Imagine No Cars: Thoughts on Alternative Transportation and Urban Design

Friday Fun Day

2010-04-09T09:57:00.003-06:00

Friday couldn't have come soon enough this week. But not because it was a bad week... how could it be a bad week when Missoula got ranked #4 city under 100,000 people for bicycle friendliness in America? Though however wrote the piece must have looked at wikipedia to get their info on Missoula.

No... this week was simply full of deadlines and copious amounts of sleep deprivation. I'll be taking a small break from blogging at this site over the next month while head into the hell that is the last month of classes. I'll also take the time to think about how to move forward with this blog. With my objective complete I would like to rework the focus and design of this blog but into to what I don't yet know.

Here is to another week on the bike and to the weekend ahead.

Now... for the fun part. Shit from the 80s is always good for a laugh.

A Year Well Spent: One Year Spent Carfree

2010-04-04T22:53:00.004-06:00

Its been a year of carfree living and I must say that I'm surprised at how fast the time went by and how relatively easy it was to get through the last year. There is no party or press release to send out, just a sense of accomplishment in knowing that I stuck to a goal I set for myself and in the knowledge that that I have grown as a person and learned many things about myself and the world us humans have built for ourselves.

I started this little project to see just how much of a difference one person could make on a bicycle and it seems that I have accomplished more than collecting stats. Ashley informed me that she feels my commitment had challenged her to think about getting around town in a different way and inspired her and her family to hop on a bike or walk more often. I even got her cousin Katie from Houston to ride a bike after more than three years of missing out on such joy. Katie let me know that, "you just don't ride a bike in Houston."

I also wanted to experiment with carfree living in a small city. Many of the online discussions encouraging mass transit or active transportation featured the same old argument that in many American cities it just isn't possible to live without a car and that such a lifestyle is only for those elitists from the coast. Well I did it in the middle of Montana in a town with limited bus service. After a year I'm convinced that most of the barrier to people getting out of their cars is in fact psychological in nature.

Of course Missoula certainly isn't the worst place to ride a bike as your main transportation and I would even challenge towns such as Boulder, CO and Davis, CA to try harder because Missoula is catching up on these bicycling paradises. Missoula's grid system of streets sure helps, allowing cyclists to skirt around heavy traffic if they wish, and the strong emphasis on outdoor activities doesn't hurt either. Hell, people around here have such a hard time waiting out the winter that the first day in the 50s brings out shorts and Chacos. There were barriers and adjustments that I had to make. I missed out on a lot of the great outdoors that Montana is famous for. I was certainly confined to the Missoula urban area much more than a would have been normal, but I made the most of it given the great culture that Missoula has to offer.

I didn't get through this year alone and have many people that helped out in different circumstances. Ashley, my fiance, turned around from her initial skepticism and supported me till the end; Troy, a friend, never stopped offering me car rides and was there when I truly needed them, and Free Cycles allowed me to learn how to maintain my lowly fleet.

So how much of a difference did I make? Over the course of the year I logged 2,932.92 miles on my bike running errands and commuting. All those miles add up to 226.8 gallons of gas saved, and @ $3.00/gallon that adds up to $680.56 saved. Add in $1800 saved from not needing car insurance and $360/month, for a total of $4320/year, from car payments I no longer had to make and I saved a total of $6800.56 over the course of the year. Thats $6800.56 that I'm certain I spent elsewhere supporting Missoula business. I also saved 1750.98 Ibs of CO2 from entering the atmosphere just by using a bicycle as my main form of transportation.

Where are the keys? ... I'm going for a drive. That last part is a joke.

Carfree Stats Update

2010-04-04T21:49:00.002-06:00

Week 52

Miles Biked: 0
Gallons Saved: 0
CO2 Not Emitted: 0

Week 51

Miles Biked: 63.78
Gallons Saved: 3.986
CO2 Not Emitted: 25.04 Ibs

Week 50

Miles Biked: 48.39
Gallons Saved: 3.024
CO2 Not Emitted: 18.99 Ibs

Week 49

Miles Biked: 70.14
Gallons Saved: 4.38
CO2 Not Emitted: 27.53

Week 48

Miles Biked: 69.44
Gallons Saved: 4.34
CO2 Not Emitted: 27.255 Ibs

Week 47

Miles Biked: 56.36
Gallons Saved: 3.522
CO2 Not Emitted: 22.13 Ibs

Week 46

Miles Biked: 93.87
Gallons Saved: 5.867
CO2 Not Emitted: 36.84 Ibs

Week 45

Miles Biked: 74.90
Gallons Saved: 4.681
CO2 Not Emitted: 29.39 Ibs

Week 44

Miles Biked: 89.34
Gallons Saved: 5.584
CO2 Not Emitted: 35.07 Ibs

I Just Drove A Car!

2010-04-01T16:57:00.002-06:00

This being April 1st I thought this would make a good topic, though this is no April Fools Joke... anyway it wouldn't have been a very good one.

I've been in Portland for going on a week now and even though I've spent most of my days traveling from coffee shop to coffee shop in search of the best Americanos and free wifi I haven't mustered the resolve to sit down and address any of the issues swirling through my head. Honestly, this blog has come to feel like a chore more than something enjoyable or a way to get ideas out of my head, which are just a few of the reasons I started this damn thing in the first place.

No... it took me renting a car and getting out of Portland for an afternoon to actually sit down and write. So let me address the car, which I know seems unusual since this blog is about being carfree, doesn't renting a car and driving go against what I'm trying to do here? Ashley, the reason I'm out here in Portland for a week, is currently at a job interview in the burb of Sherwood, so rather than go the tortuous route of public transit (more than 90 minutes on a bus) we rented a car for a day and took a 25 minute drive south of the city to Sherwood. Ashley pointed out very correctly that me renting a car to whisk her to her interview and save her from transit hell while saying fuck it to my little carfree project is LOVE!

Sherwood sits on Highway 99, a four lane expressway, with the usual clusterfuck of strip development that eats away at any sense of place. Sitting in Starbucks (If it ain't Stumptown it ain't fucking coffee) having only seen this strip development I thought aloud to Ashley "Sherwood... I Sherwouldn't."

Luckily I explored a little off the Godless Corporate Strip and wandered into the old downtown... blink and you could easily miss it. I'm now sitting in a nice little local coffee shop right across from the train tracks. Obviously Sherwood was at one time dependent on the railroad, before the traffic engineers decided it would be a great place to plop a highway at the edge of town. Its a hidden gem in an otherwise unimaginative suburban setting.

I don't really know where any of this rambling is meant to lead... in circles maybe? I almost feel bad for losing interest in this blog, I feel like I've given up on a goal. Here I am in Portland having an 'almost carfree' vacation with only a week left to go in my year and I haven't even written anything profound about my year long experience nor summed up what I learned from this little project. I don't really see me having the time in the next few days either, the best I can promise is getting a little bit of writing done on the train ride back east.

As for right now... thanks for coming along on this journey with me... hope y'all found it as comical as I did.

Just Not Enough Time

2010-03-23T20:42:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog,

Work and classes are simply kicking my ass this past month and I have neglected thee. Maybe I will be able to spend some time actually writing something halfway intelligent... but this isn't that time.

Sincerely,

CFS

Finally... A Wonderful and Sunny Weekend

2010-03-10T21:58:00.004-07:00

This last weekend saw some simply amazing weather and of course this brought out the people in droves. Unfortunately the nice weather only lasted for two days but I sure took the opportunity to get out with my camera and enjoy the sun. And so did this little guy here, Owen, who was with his parents out front of Bernice's Bakery. He was very excited to be out on a bike.

I also came across Ryan pictured below with temporary cast on his right foot. Did that stop him from being on a bike? HELL NO! Ryan is of course a well know face in Missoula, of Kettlehouse fame, and every time I run into him outside of a bar he seems to be injured. Last fall he had just experienced a blowout of the rear tire on his fixie that sent him flying and gave him some wicked facial features. Now he has a cast on his leg from playing hockey. So how does he get around on a bike with that big cast? ...without a pedal strap and liberal use of a brake.

Bicycling Comes to Google Maps

2010-03-09T22:44:00.004-07:00

A not so complete bicycle map of Missoula via Google Maps.

Google has finally added a layer that includes bicycle routes and trails according to BikePortland
This is a step in the right direction for a tool as ubiquitously used as Google Maps. This tool would be very handy in a larger city or as a beginning cyclist wanting to find an easy way around that avoids traffic.

One thing that always frustrated me about Google maps was that there was no layer to turn on for cyclists. Obviously this isn't a big inconvenience because cyclists can go pretty much anywhere cars can go. But still, I wanted to be able to search a map and maybe see an alternate route that would be better suited for a bicycle around that badly designed five lane arterial that I just don't feel comfortable riding on.

For a town such as Missoula this really isn't very critical since its small enough that it is pretty easy to figure out the path of least resistance from place to place. The map above also only shows off street bike/ped facilities, mostly trails, and not on street bike routes or lanes. And of course this will never replace the knowledge that people naturally gather from the experience of just trying to get around by bicycle... I still have friends that show me their routes, and often times better routes, around town even after years of cycling in Missoula.

With a little more development this could be another very worthwhile Google experiment.

Just as I Finish Up... Another Person Shares Their Carfree Experience

2010-03-09T10:29:00.004-07:00

Meet the "Average Joe" over at Carfree.us. As of January he started a year long carfree experiment to, "highlight the challenges and choices I will face in my every day life and the impact they will have on me as I live this (sadly) “alternative lifestyle.”

"It’s important to understand I am an average Joe, in my thirties, working a 9-5 desk job. I have a wife and a one year old son. I live in an average size city, with an average public transportation infrastructure, and I live 7 miles from the city center. My wife is not a zealous bicyclist, and truthfully, not very supportive of this project! My wife does own a car and I will probably occasionally drive it with my family in the car."

Good luck Mr. Average Joe and have fun with the journey.

Federal Gov't FAIL: US DOT Set to Shut Down

2010-03-02T09:14:00.002-07:00

As we've become so accustomed to hearing from D.C... the game of politics is getting nothing done and now the United States Department of Transportation is facing a temporary shutdown. A "Jobs Bill" meant to extend unemployment benefits has been blocked by a single U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R., Ky.). According to the Wall Street Journal the bill included a funding extension for Highway Trust Fund which has now expired, causing 2,000 USDOT employees to be furloughed and potentially $768 million in infrastructure projects to be halted.

This is causing many strains, including on state governments which are faced with losing approximately $150 million per day in federal reimbursement payments. At a time when many states are already on the edge of financial insolvency this is just one more headache to deal with. This is even trickling down to local Public Works type agencies that were relying upon federal funding and cost sharing for projects.

This shouldn't be much of a surprise since the Federal Government's continued failing to pass a new transportation bill has had a similar effect and has forced states and municipalities to make hard choices about what projects to try to fund (in stark contrast to the effect of the Stimulus where many projects went ahead with little oversight).

Missoula makes great use of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) which is part of Federal transportation funding. CMAQ funding helps pay for pedestrian and bicycle facilities as well as the purchase of buses for both Mountain Line and ASUM Transportation, the student funded bus service to the UM campus. Lack of CMAQ funding has meant that ASUM Transportation cant replace marginally safe buses that are over 20 years old rather than being able to purchase new buses that meet the strictest federal safety regulations. Because of the Federal Government's flaccid ability to actually get anything done ASUM Transportation is facing a hard choice between continuing to run old buses that pollute heavily (compared to a new bus) and breakdown constantly, or cut the budget by about 15%, consequently eliminating 4 or 5 student positions, to be able to attempt to purchase new buses using only ASUM funds.

Some people will undoubtedly rejoice in the gridlock in Washington, but when people and local governments have no idea what direction the Federal Government will take... it makes it just a little hard to plan for the long term or to invest in equipment or infrastructure.

Little Over a Month Left

2010-02-28T14:13:00.003-07:00

The sun is beginning to set on this little project with just over a month to go until I have experienced a year of carfree living. Its been a roller coaster, but I wouldn't change a thing.

Some Haiku Therapy

2010-02-27T11:16:00.002-07:00

Thanks to a co-worker for this suggestion.

Pedal, pedal, skid
Eating exhaust at the light
Swallowed by metal.

Out the door, crisp, clean
Sunrise lighting Lolo peak
Great start to the day.

No oncoming traffic
Honk from behind to move over
Receive finger, rude!

Finally Some Friday Humor...

2010-02-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

I am Jack's Utter Lack of Surprise

2010-02-22T20:48:00.009-07:00

Me: Describe incident to police officer
Officer: "There aren't cameras out there to get a license unless you went through a bank drive- through or Target parking lot. Next time call immediately."
Me: disappointment
Officer: "Do you ride a lot around here?"
Me: "Yes"
Officer: "Don't expect this to be the last indecent like this."

Really?

I was Almost Killed Last Night Because of a Bunch of Redneck Fucks

2010-02-21T08:56:00.008-07:00

If your a cyclist then you've had your run in with cars in some sort of situation. But has anyone out there every been chased down by a large pickup full of drunk rednecks? Well thats how my night ended... getting chased by a bunch of rednecks in a large pickup for the hell of it and almost getting killed in the process. As I sit here this morning my hands are still shaking.

It was late, almost 3 am and I'm pretty sure that I could make it home from a friends house up the Rattlesnake without running into any traffic. I was well lit with a headlamp and numerous blinking lights so I was easy to spot on my fixie. Heading west through downtown I turned off of Spruce onto Alder because its a quite street right along the train tracks. As I pass an intersection I turned my head to see a truck still about 20 feet from the stop sign, my headlamp pointed me out nicely.

"Get him!" "Woof... Woof!" "Where you goin' boy?"

All of a sudden the engine revs and the tires sequel and the hunt is on. I didn't have time to think of what to do, the adrenaline just kicked in and I was off pedaling as fast as I could. I rode through the cobblestone street where the Farmers Market is held in the summer and hopped up onto the sidewalk as if that extra 4 inches of cement would be an adequate buffer between me and the lifted truck.

"Woof, Woof, Woof!" "Run 'em down!"

I pass the old train depot and they are right on my tail by then, having blown through a stop sign. They're yelling, I'm going balls to the wall and I'm facing a choke point and I know if I continue into the street ahead of me I'm fucked. I quickly turn in the side parking lot of the depot, they shoot past, and I double back onto Higgins thinking maybe they'll continue on... but they don't.

As I turn I hear "Want a beer!" screamed out the window and an empty beer can hits me on the leg. I speed off and gain some space on them as they try to turn around. The gap doesn't last long and I turn onto Pine before their grill almost makes contact with my back tire. The sound of the V-8 is deafening. They were going fast enough that the truck goes wide on the turn and I hop back up on the sidewalk because I can keep a few cars in between them and me.

Turn right... another right into the alley, their not far behind. My only advantage is my agility and I'm trying to use that as much to my advantage as possible.

"Knock 'em down!" "Yeahhhhhh!" "Get em!" "How you like your bike now!"

Again they come within inches of me, this time pulling up beside me and trying to push me into the dumpsters at the end of the alley. Their timing was just a little late as I clear the alley, sharp right this time staying on the sidewalk.

"You fucking almost had him!"

They express their disappointment by hurling more beer cans. Another right back down Pine. I pedal as fast as I can to create a gap and cross in front of them and the truck revs and lurches forward in pursuit but misses. I make it down Ryman next to the court house were the street has been confined to one lane. This is my chance... they turn down Ryman. I make it half way down the block, skid, and make it on to the sidewalk and double back and take off. They're trapped... no room to turn around.

Left, right, left onto Spruce across Orange... another right, left. No sign of them, I can't hear an engine. I finally look around having kept my eyes looking straight ahead through the chase.

With the adrenaline subsiding a can feel my heart pounding, I can feel it in my ears. I'm still paranoid so I'm taking a drunkard's path home making lots of turns. I do this for maybe ten minutes before I finally make it home.

Getting home the adrenaline high is no more, I collapse, shaking, not believing what just happened.

I felt like I had just been hunted for sport. Like I'd been persecuted and violated just because I was on a bike. I'd never felt these feelings before. Maybe they had just been fucking with me, but in the moment it sure felt like they were trying to kill me. WTF? This is Missoula, its a liberal college town, not Laramie Wyoming.

UPDATE:

I realize that I am at least partially responsible for the events that happened. I made a bad decision to be out on my bike when I ultimately shouldn't have been. I placed myself in that situation which, had I made better choices, wouldn't have happened.

After having a day to reflection everything and having actually gotten some sleep I would like to add some thoughts. I now feel that they most likely weren't trying to kill me, but probably just trying to knock me off my bike so they could kick the shit out of me. Something similar happened to a friend's boyfriend a few years back in Missoula when some drunks in a pickup chased him and his friends down, knocked two cyclists off their bikes and proceeded to send them to the hospital.

In the moment it was all just so intense, but if they had really wanted to run me over I think they would have. They probably had lots of fun... I'm still shaky. I've gone to the police, see here for results.

Unusual Traffic

2010-02-20T12:09:00.003-07:00

I've had some unusually high traffic counts on this site the last several days and looking at the stats Blogger provides the reason for it is.... that damn picture of the Amtrak train.

People must really love trains because I've had upwards of 200 hits just from google image searches. From now on... every post will be started with a picture of a train.

Ecotopia... Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2010-02-19T13:08:00.004-07:00

I recently started reading the classic environmental polemic Ecotopia written by Ernest Callenbach. Its got a lot of amazing ideas and innovative design techniques for urban centers. I'll get into those in longer posts later, but for now I'll just give a teaser related to bicycles.

"Ecotopians setting out to go more than a block or two usually pick up one of the sturdy white-painted bicycles that lie about the streets by the hundreds and are available free to all. Dispersed by the movements of citizens during the day and evening..."

Let Your Voice be Heard... Support Additional Rail Lines

2010-02-18T09:58:00.002-07:00

An online version of the Restore the North Coast Hiawatha petition created by students at The University of Montana is now available on MontPIRG’s website. The petition was started in support of Amtrak’s passenger rail study and Senator Jon Tester’s push for reinstatement of the line. The original petition garnered over 1200 signatures in a matter of only a few weeks of gathering in Missoula. The first set of petitions will shortly be delivered to Senator Tester in Washington D.C.

It is the purpose of the online version to garner wider support for the rail line outside of Montana and to let our United States Senators know that the people demand more transportation options. The line connects many important cities in the region including Seattle, Spokane, Sandpoint, Missoula, Helena, Bozeman, Billings, Bismarck, Forgo, and many more. The restored line would be an important step in reducing green house gas emissions, providing transportation options, and offering vital economic infrastructure.

No TIGER Money for Missoula

2010-02-17T09:17:00.003-07:00

The US Department of Transportation just released the winners of the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants and Missoula was not on the list. For a look at the full document and listing of all the winners click here.

Montana didn't completely lose out on the funding however, as two projects in Western Montana are getting the go ahead. The projects in Whitefish and Lake County are recieving a combined $15.5 million in federal grant dollars.

Accord to @T4America there were a total of 1400 applications and $60 billion in funding requests. Missoula had applied to use the money mainly for investment in sidewalk, river trail, non-motorized road crossings, and intersection safety infrastructure improvements that would have taken care of several years worth of improvement projects.

Run in with the Cops

2010-02-16T21:10:00.003-07:00

When I say "Run in," I mean that I was almost run over by a Missoula city police officer.

Turning north onto Higgins to cross the bridge at 8:30 this evening I had the road all to myself... that is all but the police cruiser sitting in the middle of the right most (my right) southbound lane. He was just there, unmoving, doing what... I didn't know. Unmoving until he quickly flipped a u-turn into my path, hit the lights, and stopped only feet in front of me.

Now it wasn't too close of a call, but I still had to perform some serious braking in order to not hit the police cruiser... which would have been a bad move since I had no idea what was going on.

As soon as the cruiser flipped around and came at me my heart leaped and my mind immediately went to, "am I well enough lit?" I was well lit (blinking white in the front and two blinking red in the back) and riding additionally in a bright area. Unfortunately my buddy Mikey had recently informed me of the lighting related laws for bicycles in Montana which include solid light in front, pedal reflectors, wheel reflectors, etc.

I was thinking that this officer not only almost hit me, but was also going to stop me and ticket me for my lighting issues.

Luckily that didn't happen... as the officer hopped out of the cruiser quickly apologized and proceeded to tell me to "get out of here." For he was on his way to talk to an apparent drunk on the side of the road that I had failed to see. He meant business too... dismissing me, removing his flashlight, and very sternly yelling for the man to take his hands out of his pockets.

After all that in only a matter of a few seconds I was just happy to be on my way and glad I hadn't been run over by a cop.

The view from Portland

2010-02-15T20:19:00.004-07:00

My feet hurt... thank you Portland. Four days of a carfree mini vacation using a walking/transit combo put a lot of miles on the feet. Still tired from traveling today and then immediately diving into work back in Missoula so this post will be short and quick... for some great thought provoking writing check out @Urbanophile's arguement for fare-free transit, which would be perfect for Portland, and this article that shows that being sighted close to transit is saving homes from entering foreclosure.

Enjoy the pictures... I'll write more on Portland later... especially the Hipster economy.

Plane from Seattle --> Portland. A little greenwashing? I think so

You know your entering a different world when there is bicycle parking at the airport terminal.

My ride from the airport awaits.

On-street Bicycle parking at Powell's Books

Portland does a great job of using public (park) space to accentuate the utility and connectivity of the various rail lines.

Only in Portland

Another innovative urban design... this time add green infrastructure and reduce rain water runoff.

Building with both wind turbines and solar on the roof.

Making it that much easier not to own a car.

And finally the beer... my god the beer. A little nitro never hurt anyone... and anyway can't get this shit in the stores. Don't worry Kettlehouse, your still the beer I hold dear... though I think I'll miss Amnesia.

I'm Busting... Busting I Tell You

2010-02-11T09:47:00.002-07:00

I'll be making a pilgrimage to the liberal/bike mecca of Portland, OR. Actually I'll be visiting my fiance, Ashley, in Portland where she is doing her last clinical internship for physical therapy school.

Unfortunately I will be flying. I originally said said I would only fly for a family emergency. Well... this kinda is, since we haven't seen each other in a month and a half. I wanted to take a combo of bus and rail, but given the fact that we only have a weekend together, I'm flying instead. At least I can feel a little less guilty because I'm not producing as much CO2 as if I were driving to Portland.

I highly doubt I will be posting anything for the next several days, but expect something come Monday on my experience/thoughts on Portland.

Missoula Residents Show Up to Support Active Transportation

2010-02-10T16:47:00.003-07:00

Missoula has started the long and arduous bureaucratic process of updating one of its many long term plans. And this time its an update to the non-motorized transportation plan and recently Missoula's Office of Planning and Grants (OPG) held a community workshop to get input from Missoula citizens. And the general message from the good people of Missoula was for the city to finish the trail/sidewalk/bike lane system.

Missoula's planning apparatus (and I use that term half jokingly because we are a small community that gets a lot of planning done on limited resources) has in recent years really integrated collaborative planning into the process and this time is no different. Collaborative planning aims to be as open and inclusive of different interests and community groups as possible to allow a wide variety of input to be included in the planning process.

And from the parts of the process I have been involved in... there is a lot of input coming in. Transportation is one of those topics in Missoula that really brings out a lot of people and groups. The advisory committee alone has close to thirty people (from various city/county departments, nonprofits, community groups, and business organizations) in attendance guiding the process.

The community workshop was pretty interesting to watch play out. The night it was held was cold and snowy, yet about 2/3 of people biked and most of the rest walked. With perhaps upwards of 60 or 70 people in attendance, everyone worked through a series of group oriented activities. Of course everyone's favorite involved drawing on a map of Missoula.

And once the individual groups had finished their discussion and mapping each shared their results with the entire workshop.

