Friday Feedbag and Quotable Links...

The first two quotes today date back a couple weeks, but there is some interesting stuff in linked stories if you didn't see them earlier.

First up, a look at a new walking American Revolution - "This calls for a close look at how people are either encouraged or discouraged from walking to work, schools, shops, parks and other destinations." 

Next, a story of how Vietnam is hoping to combat the problems associated with "car culture" by investing in transit in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City: "Once people get into a car, it's hard to get them out."



"The words 'bicycle,' and 'pedestrian' do not appear anywhere in the 2013 traffic study document." 
How can you possibly justify a traffic study in this day, especially one at a university campus (California Polytechnic University, Pomona), that does not take into account the requirements of bicyclists and pedestrians. Right out of the gate, any such document must be flawed. Even if you were only concerned with the movements of motor vehicles, any such movement is necessarily going to involve interactions with bicyclists and pedestrians. I will admit that I have not had the opportunity to read the document in question, nor even a link to where it might be available. On the other had I don't have any reason to not believe the cut and dry statement presented by the reporter in the article linked to above. The additional fact that Biking In LA's Ted Rogers also wrote about this yesterday, and went as far as contacting University officials, suggests the missing data is grossly real. This is not what I would ever have imagined following in the wake of the death of a student on a campus roadway.

Following the memorial gathering of family, friends, students, faculty and others concerned with campus safety, held in memory of Ivan Aguilar who was hit and killed by the driver of a car, I suggested that a true memorial would be real change, making conditions safer for all. Further, I suggested that this change would only come about if the campus community kept up the pressure, to not let university officials simply shrug the incident off as a tragic accident and maintain the status quo. All too often "laying low" until things quiet down proves to be an effective strategy. I won't imply that there is an active strategy of laying low (if you can be active while laying low), but If the Cal Poly Pomona community wants change they must continue to make themselves heard, they must impress upon university officials that their safety while traveling to, from, and around campus needs to be considered part and parcel with the university experience.

Meanwhile as bicycle use surges across the country, some vocal few continue along the same tired path of failing to see the bigger picture, leaving advocates no option but to drill salient facts through thick skulls: "Ron Burke ... sees 'little bike people' as a compliment, noting how little space we take up on the roadway, how little wear and tear we cause, and how little our facilities cost within the grand scheme of transportation spending."

Finally, "... cycling is booming across the United States, with the biggest gains coming from young people, women, and people of color getting on bikes."

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