bikes

Again?

SFPD Announces Yet Another Cyclist Crackdown, Insists It's For Bikers' Own Good

— By Jack Morse (@jmorse_) |

The San Francisco Police Department is once again going after cyclists. The announcement, made yesterday, details a department-wide plan to ticket bikers in what officials describe as high-injury areas. In an interesting twist, this time around pedestrians are also to be on the receiving end of citations.

Per SFPD:

[Officers] will cite for violations when pedestrians cross the street illegally or fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way. Bike riders will be stopped and citations issued when they fail to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists. All riders are reminded to always wear a helmet – those under 18 years of age must wear helmets by law. Pedestrians should cross the street only in marked crosswalks or at corners.

The victim-blaming crackdown, which is scheduled to take place today and several other days this month, is reminiscent of past efforts by Park Station Captain John Sanford to ticket cyclists on the Wiggle. His campaign led to a series of protests along the popular bicycle route, with people on bikes coming to a full and complete stop at every stop sign — jamming up traffic in the process.

The locations of today’s enforcement action are unknown, with SFPD saying only that officers had “mapped locations over the past 3 years where pedestrian and bike collisions have occurred along with the violations that led to those crashes.”

Interestingly, SFPD appears to have learned at least one thing since the widely criticized 2015 crackdown. Namely, this time around the department is going after drivers as well. “Special attention will be directed toward drivers speeding, making illegal turns, failing to stop for signs and signals, failing to yield to pedestrians in cross walks or any other dangerous violation,” the announcement clarifies.

Perhaps they realized that cyclists’ Idaho Stops didn’t cause the 18 pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2016.

[Photo: San Francisco Bicycle Coalition]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Stuff You Already Knew About Commuter Biking Now In Handy Dandy Infographic

— By Alissa |

If I've learned anything about the internet, it's that y'all are suckers for three things: bikes, maps, and infographics. Today's news, out of charming college town Eugene, Oregon, combines all three! Prepare to have your minds blown:

You are almost certainly going to need to enlarge that picture for the full effect, and can do so by clicking on this link.

This map was created by Kory Northrop, a U of O masters candidate in Environmental Studies, and tracks trends in commuter cycling over the last 10 years or so. If you commute by bike, this might not tell you anything new. Yes, theres a shit ton of commuter cyclists in San Francisco - you ride with them in a pack of 40 to and from work every day. Yes, commuter cycling (and the cycling community in general) is male-dominated - nothing new there.

The most interesting part of this study is in the correlation between the rise in government spending on bike/pedestrian infastructure, and the overall decline in bike related fatalities. It would seem as though the government is effectively putting their money to good use in looking out for the interest and safety of urban cyclists, which is pretty rad. Also, there's safety in numbers. As the number of urban cyclists as increased, fatalities have decreased. While you may not like riding around in a pack of old dudes on cruisers who seemingly get joy out of affixing every possible blinking object to themselves/their bikes, at least it's a little safer that way.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Bike Kitchen Rescues CELLspace

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

A mural commissioned by The Bike Kitchen outside of CELLspace, depicting the everyday environs of The Bike Kitchen.

Angel from The Bike Kitchen hit us up in the comments letting us know that they've stepped up to save CELLspace:

Angel from the Bike Kitchen here. I just wanted to let folks know that the Bike Kitchen is going to be loaning (interest free) CELLspace $13,000 to help them keep their doors open. Back when the Bike Kitchen started, CELLspace gave us a rent-free space for about two years at the Mission Village Market (remember that place? It was the weekend flea market and warehouse/art space at 18th & Alabama. It's been replaced by mixed income apartments and is the Bike Kitchen's new home too). Anyway, we're pretty frugal and have been able to save up some cash and are stoked to be able to give back to this org which helped us get our feet. CELLspace has a pretty bright future in the Mission - it's a shame that this bureaucratic hiccup could almost bring an org like this down.

The bureaucratic hiccup, as you might recall, was the city's Planning Department (boo, hiss!) forcing them to do a whole bunch of renovations before they could reopen their doors.  Renovations that forced the space to raise $25,000 by the end of January or be faced with shutting down.  Looks like they weren't set to quite hit their goal by the end of the month, but the Mission community stepped up just in the nick of time.  Now we can look forward to rollerdisco New Years parties and magical monkey murals for years to come.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: