers for 9,000 spaces.

On the other hand, from a neighborhood perspective about the only thing worse than a bunch of empty garages would be a bunch of full garages, a silver lining brought about by malfeasance on the part of the IDA, which approved the parking deal before conducting an economic feasibility study. Also, aides to Mayor Bloomberg tell Gonzalez that neither the city nor the IDA is responsible for backing the bonds.

The garages, however, were exempted from rent and taxes unless they turned a profit, so taxpayers probably shouldn’t expect a return on their investment. More than anything, Damiani sees those empty buildings as an ugly monument to the misplaced priorities of the Bloomberg administration, whose legacy of environmental stewardship and progressive transportation policies will be undercut by acres of new parking across the city.

“This community didn’t need thousands of parking spots,” says Damiani. “I have run out of adjectives to describe how bad this is.”

Screenshot

I've got some exciting news about the continued evolution of the annual BikeCraft event.

You'll recall this year I formally handed over the event to Aaron Kaffen and Amos Hunter after running it for six years (sniff, sniff). Amos and Aaron took it to a whole new level and the event was really solid. Now they're moving forward on the next evolution of BikeCraft — turning it into a curated online marketplace.

Taking the people and product that have made BikeCraft a success through the years and putting them online is something I've wanted to do almost since Day One. Since BikeCraft started in 2005, Etsy has redefined the online marketplace for small, independent makers. Doing something similar (but better!) with BikeCraft is a natural fit.

Here's how Aaron describes it:

"The new site will be an online marketplace where folks everywhere can browse, learn about and buy the kind of unique, high-quality, handmade bike-related goodies that Portlanders have been finding at BikeCraft events for years."

Aaron and Amos haven't revealed many details yet; but they're busy developing the new site and refining their list of vendors. A new URL, BikeCraftOnline.com has been established and they will announce an official launch date in the next few weeks.

They're still interested in hearing from potential vendors. Drop them a line at info [at] bikecraftonline [dot] com if you'd like to be one. You can also sign up via the new site to get the latest news about the launch.

Knowing Aaron and Amos, this news makes me excited about the future of BikeCraft. Stay tuned!

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SW Broadway in downtown Beaverton might soon look like this.
(Conceptual rendering by the City of Beaverton)

The City of Beaverton and the Beaverton Downtown Association are in the process of redesigning SW Broadway, the street that runs through the heart of downtown Beaverton. The goal of the redesign (one element of their larger Civic Plan) is to make Broadway "more pedestrian, bike, and business friendly."

Last month, the city held two walking tours of downtown and collected thoughts on what should be changed. Next week they're having a workshop to showcase specific design elements developed using those ideas.

The redesign focuses on the section of Broadway between Watson Avenue and Hall Boulevard. It includes improvements to pedestrian and bicycle access and may create a plaza or another type of car-free public space.

The full list of potential improvements includes:

• Sidewalk improvements
• Pedestrian crossings
• Street furniture
• Pavement treatments
• Curb extensions
• Landscaping and street trees
• Bollards
• Public plazas

Anyone interested in the project should plan to come to next week's design workshop. It takes place on February 6th from 6pm to 8pm at the Beaverton History Center.

More information about the project is available at:
BeavertonOregon.gov/Broadway

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Later today, the application period opens for the "Green Lane Project," a promising new initiative funded by national advocacy org Bikes Belong.

The project's aim is to help build "world-class cycling networks" in a select group of U.S. cities that are "poised to make significant progress over the next two years in installing cycle tracks and related improvements." To spur the development of high-quality bikeways, Bikes Belong will funnel 70% of their annual grant budget (about $140,000) and provide technical assistance and other resources to the selected cities (study trips are scheduled for Denmark, New York City, and the Netherlands). Cities that are chosen will sign a contract with Bikes Belong committing themselves to the partnership.

Only six cities will be chosen to participate, and you can bet the competition will be fierce.

"We have had conversations with Portland transportation folks and the mayor's office, and look forward to a strong application from the City of Portland."
— Martha Roskowski, Green Lane Project

In order to be selected, Bikes Belong says a city must "have a plan or vision that is supported by elected officials, leading staff, and the community." It's also not just about which city is #1 when it comes to biking. The team behind the project says the cities chosen will range from "known leaders" to ones that are "just embarking on making space for bikes."

Will Portland get a spot on this train? We're certainly a "known leader," but we've stalled when it comes to building world-class urban bikeways. Also, with a new Mayor and new City Commissioners set to take the helm, we need all the momentum and support we can get.

I haven't heard back from Mayor Adams' office or sources at PBOT, but Green Lane Project director Martha Roskowski says they've had conversations with them and that she's, "looking forward to a strong application from the City of Portland."

BTA Executive Director Rob Sadowsky says his organization is "excited about the potential" of Portland becoming one of the focus cities. "The BTA strongly urges the City to get on board," he shared via email this morning. "We need leadership at the local level, now more than ever, to showcase the changes that safe protected bicycle lanes bring to cities."

Other cities sure to vie for a spot will be Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York City and Minneapolis.

Roskowski says they'll make decisions by the end of March. Learn more about the project on the official website and watch the video below...

