New Haven Independent

posted by: Walt on June 30, 2008  9:00am

Cops, who at least have some authority to direct traffic, are preferable to the bike enthusiastists,  ardent promoters of ignoring traffic laws.according to their own statements here,  doing so.

What happens when the motorists,  agitated by these self-appointed traffic stoppers,  proceed on their legal way,  while the bicyclists also proceed because of the illegal attempts to defy traffic laws?

Is the law-abiding motorist to be held responsible for resulting injuries instead of those who really   cause the problems by breaking the law?

posted by: CM on June 30, 2008  9:20am

Would have been fine if there were only bike cops. No need to have segways, motorcycles and squad cars. That kind of ruined it.

posted by: Bruce on June 30, 2008  9:38am

Walt, 

I believe the answer would be “yes”.  If someone intentionally uses his or her vehicle to cause serious injury, then he would be guilty of assault.  Or attempted murder.  Or vehicular manslaughter. 

Just because a light is green doesn’t give you a license to kill people.

posted by: Alphonse Credenza on June 30, 2008  10:14am

Now, if we could only get those damn bikes OUT of the road and onto the sidewalk where they belong, the street would be a safer place.

posted by: James on June 30, 2008  10:25am

I’m going to assume that you’re kidding, Alphonse. Bikes are not allowed on the sidewalk by law and are far more dangerous to pedestrians than they are to vehicular traffic. Bikes DO belong on the road and can do so in a non-disruptive manner if both cyclists and motorists know the laws and abandon antagonistic attitudes.

posted by: Jonathan Boulware on June 30, 2008  10:40am

Alphonse Credenza,

Riding bicycles on the sidewalk, as has been repeatedly pointed out in many stories and comments, is illegal. Cycling is legal only on the street in the city of New Haven. Sidewalks are, as the name implies, for walking. Not cycling.

Read your driver’s education manual again. This from Yale’s website, which references New Haven statutes: “New Haven law requires all cyclists to ride in the street, where they have all the same rights and responsibilities as motorists, including stopping at red lights and stop signs, and signaling turns. Riding on the sidewalk is illegal.” Anyone have the link to New Haven or CT statutes handy?

I’d change your comment to this: “Now if we could only get all those drivers who don’t know the law and their responsibilities off the road the streets would be a safer place.”

Jonathan Boulware

posted by: Cheri on June 30, 2008  10:57am

Bravo, Jonathan!!

Now, if we can only get more of the brazenly and pridefully ignorant motorists to finally get a clue!!! Hopefully, with more police presence on the rides (bike cops preferred), we will educate more motorists than ever before, as cyclists may be viewed differently, and with some level of protection, and the police can get a better look at what it’s like to try to get around in this city on a bike.

posted by: Ben on June 30, 2008  11:19am

Congrats on the new bike Kevin.

posted by: MattUva on June 30, 2008  2:03pm

Couple words from the “at least one boycotter”...
Had this been just bike cops (or even segway cops—man, way to draw the short straw) I think it would have been perfectly acceptable, even preferable. But watching Critical Mass being tailed by multiple police vehicles (motorized), including at least one SUV seems to defeat the greater purpose.
The motorcycle cop zooming past, and at times, through the bicycles also seems a bit excessive.
I’d love to see the ECC folks have another sit-down with Lt. Hasset to discuss ways to make this better (read: no motor vehicles), while still involving the police.
In it’s current incarnation, it reeks of police “intimidation” tactics aimed at taking the “fun” out of the whole thing.
Bravo to the bike cops, however, who I understand were really cool and visibly enjoying themselves. I hope they can schedule the end of their shifts to coincide with the afterparty next time!

posted by: wes on June 30, 2008  2:05pm

i’m glad to hear the mass went well and that police are cooperating. it would be great if the cops were all on bikes too. that would make it less parade-like.

posted by: anon on June 30, 2008  3:43pm

I agree MattUva- especially when you consider that a single SUV produces more pollution, noise and national debt than 200 bicycles.

