January 2013 - Stop and Move

Three area trails to get a little longer

On January 30, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Even though the Measure C website welcomes you with a large graphic promising miles of new trails, you’ll find that the Fresno-area trail system has grown remarkably little over the past decade (I’ll be soon posting an interesting map from the 70’s to compare).

For 2013, there’s nothing major in the work, but three small projects have recently made their way through the Fresno and Clovis councils which should make trail use slightly better. These three projects don’t have exact build dates, but I would expect the first two to be useable by summer and the third by the end of the year. I will discuss them in the order they appeared before the councils. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : ADA cyclist fresno fresno pd hit and run jaywalking pedestrian pedestrian killed streetlights streets traffic light victim14 Comments

An exercise in blaming the victim

On January 28, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I perked up last month when I saw that the Fresno Bee had devoted an entire article to the epidemic of vehicle violence. I had recently noted that the Bee is littered with stories about deaths, injuries and tragedy on our streets ever day, and was excited about something that may contain an actual investigation, and not just a retyping of the police logs.

The article that actually took a look into the epidemic is called Pedestrian deaths a tragic trend in Fresno.

Unlike last months excellent LA Weekly piece on the extraordinary amount of hit and runs in Los Angeles, and the completely ineffective work by police departments to stop this, the Fresno Bee story took a different angle: how to blame the pedestrian. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : autoblog blackbeards electric vehicle ev charging station1 Comment

Fresno’s first public EV charging station still not built

On January 26, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I was pleased to read six months ago that Blackbeard’s would be installing the first real public electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Fresno, along with a solar panel canopy in their parking lot. Currently, there are less than five EV chargers in the Fresno area – two at Nissan dealerships, and a couple of employee-only spots at Pelco and the Clean Air offices. The Blackbeard’s one would be open to anyone, not just employees (it is unclear if the chargers would be free or not).

Sadly, it looks like the installation was abandoned. The parking lot looks exactly as it did in August, with trees ripped out, some concrete supports and nothing else. Sort of sad that a clean air project has resulted in less trees, and nothing else. Click to read more!

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Trains go on strike to demand better living conditions

On January 24, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

BOSTON- As she tightened her jacket to ward off the 5f (-15c) degree cold, commuter Tammy Jackson was shocked to see the crowd of over 200 overflowing from the entrance to the Andrew MBTA subway station. The cause for the crowding quickly became apparent – several Red Line trains had used the morning commute to go on strike and demand better living conditions.

Rhoda Kavner, a 1500 model Pullman-Standard rail vehicle, sat just outside the station, within view of the commuters. “I know it’s tough for those commuters, I know it’s a pain, and I know they’re cold, but maybe now they can imagine how we feel.” Rhoda staged her strike for a little under half an hour, before returning to work. Click to read more!

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Mexico City to finally get parking meters

On January 22, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

One of the most traffic choked cities in the world has always been home to an oddity – street parking is free and with almost no restrictions. No time limits, no permits, no payment required – at least officially. As long as you don’t block a driveway, you can park on a local street. This past weekend, a neighborhood got to vote on the novel idea of introducing parking meters to restore some order to their streets.

As “The High Price of Free Parking” taught us, a policy of free and unlimited parking comes with many serious drawbacks. For one, by making parking free, more driving is encouraged, which is especially troublesome in a city known for its endless gridlock. At any given point, how many tens of thousands of drivers are circling the block, looking for an elusive empty space? Click to read more!

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Three pedestrians killed in one Fresno day

On January 20, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Saturday was quite the bloodbath for pedestrians out in Fresno area streets this Saturday.

17 year old skateboarder killed in mountain community. Bee report says he “ignored” the stop sign, but stop signs do not legally apply to skateboarders, which California law considers as pedestrians (as it does for roller skates and wheelchairs). Either the Bee made a mistake, or more likely, the CHP person they spoke to failed to understand California law. As such, the motorist is considered 100% innocent, and a kid is dead, a kid who may have been in the crosswalk (impossible to tell from report). Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : city council fare fare hike FAX fresno fresno area express Fresno area express FAX fail owl service transit transit rates and service committee2 Comments

Fresno council committee recommending bus fare hikes

On January 18, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Yesterday’s City Council meeting included a presentation from the “City of Fresno Transit Rates and Service Committee” which issued a report outlining short, medium and long term goals for FAX (Fresno Area Express). The committee was formed in 2010 during steep city budget shortfalls, and recommended a fare hike of 25 cents, which was put into effect January 2011, resulting in fares of $1.25. That would be to correct the “problem” that was the political decision of keeping mass transit affordable, and on par with peer systems.

One of their first recommendations is a series of fare hikes, including one this year of an additional 25 cents, and raising the base fare to $2.00 by 2017. That would mean a complete doubling of the fare in just six years, and this is in spite of the fact that the last service expansion was over a decade ago. Indeed, over the past decade, as the city population has ballooned and unemployment has spiked (currently still over 14% in Fresno), four routes were actually eliminated and no new service has been introduced. Probably not the best way to connect people with jobs. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : ADA cvs fancher creek fowler fresno picture tour ramps review roundabout tod transit oriented development wheelchairs8 Comments

Fresno’s newest roundabout (and a bad CVS)

On January 14, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I got a tip a couple of months ago that a new roundabout was under construction in southeast Fresno. While new residential traffic circles have sprouted up all over town, real roundabouts at busy intersections only exist in two other places in Fresno, near Fresno State on Chestnut. While some large roundabouts exist at Copper Ranch, the traffic there is and always will be minimal, they’re more for show, so I don’t count them. The person who wrote to me was concerned about the bicycle treatment at the new roundabout, so of course I had to head down and take a look, but was only able to do so this past week. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : construction update dusty buns echo ave fresno fresno high fresno unified p*de*q pão de queijo photo tourLeave a comment

Fresno High construction pictures

On January 7, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Right before Christmas, I set out to buy three dozen Pão de Queijos (Brazilian cheese bread) to make for the family, and bought some at P*de*Q on Echo Ave (where else?). The store is located across from Fresno High, so I obviously noticed some major construction going on. (The store is just around the corner from the Dusty Buns retail location by the way, both are highly recommended).

Fresno High is home to a beautiful older building (Royce Hall) that actually looks like what I would imagine a decent high school to be. It’s elegant, and the campus is dense. Just look at this thing, I can hear the ringing school bell in my head just from the picture. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bike trail Clovis dry creek trail fresno bike trail old town trail rail trail sugar pine trail tunnelLeave a comment

An analysis of Fresno/Clovis rail-trail (4): Sierra to Alluvial

On January 6, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Once again, apologies for the large gap of time between these posts about the trail, but as I’ve said before, they actually consume a very large amount of time to put together.Taking the pictures was easy (all pictures from August by the way), it’s the formatting of these posts that takes a long time. If you find them enjoyable or educational, I’d appreciate a comment.

Previously:
1) South of Shaw
2) Shaw to Old Town Clovis
3) Old Town to Sierra

This is the section I cover today