Green Lane Project from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

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Watch here without subtitles.

After sponsoring Streetfilms of the first two CicLAvias, the open streets festival in Los Angeles based on Bogota’s Ciclovia, Streetsblog LA faced a dilemma: How can we continue to cover this event that draws over a hundred thousand Angelenos to the streets?  The answer: Make a Streetfilm that was accessible to Southern California’s large Spanish-speaking population.

¡Viva CicLAvia! consists of two parts. First, narrator Mara Corina Arellano Colin explains the history and concept of Los Angeles’s amazing open streets party, including footage and photos from similar festivals in Bogota, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Brussels and Miami. While the narration is a great explanation of the benefits and culture of CicLAvia, the soul of Social Impact Consulting’s efforts are the interviews with participants.

The next five minutes is a parade of Spanish speakers professing their love of CicLAvia.  Whether it’s the team from South Central’s Mendez Bike Shop, the traffic officer spreading his arms while explaining Viva CicLAvia, or Hollywood’s City Councilman Eric Garcetti; the broad smiles in the Southern California sun give a message in any language.  Giving people more chances to play in the sun is good for Los Angeles.

This Streetfilm marked another first for Streetfilms, a directly reader supported video.  L.A. Streetsblog asked its readers if they wanted a Spanish language film on CicLAvia, and when they said yes, the readers were challenged through a Kick Starter campaign to fund the film.  Needless to say, the readers came through.

Carol Barker lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she enjoys bicycle commuting and joy riding year round. She is a tutor and school crossing guard who shares her bicycle love and general rebellion against the wife-and-mom-of-suburbia stereotype at her blog AbbyNormal. It was the first thing I saw and the only thing I remember from [...]

New markings to warn people of the harsh bump as you roll onto the floating ramps on the Eastbank Esplanade.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portland Parks & Recreation has added new pavement markings on the Eastbank Esplanade floating ramps to warn people on bikes to prepare for a bump. The new markings are part of a larger campaign aimed at improving safety of path users.

Back in July of 2010, we brought attention to these jarring bumps after hearing about a friend who had crashed after hitting them. Shortly after that story ran, Parks vowed to evaluate the situation and six months later they installed a less severe "transition strip" to flatten the bumps.

Now Parks has put down a series of pavement markings with the word "BUMP" along with white stripes across the path. I took a closer look at them yesterday and they seem to have an impact. People were noticeably grabbing brakes and slowing down as they approached...

Parks spokesman Mark Ross says the new markings were installed in response to "concerns raised by the Portland bike community," and are part of a larger effort to improve traffic safety on both the Esplanade and in Waterfront Park.

New signs coming soon.

"We are working in collaboration with PBOT on all of these improvements," said Ross via email this morning. He added that Parks is collaborating with bike safety experts at PBOT along with a traffic engineer to make sure the markings are consistent with what folks see on the street."

Other elements of the biking and walking safety effort will include new signs targeted at people on bikes and more pavement markings at "a few key intersections." The work is expected to be completed by this spring.

Have you seen the "Bump" markings? We'd love to know what you think about them.

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The House Ways and Means committee has just passed a bill that would kick transit out of the Highway Trust Fund, casting aside a 30-year history of providing a dedicated funding source for federal transit programs. Transit instead would be funded by a transfer from the general fund, which would have to be offset by cuts elsewhere to avoid raising the deficit. As US PIRG’s Dan Smith said yesterday, this is like saying that transit funding will come from the Tooth Fairy.

House Ways & Means members Dave Camp (R-WI) and Sander Levin (D-MI) do not see eye to eye on funding transit. Photo: Zimbio

The attack on transit has drawn opposition from an unprecedentedly broad coalition of over 600 groups, including many that do not often find themselves on the same side of an issue. Opponents of the bill include noted transit advocates APTA and T4America, and traditionally pro-highway groups such as AASHTO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The conservative Club for Growth has even gone so far as to make the entire House transportation package a key vote, meaning members will be rewarded for opposing the bill. Rep. John Campbell has already said he has changed his position on the package, and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) laughed at the prospect of getting a positive rating from the Club for Growth for “the first time in a while.”

An amendment proposed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, which would have removed the provision altering transit’s revenue source, was defeated along party lines during mark up this morning. However, two Republicans — Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and Vern Buchanan of Florida — broke ranks with their party and voted against the underlying bill. The bill passed anyway by a vote of 20-17.

Despite repeated attempts by Republicans to present the bill as placing transit funding on surer footing, the bill drew vocal opposition from Democrats such as ranking member Sander Levin, who said it “undermines the very structure of the Highway Trust Fund.” Blumenauer said the bill relied on “fantasy accounting” to justify a $40 billion transfer from the general fund to cover transit, and McDermott bemoaned the lack of long-term thinking behind the bill.

Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York even asked Chairman Dave Camp if there is a precedent for the Ways and Means Committee to demand a complete restart of transportation authorization efforts. When informed that there was not, Rangel responded, “Well, you can be a leader, then.”

The letter from coalition members opposing the Ways and Means bill is after the jump.