Out of this event came a lot different input but the general themes included:
- improved connectivity
- finish the trail/sidewalk/bike lane network
- reduce posted speed limits, at most 35 mph
- improve street lighting
- implement our complete streets policy
- focus transportation more on safety than traffic flow

Hit n Run by Txt Message... Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2010-02-05T15:58:00.002-07:00

I came across this text on the Texts From Last Night Blog where a person self incriminated a hate crime against a cyclist using their vehicle:

"running late. just ran over a dude on a bike"

Winter Bicycle Maintenance FAIL

2010-02-03T17:55:00.005-07:00

Today was finally the day I got around to doing a little winter maintenance on my fleet of bikes. I don't have enough space to allow for a dedicated "bike garage" area for a bike stand and such, so I had been putting off working on my bikes for various reasons... bad/cold weather, bad lighting, too late, too tired, yada yada yada. Really these were all just excuses to put off something necessary.

Finally, today my day ended early enough, the sun was shinning, and I was in a good enough mood that I felt like tackling the rust and crud that had built up over the last three months of winter riding. I had not completely neglected my obligation to my stable, as I had prepped all three bikes for winter weather conditions.

But apparently that didn't matter for the poor bike pictured above. That sad chain is on the used mountain bike I purchased this summer. After taking it out on the trails a few times over the summer I had put it away in its stable (by that I mean the back yard) for most of the fall. It was only when the weather turned really bad and the roads extremely icy that I once again graced its saddle. For about two weeks during this winter's worst conditions I made good use of it, but as soon as the weather turned and the ice melted I once again ignored the poor thing. Sitting unnoticed in the corner of the backyard ever since, it wasn't until last week that I found the copious amounts of rust on the chain.

And so today was the lucky day that my bikes got cleaned up in the hopes of continued good weather and being able to show off their shinny parts in the morning glint off the sunrise. With copious amounts of beer, chain cleaner/grease, sweat, and music I got down to the work. And lets just say that the levels of rust seen on the chain above requires a lot of chain cleaner to get rid of (hide from view). I'll also mention that the liberal application of industrial cleaners and beer make for an interesting buzz.

Of course all these concerns about keeping my bikes clean and in good operating condition could be addressed if I had a convenient space to perform maintenance. I don't think I could ever reach the perfection of Doug from Minnesota that has been cleaning his bike every day after his commute home, but at least I wouldn't be embarrassed by riding a dirty bike everyday.

Or I could just be like the guy that took the photo below... and I could simply start bringing my bikes inside and sleeping in the same bed. But that would become complicated trying to figure out a rotation a la Big Love to share equal time with three bikes so as not to make one jealous.

Stupid Inflammatory Comment of the Day

2010-02-02T11:48:00.003-07:00

This quote comes from Sgt. Tom O'Brien up in Ontario Canada in a recent op-ed.

"...bicycles in London should generally disappear after the first few days of snow and not reappear until the drains are filling with melt water... I am amazed why anyone would jeopardize their lives by riding on icy, slippery roads where any miscue could lead to a nasty fall or worse."

Thanks for the concern officer, I just hope you don't start enforcing that opinion like officers have started enforcing imaginary laws in Texas to get cyclists off the street.

Week Stats

2010-01-31T18:44:00.002-07:00

Calculate your carbon footprint here.

Week 43 Stats

Miles Biked: 65.59
Gallons Saved: 4.09
CO2 Not Emitted: 25.74 Ibs

I Don't Usually Reference Hitler, But... Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2010-01-28T12:06:00.007-07:00

Hitler has finally weighed in on the "bicycles as traffic debate." Of course I don't mean the real Hitler, but the fairly random "Hitler rants about..." clips floating around the internet. There are some pretty funny ones, with topics ranging from Brett Farve, Healthcare Reform, Obama, Xbox Live, and WoW. But now someone has finally given Hitler an opinion on bycling.

"Riding a Bicycle on a Roadway" Now Illegal (in Texas)

2010-01-26T22:28:00.003-07:00

For days I have been enthralled by the slowly unraveling story of fellow cyclist and carfree blogger ChipSeal who has been arrested - more than once - for driving his bike on a public roadway (in Texas) in the last week. Each day he reveals more details or more of his inner thoughts on the utter stupidity of the situation.

I won't cover the whole story, since ChipSeal does it so well with very well timed wit, for the real thing go to his blog, or visit Commute Orlando for a great commentary largely inspired by ChipSeal's ordeal and the ordeals of other cyclist's in similar situations.

Essentially he is being harassed by law enforcement at the behest of whinny motorists for obstructing their right to go fast without any impediments to their forward progress. In his last post ChipSeal prods bicycle advocates to give a shit and show it by doing something other than lobbying for laws and infrastructure and get down to something that will be real and solid in protecting/enforcing cyclist rights in Texas.

I might be a long way from Texas... but it sounds like small town Texas could be infused with some of the enthusiasm for theme rides that the cyclists of Portland are infected with. Seems to me that a "Solidarity Ride" needs to be organized to bring cyclists from all over Texas (or the nation) to ride through these small towns that are trying to restrict cyclist's rights, or harassing the few cyclists present on the road, as a show of solidarity and numbers.

But what do I know about Texas from my perch in the snowy mountains of Montana.

And I was going to do a short post on the little parking ticket I received on campus yesterday... though I still managed to slip it in there.

Winter Clean Up

2010-01-24T14:05:00.002-07:00

Spring is fast approaching, or it could even be here already considering the warm weather we have been having here in Missoula, and with the coming of spring it means that my year of car-free existence is coming to an end. Come April my year will be over, but that doesn't mean that I will suddenly end my commitment to alternative transportation and turn into a car-crazed American.

And just because my car-free year is coming to an end doesn't mean that this blog's purpose will suddenly vanish. As many readers might have noticed, much of the content I have been writing isn't actually about my car-free experience, but rather about alternative transportation and urban design issues. This will not change.

And with that said... it is time to perform a little clean up and catch up with my car-free stats for the last two months.

Week 35

Miles Biked: 57.62
Gallons Saved: 3.60
CO2 Not Emitted: 22.62 Ibs

Week 36

Miles Biked: 8. 21
Gallons Saved: .513
CO2 Not Emitted: 3.223 Ibs

Month 9

Miles Biked: 123.14
Gallons Saved: 7.69
CO2 Not Emitted: 193.33 Ibs

Week 37

Miles Biked: 12.69
Gallons Saved: .793
CO2 Not Emitted: 4.98 Ibs

Week 38

Miles Biked: 9.23
Gallons Saved: .577
CO2 Not Emitted: 3.63 Ibs

Week 39

Miles Biked: 0.00
Gallons Saved: 0.00
CO2 Not Emitted: 0.00

Week 40

Miles Biked: 27.42
Gallons Saved: 1.72
CO2 Not Emitted: 10.76 Ibs

Month 10

Miles Biked: 49.34
Gallons Saved: 3.08
CO2 Not Emitted: 19.37 Ibs

Week 41

Miles Biked: 53.84
Gallons Saved: 3.37
CO2 Not Emitted: 21.13 Ibs

Week 42

Miles Biked: 62.76
Gallons Saved: 5.23
CO2 Not Emitted: 24.63 Ibs

An Interesting Repercusion from Missoula's New Title 20 Zoning

2010-01-20T10:58:00.002-07:00

Missoula's new Title 20 zoning ordinance hasn't been been in place for very long, but already it is starting to stir up some controversy and play havoc on some people's building plans.

You see, the updated ordinance prohibits garages that extend past the front of a house's facade, such as the one in the photo below. This move essentially limits the type of housing that has been prevalent in America's suburbs since the 1970's. The reason for the new ordinance is an attempt to shape the aesthetics of new construction to fit with Missoula's more historic neighborhoods where a garage is usually in the back facing a alley or non-existent.

Essentially the uproar has come from a builder that was planning a small development. His argument is that the ordinance raises the cost of construction because it is so difficult to find stock architectural plans where the garage doesn't dominate the front of a home that he will be forced to pay an architect to design homes that fit in with the newly updated ordinance and could even force several future projects to fail because of additional costs.

