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Len Conly | 25 May 2013 04:36
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[Ebbc-Talk] Maker Faire: A Model for Encouraging Car-Free Transportation to Big Events | Streetsblog San Francisco


http://sf.streetsblog.org/2013/05/24/maker-faire-a-model-for-encouraging-car-free-transportation-to-big-events/

Maker Faire: A Model for Encouraging Car-Free Transportation to Big Events

Space for parking up to 2,000 bicycles was provided at Maker Faire this year. Photos: Andrew Boone

The runaway success of Maker Faire, the annual San Mateo festival that celebrates do-it-yourself
technology and crafts, has led organizers to get creative in encouraging attendees to come without a car
and avert a traffic mess.

Since Maker Faire’s debuted in 2006, organizers have developed a model program for managing traffic
demand for the growing number of attendees — estimated at more than 120,000 this year — who flock to the
two-day event to see the eccentric and occasionally practical inventions of 1,000 “makers.”

At this year’s event, held last weekend at the San Mateo County Event Center, the valet bicycle parking
lot “had 735 bikes at 1 p.m., and about 1,000 bikes at 3:30 p.m., which was about the peak,” said bike
parking organizer Gladwyn de Souza.

“It’s also part of the attendee experience. We want people to have a good time, so we want to provide them
with choices that don’t involve driving,” said Katie Kunde, Maker Faire’s senior sales manager.

Maker Faire’s website provides comprehensive details on how to get to and from the event by transit,
bicycle, walking, car-share, driving, paratransit, and even combinations of those modes...

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Len Conly | 24 May 2013 01:56
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[Ebbc-Talk] ‘Ode to Bike Sharing’ - NYTimes.com


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/opinion/ode-to-bike-sharing.html?hp

‘Ode to Bike Sharing’ - NYTimes.com

I created this short film from a message left on my home answering machine. It’s part of a project I call
Animation Hotline: People are invited to call (212) 683-2490 and leave a short story, poem, secret,
passion, life lesson, experience, experiment, list, rant, opinion, news item or basically anything —
as long as it is a minute or less.  I then choose messages to turn into short animations, which I post
regularly online.

This particular message is from my friend Thatcher Keats. He calls quite often and has left maybe 100
messages about nearly everything. In this particular message, he looks forward to New York City’s new
bike-share program, which will begin on Monday, and he reminisces about the city of his youth.

I feel as if New York is such an insane city and at the same time so magical and so difficult. Of course, it’s
hard to get around the city. It’s challenging for everyone — but especially so for me, because I’ve
been using a manual wheelchair for the past 18 years. It would be nice if city officials gave more thought to
the disabled when they made decisions about transportation.

But even though I won’t be able to use the new bike-share program, I’m impressed with New York City’s
ability to transform itself into a more bike-friendly environment.

Dustin Grella is an animator and documentary filmmaker whose work has been shown at the Cannes Film
Festival and the Margaret Mead Film Festival. He has written and mailed himself a letter every day for the
past 11 years and has all 4,015 sealed letters neatly filed and categorized.

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Zach Kaplan | 23 May 2013 19:46
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[Ebbc-Talk] Cyclist dies in SF garbage-truck crash

A reminder of why it is important to ride in the middle or left part of the right lane when approaching all
intersections if going straight rather than turning right and also not to pass on the right side of large vehicles.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Cyclist-dies-in-SF-garbage-truck-crash-4542548.php
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Len Conly | 22 May 2013 19:34
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[Ebbc-Talk] Leading Boston bicycle advocates to study how to make city biking safer - Boston.com


http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/05/21/leading-boston-bicycle-advocates-study-how-make-city-biking-safer/RUSRWhGT6SGv6YB05PCR7M/story.html

Leading Boston bicycle advocates to study how to make city biking safer

By Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondent

Boston bicycle advocacy officials said they will study safety concerns as enthusiasts demanded action
after six riders were killed locally in the past year and a half -- including a woman last weekend.

The annual biking summit on Tuesday, dubbed “State of the Hub,” comes after visiting MIT scientist
Kanako Miura, 36, was struck and killed by a truck driver as she was bicycling near the intersection of
Beacon Street and Charlesgate West in the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood on Sunday.

“This is the sixth fatality in 12 months – that’s six times as much as previous years,” said
Brighton resident Ren Jender, 48, who noted that she also often cycles through that same intersection on
her way home. “This to me is a crisis, and I do not understand why this whole meeting hasn’t been about
it. To me, this is completely unacceptable.”

The public outrage also comes after the city unveiled a number of recommendations to improve bike safety in
Boston, prompted by a city-commissioned study that researched data on past bicycle collisions.

According to the statistics, the Boston Police Department recorded a total of 1,446 incidents and nine
fatalities between 2010 and 2012...

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Len Conly | 21 May 2013 23:07
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[Ebbc-Talk] TAKE ACTION: Do you support Parklets in Berkeley? Livable Berkeley letter to Berkeley Transportation Commission


View this email in your browser.
Livable Berkeley is excited the City is considering a Pilot Parklet program in Berkeley, and we strongly
support this effort! 

The Transportation Commission is considering key policy decisions around parklets this Thursday, May
16. See our full letter to the commission. 

Let the them know you support a Pilot Parklet program in Berkeley!

