So much of life these days comes back to the price of gas, the high cost of simply getting around, which is why, any number of American cities and towns… are following the example of Portland, Oregon.

Will it be ready for the planned grand opening in August?  We hope so.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is riding her bike to work a couple of times a week, an example of a way she says Michigan consumers can save money.

The 49-year-old governor lives just southwest of the city center, about 3 miles from her office near the state Capitol. She rode her blue bike to work Wednesday, accompanied by her security detail.

The state Department of Transportation is looking at state roads to figure out where it would be safe to add bike lanes and is planning to expand park-and-ride lots and add more, since some are at capacity as more drivers carpool to save money, Granholm said.

Heather Newman of the Free Press also blogged on this:

Granted, Granholm’s three-mile commute isn’t exactly a grueling workout. But most of us make plenty of short trips - to the dry cleaners, or the local supermarket/convenience store, or the movie rental place - that we could probably reach easily on a bike. Or walk to, for that matter.

It’d save a little gas, and it might add a few calories to our daily workout. It’d cut down just a bit on our personal smog emissions. But more importantly, it’d contribute to giving us all a more healthy, active lifestyle - one fueled by the recognition that our legs can, in fact, take us to meaningful places.

As expected, the Detroit News published a follow up article:

Detroit Police spokesman James Tate insisted the reason for enforcing the obscure ordinance is not to fine bicyclists.

“We’re trying to get people to register their bikes,” Tate said. “We’ve got hundreds of bikes piled up with no way of knowing who they belong to. The idea isn’t to start handing out tickets to little kids on tricycles.”

If the Detroit Police are seriously concerned about returning stolen bikes, why aren’t they using the National Bike Registry system? The National Bike Registry does provide a way of finding the owners of stolen bikes — and it does it on a nationwide basis.

Unfeasible to Enforce

Yesterday we spoke with attorney Michael Salhaney, who represents the City of Birmingham. We discussed the state law that allows cities to register bikes. He concurred that the state law requires appropriate signs through out the city, making bicycle license enforcement “unfeasible.”

Unreasonable Expectation

Also, as Dustin commented earlier, imagine if all cities started enforcing similar registrations? It’s an unreasonable expectation for cyclists to visit the police station of each city they ride through to register their bike. And it’s even more unreasonable in Detroit since the bike licenses are only for sale Mondays through Friday from 9am until 5pm.

Note that riding an unlicensed bike to the police to get it registered is against Detroit’s city ordinance.

A Better Solution

A much better solution for registering stolen bikes is to use the National Bike Registry, especially since the advent of craigslist and eBay mean stolen bikes are less likely to stay in the city where they were stolen. Cyclists can register their bike on a nationwide basis for roughly $1 per year. Or, they can pay 99 cents to register a recently stolen bicycle, which is a no-brainer.

It’s also critical that cyclists record the make, model, color, and serial number of their bikes. In case a bike is stolen, this is invaluable information that make it more likely the bike can be found. Bike serial numbers are typically found underneath the bottom bracket, where the pedals go through the bike frame.

If you have a camera, you may want to take some photos of the bike and serial number. They may come in useful in case it’s ever stolen.

Another part of the solution? The Detroit Police should set up an account with the National Bike Registry so they can clear out their “hundreds and hundreds” of recovered bikes.

In a city that has one of the nation’s highest crime rates, Detroit cops have been given the order to start cracking down on unregistered bicycles.

Starting Aug. 7, officers will start issuing $55 tickets if bikes are unregistered. The dollar-a-year licenses are good for five years.

“You’d think the Detroit cops would have better things to worry about than giving out fines to people who don’t register their bikes,” said Detroiter Marv Adams, 56.

But it’s not enforceable

But the real story is the law is unenforceable under state law.

To begin with MCL 257.606 sub-section (1)(i) states that local authorities can “[Regulate] the operation of bicycles and requiring the registration and licensing of bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee.” The CIty of Detroit can require bicycle licenses.

