Lucy Gellman Photo
Willis: Cyclists “not always popular.”
The secret to covering New Haven on two wheels without getting hit: make eye contact with drivers, and don’t zigzag like a squirrel.
The city’s parking enforcement supervisor, Ray Willis, gave that advice when he joined me on the first episode of “In Transit,” a WNHH radio show on transportation and its many intersections.
Willis’s grandfather owns a bike shop in Westerly, R.I. Every summer, Willis rides the 70 miles along the shoreline between the two citie:. “It’s a great time.”
“Cyclists are not always the most popular people,” he said. Not all obey the rules of the road, which is “frustrating to drivers.” But many cyclists say they feel unsafe riding on the streets and following all traffic lights.
New Haven is working on teaching drivers and cyclists how to share the road, engineering better biking infrastructure and then enforcing the law, Willis said. (Read about that here.)
Click on this sound file to hear the entire show. It includes insights from longtime cyclist- and pedicab-driver-around town Paul Hammer.
Tif Shen Photo
Hammer: bike co-op to come.
Enjoying Saturday’s jazz festival on the Green, I ran into Paul Hammer as he was offering rides in his bike-drawn pedicab, on a pay-what-you-can basis. That night, he said someone offered him a meal in exchange for a turn around the Green.
I spoke to him about the work he does making biking more accessible in New Haven through the non-profit he founded, Bicycle Education, Entrepreneurship and Enrichment Programs. The organization gives out “recycled bikes” to community organizations such as Columbus House and Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
New Haven has many biking “subcultures,” he said. “Most of them have not been steeped in the bike culture that is connected with advocacy. It’s a different bike culture, subculture. Riding at night without lights … and popping wheelies and having fun,” he said. The city is working on offering more programs to “accommodate young cyclists who might want to be a little wild,” he said.
Soon to come, according to Hammer: a bike co-op, a resource for people who want to learn to fix their own bikes under the supervision of mechanics. It will eventually offer vocational classes for those interested in becoming bike mechanics. To get involved, contact Hammer through his Beeep! website.