posted by: Mike on June 30, 2008  3:57pm

<a href=“http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm” rel=“nofollow”><a href=“http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm” rel=“nofollow”><a href=“http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm” rel=“nofollow”><a href=“http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm” rel=“nofollow”><a href=“http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm” rel=“nofollow”>http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/pub/Chap248.htm#Sec14-286a.htm</a></a></a></a></a>

Sec. 14-286a. Rights, duties and regulation of cyclists.
(a) Every person riding a bicycle, as defined by section 14-286, upon the traveled portion of a highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of any vehicle subject to the requirements of the statutes relating to motor vehicles, except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application and except that each town, city or borough and the State Traffic Commission within its jurisdiction as provided in section 14-298 shall have authority to regulate bicycles as provided in section 14-289 and said section 14-298, and except as provided by section 14-286c. No parent of any child and no guardian of any ward shall authorize or knowingly permit any such child or ward to violate any provision of the general statutes or ordinances enacted under section 14-289 relating to bicycles.

(b) Every person operating a bicycle solely by hand or foot power upon and along any sidewalk or across any roadway upon and along any crosswalk shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to pedestrians walking in such areas as provided by the general statutes, except as provided otherwise by any ordinance of any city, town or borough or any regulation of the State Traffic Commission issued or adopted pursuant to the provisions of section 14-289.

posted by: Josh Smith on June 30, 2008  4:26pm

This was my first CM ride, and it was really enjoyable for me.  I had hands-down the crappiest bike out there (an old 1973 Sears Free Spirit 10-speed with rusty handlebars) but I got it tuned up at Devil’s Gear II just so I could make this CritMass (I brought it in just a couple days before the ride, so kudos to the shop for banging that tune-up out so fast!)

I had a lot of fun riding up and down the streets downtown, and I was amazed at the positive responses we got (one guy at the corner of College and Chapel was flipping out in his car in a good way—like, holy crap, look at all the bikes, lol!)  Now my girlfriend wants to go too, and we can’t wait for the next ride!

I just wish the ride could be longer and more fast-paced, and I think we could do without the police motorcycle zooming by us, even though I did very much appreciate the police presence, as I’m sure most of us did.  The bike cops were awesome!  Thanks, New Haven Police, for helping keep the tradition alive!  (Not to mention the riders as well.)  :D

posted by: William Kurtz on June 30, 2008  4:41pm

Kudos to Matthew Feiner and Lt. Hassett for coming together on this.  New Haven’s CM has always aimed to be the “kinder, less-critical” Critical Mass and having the New Haven police along for the ride shows that it really is an inclusive event, welcoming to anyone, and that the city is really interested in making the streets safe and orderly for all users.  Having said that, it would have been preferable to have seen all the officers on bicycles.  The cars and the motorcycle weren’t really in the spirit of the thing.

posted by: Kevin on June 30, 2008  5:07pm

As the statute posted by Mike indicates, both Alphonse and James are incorrect. Cyclists have a legal right to be on the road (and generally should ride there), but they are not prohibited from riding on sidewalks (although they can be a threat to pedestrians).

posted by: KAM B on June 30, 2008  5:14pm

At first I was against the police escort, but Officer Steven Manware and Officer Warren Palmer are great bike cops for the Elm City. I was actually surprized. Not only did they keep up with us, the bike officers had to pedal from the back of the pack then to the front to stop traffic for the entire hour long trip constantly rotating. Good times.

posted by: Walt on June 30, 2008  5:22pm

Now if we can get the brazenly and pridefully ignorant bicyclists to finally get a clue.

Cops must direct traffic to prevent the arrogant bike leaders from breaking the law and luring their fellow bike enthusiastics to barge into   legal traffic,  breaking the law,too, and maybe getting injured and blaming it on innocent drivers.

Go ahead they say.  “Ignore the Stop signs,  cut in front of traffic,  maybe get killed. 

We will crucify the innocent drivers,  blaming them, certainly not you or us,,  and maybe we will even put up a marker on the spot where you get hit!”

Sounds like BS to me.

posted by: robn on June 30, 2008  6:17pm

Kevin,

CT Statutes allows town governments to ban bicycles from sidewalks, which New Haven does on paper, but not in practice, recognizing that dangerous road conditions, including potholes and speedy roads, often drive cyclists onto sidewalks.

posted by: Josh Smith on June 30, 2008  6:44pm

What Mike posted was part of the Connecticut General Statutes, and that section tells you that New Haven has the authority to regulate laws regarding bicycles.  The following is from the City of New Haven Code of Ordinances, and proves that sidewalk-riding is, in fact, illegal:

(Title III, Code of General Ordinances, from the City of New Haven Code of Ordinances)

Sec. 29-10.  Vehicles on sidewalks.
No person shall drive, wheel or draw any coach, cart, handcart, wheelbarrow, bicycle, or other vehicle of burden or pleasure, whether of the same description or not, except children’s hand carriages drawn by hand, or permit any horse under his care to go or stand upon any sidewalk or footpath in the streets or public squares of said city, except going in or out of driveways.
(Code 1928, § 751; Traffic Reg. of 7-7-52, § 10)

posted by: Paul Garlinghouse on June 30, 2008  9:31pm

To set the record straight, it is illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk in New Haven.
Sec. 29-10.  Vehicles on sidewalks.
No person shall drive, wheel or draw any coach, cart, handcart, wheelbarrow, bicycle, or other vehicle of burden or pleasure, whether of the same description or not, except children’s hand carriages drawn by hand, or permit any horse under his care to go or stand upon any sidewalk or footpath in the streets or public squares of said city, except going in or out of driveways.
(Code 1928, § 751; Traffic Reg. of 7-7-52, § 10)

posted by: bl on June 30, 2008  9:55pm

Awsome ride! The Bike Cops were the Bomb!! Though next time I think we can do without the Motorcade.

posted by: anon on June 30, 2008  10:18pm

Next month’s ride will be longer. Also it is worth pointing out that after the “mass”, a large number of people broke into smaller groups and went for slightly faster-paced rides throughout the city. One large group even went down to Lighthouse Point and back, which at a slow pace only takes about an hour round trip. Ask around at the next ride!

posted by: Chip Croft on June 30, 2008  11:46pm

With all the talk of a new chief and new asst. chiefs, I believe in promoting from within and a great community based officer like Lt. Hassett shoud be in one of the top spots! we don;t need to bring in outsiders to run our toen We have enough great people here like Hassett to fill our needs. It’s a shame we don’t do a better job of utilizing our own great resources.

posted by: Brian on July 1, 2008  12:10am

Mike is quoting state law which allows people to ride bicycles on sidewalks in the State of Connecticut “except as provided otherwise by any ordinance of any city, town or borough.”

The City of New Haven has decided that it will prohibit bicycles on sidewalks, which according to the state law, preempts any permission given by the state.

New Haven Code of Ordinances
Article 1
Sec. 29-10.  Vehicles on sidewalks.
No person shall drive, wheel or draw any coach, cart, handcart, wheelbarrow, bicycle, or other vehicle of burden or pleasure, whether of the same description or not, except children’s hand carriages drawn by hand, or permit any horse under his care to go or stand upon any sidewalk or footpath in the streets or public squares of said city, except going in or out of driveways.
(Code 1928, § 751; Traffic Reg. of 7-7-52, § 10)

posted by: William Kurtz on July 1, 2008  7:05am

It’s not a state law, but New Haven has a municipal ordinance prohibiting cycling on the sidewalk. In addition to being illegal and dangerous to pedestrians, riding a bike on the sidewalk is more dangerous for the rider, particularly at intersections.

posted by: anon on July 1, 2008  10:36am

“Vehicles on sidewalks. No person shall drive, wheel or draw any coach, cart, handcart, wheelbarrow, bicycle, or other vehicle of burden or pleasure,”

A bicycle is not a vehicle of burden or pleasure.  It can be considered in the same category as a handicapped and/or commuting device. I don’t think the bicycle police consider it a vehicle of burden or pleasure either. Therefore the language of this ordinance is questionable. It also probably wouldn’t stand up in court, considering that many other cities allow bicycle riding on sidewalks if done respectfully. Also, why are handcarts banned from the sidewalk? I suggest the city consider rewriting this section of code.

Although riding on the sidewalk is more dangerous statistically when compared to riding on the road, it is not more dangerous in every road configuration. Riding on the sidewalk and dismounting at each intersection along a narrow, 50mph street (which could be anywhere in New Haven), especially at night, is probably much safer than riding on the road (not to mention feeling much safer).  Many beginner cyclists and children ride on the sidewalk because they feel much safer there. Unless you do a study of every particular road condition in New Haven, you can’t prove that they are or aren’t safer in every case. Also, given that bikes are not accommodated on the roads, feeling safer is just as important as actually being statistically safer because that affects whether you ride a bicycle in the first place (and all things considered, riding is much better for your health than not riding).

If people ride on the sidewalk, however, they need to do it carefully. And for safety reasons, they should dismount and walk their bicycles at each intersection and if they are in an area with pedestrians. Anyone riding fast or recklessly in an area with pedestrians should be fined by the police. And drivers need to drive slower and pay attention to the roads and the sidewalks, because if someone does make a mistake (or is too young, too old, too new to the country, miseducated, having a bad day, etc.) and rides on the sidewalks, it shouldn’t result in death for them.

posted by: Alphonse Credenza on July 1, 2008  12:21pm

To those who insist upon the text of the law, please note: the law can be changed.

Go suck your thumbs!

posted by: Bruce on July 1, 2008  3:20pm

Anon, The law specifically refers to “bicycles”.

There are cases where riding on the sidewalk is actually permitted in New Haven.  Specifically, the Freedom Trail shares the sidewalk with pedestrians as it passes Ikea.  The lanes are clearly marked to warn both bicyclists and pedestrians.

posted by: anon on July 1, 2008  3:54pm

So, according to your reading of the law, you are not allowed to “wheel” a bicycle on the sidewalk either?  Municipal laws are always open to interpretation by the courts - especially something like this. You could argue that this ordinance is not only unclear, but is highly discriminatory to handicapped, those with limited financial means, immigrants, children (many other city ordinances provide specific exceptions for children when it comes to this), etc. On the other hand you could argue that the IKEA Vision Trail situation opens up the city to significant liability, because it probably doesn’t clearly define what the sidewalk is or isn’t. But honestly, the city is much more likely to be sued over the improper placement of stop signs (many cities are now replacing stop signs with roundabouts, because stop signs have been proven to be highly ineffective and dangerous in many situations, and people have successfully sued the city over them).  I think the bottom line is that a new, enforced ordinance specifically prohibiting aggressive sidewalk riding in the downtown area, or near the hospitals, or just some new signs there telling people to dismount from bikes, are needed before more pedestrians are injured. But the city needs to be seriously enforcing other road behaviors as well, especially those that frequently lead to death and destruction. Cracking down on 14 year olds choosing to ride down the sidewalk in a residential zone because people are speeding down their street at 60mph, unless they are putting other people at significant risk, is probably counterproductive.

posted by: david streever on July 1, 2008  4:11pm

Alphonse’s arguments aren’t worth taking on. He’s already lost. Those laws won’t change, and it is a waste of time to even address him. Sour grapes/bitter regrets are too bad, so sad.

Better luck next time to those who don’t like bikes!

Thanks to Feiner & the NHPD for their work.

posted by: Paul Garlinghouse on July 1, 2008  5:57pm

The ordinance clearly prohibits the driving of bicycles on the sidewalks of New Haven.  It is not likely to change, since there is no organized effort to change it and there is a good reason for it.  People do get warnings and sometimes even tickets for violating this ordinance.
You can walk beside your bicycle on the sidewalk, since you are then a pedestrian and no longer operating the bicycle.

As for the handcart part, I have never even heard of that one being enforced, there are not that many handcarts around the sidewalks, other than the ones selling food and they have explicit licenses permitting them.

posted by: jade on July 1, 2008  11:58pm

i give you CM folks tons of credit.  i for one will not bicycle in New Haven for FEAR.  i even sold my bike.  if pressed, i would only bike on sidewalks…carefully, slowly.  sorry, but it’s not worth my life nor limb to ‘fight’ with cars.

posted by: we need safe streets now! on July 2, 2008  11:15am

Jade, you have plenty of company out there.  Even though many people own bikes, 95%+ of the population won’t ride on the road very often because they feel that it is dangerous.  A lot of people won’t walk, either - the percentage of children who walk to school has fallen from 70% to 10% within the past 30 years.  The streets are filled with speeding traffic and designed to carry automobiles through our city at speeds of 60mph or more. 

Until we follow the example of the rest of the world and create narrower, safer streets with crosswalks, traffic calming, 20mph speeds on designated bike routes, etc., we will be forever tying our city residents to their automobiles, to big oil companies, and to unhealthy lifestyles. And the 20% of our household incomes that we are forced to spend on automobiles, on average—more than what we spend on health care, education or food. 

Of course, that’s probably the way our government wants it.  If we gave people the option of walking or biking to work, like they do in Europe, we wouldn’t be sending hundreds of billions of dollars per year to oil companies (the majority of which ends up leaving our country for good). 

Ever wonder why the dollar is collapsing and the Euro is so valuable, or why our country is now $14,000,000,000,000 in debt (double what it was 8 years ago)?  That’s the main reason.

Unfortunately, the solution of the so-called “educated” class has been to buy a new hybrid car, which just further increases our national debt and does almost nothing to solve our energy dependency.  A much more comprehensive approach is needed, and it starts by making our city streets safe for walking and bicycling—right now, not 10 years from now.

posted by: DingDong on July 2, 2008  5:11pm

Jade,

You should come to CM. Part of the point of CM, at least for some people, is to experience how wonderful it could be to get around New Haven if only it were safe. With 200+ bikes and now police around you, CM is safe.

The City needs to take action so that it doesn’t require such a large escort for it to be safe to get around New Haven by bicycle. It should be safe every day.

posted by: Nestor Makhno on July 2, 2008  6:11pm

I like Matthew Feiner, but does anyone tire of his Il Duce standing in the bike “community”?  The image of him on the Green makes me uneasy and reminds me of why Mussolini Headkick’s first LP was sort of good.

posted by: david streever on July 3, 2008  8:09am

We Need Safe Streets,
I appreciate your sentiments but the made up statistics are frankly detrimental.
“95%+ of the population won’t ride on the road very often because they feel that it is dangerous”

Please provide some study to back this up, because right now, I know it’s untrue. Either you are lying or you read a bad study.

People want to turn New Haven into northern Europe which is all well and good, but the reality is that you don’t just build the infrastructure and hope that people change behavior. Maybe they will, but if they don’t, you are exposing 10s of thousands to risk of dying to fulfill some stupid eurotopic vision.

You need a whole range of work done, instead of endlessly crying for bike lanes, and providing made-up numbers to prove the point. It’s irresponsible & creates a dangerous climate for cyclists, who are completely ignorant already.

I went on an ice cream ride yesterday and was dismayed to see the mass running every freaking red light in the county, with 2 very small children in tow, and people haphazardly towing. At it’s very best it was bike anarachy. Not acceptable. I don’t know why I expected the ride to be different this year.

posted by: Cheri on July 3, 2008  9:25am

Nestor Makhno: Are you f’n kidding?!!!! Il Duce?!!

posted by: we need safe streets now! on July 3, 2008  11:13am

David:

According to the Census, the national rate of commuting by bicycle is 0.4%.  New Haven metropolitan area has a similar rate. The rate is slightly higher in central city neighborhoods, especially near the university, but still less than 2%.  A survey this year of just Yale University students and employees showed a 5-6% rate of bicycle use.

The national percentage of all trips made by bicycle stands at 0.8%, up from 0.7% 10 years ago.  This despite the fact that 40% of trips in the United States are two miles or less.  In many other countries, the rate of trips by bicycle is closer to 1/3rd.  The reasons for this are well documented.

It’s hard to define what riding on the roads “very often” means, but according to a recent university study, only 14% of Americans rode a bicycle ONCE in the past month.  Out of that small minority, 85% did so for recreation or exercise.  The remainder primarily used their bicycle for a short errand.  Numerous surveys and studies show that 50% or more of bicyclists would ride more often if they felt it was safer to do so. 

Similarly, walking is greatly affected.  According to the CDC, the most commonly reported barrier preventing people from walking to school, other than distance, by a wide margin, is traffic-related danger (crime is a distant 6th place reason). In order to increase the rate of walking and bicycling, I agree with you that our society needs a comprehensive approach to improve road safety.  Striped bike lanes are one tiny piece of that; I’m not sure what you are referring to because I didn’t mention them in my post above - other measures are far more important. 

For the reasons I gave above, we need to take urgent and immediate action to improve road safety, not only to prevent 45,000 deaths and 350,000 hospitalizations each year, but also because doing so is essential to promoting personal savings, economic vitality, environmental justice and overall public health.

posted by: Nil Duce on July 4, 2008  5:06pm

Nestor, I agree.  Feiner is really too much.

posted by: david streever on July 5, 2008  8:16pm

Can you show me how 95% of the population is too afraid?

The closet thing to a fear statistic I see in your responses is:
“Numerous surveys and studies show that 50% or more of bicyclists would ride more often if they felt it was safer to do so.”

So, 50% of the cycling population feels afraid. How does this translate?

Can you tell me what percentage of people ride motorcycles? I have a feeling it’s higher than 5%, and I think that the average motorcyclist is in more danger than the average cyclist? I’m still having a hard time with the 95% statistic.

posted by: anon on July 6, 2008  5:40pm

What is 50% of 0.4%?

posted by: we need safe streets now on July 6, 2008  6:20pm

A 2008 survey of non-bicycle commuters (presumably representing the 99%+ of the U.S. population that does not bike to work) showed the following reasons given as “very important” or “extremely important” reasons not to commute by bicycle:

- Harassment and “road rage” from motorists: 94%
- Too many incompetent motorists: 88%
- What I look like when I get there (too sweaty?): 81%
- Need car for errands before or after work: 53%
- Difficulty finding good place to park bike: 43%
- Unsure of my own physical & mental abilities: 18%
- Need car for work: 18%

According to another survey (Rodale/Harris), 53% of Americans would like to bike more, and 40% would commute by bike “if safe facilities were available” (in other words, even out of the people who want to bike more, the vast majority probably wouldn’t because of the lack of safe roads).  According to the poll, concern for safety is by far the single greatest reason people don’t commute by bicycle. About 3 million people bike to work on occasion, whereas 35 million would if the streets were more bicycle friendly.  Imagine how much money that would save Americans every year.

Anyhow, the sad thing is that bicycle and pedestrian commuting is actually very safe, especially when health benefits are factored in.  Cyclists in the U.S. have a per-mile fatality rate that’s several times higher than what it is in Western Europe (even though they don’t wear helmets there), but it’s still considered to be a safe form of travel.  Exponent looked at a variety of activities and determined that the number of fatalities per million hours of exposure was 0.26 for biking, 0.47 for driving, 1.53 for living (all causes of death), and 8.80 for motorcycling. In other words, they found that the risks of biking were about a sixth of that associated simply with being alive.  But, as the 94% “road rage” number above illustrates, most people still feel it is dangerous.  So until safety is promoted through comprehensive education, policy, and transportation engineering, the ability of people to walk and bicycle to work will be limited.

posted by: david streever on July 7, 2008  1:21am

That hardly backs up much of anything—
1. What survey is that? Who conducted it?  What communities did they speak to? How did they conduct it (telephone, website, internet, e-mail, door to door, at highway rest stops, etc).
2. 94 isn’t 95, and the 94 is just of the non-bike commuters to begin with.
3. Not biking due to road rage isn’t quite the same as being too afraid to ride a bike. If people were taught how to bicycle, I am pretty sure their fear would reduce, regardless of road rage. There are some roads I skip due to the level of angry drivers, but I’m not afraid, it’s just not worth the hassle—and if you asked me why I don’t ride route 15 back from Hartford, I’d tell you “road rage/incompetent drivers.” But I still am riding 250 miles a week right now. I’d hardly say I’m “Afraid” to bike.
4. Can you cite this survey? It’s still just your numbers.
5. Maybe you don’t endlessly call for bike lanes. I think you are the same person as Anon, so it’s hard to say, because Anon seems to endlessly ask for bike lanes.

