February 21, 20144 Comments on Bicycles bills for 2014 California legislature
Today is the deadline to introduce bills in the California legislature. As of this morning, more 300 bills have been introduced in the Senate and more than 550 have been introduced in the Assembly. Here are some bills I’ll be tracking for the 2014 legislative session in California.
February 13, 20141 Comment on Santa Clara Levi’s Stadium bicycle plan
The city of Santa Clara Stadium Authority, which manages the new 49ers stadium, published a draft Transportation Management and Operations Plan some time ago. I hear there’s a final plan available now, but I haven’t been able to find it. In any case, I’m told the bike plan part of the TMOP remains unchanged from the draft to the current version.
Here are some of the highlights from the bicycle plan.
February 11, 20142 Comments on Politics of transportation and public health
South Bay and Peninsula: a meeting to discuss transportation and public health.
Rollcoll reports on a meeting between the Partnership for Active Transportation with with House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis) today.
This Partnership was formed in 2012 to link the efforts of transportation organizations such as Rails-To-Trail with physician-backed groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association.
Public health officials have long understood the impact that our transportation system has on health. Communities near highways have higher rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. More motor vehicle traffic leads to more injuries and more death.
More recently, there’s more awareness that the built environment can impact our transportation choices which, in turn, impacts community health. Efforts such as the Partnership for Active Transportation increase this awareness among public health officials, leading to a new avenue for activism.
TransForm, Santa Clara County Public Health , and San Mateo County Public Health are hosting a Transportation Choices and Health Community Summit a week from Saturday on February 22, 2014 from 9 AM to 5:30 PM.
The Summit aims to foster deep community engagement and meaningful participation in transportation and land use planning processes. We’ll provide trainings on what’s at stake and how to effectively get involved with plans, projects, and policies, as well as accessible and interactive workshops on best practices. The conference also provides a space to connect with public officials, organizations, and community leaders from across the region and learn how to join the movement for better transportation choices and access for all.
To attend you must purchase a ticket from TransForm.
January 29, 20141 Comment on The Atlanta Half Inch Avalanche Bike Commute
Ask and you shall receive
I put out a call a little while ago for the obligatory “crazy cyclist on ice covered streets” news photo from Atlanta, and Janice in Georgia pointed me to Mike Weigand’s video showing his cyclocross bike commute through Atlanta yesterday morning. He commutes 6.5 miles. For the snow, he mounted his ultra grippy Grifo CX tires and ran them at 35 PSI. He and other Atlanta bike commuters report their commute took just a few minutes longer than usual.
January 24, 20142 Comments on Crossing Highway 101: Hillsdale Boulevard
The eight lane Highway 101 partitions the San Francisco Peninsula with an eight lane wall of traffic from San Jose to San Francisco. The Caltrain line with its 50,000 daily commuters runs to the west of 101. Businesses, jobs and residential areas can be on either side of the highway. Many of the three percent of Bay Area commuters who ride bikes must find a way to cross this highway.
Consider Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo, California, which is fairly typical of many 101 crossings. In this from Google Maps aerial view, Hillsdale crosses from the lower left to the upper right of this image.
January 17, 20141 Comment on San Diego County, motoring paradise
You might remember Cecelia Abadie, the Temecula woman who was cited for violating California’s mobile device law after she blew past CHP officer Keith Odle at 85 MPH in the right lane with her Toyota Prius.
That seems like clear evidence of impairment, right? Odle thought so, especially after she became argumentative when he lectured her to be careful when using Google Glass while driving.
San Diego County Traffic Commissioner John Blair disagrees, saying that Odle couldn’t know if Abadie was impaired by the Google Glass device. There’s reasonable doubt, so he threw out the ticket. Remember, Abadie passed to the right of Odle’s clearly marked black and white CHP vehicle. How can you miss that unless your focus is elsewhere?
Blair also dismissed the speeding ticket.
After she was cited but before the trial, Abadie continued to show gross disregard for safety by shooting photos while driving. When the odds finally catch up to her and she kills somebody, no doubt she’ll say how devastated she is and her express her remorse and then get off with the $100 fine for violating CVC 21453. Do you think she saw the pedestrian on the sidewalk as she shot this photo while driving to the airport?
This is the same court where Commissioner Larry Jones routinely bends over backwards to uphold citations written by San Diego Sheriff Deputies for traffic laws that do not exist. San Diego cyclists who are harassed with tickets by the Sheriff’s office are now advised to procedurally refuse to sign the stipulation to allow the commissioner to hear the trial. Then you will be sent to a court room with an elected judge.
You have a constitutional right to a judge (instead of a commissioner) when deciding contested issues of law or fact. These must be filed as soon as possible when you’re first assigned at arraignment to a particular commissioner or judge. Ask the name.
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. H/T to Judy Frankel for information regarding the process to see a judge vs a traffic commissioner. H/T also to Mari Lynch in Monterey.