Tony Del Plato wrote: I've been a commuter cyclist for over 50 years, both here and in NYC, and frankly, as much as bike lanes would be nice, we simply need to take to the road and be present and very visible.
************** Tony, I agree wholeheartedly. It is a rare day when I see another bicycle commuter on my daily commute between West Hill and downtown and back, even now when the fair weather bikers have taken to commuting by bike. Yesterday morning however I did pass some 60 cars in the 3-4 minutes it took for me to get from my house down to the corner of Buffalo and Taughannock. (By the way 7 out of 8 of those cars, Priuses included, contained a single occupant.) Generally on my commutes I share the road with myself and about 400 cars and trucks. In other words I represent about one-quarter of one percent of the morning commuter traffic traveling to work via Cliff Street. If I don't see any evidence of substantive, sustained reliance on bicycle as a means of transportation on my daily commutes then I'm sure Common Council, Board of Public Works and planning and development Board members certainly can't see it from behind their steering wheels. One thing that has not changed in my 25 years in the public planning realm is that politicians may speak otherwise, but when it comes down to a vote they do not respond to logic or the interest of the environment and the public health and welfare. They respond to constituencies and the money behind them. That is a strue here in Enlighten City USA as anywhere else. Frankly, there is no real constituency for serious bicylcle transportation infrastructure here in Ithaca. We are a fringe elment and treated as such. That's why hundreds of thaousands of dollars are being sunk into recreational trail blackholes such as the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and the Bridge to Nowhere linking two segments of a future Trail to Nowhere at the south end of town, at the expense of real improvements to bicycle transportation infrastructure. That's why a decade after the Town of Ithaca adopted a plan for a 28-mile network of bicycle and pedestrain paths a mere .75 mile segment has been built and some three miles of potential future bike/ped paths won't happen because the Town Board and Planning have ignored the plan and let developers pave over the mapped routes. That's why in 2005 the Town of Dryden Town Board cut out about ten miles of proposed bicycle and pedestrian paths from their new comprehensive plan. Because nobody spoke up for the bicycle pedestrain transportation component, but senough people got organized to mount an opposition, it got cut. The fact is that here in Ithaca, as is the case through the US, the bicyle is viewed as nothing more than a recreational toy, simply because that is how 99 percent of bike owners use their bikes. No amount of Bike to Work days or Cyclovias to the Farmers Market are going to change that perception.. The only thing that would are hundreds of bicycle commuters on the streets of Ithaca, on a daily basis, rain, shine or snow. It can happen, and has happened in places like Toronto, Seattle and Vancouver, but those are three very compact cities where distances between home and work are short enough to make biking competitive with the automobile That environment does not exist in Ithaca. Given the deeply ingrained sprawl mentality here, as exhibited in the negative reponses to my arguments for a more compact Ithaca, it doesn't have nmuch chance of happening here, either. But I'm still not giving up hope. Stupidly tenacious. George Frantz --- On Wed, 6/18/08, Tony Del Plato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Tony Del Plato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Cyclovia and beyond To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 1:48 PM Re: Critical Mass rides here in Ithaca, they used to take place on a regular basis (last or first Fridays of month?). However I stopped participating a few years ago when a number of riders began blocking traffic on Fulton St causing some angry reactions from drivers. I thought this was both unnecessary and dangerous as well as putting riders a risk from drivers who "lost it" and did dangerous things like drive on the sidewalk by Agway to get around us. Now rides seem to occur irregularly. I've been a commuter cyclist for over 50 years, both here and in NYC, and frankly, as much as bike lanes would be nice, we simply need to take to the road and be present and very visible. Tony Del Plato On 6/18/08, Kent Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hello - > > The idea of closing streets to motor vehicle traffic to facilitate > bicycling has been mentioned to the City's Engineering Office and has been > thoughtfully considered by that office. This is a possibility. > > However, consider that the current Cyclovia event occurs on Saturday > mornings for a short period of time when there is relatively little motor > vehicle traffic and that to close the roads the City would need to notify > residents and post barricades at all of the cross streets during the event. > Also, the route would not be totally car-free since residents would still be > traveling to/from their homes. > > In the end it comes largely down to the points that though a benefit would > be provided to those bicyclists on the (mostly) car-free route, there would > be significant costs incurred by the City. Also, participants would still > need to ride on regular streets to get to the event and when arriving at the > Farmers Market. That's not to say that it can't be done though ... > > If anyone is really interested in pursuing this idea, please contact the > Engineering Office at 274-6528 - or just stop by (2nd floor in City Hall).. > > Furthermore, after participating in last weekend's Cyclovia event, I was > pleased to see how well motorists behaved when passing us, and how well the > other participants (especially the young children) behaved when cycling in > traffic. Even if some areas are free of motor vehicles, bicyclists still > need to learn to cycle safely and effectively on regular streets – the > Cyclovia is a great opportunity to do just that. > > Take care, > Kent > > > Kent Johnson > Transportation Engineering Technician > Office of the City Engineer > City of Ithaca > 108 E. Green St. > Ithaca, New York 14850 > (607) 274-6528, (607) 327-0316 (cell) > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --- On Wed, 6/18/08, Thomas Shelley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: Thomas Shelley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Cyclovia and beyond > To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" < > [email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 6:45 AM > > Hi, Andy. As a member of the Mayor's Local Action Plan Committee (to > reduce greenhouse gas emissions for City operations and the City of Ithaca > in general) I have officially proposed that such a Cyclovia program be > introduced by the City, with the appropriate street closures, etc. > I have no idea what will come of it, but at least the idea is on the > table. Tom > > ****************************************** > Tom Shelley > 118 E. Court St. > Ithaca, NY 14850 > 607 342-0864 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Compost Educator and General Sustainability Geek > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > -- "Justice is what love looks like in public." ~ Dr. Cornel West _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
