Want to link me to any information, interviews, etc. about separated bike lanes or relevant topics? I haven’t seen much criticism aside from turning.

Of course, separated bikes lanes are only for some areas. I thought they seemed like a great idea in NYC because traffic calming which seems to be more standard Portland practice just doesn’t seem likely/practical in NYC. I was just riding in Philly today (which is more like NYC than Portland, I think) and riding on the right of a lane fearing for doors is not something I like too much. What does Missouri Bicycle Federation support? If not separated at least buffers away from both traffic and car doors? My exposure on these subjects has mostly been through Transportation Alternative studies and Street Film, Bike Portland and their associated networks. I’m very curious to read up on the debates because I want safer streets for bikes and am very open to suggestions.

There is a big fear that they will function like side path trails, which are generally much more dangerous than on-street facilities. You have to be *very* careful about how these things interact with driveways, cross streets, turning traffic, etc. Otherwise, they are no better than riding on sidewalks. That is why I doubt you will find many other American city using them at this time.

They may have a place in certain locations in some American cities, but the jury is still out on the appropriate usage of this facility. For now, the physically separated bike lane is more of a statement than a solution.

Eric Rogers
Legislative Chair
Missouri Bicycle Federation

Also, there was a bit about drivers on cellphones and banning cellphone use while driving. I’m from Upstate NY. It’s illegal to use your cellphone while driving a car here. It doesn’t stop anyone.

Deb’s a good lady, but after Funkhouser made the announcement that we’d shoot for Platinum status, she’s been assaulted relentlessly with questions like “Can I see the Gantt chart for that?” and comments plenty more dismissive than her own. The truth is that she doesn’t know how we’ll get there yet, and that the mayor likes making big promises.

I wish the conversation could have been a bit more rapid fire. To me, it didn’t seem like an hour long show (or even a half-hour long show) because we really didn’t get through a lot. Listening to it again last night (right after having posted this) without having to be a speaker on the panel, it became obvious that we covered the kind of stuff you could cover in a three-paragraph article in the newspaper.

This is one of the more popular midmorning radio shows in KC, though. It’s on public radio. I was surprised to come back to my cubicle (from a private office I reserved over my lunch break to call into the show) to find two people looking for me that had heard me. When I logged in, several people at work had been messaging me while I was on the air over our internal messaging system at work.

Overall, I’m more pleased with the fact that commuting by bike is finally getting some attention. That, to me, is worth way more than the contents of the conversation yesterday.

Great job on posting this, btw. I thought it was a pretty mediocre conversation (so many uncovered issues) but it’s nice to hear what’s going on around the country.

My wife and I were listening to the show today and really enjoyed it! We have both just recently (past couple of months) gotten into bike commuting and are finding the conversation about it here in KC as being pretty wonderful.

Blogs like yours are encouraging and motivating to us so keep up the good work!!

peace
jarod