However, MCL 257.606 sub-section (3) says that such a requirement “shall not be enforceable until signs giving notice of the local traffic regulations are posted upon or at the entrance to the highway or street or part of the highway or street affected, as may be most appropriate, and are sufficiently legible as to be seen by an ordinarily observant person.”

Detroit does not have any such signage nor have we heard of any plans to add any. Posting such signs around all the major city entrances would involve a major cost. I am unaware of any city within Michigan that has taken such a drastic step to make bike license registration an enforceable ordinance.

The Detroit Chief of Police has been alerted to the state law.

The Detroit News expects to run a follow up story tomorrow. They have received considerable feedback on this. Needless to say, this police announcement has not made very many people happy.

In these times of high fuel prices and people looking at alternative means of getting around, we shouldn’t be looking to penalize those riding bikes in Detroit.

Legislative Action Alert

Tell your Legislator to Support HB 6299 and HB 6300, make roads safer for cyclists.

Representatives Andy Coulouris (D-Saginaw) and David Palsrok (R-Manistee) on June 29 introduced House Bills 6299 and 6300, which enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users.

Senator Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) has committed to introduce Senate companion bills with the same language. (Check www.LMB.org/advocacycenter.htm) for future information, including Senate bill numbers and co-sponsors.)

A teen on a bike deserves the same protection as one driving a tractor. These bills will make Michigan roadways safer for bicyclists and all vulnerable users of our taxpayer-funded road system.

Bill Excerpts

(1) A “VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER” IS DEFINED AS A PEDESTRIAN OR A PERSON OPERATING A NONMOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION DEVICE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A BICYCLE).

(2) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES INJURY TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 1 YEAR OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $1,000.00, OR BOTH.

(3) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES DEATH TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 15 YEARS OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $7,500.00, OR BOTH.

Please write your Representative today and ask him or her to support HB 6299 & 6300! A sample letter is reproduced below. Also, please make sure to thank your legislator if he/she is sponsoring or co-sponsoring one of these bills, or commits to voting for it. Copy LMB with any letter of support you receive.

Current Sponsors and Co-sponsors:
Andy Coulouris (primary HB 6300)
David Palsrok (primary HB 6299)
George Cushingberry, Jr. (D-Detroit)
Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak)
Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland)
Joe Hune (R-Hamburg)
Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo)
Richard LeBlanc (D-Westland)
Gabe Leland (D-Detroit)
Mark Meadows (D-E. Lansing)
Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale)
Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens)
Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor)

HB 6300 & 6299 have been referred to the House Transportation Committee. Constituent letters to Committee members are especially important right now.

Transportation Committee Members:
Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Committee Chair, (D-Westlake, Taylor)
Martin J. Griffin (D), Majority Vice-Chair, 64th District
Frank Accavitti Jr. (D-South Park, Eastpointe)
Steve Bieda (D-Warren)
Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak) *
Kate Ebli (D-Monroe)
Gabe Leland (D-Detroit) *
Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City)
Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens) *
Coleman A. Young II (D-Detroit)
Philip LaJoy, Minority Vice-Chair (R-Canton)
Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba)
Neal Nitz (R-Baroda)
Phil Pavlov (R-St Clair Township)
Tom Pearce (R-Rockford)
John Stahl (R-North Branch)
Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy)

* Committee members already co-sponsoring HB 6300 & 6299

Find full bills and legislator addresses at: www.LMB.org/advocacycenter.htm or call the LMB office at 1-888-642-4537.

Sample Letter

The Honorable ________________________

[Address]

[Date]

Dear [Representative] _____________________,

As a citizen of your district, I urge you to support HB 6299 and 6300, which enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users. These bills will make the penalties for injuring or killing a bicyclist the same as those enacted in 2001 for drivers who injure or kill people operating (typically slow-moving) farm vehicles.

Rising energy prices and concerns about health, fitness and the environment have put more people on bicycles and more bikes on the road. They must no longer be treated as eccentrics, annoyances to drivers, or second-class citizens. They are our brothers and sisters, our parents and our children. More and more, people will need to use bikes to get from home to school and work. They are entitled to safe use of Michigan roads. They too deserve a “brake.”

A driver convicted of seriously injuring or killing a bicyclist can serve as little as days or months. Too many motorists consider cyclists “fair game” for intimidation, harassment, endangerment and outright vehicular assault. This bill will give judges and prosecutors more tools for controlling aggressive or reckless drivers. Specific penalties for injuring or killing a bicyclist will deter drivers from endangering bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users.

Thank you for seriously considering this issue. Please tell me that you will support HB 6299 and 6300 to save lives. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

[Your Name,

Your Address,

Your Telephone #]

The first one will be on Tuesday, July 8th from 5-8 p.m. at the Freedom Hall in Canton Township (which is their township hall). The second one will be on Thursday, July 10th from 5-8 p.m. at the Frenchtown Township Hall on the Monroe County end of the pathway.

These are the last chances for input before the I-275 bike path report becomes the official blueprint for restoration.

Of course, how can you go wrong when you combine perfect weather, cold beers, the world’s foremost mountain bike advocates and Park City’s 300 miles of singletrack?

Wednesday

The event kicked off at Utah’s Olympic Training center. We had excellent food and beer, but the highlight was watching the Flying Aces ski jumping team. But before they came out, IMBA executive director Mike Van Abel showed them how it’s done. Nerves were a bit on edge, especially from the IMBA staffers around me, until Mike nailed the landing.

Thursday

The first opening speaker was John Burke, president of Trek Bicycles. Trek is really stepping up their support for bike advocacy through their One World, Two Wheels initiative. We’ll blog more about this soon.

National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary Bomar followed. Her message? “Bicycling can be a major element of visitor experiences at national parks.” She added that IMBA and the Park Service share a “special bond.” Another bond? The Director’s son is an active mountain biker and he’s been very helpful in bringing the Director more in tune with mountain biking.

The breakout sessions were next. I attended “Linking Downtown to Dirt” and got an excellent overview of the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Community program — something that should be pushed more in Metro Detroit.

I also attended an informative risk management session. One key design principle for reducing liability — “No forced risk”.

Next, IMBA board member John Bliss and I gave a session “Effective Club Leadership”. John handled most of the board governance best practices while I provided real world how-to and how-not-to examples.

Friday

One keynote highlight for the morning was from Joel Holtrop, the Deputy Chief of the Forest Service. This June he sent a letter to regional forest service staff about better accommodating mountain biking.

My first session was for urban bike parks, including the I-5 Colonnade trail in Seattle. There is tremendous opportunity for these in Detroit and throughout Michigan.

Summary

As with any conference, much of the information and ideas you gain and give occur outside of the formal summit programming. That in itself was invaluable.

Carol Potter, the executive director for the Mountain Trails Foundation did an amazing job bringing this summit to Park City and then ensuring it was a home run. While Carol works in Park City now, she’s originally from Cadillac, Michigan where she was also very involved in trails. It was great meeting Carol.

The only disappointment was that I was the only Michigan/MMBA person at the event. On the other hand, Indiana sent about five guys. They are really turning around their state’s mountain bike trail situation and a quick and impressive manner.

For example, the Road Commission of Oakland County refuses to acknowledge much less use best practices for bicycling facilities. They ignore the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO) guidelines for bicycling facilities. They ignore Federal Highway Administration guidance. They ignore bicycling safety studies that show their policies have been consistently found to be unsafe.

We appreciate the fact that Craig Bryson, Public Information Officer for the Road Commission for Oakland County responded:

The Road Commission for Oakland County has no objection to bikers. We simply have no money available to make costly improvements to roads to allow bikers. We cannot afford to simply maintain smooth pavement on the roads or even begin to address the massive congestion that clogs our roads everyday. It would be very difficult to justify spending scarce resources on bike facilities when we can’t maintain the existing roads. If you are proposing additional funding just for bike facilities, we’re more than willing to listen.

However, Craig isn’t correct. It’s not about the road money.

The primary roadblock to safe biking in Oakland County is the Road Commission’s policy of not supporting safe, AASHTO on-road bicycle facilities. Instead, Road Commission policy only supports bicycle facilities on wide sidewalks (so called “safety” paths) which are not recommended by AASHTO, MDOT, and others. They are not recommended for one main reason: studies find them much less safe for cyclists than on-road facilities like bike lanes.

It should be noted that we have twice asked the Road Commission for their documentation and justification for this policy. Their sole response was “[we] have not been able to find it yet.” According to that same official, this policy was set 19 years ago by a risk management committee. That tells us the policy was based on limiting the Road Commission’s perceived liability. [Note that MDOT and the Michigan Attorney General's office has weighed in on this issue recently. We'll cover it in a future news entry.]

Even if one believes that money is the issue, there are significant sources of funding available specifically for bicycling facilities, including but not limited to Transportation Enhancements, CMAQ, private grant sources (e.g. Bikes Belong), and Act 51 funds.

And speaking of Act 51, it requires Road Commissions to spend not less than 1% of their road funding on non-motorized facilities. In the past, the Road Commission for Oakland County used a loophole in the state law to count the paving of gravel roads as a bicycle facility. Bicycling advocates have since changed state law and removed that loophole, so that should free up Act 51 monies to pay for legitimate bicycle facilities.

But perhaps what we find offensive about the money excuse is it puts the safety of bicyclists below other road users. Does the Road Commission for Oakland County ignore nearly all safety issues for motorists due to a lack of money? Of course not.

Besides, how can the money excuse have any justification given the Road Commission’s goal “Quality Life through Good Roads — ‘We Care’”? When I’m riding on an Oakland County road with no safe accommodation for cycling, “We Care” is not what pops into my head.

For cyclists, their mission statement is even more egregious:

What will it take to get the Road Commission for Oakland County to live up to their mission, become a leader in bike safety, and start using existing funding to support safe bicycling on the many roads they manage?

Footnotes:

1. The Road Commission uses the term Good Roads in their goal — a term that was coined and promoted by cyclists in the late 1800s.
2. In 1893, bicyclists led by Edward Hines created and helped pass the state law that allowed county road commissions in Michigan.

Congratulations Flint!

This is a well-deserved nod for the regional bike efforts to make biking easier and safer in Flint. (And we’re jealous of you having sharrows — perhaps a first in Michigan.)

Five designated and aspiring Bicycle Friendly Communities will receive funds to help them make bicycling more safe, convenient and appealing places to ride.

These grants, designed to pinpoint specific needs outlined by each community in their Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) application, help pay for bike plans, technical assistance, pilot projects and innovative cycling initiatives.

Flint, Michigan
The Safe and Active Flint Coalition will receive $5,000 to improve bike safety and awareness through a Sharrow program. Flint received honorable mention in the last BFC round. They identified Sharrows—pavement markings encouraging cars and bicycles to share the road—as key to marking the first designated bike routes in the city.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

The City of Colorado Springs, a silver-level BFC, will receive $15,000 to conduct a community survey that will help determine key bicycling needs and attitudes in the city. The results will help city planners develop a detailed Bicycling Encouragement Plan for implementation in 2009.

Madison, Wisconsin
The City of Madison, a gold-level BFC, will use their $15,000 award to conduct a similar initiative. Their survey results will help the city rank and prioritize bike projects in their Platinum Plan, helping them advance toward their ambitious goal of “making Madison the best place in the country to bicycle.”

New Haven, Connecticut
The City of New Haven received honorable mention in the last BFC round. Their $10,000 grant will help develop and implement a plan to improve bike safety, access and parking in downtown New Haven, particularly targeting the Union Station area. This is the first step in their vision of a fully equipped bike station at the transit center.

New Orleans, Louisiana
The Metro Bicycle Coalition will receive $5,000 to help launch New Orleans’ first bicycle event since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005. The community ride will promote bicycling and bike commuting while continuing to build momentum for bike facilities in the Unified New Orleans plan—a city-wide post-Katrina planning process. New Orleans received honorable mention in the last BFC round for its commitment to including bicycling in its infrastructure improvements.

This grant program is administered by the Bikes Belong Foundation in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists. It is made possible by the generous support of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI).