Kenneth C. Martin Blogs: The Monday Roundup: The scofflaw truth, disengaged drivers, traffic law sanctuary, and more

Monday, April 16, 2018

The Monday Roundup: The scofflaw truth, disengaged drivers, traffic law sanctuary, and more

This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by the Cannon Beach Fat Bike Festival (4/20 – 4/22) — three affordable days of rides and fun activities on the Oregon Coast!

Here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…

When Uber says Jump: How high can Uber go in becoming a truly “multimodal” company? Their acquisition of Jump is a validation of urban biking and bike share.

The Holy Grail: Now Uber is said to be developing an app that integrates all urban mobility options — including bike share and public transit.

Disengaged drivers: This Bloomberg article touches on one of my biggest concerns about the wave of “driver-assist” and autonomous technologies: Carmakers are incentivizing lazy driving habits way before the cars are smart enough to drive themselves safely.

Transit and the working class: A good recap from Metro about how regional transportation investments should prioritize the link between transit and affordable housing because it’s a “working class issue.”

Why scoff at laws: Bike Snob NYC speaks some important truths about the “scofflaw bicyclist” narrative in his explainer on why bike riders often break traffic laws.

Chaos in L.A.: A man who was in a South Central street during at a vigil to mourn the death of his friend killed while biking, it-run-driver-in-south-la-during-vigil-speaks-out/3335616/”>was then struck himself by an angry auto user.

Sanctuary!: A Staten Island, New York resident with enough power to get attention on an op-ed thinks his borough should be completely immune to traffic law enforcement — “beginning with that ridiculously low 25 mph city speed limit.”

Oregon decongestion pricing: ODOT’s tolling plan is coming into focus. Read the latest via this article in The Oregonian.

No train, no problem: People in New York City are prepping for an upcoming shutdown of a major commuter train by organizing bike trains.

“Ingenious” women’s cyclewear: As women flocked to cycling at the end of the 19th century, they invented new types of clothing that did double-duty as functional cyclewear and socially acceptable fashion. I like the long skirt that converts into a cape!

Women pedal freely: In Saudi Arabia women have only been allowed to ride bikes in public since 2013. Now the government just sanctioned the very first, all-women bike race.

Paris Roubaix’s unsung hero: At the queen of the Spring Classics, all eyes were on winner Peter Sagan; but did you hear the story about the guy who refused to abandon the race and finished alone in the storied velodrome over one hour later?

Thanks to everyone who helped us track down these great stories.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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