Whenever it opens, which will be about a quarter-century late.
Check it:
@CHPoakland officers preparing for Bicycle Officer School and will soon be patrolling the new Bay Bridge! pic.twitter.com/KJ6lk8EqOp
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Posts Tagged ‘cyclists’
Does Our CHP Have a “Bicycle Officer School?” Yes, Here It Is – Soon to be Patrolling the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013OMG, the City of Pasadena is Selling Folding Bikes for Just $215? Isn’t This Program Better Than the SFMTA’s Bike Share?
Monday, June 3rd, 2013Word comes from the San Francisco Examiner’s Mike Billings of the City of Santa Monica’s new FoldnGo program.
So, Pasadenians will be able to buy a small Dahon folding bike for $214.99?
Isn’t this a lot cheaper, you know, per bike, than the SFMTA’s / BAAQMD’s expensive bike sharing scheme?
Hell yes. Plus, you, Fellow San Franciscan, end up with a bicycle of your own.
Hey, where’s my almost-free Dahon bike, SFMTA?
You know who’s excited about Pasadena already? Dahon Girl 2009, that’s who:
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Oh, what’s that, giving away bicycles ala Santa Monica is NOT a jobs program? Because most of the money would necessarily go into bikes instead of salaries and benefits and pensions?
And the SFMTA is really an employment agency instead of the (very slow, slowest in America) transit agency it claims to be?
Oh, so I guess, for that reason, we won’t be getting a Pasadena-style program up here in the 415.
‘Cause I’ll tell you, SF’s new bikeshare program is of zero interest to me, as a supposed user. And I’ll tell you, most of the money for San Francisco’s bike share program will end up paying the employees instead of paying for the large, heavy, expensive, undesirable equipment for the program.
Last time I checked. the San Francisco Fire Department spends 91% of its budget on salaries / related expenses and just 9% on equipment. Will our bike share program end up with that kind of percentage after it ends? We’ll see.
Of course, when you’re giving away or heavily subsidizing a bike program as Pasadena is doing, you’re going to run into corruption and fraud type of problems.
But guess what, we going to have these issues* with Alta Bicycle Share in our taxpayer-funded program as well.
So what’s the diff?**
Oh well.
*And vandalism. Don’t forget about theft and vandalism. Oh, you have the GPS to fight theft? Guess what, it’s sending out its signal from, say, underneath Pier 2. Who’s going to fish it out? We’ll see.
**One big diff will be that any issues anyone has about the bike share program will be met with a pitch for more money. More and more and more money.
Bicycle Fatality on the I-80 at University in Berkeley Raises the Question: Can You Ride a Bike on a Freeway?
Saturday, June 1st, 2013Consider this morning’s news:
“Katie Utehs @katieutehs2h - All lanes of eastbound 80 blocked for bicycle vs. collision at University. @ktvupic.twitter.com/iIHtmZJ8bw“
Is it legal to ride a bike on the freeways of California?
No, not on the very urbanized part in Berkeley I don’t think.
But bike riding is legal on other certain stretches of freeway.
“We’re not talking about temporarily closing down a freeway to cars on Father’s Day like they did in Pasadena a while back, to the horror of Rob Anderson.
And we’re not talking about an illegal bicycle romp in traffic the way the Crimanimalz do it on the 405.
We’re talking about you legally riding your bike on the right side of some of California’s 4000 miles of freeway.
Well, according to the California Department of Transportation, maker of melty orange and blue cupcakes, sí, se puede. Yes, you can ride your bike on about 1000 miles of California freeway.
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For proof, check out this white sign in Marin County on the 101 South. You see? It says “BICYCLES MUST EXIT” so that means, assuming you didn’t ignore any ”Bicycles Prohibited” sign, it’s all good for you to be on this stretch of freeway. Q.E.D. Res Ipsa Loquitur.
Here’s the CalTrans version:
Of the more than 4,000 miles of freeways in California, about 1,000 miles are open to bicyclists. These open sections are usually in rural areas where there is no alternate route. California Vehicle Code Section 21960 says Caltrans and local agencies may prohibit bicyclists from traveling on freeways under their jurisdiction and that they must erect signs stating the prohibition. There are no signs permitting bicyclists on freeways. When a bicyclist is legally traveling on a freeway, he/she may be directed off the freeway at the next off-ramp by a sign that says “Bicycles Must Exit.” The freeway will be posted at the next on-ramp with a sign that says “Bicycles Prohibited.”
And here’s the Vehicle Code:
21960. (a) The Department of Transportation and local authorities,
by order, ordinance, or resolution, with respect to freeways,
expressways, or designated portions thereof under their respective
jurisdictions, to which vehicle access is completely or partially
controlled, may prohibit or restrict the use of the freeways,
expressways, or any portion thereof by pedestrians, bicycles or other
nonmotorized traffic or by any person operating a motor-driven
cycle, motorized bicycle, or motorized scooter. A prohibition or
restriction pertaining to bicycles, motor-driven cycles, or motorized
scooters shall be deemed to include motorized bicycles; and no
person may operate a motorized bicycle wherever that prohibition or
restriction is in force. Notwithstanding any provisions of any
order, ordinance, or resolution to the contrary, the driver or
passengers of a disabled vehicle stopped on a freeway or expressway
may walk to the nearest exit, in either direction, on that side of
the freeway or expressway upon which the vehicle is disabled, from
which telephone or motor vehicle repair services are available.
(b) The prohibitory regulation authorized by subdivision (a) shall
be effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are
erected upon any freeway or expressway and the approaches thereto.
If any portion of a county freeway or expressway is contained within
the limits of a city within the county, the county may erect signs on
that portion as required under this subdivision if the ordinance has
been approved by the city pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
1730 of the Streets and Highways Code.