This news came from the city council listserve that our Councilman Bob Jaffe maintains. From the sound of it, no one at that level of local gov't knew of this ordinance and there is already talk of revising the language to make it less restrictive.

Part of the idea behind the zoning update was to make the language simplified and easier to understand, but at the same time to make it easier for more traditional, mixed use and compact development to take place to fit in with the Missoula community's vision of growth and Downtown Master Plan. A component of this vision is our recent passage of a complete streets ordinance.

In my opinion, a house dominated in the front by a garage doesn't add anything to the character of a neighborhood or to the streetscape. And complete streets is about more than just how the roadway is configured, but should also consider the buildings along the street and how they come to make an "outdoor room" and how those buildings interact with the public space (road) out front. A large garage in the front of a house sends a poor signal, both aesthetically and architecturally, while confining the since of public space more so and limiting the interactivity of elements along the streetscape.

Winter Riding Update

2010-01-19T14:31:00.003-07:00

Temperatures have risen to a balmy 40 F the last two days. It actually been a fairly warm week in general with temps hovering just above freezing most days. And to give you an idea of just how bad the ice was the last couple of weeks... there is still ice in places on the road after a week of melting. Now that temperatures are back up I'm no longer the lone cyclists out there and even with rain today there are a number of people out on their bikes.

I really felt unsafe in many situations over the course of the worst road conditions here in Montana. My usual routes along neighborhood side streets were often completely un-ridable from the thick coating of undulating ice. Which forced me onto many main streets where the roads were clear but the traffic was heavy. I never had a close call, but it was still very unsettling to to be forced onto busy roads that had become constricted because of plowed snow piling up on the roadway. Just from a personal perspective, the perception that an auto is safer in such conditions really does make them much more utilitarian than a bike.

As for the score so far this winter... Ice - 2, Me - 0. And yes, to all those family reading this... I had a helmet on both times I took a spill on the ice.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays: Innovative Design

2010-01-15T09:55:00.002-07:00

Walkscore: Something seems a little off

2010-01-13T13:41:00.010-07:00

What do I do with my free time? Play around with Missoula's Walk Score of course... and find that it is broken.

For those who have never been to the Walk Score website, the purpose is to calculate the friendliness of different neighborhoods based on the proximity of amenities such as services, restaurants, etc. According to the Walk Score website, the algorithm used assigns the maximum number of points for amenities that are within a 1/4 mile of the location entered. While this is a good measure of walkability, I would argue that factors such as street design, traffic volume, speed limits, and neighborhood character would make the model Walk Score uses much more accurate and relevant.

To illustrate my point you can see below the streetscape of Phillips, the street on which I live. My address received a 69, meaning that only 27% of locations had higher walkscores than my house.

Now contrast my neighborhood's Walk Score with the one received by the location seen below. I randomly typed in an address along Brooks, a four lane arterial with speeds ranging from 35-45 with lots of traffic, congestion, business activity, and almost no cyclists or pedestrians.

This section of Brooks received a Walk Score of 83, 14 points higher or about 20% more "walkable" than where I live. I think its pretty intuitive just from the pictures of the two different locations which one would be more friendly to active transportation... and its not the one Walk Score recommends.

There is a lot more to getting people walking than just how close they live to given amenities or their job. Paramount is safety, or at least the perception of safety along design aesthetics. I would venture to guess most people would rather walk down a tree lined, quiet street with on street parking acting as a buffer, than a busy, loud arterial surrounded by parking lots and neon lights.

I think Walk Score might be broken.

Coeur d Alene: Safety Fail, No Saftey in Numbers for Bike/Peds

2010-01-11T11:08:00.010-07:00

Over the weekend I was hit by a car, and it provides me with a good opportunity to talk about safety in numbers that cyclists and pedestrians create and how streetscapes and development patterns contribute to safety.

Let me setup what happened. I took the Greyhound from Missoula to Coeur d' Alene (CDA) Saturday morning to visit my folks. There is no physical transfer station in CDA, rather the bus drops you off at a gas station that sits at the corner of a large intersection (Ramesy and Appleway) where two four-lane arterials meet (total of 22 lanes at the intersection).

Anyway, the bus dropped me off at a different location than the Greyhound website gave for the (nonexistent) station. My father was coming to pick me up, but since he doesn't have a cell phone there was no way to get a hold of him, so I decided to walk north along the western side of Ramsey to find a good place to wave him down as he came to pick me up.

Two blocks later I was crossing the intersection below, which is an old picture as the intersection now has a four-way light, within the cross walk while a car was waiting for an opening to turn right-on-red. I walked out in front of his car, attempting to make eye contact because I could sense he was ready to hit the gas to make an opening, but he was looking the other direction. Needless to say he hit the gas and ran right into me. Luckily he immediately stopped and I wasn't hurt other than a small bruise on my leg.

This incident got me thinking how ridiculous the incident was. Living in Missoula, I have walked hundreds, perhaps even a thousand miles around town over the course of seven years. In that time I have never been hit by a car... I don't even remember having a close call. But here I am, back in the town I grew up in, and five minutes after stepping off the bus I am hit be a car.

The whole time I lived in CDA, I never once got around by walking or biking, rather the only real way to get around is by car. Seven years of walking in Missoula = no problem, five minutes of walking in CDA = getting hit by a car. Missoula and CDA are also fairly close in terms of population size.

Why is this? Because of not only the streetscape that dominates in CDA (suburban arterials with speeds above 35 mph) but also the development pattern that essentially forced those types of roadways to be built.

You can see these patterns at play in the photo of CDA below. I have highlighted all the four lane arterials (red corresponding to suburban arterial design and yellow representing four lane roads with an urban character). CDA is a maze of suburban subdivisions that are only connected to the wider community through the use of a lot of arterials. Only a small portion of CDA (which also includes the towns of Dalton Gardens, Hayden, and Hayden Lake) actually has a street network laid out in a grid. This pattern results in a very spread out population with very low densities (Dalton Gardens is zoned at 1 house/acre).

Because people have to drive everywhere and there are almost no pedestrians or cyclists, the motorists don't look out for these types of people. Those whom do walk or bike are mostly a working-poor underclass -except for the roadies - that most suburbanites don't spend any time thinking of between trips to Starbucks, work, and dropping the kids off at soccer practice.

Now contrast this with Missoula (a photo with the same types of streets highlighted can be seen below). The bulk of Missoula is based on a grid system and subdivisions with a suburban character only exist at the fringes of the town. Not only that, but the most of the four lane roads that Missoula does have exist within areas that are urban in character (higher densities, tree lined streets, sidewalks, smaller lot setbacks, and slower speeds). The four lane suburban arterials are located again mostly at the edges of Missoula and so cyclists and pedestrians can largely avoid these roads by choosing quieter streets.

Also consider the the geographic distance these two photos show. The photo of Missoula covers most of the town and most of the town's population. The photo is 3.5 miles x 3.5 miles while the photo of CDA shows an area 7.5 miles x 7.5 miles that leaves out a considerable amount of development to the north. Missoula's compact nature encourages alternative transportation simply through its shorter distances.

The higher densities, shorter distances, and more welcoming streetscape encourages people to walk and bike. In much of the central part of Missoula you can't go more than a couple of blocks without seeing another pedestrian or cyclist. Just the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists using Missoula streets makes motorists more aware of them and creates a situation where motorists must constantly be on the lookout. This creates a Safety in Numbers phenomenon whereby the more cyclists and pedestrians out on the roads, the less absolute fatalities and crash cars have with cyclists and pedestrians.

Describing what had happened, even my very conservative father understood the relationship between development patterns, streets, and mode of travel. In his opinion, and I have to agree with him, CDA is a town that will never see a lot of people walking, biking, or using transit simply because the towns infrastructure makes those options economically difficult and even dangerous.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays: Sub-Zero Edition

2010-01-08T13:20:00.002-07:00

I need one of these to get some traction on the three-inches of ice we have on some of our Missoula roads.

