Bicycles give boost to East Bay business owners
by Laura McCamy
East Bay writer, artist and EBBC member. When she's not writing about bicycles, she's riding them.
As East Bay streets grow even more bicycle-friendly, a growing group of East Bay entrepreneurs is proving that it is possible and even profitable to run a business by bicycle.
One of the first bicycle-powered businesses in the East Bay was bicycle delivery business Pedal Express. When it was founded in 1994, the idea that bicycles could replace cars was a radical one. Foresta Sieck-Hill, one of the current member-owners, describes the three founding members as “altruistic folks” who wanted to show that ”human-power could do what people did in cars and trucks.”
Tuesday Topics: Shared Spaces–the Ultimate Public Realm
The videos below tell the story of "shared spaces." After watching them, you may agree that they give us hope of one day bringing back the public realm and a sense of place to our roadways. At the end of the 3rd video is the following quote from a famous Dutch traffic engineer:
"A safe street is one that tells a rich story about it's past, its context, and the future hopes of its residents."
Shared spaces are a European concept that started in the Netherlands and spread to England, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Germany. We hope to bring these wonderful concepts to Berkeley as part of Berkeley's Downtown Streets and Open Space Improvement Plan.
Berkeley Pedestrian Master Plan Nears Completion
City of Berkeley is finalizing environmental clearance of its comprehensive Pedestrian Master Plan. The Transportation Commission is recommending that a dedicated pedestrian fund (similar to the dedicated bike fund) be used to speed implementation. Many of the proposed projects would benefit cyclists too -- through traffic calming and intersection improvements. The City will accept comments on the CEQA Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) document until 5 p.m. on February 11, 2010. After that, it will go to Council.
The Plan has some interesting map data, including survey of pedestrian counts, and SWITRS accident data:
Berkeley City Council - Speed Table / Raised Crosswalks
Location: Council Chambers - 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Staff proposal for experimental vertical deflection devices (i.e. speed humps, speed tables, and raised crosswalks) will be on the City Council agenda. This is a very important issue for cyclists, pedestrians, and neighborhoods because if the experimental installations are successful, traffic engineers will get a very powerful tool for the city's Traffic Calming 'toolkit'.
Background:
Current City Berkeley Projects
Here is a list of current projects that BFBC is monitoring
BFBC's statement on the LPA
BFBC prepared a statement on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), prior to the public workshop planned for October 17. You can read it here
Hearst Avenue Bike Lanes
Proposal
Stripe the bike lanes on Hearst Avenue prior to Bike to Work Day, May 13, 2010. To complete the bike lanes up to Arch, the University may need to remove some curb-side parking. For these reasons, I have placed this item on the agenda for their next Campus Bicycle Subcommittee Meeting, coming up in early October.
The Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition presented this request at the Bicycle Subcommittee of the Transportation Commission on September 24, 2009 and staff is considering it.
The Nickelsen Family's Big Bicycle Adventure
"Over Christmas when my four year old niece started talking about camping, her mother (my sister) didn’t seem so excited. In fact, the thought of sleeping without a pillow terrified her, not to mention all the other discomforts associated with the great outdoors. However, with a little encouragement, she agreed to fly her family out from Massachusetts to go camping with us at Point Reyes National Seashore. This left us with an interesting challenge. How were we to get supplies for 4 adults and 5 young kids out to a campsite?
Pavement Marking Maintenance
Your help is needed for the annual City maintenance of Bicycle Pavement Markings
Bike in Berkeley? Your observation skills are needed to report any pavement markings that are worn, damaged or otherwise appear to need an update. Please email Eric Anderson, City of Berkeley's Bike Ped Planner at eanderson AT ci DOT berkeley DOT ca DOT us, if bike lane markings, Bike Boulevard pavement legends, bike stencils, etc.... could use refreshing. Your clear description of exact location and specific marking will be very much appreciated.