Chuck,
Thanks for getting this aired at the BPW meeting. Thanks also to
John for pointing out the meeting time and location. This is a great
example of what we can accomplish collectively.
One of my longer-term project ideas for the BTA is creating a
process that makes bikies aware of these situations more automatically.
I have a couple ideas sketched out below for this, but first let me say
that I think these ideas could be made a lot more useful with a little
teamwork - so if this interests you, please e-mail me and let's see what
we can do together.
Some possible starting points:
Idea 1)
Last year I experimented with a web-tool I wrote that sniffed the online
Common Council agenda and addendum for the string "GDP" or "SIP" (terms
that are usually associated with new construction projects), and when
found, sent a little e-mail summary of the agenda item to Mark Shahan
and myself. This allowed us to get a couple of issues referred to the
Ped-Bike-Motor Vehicle commission that otherwise would not have been
forwarded. In the back of my mind, I had always planned on opening this
up so bikies could get automatic e-mail updates based on search strings.
Unfortunately, my computer crashed a few months ago and I lost the tool
I wrote that did this piece of magic.
Going forward, I'd like to see about setting this up again - perhaps
with a little more sophistication - so bikies could not only search for
strings in the agenda item, but also key off of the location referenced
in the item. For example, you could set up a sniffer to forward you any
agenda items from BPW that impacted the Isthmus Path - that way we could
be fairly certain that future opportunities to put in speed tables (like
the next reconstruction of the Livingston street for example) could be
fully exploited.
The more opportunities we catch, the better it gets for bicycling in
Madison.
Idea 2)
One of the other technologies I played with a while ago was implementing
a google-maps tool that took the GPS data from my GPS recorder and
allowed me to plot the location of critical mass during the ride that
month. In the process of learning to write this tool, I realized that
it can be configured to allow people to enter data based on map
location.
What I am thinking of specifically is a web tool to allow bikies to
enter issues into an online database - identified not only by keywords,
but by physical location. This allows a location-based search which
could be a very handy tool to help us collectively remember what issues
need to be addressed when some type of construction is planned in a
specific part of the city.
Using the Livingston street example again, Let's say John enters in a
location marker pointing out where the City needs to install speed
tables all along the Isthmus path. It turns out that there is an issue
with replacing sewer lines along the path that will require
construction, so when that item pops up a city meeting, Chuck could do a
quick location-check in the database beforehand and see that this might
be a good time to talk about putting in the speed table. And maybe at
the same time another location marker impacted by the project is close
by - and could be addressed as well.
This also provides a searchable collective memory so bikies don't miss
opportunities.
Idea 2b)
A similar tool could be used to record a collection of regular bike trip
routes across town. This could help us see what needs we might have
that can only be picked out from someone with a bird's - eye view of the
situation.
- Matt
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