Talking heads frequently talk up grand visions of people happily traveling by bike accompanied by colorful visualizations which bike bloggers like me happily repeat. More often than not, the dream fades as it collides headlong with political and economic reality.

Steve Vance @ GRID Chicago helps hold people accountable to their promises with his Bike Plan Tracker for Chicago. The tracker displays the status of various elements of Chicago’s bike plan. Steve also breaks the plan elements into chapters and themes for quick and easy reference, with detailed drill downs available for each aspect of the plan. It’s an amazing level of work.

Steve also has a notion to spread this concept nationwide. The first thing I thought of is San Francisco’s proposed bike share, which has been promised for “next year” since at least 2007.

Go visit –> Chicago Bike Plan Tracker.

Related posts:

1. Chicago bike parking locations
2. Tour of California tour tracker
3. Bicycle GPS tracker

Today’s Jim Dwyer column in the New York Times is a nice little encapsulation of everything that can go wrong when NYC’s press corps turns its attention to matters of transportation.

The slug for the story on the metro section homepage reads: “New York often resorts to revenue-raising expedients like a lucrative new campaign to keep drivers on Broadway below Houston Street from venturing into the bus lane.”

Dwyer’s piece then uses the enforcement of the Broadway bus lane in lower Manhattan as a kind of poster child for what he sees as an excessive reliance on fines and fees in the city budget. He writes: “Whatever the virtues of bus lanes, and there are many, this one is a trap — a lucrative one.”

Dwyer’s source for claiming that the Broadway bus lane is a “trap”? Well, he doesn’t quote any transit planners with the MTA or NYC DOT, which implemented bus improvements on Broadway in 2007. He doesn’t quote any bus drivers familiar with the route. He doesn’t turn to any of the 41,000 or so passengers who ride the New York City Transit buses that ply Broadway every weekday. Instead he cites a cop who “concedes that traffic would be backed up to 14th Street if some drivers did not make their way into that Broadway bus lane.”

The other expert who turns up at the tail end of Dwyer’s piece is an anonymous state official who, “as it happens,” was pulled over for driving in the bus lane and “managed to wiggle out of the ticket.” A member of the placarded class who got busted but didn’t have to pay. Exactly the type of credible source Times readers should trust to render judgment on transportation policy. The official says of the Broadway lane: “It goes against the intent of bus lanes because it causes congestion.”

And here I thought the intent of bus lanes was to help bus passengers reach their destinations quicker. But who needs transit planners, bus drivers, and bus riders to weigh in on a bus lane when cops and anonymous state officials who drive in the bus lane are so generous with their expertise?

Go back a few years in the Times’ archive, and there’s a great explanation for why Broadway needs bus lane enforcement. From a Willie Neuman story in 2007:

As the bus continued south on Broadway, the driver pointed to the lane next to the curb, which was marked on the pavement as a bus lane. Despite that, the lane was mostly full of parked cars, most of them with city-issued placards on the dash, showing they were used by law enforcement personnel.

More than one bus stop was blocked with parked cars as well, some with placards, others with drivers sitting at the wheel. While the cars with placards are allowed to use the bus lane under the current rules, parking in a bus stop is prohibited.

“This is always like this,” the bus driver said. “And you know what’s missing? There are no ticket agents down here.”

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• Models Who Can Ride Bikes — The PDX Bicycle Show

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Finally, a scientific explanation for the feeling of depression I get from suburban environments dominated by Applebee’s, OfficeMax and eight-lane thoroughfares.

Makes me happy just looking at it. Photo: NRDC Switchboard

According to a new study published in Urban Affairs Review, urban design can have a measurable effect on how people feel. Researchers at the University of West Virginia and the University of South Carolina Upstate examined levels of self-reported happiness in 10 major cities. They found that quality urban environments do indeed contribute to happiness among residents.

“People are often connected to quality places that are cultural and distinctive,” the authors wrote. “Not all neighborhoods are the same. Some are designed and built to foster or enable connections. Other are built to discourage them (e.g., a gated model) or devolve to become places that are antisocial because of crime or other negative behaviors.”

Kaid Benfield at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Switchboard blog expanded on the findings:

The study examined a number of questions directly related to the built environment, including the convenience of public transportation, the ease of access to shops, the presence of parks and sports facilities, the ease of access to cultural and entertainment facilities, and the presence of libraries. All were found to correlate significantly with happiness, with convenient public transportation and easy access to cultural and leisure facilities showing the strongest correlation.

The statistical analysis also included questions related to urban environmental quality apart from cities’ built form, and produced additional significant correlations. Among these, the perception of living in a beautiful city had the strongest correlation with happiness.

So I guess that wouldn’t include the ubiquitous big box retail centers that haunt my dreams …

Elsewhere on the Network today: Greater Greater Washington reports that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has called to end the state’s six percent sales tax exemption for gasoline. The Austin Contrarian explains why the region’s plan to add two congestion-priced lanes to a local freeway is a win from an equity perspective. And the Active Transporation Alliance says congressional leaders have “declared war on transit” with HR 3854, a bill that would eliminate dedicated funding for public transportation.