bicycle Archives - Stop and Move

The best bicycle infrastructure in the country…is in Florida?

On May 25, 2017October 27, 2019 By jamesinclair

When it comes to transportation, most agree that things work best when every mode gets their own exclusive right of way. Mixing cars, buses, bikes, pedestrians, and trains results in poor or dangerous experiences for all. The speeds of the various modes aren’t the same, which generate conflict, and the patterns of travel are different as well.

As such, many bicycle advocates look with envy at cities or countries that have invested great deals of money in keeping the transportation modes apart. Being able to bicycle to work, or the store, or to dinner, completely separate from cars, on a direct trail? Yes please. It’s safer. It’s more pleasant. It’s FUN. Even substandard improvements, like 8-foot trails that spill out onto sharrows are major victories in places like New York. A protected intersection? Groundbreaking. Click to read more!

Categories : BicyclingTags : bicycle bike share biketown citibike hubway motivate portland smart bike smart dock social bikeLeave a comment

A quick primer on “smart dock” vs “smart lock” bike share systems

On July 22, 2016November 18, 2019 By jamesinclair

Bike share finally came to Portland, Oregon this week, and the system has already proven to be popular. At this point, bike share in the US is no longer a novelty, as successful systems are integrated into the day-to-day life of dozens of major cities.

However, not all bike share is created the same, and Portland’s new system has the distinction of being the largest “smart-bike” system in the country. This is in contrast to most large systems which rely on “smart docks” instead.

The primary difference is the location of the electronics. In a smart
dock system, everything is handled by the dock and an attached kiosk. On
a smart bike system, the bicycle itself carries all the technology.
That means you can lock your bicycle to anything. You use a pin code to remove the built in lock and when you’re done, you reattach the lock to the bicycle (and another fixed object of course). Built in GPS ensures the company knows where the bike is. Click to read more!

Categories : Fresno TransitTags : alta alternative transportation bicycle Clovis congestion csu fresno FAX fresno state maintenance master plan pedestrian roundabout safety scramble shuttle traffic vline yarts2 Comments

Fresno State Finally Gets Serious About Non-Car Transportation!

On February 4, 2016November 18, 2019 By jamesinclair

Fresno State, officially California State University, Fresno, has for decades been a driving university. The campus arrived at its current location in 1956, and at the time it was located far from the city. That was intentional – with agriculture as a core mission, the University purposely surrounded itself with farms. Even today, the 388-acre main campus is attached to the 1,011-acre University Farm. As such, one was expected to drive to campus. Especially because students came from all over the Central Valley.

Fresno State in the 1950’s

However, much has changed since 1956. Fresno grew, and now the campus is completely surrounded by urban (or suburban) activity. The University has also grown tremendously, and now hosts a population of over 25,000 (students and staff). While commuter students still represent a large portion of the population, 8,000 students and 2,400 staff live within 5 miles of campus – an easy bicycle commute over perfectly flat land. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : #highvizpolice australia bicycle bicycle patrol cops dark high visibility high viz lapd london night nypd pedestrians police safety vest scotland victim3 Comments

If high viz is so important, why don’t US police lead by example?

On November 3, 2015February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

It’s that time of the year again, when you leave work at your usual time and suddenly get hit with a blast of 10pm darkness. Although the thermometer says “perfect biking and walking weather,” our corporate overlords demand we work our regular hours, which happen to extend past sunset. As such, the evening commute becomes a nighttime affair.

Cue the “be visible” safety campaigns kicking into high gear. The Boston Globe has an article on being visible at night:

In self-defense, “push yourself into the driver’s awareness as much
as you can” by exploiting biological motion, said Jonathan Dobres, a
research scientist at MIT’s AgeLab. “Make yourself as big and bright and
reflective as you can. You’re really helping the brain of a driver
figure out, ‘Oh, that’s not a road sign, that’s a person moving
around.’ ”
Boston Globe Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bankside trail bicycle bike trail canal trail expansion fresno herndon pedestrian trail expansion veterans boulevard1 Comment

Fresno area trails to get a little bit longer

On August 6, 2015February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

The Fresno area trail system is growing slowly, but every few months a new contract goes out to bid for a half mile or so here and another mile there.

A quick refresher on some recent construction:
Old Town Clovis Trail Gap Filled
New Clovis Trailhead
Enterprise Trail Section

Here’s what has been approved this summer:

Veteran’s Boulevard Trail, between Hayes and Polk, approved 7/16/2015.

Here’s an interesting one. Veteran’s Boulevard is a long-planned 6 lane highway to cut diagonally across the west side of Fresno. It is currently scheduled to begin construction in 2020, but it looks like a small trail section, which will parallel the highway, will open sooner. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bicycle cogs council of governments counts county dot fresno grant pedestrian trail1 Comment

Fresno to get money to count bicycles and pedestrians

On May 7, 2015February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

This is a couple of weeks old, but I’ve fallen behind in posting again (work, and then sick). Fear not, there are plenty of posts in the draft box.

The US Department of Transportation has announced that they will sprinkle money around the country to help count bicycles and pedestrians. This is important because transportation funding is always data oriented, and without data, there’s no possibility for funds.

That is, if we want more funding for people walking and biking, we need to know how many people do it! You may have heard stats like “less than 1% of people bike” for example, but these statistics are purely related to journey to work. As the press release points out: Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bicycle campus pointe Clovis design fail fail fresno state pedestrian pedestrian lighting roundabout shaw sidewalks street light3 Comments

A quick look at Campus Pointe Development – Pedestrian oriented? Not really

On July 15, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

If you’ve been past Fresno State on Shaw any time this year, you’ve seen construction underway at Campus Pointe. It’s yet another shopping center for Fresno, in a part of town that isn’t exactly lacking in retail options. The project is a joint development between Fresno State, and the people who brought us River Park.

The “selling point” is that it is directly next to Fresno State, so it’s being advertised as a place for students to visit, and somewhere they can do so walking or biking. Sadly, the fundamentals are missing which make it a real walking or biking destination, and parking is a huge center-piece, as expected. As is the case in every Fresno development, the main street (Chestnut in this case) is fronted by parking. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bicycle bicycle share bike share bixi citibike clear channel dc ecobici mexico city montreal new york washington dc5 Comments

Mexico City’s Ecobici nears 100,000 subscribers

On September 17, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

When it comes to the world of bike-share, New York’s Citibike may continue to get the headlines, but it’s actually Mexico City’s Ecobici that has the most users in the Americas. Last week, they proudly released stats about ridership, and the numbers are impressive, especially for a city that isn’t exactly known for cycling (or safe streets).

According to El Universal, Ecobici has reached 95,780 annual members. Of those, 40,500 have been added since December. That compares with NYC being just shy of 80,000, since launching in May. When the Ecobici program completed their 3rd expansion last year, the goal was 75,000 users.Looks like it’s time for more stations. Click to read more!