(c) No ordinance or resolution of local authorities shall apply to
any state highway until the proposed ordinance or resolution has
been presented to, and approved in writing by, the Department of
Transportation.
(d) An ordinance or resolution adopted under this section on or
after January 1, 2005, to prohibit pedestrian access to a county
freeway or expressway shall not be effective unless it is supported
by a finding by the local authority that the freeway or expressway
does not have pedestrian facilities and pedestrian use would pose a
safety risk to the pedestrian.
So Many Sidewalks, So Little Time To Go Salmoning Upon Sidewalks – Uh, Franklin Street Isn’t Good For Salmoning
Friday, May 31st, 2013So yeah, I’ve been riding bikes on the Streets of San Francisco on an almost-daily basis since the 1980′s, right?
But this isn’t the way you do it:
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First of all, this gal came down Franklin Street against traffic from Golden Gate Ave to McAllister and that’s just wrong. ‘Cause cyclists have the right to use both the left and right sides of Franklin so it’s never a good thing to be going the wrong way in the street on that block.
And then she hopped onto the eastern sidewalk as she continued south past the Herbst. Illegal sidewalk pedalers need to realize that they’re second class citizens, right? Because she was going the wrong way and she got locked into this fenced-off sidewalk, there would be nowhere to go if a group of peds had been coming the other way.
So, if you are going to ride on sidewalks, this isn’t how you do it.
Just saying, Brocephus.
Fatal Collision with Large Truck at 16th and South Van Ness, May 23rd – Image of Mangled White Road Bike – Via KTVU
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013Via Tara Moriarty, of KTVU-TV:
“Deadly bicycle accident on S Van Ness & 16th in SF with garbage truck. Cyclist may have been dragged a block @KTVU pic.twitter.com/Af4PnW4P9Z“
@KCBSNews reporter Holly Quan: early signs garbage truck/cyclist both on 16th St. Truck made R turn onto S Van Ness; bike went straight.
Sidewalk Salmoning: Cyclists are Enjoying the New Fell Street Bike Lane Already
Monday, April 22nd, 2013Look at them all go:
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Remember, Cyclists Alway Have the Right Of Way.
Oh wait a second, I just made that up. It’s not correct. I’ll fix my error by telling you I was wrong.
What I meant to say was Pedestrians Always Have the Right Of Way.
Oh wait, that’s wrong as well.
The SFBC knows by now that their statement is wrong but they still have it up on their website?
Yep.
What they should have done is had a lawyer do their bikelaw page.
Oh well.
Area Cyclist Color Coordinates: Lime Green Helmet, Grips, Brakes, Graphics – Bright Blue Frame, Socks – Tan Tires, Pants
Thursday, April 18th, 2013Thusly:
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Confused Driver Gets Ticketed Making the Infamous Left Turn at Fell And Masonic – Why the SFPD Cited Her
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013All right, camera right shows a light-colored Chevy properly waiting at the red arrow light to turn from westbound Fell onto southbound Masonic. The confused driver is in the blue two-door Honda – she wants to make the same turn to get from NoPA to SoPA but she’s in the wrong lane.
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Of course back in the day, the Honda driver would have been driving properly but things changed at this intersection about a half-decade back. Check it. Anywho, she sat there waiting to turn left even though she had a green to proceed straight on Fell Street.
That pissed off the driver of the car behind her, so then its driver is all “hoooooooooonk!” You know, at the Blue Honda Chick.
She doesn’t budge ’cause she knows she wants to turn left, you know, from the wrong lane.
Oh, here she goes, around the Chevy:
Now all that honking attracted the attention of the Park Station police, who also made an illegal left from the wrong lane in order to follow the blue Honda driver onto southbound Masonic. Here they are near Oak:
The moral of this story is that drivers will never get used to this unique intersection set-up. The reason being is that the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition overruled the traffic engineers who originally had cars on Fell turning left at the beginning of the green light phase for Fell Street. But you see, that had car drivers “going first.”
Oh well.
On It Goes…
And oh, what you’re supposed to do when you mistake driving is to just go with it, go with the flow. You know, respond to stimuli. So like if you’re in the westbound lane and you have a green to go straight then you should go straight for a while EVEN THOUGH THAT”S NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO RIGHT NOW. Obliviously, you can’t just make up your own traffic rules…
If You Want to Walk Across the Bay Bridge on September 1st FOR FREE, Then You’ll Need to Sign Up Now
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013‘Cause by the time you hear about this opportunity from the MSM or a blog, it’ll be too late.
Now some people wanted to charge you for the chance to walk the bridge, but they ended up deciding to just require registration with no payment required.
C’mon, this thing is only two decades-plus late.
All the deets:
“We are excited to announce that registration for the Bay Bridge Walk will be FREE! Our next email will include more details on each event and registration dates.
Registration is required for all on-bridge activities and there will be limited capacity so sign up early!
Please tell your friends and family who wish to participate to visit baybridgecelebration.com and sign up for e-mail updates. You will be the first to hear when registration is open.
More details on the Bay Bridge Bike, Run & Walk coming soon!
-The Bay Bridge Celebration Team”
There’ll be plenty of space to roam:
See you there!
“Get Out of My Way! Can’t You See I’m On a Bicycle?” – If Only Bush Were an Official SFMTA “Complete Street”
Thursday, March 21st, 2013See?
‘Cause then the wide, wide sidewalks would come “complete” with bike lanes:
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Who knows, it might happen – Bush might get its own “contra-flow” bike lane in the Financh, the way they want for the one-way part of Polk near Market and the way things are now in some parts of Golden Gate Park.
Someday…