Last October Livable Berkeley was the lead organizer for Sunday Streets Berkeley, a widely successful
event that brought over 40,000 people to Downtown Berkeley.

For this event Livable Berkeley sponsored a “Pop-Up Parklet,” which was used and enjoyed throughout
the day as a practical demonstration of how parklets can be successful in the City of Berkeley. Our
“Pop-Up Parklet” meets all of the requirements for a sidewalk grade, wheelchair accessible parklet
and can be set up again. The parklet, in use, can be viewed in the StreetsFilm video about Sunday Streets Berkeley.
Livable Berkeley believes a Pilot Parklet program will be successful in Berkeley. We are fortunate to have
a developed parklets program from San Francisco to build on, which is designed to minimize red tape and
speed approvals. We support the Pilot Parklet Staff Report. We recommend that the list of key policy
decisions for the Transportation Commission to consider also include Eligibility and Selection
Criteria. Both the Oakland and San Francisco reports included in the Commission’s packet include
these criteria.  

Livable Berkeley is a local non-profit organization that advocates for equitable and sustainable
development in the City of Berkeley. We champion projects and measures that protect the environment,
promote equity, and enhance transportation, housing, and job choices. Community investment is key in
our sustainable future, and parklets demonstrate the City leadership’s commitment to create a
vibrant street life, support local businesses, and promote stewardship of our community.
Thank you for making Berkeley a better place to live, work, learn, and raise our families.
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Len Conly | 21 May 2013 11:35
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[Ebbc-Talk] Active Transportation Being Thrown Under the (School) Bus! | California WALKS


http://californiawalks.org/atp-may-revise/

Walking, Biking, & Safe Routes to School Being Thrown Under the (School) Bus!

Despite months of our coalition—including California WALKS, California Bicycle Coalition,
Rails-Trails-Conservancy, PolicyLink, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, TransForm, and
many others—negotiating with the Administration to ensure that walking projects are eligible under
the new Active Transportation Program, to preserve level funding for Safe Routes to School and the
Recreational Trail programs, and to prioritize program investments in disadvantaged communities, the
Governor has simply refused to compromise. In the latest revision of the Governor’s budget, no changes
were made to the proposed Active Transportation Program despite our many modest recommendations.

As the Legislature takes up the May revise of the budget, we are asking you to make a call to Governor Brown at 
(916) 445-2841 or e-mail now! The Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees will be reviewing the
Governor’s proposal on Tuesday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 22 in Sacramento—if you are interested in
attending, please contact Jeanie Ward Waller, California Advocacy Organizer for the Safe Routes to
School National Parternship for details.

Gov. Brown needs to hear that Californians strongly support walking, biking, and Safe Routes to School
programs, and want to see MORE investment, not LESS.

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Len Conly | 11 May 2013 20:58
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[Ebbc-Talk] Campbell bicyclist injured in collision with vehicle

http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_23223293/campbell-bicyclist-injured-collision-vehicle
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Len Conly | 8 May 2013 23:14
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[Ebbc-Talk] The Debate About Bike Infrastructure Has Been Settled | Streetsblog.net

http://streetsblog.net/2013/05/08/the-debate-about-bike-infrastructure-has-been-settled/

> The evidence that protected bike lanes improve safety and retail performance has demolished the
arguments against bike infrastructure, Blue writes. And cities around the country have New York to thank
for that:

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Len Conly | 7 May 2013 06:15
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[Ebbc-Talk] Parking vs. Bicyclists on Polk Street Michael Tolle May 1, 2013

http://themoretheystaythesame.michaeltolle.com/

A Historian's Take on the Relationship between the Urban Grid and the Automobile, Past, Present and Future

> The San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA, or “Muni”) unveiled its latest thinking on
the contentious issue of traffic vs. parking on Polk Street in two “Open Houses,” April 27and 30, at
the First Congregational Church of Christ at the corner of Polk and Bush Streets.  Neither event was a
meeting, and thus lacked drama that greeted Muni’s previous version of its plans.  Discussions took
place in small groups or just face to face.  Rhetoric was in abundance, but little true dialogue.  I attended
both meetings, my goal being more to comprehend the subject at its different levels, than to examine the
technical details.  In the interest of full disclosure, I should state that I frequently shop along Polk
Street, and I walk to get there, as I live just a few blocks away.  I also do not own a car.

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Len Conly | 7 May 2013 06:14
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[Ebbc-Talk] Supes Farrell and Cohen Have Yet to Grasp Why Free Parking Hurts SF | Streetsblog San Francisco

Time to start calling these supervisors and urge them to drop their resistance to parking meters.  They are clueless!

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2013/05/06/supes-farrell-and-cohen-have-yet-to-grasp-why-free-parking-hurts-sf/

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Len Conly | 3 May 2013 00:31
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[Ebbc-Talk] Device would put a number on Market Street bikers | City Insider | an SFGate.com blog

http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2013/04/16/device-would-put-a-number-on-market-street-bikers/

Instead of measuring air pressure, the bicycle barometer would stand on the south sidewalk of Market
Street between Ninth and 10th streets and count the number of pedalers using the bike lanes.  It would
display that number on an electronic digital display, along with a cumulative total for the year.
Portland, Seattle and Montreal have bicycle barometers, which, according to an MTA memo, are
“successfully garnering high visibility support and promotion of bicycling.”

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Gmane