Writing 20 paragraphs is great. Now, please, show me the survey (and give me it’s name so I can check it) that demonstrates what you claim. Writing that a survey agreed with you and neither naming it nor providing a reference makes me inclined to think you are burying reality—the reality of making up statistics to prove your points ;-).

As for your census results, the census numbers have been discredited routinely, and 5 seconds of google provides some backup:
http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/blueprint/appendix/levels.html

I really wish cycling advocates wouldn’t throw random numbers around that they never back up in order to prove their biased points. It’s discouraging to the rest of us. Stick to what you know, & work with that. Don’t invent things, because it makes us all look like idiots when it can’t be backed up.

Even if it’s true,  that 95%+ of the population is afraid and that is why they won’t ride, what does it mean?

Spitting statistics out (esp. ones you don’t back up) is of little value.

Extrapolating data about how you think people feel via statistics is frequently a losing game. Let’s stick to actual accidents & dangers & require cities to deal with those issues.

posted by: we need safe streets now! on July 7, 2008  1:27pm

I agree that statistics will never give you the complete picture, but they can be used to illustrate.  As far as journey to work data goes, the primary commute to work figure from the Census—showing a 0.4% national mode share of bicycle commuting (out of whom an overwhelming majority are young men)—is the most often comparison used for a variety of reasons which I won’t get into here. Obviously TransAlt has a point, but it is a different one. Counting people riding around the block for an errand or who are delivering 70 orders of Chinese food every day is different than taking a measurement of how people get to work five times per week. Also, even in NYC, one of the densest and potentially most bikeable cities in the world, the TransAlt and other NYC-bike-advocate-group data still shows far less than 10% of citywide traffic counts consisting of bicycles.  Almost any way you look at the data, by trips, commutes, traffic counts, etc., bicycle trips represent no more than a tiny fraction of total trips in the United States (typically less than 5%).  In many other countries, the bicycle trip percentage is almost an order of magnitude higher, even after adjusting for distance, urban or rural density, age, etc., and the per-mile fatality rates for cyclists and pedestrians are a tiny fraction of what they are in the U.S.

How about conducting a detailed poll to determine why most people in New Haven do not walk or bicycle more often, even for short trips?  I’m pretty sure it would show roughly the same thing as the other international, national and community-based polls out there, especially after talking with hundreds of local residents around the city about this specific issue (including many with children, disabled individuals who rely on walking to the bus, etc), but a local poll would be much more powerful.  Maybe it’s 95%, maybe 94%, or maybe even just 85% who think that traffic issues prevent them from walking or biking more (out of those people who physically could in the first place)—no matter what the number is and how you measure it, the point is that our society has some serious issues to address when it comes to traffic safety and policy, and that these have a tremendous impact on our economy, public health, quality of life and personal freedom (i.e. ability to select varied forms of transportation) not to mention the fact that 70% of our country’s daily oil consumption, which occurs at about 50x the per capita rate of the rest of the world, goes to automobiles.

For the time being we can rely on anecdotal evidence to support the argument that traffic safety is a serious concern, such as:

1) 1,500 local residents, eight community management teams and 28 elected officials have signed to support a petition for safe streets calling specifically for enforcement metrics, slower speeds in targeted areas and a 90% reduction in injuries and fatalities,

2) the still relatively limited numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians, in terms of getting to schools, workplaces and stores in our city (and especially in surrounding areas, but I have seen related studies/surveys of inner city residents of New Haven, too showing the unwillingness to cross heavy-traffic streets) even though, as many city residents and employers have pointed out, bicycling and walking is theoretically by far the fastest and cheapest way for most local residents to make an average trip.  40% of trips are two miles or less.

There are more resources posted at http://www.newhavensafestreets.org, which have links to the studies above and others.  Other data like the number of kids who walk to school are available through the New Haven Public Schools and various advocacy groups.

posted by: DingDong on July 28, 2008  10:54pm

Hey everyone who is ambivalent about cops and critical mass, let’s be appreciative of how infinitely better NHPD is than NYPD when it comes to bikes. Take a look at this video:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/28/cop-assaults-critical-mass-rider-charges-filed-against-cyclist/