Completed my first sub-zero bicycle commute this morning with the temperature reading -8 when I left the house with windchill making it more like -15 or -20. I was actually never really cold along my three miles... but it sure was the most miserable bicycle commute I've experienced. Can't wait to do it again.

Thwarted by Ice

2010-01-06T10:38:00.002-07:00

The last two days Missoula has seen some Hellish weather. Yesterday started out nicely enough with a light snow falling on my morning commute. The little bit of ice on the roadways forced me to go a bit slower than normal. By the time I made it to the campus however, the temperature had increased enough to turn the light snow into a wet mess of sleet in the air and slush on the road.

It then proceeded to snow and rain alternatively all day and by the time my day was over the roads were covered in a thick layer of slush and lots of puddles filling the low spots in the road. Without any fenders on my mountain bike my three mile commute felt almost like I was swimming through some very brackish water.

As soon as I was warmed up I made sure to put on a rear fender. Unfortunately it was a futile gesture to try and keep me comfortable since the weather conspired to keep me off of my bike today. Over night all the rain and wetness had frozen solid into a sheet of ice up to several inches thick in places. This included covering all of my bikes in a shinny layer of ice.

The brakes were completely frozen and useless... the cables, calipers, and triggers were all useless. Ice covered the seats of both my road and fixie, while even the wheels and hubs on my fixie were covered in a layer of ice. Rather than spend 20 minutes trying to unfreeze all the components and then worrying about putting too much stress on the metal being so cold.

So thanks to Ashley for being gracious enough to provide me with a ride this morning.

Second Thoughts on the Copenhagen Wheel

2010-01-04T11:04:00.004-07:00

The last week of the Copenhagen Climate Conference saw a lot of buzz for something completely unrelated to climate change. While world leaders tried and failed to put together a sensible plan on climate change (who am I kidding, there is nothing sensible about anything related to politics) an announcement out of MIT's SENSEable City Lab basically stole the show for many in the bicycle community. The Copenhagen Wheel combines hybrid technology (think Prius), connectivity through the use of a smart phone, and the best, most reliable, and technologically simple form of transportation to yet exist... the bicycle.

This really is a great idea, for more information watch the video here, but after my initial WOW reaction to reading about this invention, I started to think about how I would find the Copenhagen Wheel practical to use in my everyday journey by bike and I came instead came away with two concerns.

First, the Wheel main means of generating energy to be stored is when a rider uses the coaster brake. This goes against the basic operation of a bicycle where a person attempts to conserve as much forward momentum as possible and braking makes up a very small portion of a person's time on a bike. In the attempt to conserve forward momentum cyclists blow through stop signs and even red lights (I'll admit to doing exactly that when there is no traffic to worry about).

It's highly doubtful that people would significantly change their behavior just to get a little charge. Unlike with a hybrid vehicle, whereby people changing their driving behavior to fit the dynamics of a hybrid and thus driving becomes more efficient, changing behavior to fit the mechanics of the Copenhagen Wheel would seem to make a ride less efficient.

However, Christine Outram, a research associate at the SENSEable City Lab informed me that the Copenhagen Wheel does take these facts into account having an additional "exercise" mode that can be switched on. In this mode, excess energy from pedaling is used to charge the batteries. Of course, this mode is meant for those who like to ride at a fast clip and so may not be of much utility to those cyclists whom prefer to take a leisurely ride.

The second concern is the distraction of operating everything through a smart phone. A large debate surfaced this summer surrounding the safety implications of texting and driving, and I see no difference here just because the bicycle is a few thousand pounds less. Texting or talking on a cell phone while biking is extremely distracting and dangerous, I can attest to this by witnessing plenty of people attempting such feats and thereby swerving all over the place, losing their balance, and generally becoming unaware of their surroundings.

While the Copenhagen Wheel smart phone interface is integrated into the handlebars of a bicycle, this system still requires that a ride look down and take one hand off the handlebars to operate; creating a distraction and making the bicyclist take their eyes off the road. Its not hard to imagine someone fiddling with their smart phone and wondering into a busy intersection.

Carnage Saddens Missoula Community

2009-12-29T16:08:00.003-07:00

Four girls where struck by a drunk driver over the weekend in Missoula along highway 200 connecting Missoula with East Missoula. All four were local high school girls; two of the girls died at the scene while the other two suffered fairly major injuries and were taken to the hospital.

This incident has really shocked all of Missoula and I even found myself choking up over this incident. I'm sorry to admit that I have become desensitized to hearing stories about cyclists and pedestrians getting struck and killed by vehicles. It just seems to be one of those daily occurrences that I read about almost everyday as a bike/ped advocate.

But this really hit home and I can't really explain it. There have been three other pedestrians hit and killed in the Missoula area this year that I can remember and while I was angry, nothing hit home like this. One man was even struck and killed this Monday and that incident almost seems like an after thought judging by the amount of attention and comments being posted (135 vs 10). I even witnessed a man in a crosswalk be hit by a car (he ended up being ok) and I didn't seem to make much of it at the time other than to think "fucking stupid driver."

Is it the youth of the girls? Does my grief over these girls that I don't even know say something about me or the society we live in? Are we supposed to value their lives more because they are still perceived to be young and Innocent while the other three pedestrian deaths have been of more elderly people that have already lived their lives? Are those three separate deaths any less tragic and sad? Or is it simply the shock from comprehending 4, not 1, people getting hit by a truck?

All I know is, this incident has created a hole in the heart of our community and there seems to be an outpouring of grief and support to try and fill it. If you would like to donate, please see here for details.

Riding in a Winter Wonderland

2009-12-27T09:43:00.004-07:00

The snow has finally accumulated sufficiently in Missoula to have made the last month of getting around town a little more difficult on a bicycle. Snow, ice, freezing fog, slush, gravel, and de-icer all combine to make the roads just that much more treacherous, not to mention the limited amount of day time light and the confined roadways from piled snow that force cars to basically take over the bicycle lane on certain streets.

I have given up riding the fixie for now and switched to the used mountain bike I purchased this summer. The wide, aggressively treaded tires work great on the snow, ice, and had pack that dominates most of the side streets in Missoula ( you must understand that Missoula, being a town with not much money to spend on snow removal, concentrates on the main roads with the most traffic that are critical to moving people around and so the side streets are left to be turned into hard-packed public ice hockey rinks).

The only problem comes when my tires hit a patch of semi-packed snow that has warmed above freezing. This stuff is not yet wet slush and still has the consistency of snow, but when the front tire hits a patch of it, the weight of the bike pushes the snow away from the tire and your then forced to quickly try and regain your balance before your front tire goes out from under you. In these conditions I talked to a lot of people or heard conversations that involved "my hip hurts" or "I ate it hard around a corner." Luckily I have yet to fall, though I have been forced to put my foot down more than a few times.

Predictably the miles I'm putting on my bicycle have plunged (I'll have an updated millage figure within a week) as I have switched to the bus in the most horrid of weather - below zero - and have cut out trips from just not wanting to deal with riding other than for essentials, such as commuting and to get to the grocery store. And of course I haven't been on a bike for the last week since Ashley and I made our way up to her parents for the holidays; I couldn't imagine a better time to be on a bike getting in some exercise than during this food heavy time of year.

However, with all the extra hazards that you face as a cyclist during the winter, there is nothing quite like riding through a few inches of freshly fallen snow. The soft crunch the snow makes under the bicycle tire and the muffled silence of the world newly peaceful really does create a different and wonderful world to be riding through.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Photo by Feuillu via Flickr

Eat Fluffy or Get Rid of the Family SUV?

2009-12-22T09:37:00.004-07:00

A tough choice for any family, but according to a new study recently published the family dog looks to be contributing more to global warming than that favorite villain of environmentalists... the SUV. Read the full story here.

This really is disappointing news, if only this study had been published before I went on my carfree crusade I could have saved myself a lot of useless headache. Part of my reasoning for going carfree for a year was to reduce my ecological footprint, but it seems this new study gives me an easier alternative.

Rather than giving up my '83 Toyota Landcruiser that only gets 14 miles-to-the-gallon I could have been practicing a little population control on the neighborhood dogs, having a tasty meal, and saving the planet all at the same time. I could be out there stalking around my neighborhood at night dressed all in black luring neighbor's dogs out with the promise of steak, then capturing them for my planet saving plan... just garnish with some seasoning and a side of baked potatoes. I could still be driving around with a clean conscience and I could have had more of an impact than by giving up on driving... all the while hot having to screw around with riding a bike in subzero temperatures.

Now, I am only kidding as I never intentionally eat such a meal. But it is amazing to think that a pet could be twice as harmful to the environment as an SUV, mainly because of the food that we feed them. I think this study is great because pet ownership is something that most American enjoys and also an aspect of people's live that hasn't received such an analysis. The impact of our transportation and food systems are well known, continually being debated and revised. But pet ownership is something that completely fell under the scope of any analysis. I doubt this will seriously wake people up to the idea of getting rid of fluffy, but maybe it will inspire more debate and a new look at our collective ecological footprint.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2009-12-18T14:42:00.003-07:00

Usually I post things relating to the ridiculous on Fridays, but today I want to highlight something inspirational, something that could utterly transform the usefulness and practicality of bicycles, and a few things seen around Missoula. Enjoy.

First, the Revolution:

Second, the Inspirational: A group of High School students in Florida have started their own "bike Bus" to school with amazing results.

High School Bike Bus from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.

Third, something seen at Target:

Fourth, seen in downtown Missoula, who needs a bus stop when you have:

Parking Wars in Downtown Missoula

2009-12-17T09:48:00.003-07:00

Missoula's downtown faces many of the same problems that most downtowns in America face. One of those problems is dealing with parking. Our cities long term planning envisions big growth for our little city over the next 20 years, especially in our urban core (seen above) where a lot more people will not only come to shop and eat lunch, but also increasingly come to live. To deal with this growth and the subsequent need to accommodate more cars downtown, Missoula's Downtown Master Plan calls for the building of seven new publicly owned multi-story parking structures at the cost of tens of millions of dollars to tax payers and using up precious real estate for the storage of our communities vehicles.

Recently this issue came up in Missoula's city council and discussed further in a great local list serve updated by one of our council members to keep Missoula citizens informed. A possible update to Missoula's parking meter system erupted into the biggest debate I have yet to witness occur over the email list serve. Over 30 emails went back and forth detailing almost all points of view people have on parking downtown.

Friend and colleague Jordan Hess made some very succinct point about the absurdity of spending public money to subsidize parking downtown. Jordan had this too say:

There is no such thing as free parking. Ever. Even the parking at Walmart is highly
subsidized in the form of infrastructure improvements the the city has to foot the bill for (such
as the idea of adding a second left turn lane from Reserve to Mullan).

If parking in the urban core is free, than it will be taken up by people parking for a long period
of time, such as employees or area residents and it won't be available for customers of
downtown businesses or for folks stopping by government offices. There are many ways to
properly price downtown parking to make it hassle-free and affordable. If parking were free, I
believe it would actually be a strain on downtown businesses because less would be available
to their customers. It would certainly be a strain on city budgets.

Building new parking structures is far more expensive than providing premier transit. At
$50,000+ per space (I've seen figures more in line with $15,000 - $30,000 per space),
parking structures are an extremely expensive way to get people downtown. It is absurd to
imply that Missoula can't have a good transit system because we are not a large city full of
wealthy people. There are solutions for our size of community.

I'm going to use the University (of Montana) as an example, because I am more familiar with
it than with downtown in terms of parking and transportation, but the two function similarly in
these regards. On campus, ASUM spends about $0.65 per ride provided on the Park and Ride.
While this may seem like a lot, in order to provide parking for the same amount of money, a
parking space would have to turn over more than 5 times a day, 365 days a year for 40 years
(a rather generous lifespan for a parking garage). This doesn't take into account the cost of
maintaining the garage (about $1,000 per space per year).

Consider this: paying for one person to NOT use a parking space is the exact same thing as
building one new parking space. If by providing better bus service, I opt not to use an
on-campus parking space, it is functionally identical to the university building one additional
parking space, but the difference is that it cost the university a fraction of the cost.

We need to use this model downtown. Do not build any additional parking. Instead, spend this
money on increasing transit into downtown. This WILL free up parking used by people who
find the current level of transit service to be inconvenient. This newly available parking can be
used by folks who cannot or simply choose not to ride transit.

I couldn't agree more. Providing alternatives to driving and parking is a much more cost effective way to use a communities limited resources. Missoula's zoning regulations allow for business to replace one parking spot with 8 bike parking spots. Even if you figure that surface parking costs between $5,000 - $10,000 per spot then exchanging one parking space for 8 is a great value. Not only does a developer save money, but the city saves from reduced impacts on city streets from encouraging people to ride bicycles, and everyone wins when congestion is reduced. Eight bicycle parking spots would probably cost between $500 - $800 while an equivalent number of surface parking spots for vehicles would cost at least $40,000. Big difference.

Planners and urban design theorists are starting to come around to the idea that "if you build it, they will come." One commenter on the list serve said so long as personal vehicles remain the preferred and affordable means for people to go to and from Downtown, it is necessary to accommodate vehicles. This is the standard argument used for everything from road expansion to our current federal transportation spending.

If you build a large 6 lane expressway, it will encourage people to drive and if you design cities to sprawl and build large box stores with large parking lots then people will largely be forced to drive. Building more roads will not reduce traffic and building more parking spaces will not reduce parking problems, but in fact induce people to drive and use those extra spaces. This situation is called the Jevons Paradox in which gains in efficiency actually encourages more consumption. Homes built today are more energy efficient than those built 40 years ago, but they are also so much bigger to the point that the average house uses more energy than 40 years ago.

This works just as well in reverse. If you reduce road capacities, congestion is actually reduced as people find better and easier ways to get around that doesn't require driving. At the same time, if bicycle infrastructure is invested in and mass transit increased this will induce demand for these services as it becomes more convenient. Not only does a community spend less money to accommodate locally focused transportation but it frees up real estate when fewer roads need to be expanded and fewer parking structures built. This extra real estate can be invested in, creating wealth and jobs in the local community rather than creating a larger tax bill for city residents.

Fewer roads and parking spaces and more transit, bicycle infrastructure, and buildable real estate = lower tax payer costs, more wealth, more investment, more jobs, and a more vibrant, resilient, and livable community.

Solutions to Climate Change must focus more on behavior and less on technology

2009-12-15T12:44:00.002-07:00

Much of the focus this week in the media has been centered around the summit in Copenhagen focusing on climate change and the pledges of governments to cut emissions. But the media misses half of the solution in many cases; only focusing narrowly on technologies that can combat global warming and largely ignoring how people's behaviors are the true culprits of green house gas emissions. While a hybrid vehicle might be better than a regular SUV, a bike is even better and a person changing their behavior from driving to biking will do more for the environment than simply changing the tool that people use to express their everyday behavior.

An article in the Mother Nature Network by Ken Edelstein got me thinking about this subject. Even so called "Green" media outlets such as Treehugger and EcoGeek, when covering a topic such as transportation, usually discuss the latest hybrid or electric vehicle rather than the much more green option of not driving at all. Four out of seven of today's top articles in the transportation section of Treehugger are about cars. As Ken points out in his MNN article, stories about the latest in vehicular technologies provide a Wow factor that connects with American's love affair with the car

But I think it goes deeper than that and our current economic downturn can provide a little bit of insight. With the economic downturn everyone is suffering, not least of all the media industry and people don't like change. There is a big emphasis on the need for recovery and for things to get "back to normal." By normal I mean more cars sold, more vehicle miles traveled, more consumption, and a bigger than last year holiday sales season. Media outlets especially want this so that their advertising revenue can return to normal. I'm not claiming this is some conspiracy, it is just that people and media outlets perceive "back to normal" as being in their interest.

Thats why we have a government that wants us to go out and spend and a stimulus package that is designed to inject money back into the system. In Obama's opinion it is better to saddle us with debt so that we can spend now than it is to be frugal and let creative destruction take affect and reorganize our economic system. Its the same policy Bush put in place after the Dotcom bubble and 9/11; lower taxes, borrow more, and take out your credit cards and go to the mall.

Rather than learn lessons from my grandparents generation that had frugality and self reliance forced on them by the Great Depression, we are trying to spend our way out of the mess we created when we borrowed and spent too much in the first place. We are attempting to prop up an outdated economic system, one based on perpetual growth, consumption of ever more resources, and unlimited sprawl.

As Ken points out:

Even though repair backlogs can stretch years or decades into the future, nearly one-third of (stimulus)
money, $6.6 billion, went towards roadway new capacity projects. At a time when public
transportation ridership is hitting all-time highs and the budget crunch is causing transit agencies to cut
routes, service and jobs, an abysmal 0.9% was spent on public transportation. Only 2.8% percent was spent
on non-motorized projects (i.e., bike and pedestrian projects).

And that brings me back to our behavior. We can thrive on producing and consuming less because by doing so there is the potential to unleash previously locked up resources to create whole new business models, local economies, and industries. Economists for the longest time worried about the loss of union jobs in manufacturing because the jobs that replaced those lost usually payed less. William Travis in his book, New Geographies of the American West, cites two University of Montana economists, Thomas Powers and Richard Barret, who found that supporting such "old economy" industries such as manufacturing and resources extraction actually held back the Montana economy from developing faster and better allocating scarce resources of capital and labor. While manufacturing and union jobs have constantly declined since the '70s America is rich not poorer because of it.

Part of the problem is obviously design, as our cities, road networks, and economic connections are all designed to work toward moving vehicles, goods, and money through the system as fast as possible. Thats why the financial collapse happened. All of a sudden when a banks payment of a loan was held up by a second bank's inability to pay the first bank, the whole system came crashing down in a matter of days. Its the same with our cities, if we only connect communities with roads designed for cars, there will be no opportunity for a community to connect through walking and biking and that community will miss out on an opportunity to organize itself and social and economic activities around such activities

By changing behavior, i.e. consuming less, driving less, working less, we don't have to sacrifice our quality of life and can actually improve it while at the same time lessening our impact on the environment. Change can be a scary thing for many people because of the uncertainty that it fosters. But if people are serious about combating climate change and at the same time developing more resilient economies that offer opportunities for the future we have to focus on behavior and not just the technology.

Damn Cold

2009-12-09T07:30:00.003-07:00

Winter finally seems to be here. After an extended summer where I got used to riding my bike in 60 degree weather in the middle of Oct./Nov. things have dramatically changed in the last two weeks. For a good article on winter riding, visit this link written by a fellow BWAM member.

Temperatures have been as low as -15 in the last couple of days and that means a change in behavior on my part. Luckily for me there is a bus stop within a block of our place. Of course the bus takes a little longer, about another ten minutes, and requires a transfer in downtown Missoula, but its worth it for the nice, relaxing, and warm commute. I don't have to be all sweaty when I show up to classes and spend an hour coughing and sniffling from the ride in the cold temps.

I was going strong even last week when temperatures in the morning were in the single digits. But my three mile commute makes the cold even more pronounced on my extremities. Even with heavy gloves and boots, my fingers and toes were feeling the brunt of the cold temperatures. The tip of my left index finger even has a spot of frostbite thanks to the 20 mile an hour winds Missoula experienced much of last week.

As soon as temps start to get back to a more normal winter level, I plan on hoping back on my bike and can't wait to try out my mountain bike in the snow... that is if Missoula ever gets any snow this year. I still see plenty of people out there on their bikes, although many of them don't seem to be very smart... wtf is with riding your bike in sub-zero temps without even a hat or gloves? Until then I'm happy to take a warm seat on Missoula's great bus service.

Catching Up

2009-11-29T10:26:00.002-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great holiday week, I know I found the break enjoyable and much needed. Figure I'll take the opportunity to perform a little blog cleaning, and by this I mean this post to catch me up on the car-free stats that I haven't posted on for more than a month.

Calculate your carbon emissions @ http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Week 30

Miles Biked: 57.27
Gallons Saved: 3.58
CO2 Not Emitted: 22.47 Ibs

Week 31

Miles Biked: 49.71
Gallons Saved: 3.11
CO2 Not Emitted: 19.51 Ibs

Week 32

Miles Biked: 71.65
Gallons Saved: 4.47
CO2 Not Emitted: 28.13 Ibs

Month 8

Miles Biked: 243.75
Gallons Saved: 15.23
CO2 Not Emitted: 95.67 Ibs

Week 33

Miles Biked: 30.58
Gallons Saved: 1.92
CO2 Not Emitted: 12.01 Ibs

Week 34

Miles Biked: 26.73
Gallons Saved: 1.67
CO2 Not Emitted: 10.49 Ibs

David Orr on Post-Carbon Cities

2009-11-19T08:57:00.003-07:00

Missoula was lucky enough yesterday to have David Orr in town. In between the meetings usual social events, there was enough time for him to give two lectures at the University of Montana.

For those of you who don't know of David Orr, he is a leading thinker and innovator environmental issues, green building, and ecological design. Within the last decade he gained national press for his effort and subsequent success in building a fully carbon-neutral building on the campus of Oberlin College which can be seen above. It integrates passive solar design by orienting the building to take advantage of the suns energy, a roof fully covered by solar panels, sustainable materials, food production in the form of a garden and orchard on the north side of the building, and environmental restoration on the wetlands immediately adjacent.

David Orr covered post-carbon cities in the lecture I attended. The scope of his talk was extensive, delving heavily into the philosophy behind green building/urban design. What resounded with me was his call to take a systems approach to issues. He blames academia for the tradition of reductionist thought that breaks issues/objects into components without concerning itself with how the whole works or interacts with the world. He used the example of optimizing the Hvac system of a building without also optimizing the insulation or materials used in the building.

By taking a systems or wholistic world view we can come to better understand the world and the interaction between our actions and the environment. This is true of economics - which as a student of economics I fully agree with - where one doesn't pay the full cost of any product. Externalises exist everywhere and with every purchase; a vehicle doesn't really cost only $20,000 if you include the pollution from its manufacture and operation, the cost of the roads it travels, and the cost of disposal, etc. If all these costs where taken into affect, our world would be a much different place. There would be no coal fired power plants if the coal industry had to directly pay for every death caused by the pollution it creates.

Back to post-carbon cities. David has an ambitious goal of turning Oberlin into a carbon-neutral city, starting by redeveloping the downtown area to be an eco-village. He is taking a ground up approach by gathering support and investment from within the community. This seems like a much better approach for such a project than the one taken by Saudi Arabia and China in attempting to build their own respective eco-cities, both of which after years of being in the design and planning phases have gone nowhere.

Of course, building a fully carbon-neutral town is a big challenge, as not only do the buildings have to be redesigned, but people's behavior's have to radically change and a whole new local economy built from scratch. If David Orr has any misgivings about such a project, its is that he doesn't know whether people are willing to do what needs to be done to create such an ecologically friendly future.

He is optimistic in terms of having all the tools ready and at his finger tips. David talked of how over the last thirty years scientists and entrepreneurs have developed the tools to create such a future and now everything simply has to be brought together and integrated. Social awareness has also progressed enough to allow the building of such a future. This is especially true within professions that can move something such as eco-cities along. Daniel Narrin over at Discovering Urbanism illustrates this point in a recent post. Having found a planning text book from the early 1990s, he was surprised to see how far the profession has developed in two decades, having found that the book never once mentioned pedestrians or cyclists and describes environmentalists only as obstructionists against progress.

It now seems very possible that the environmentalists so reviled by many only two decades ago will be the ones innovating and creating our future as it has gone from a movement of obstructionism to one of practical application and problem solving. Best of luck to David Orr and his vision of a carbon-neutral future, I hope to experience it one day.

Winning Conservatives over to Transit:

2009-11-18T09:11:00.001-07:00

Book Review: After The Car

2009-11-16T15:30:00.004-07:00

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy in return for this review

Despite the provocative title and front cover of the book, After The Car by authors Kingsly Dennis and John Urry, there is little radical thought or ideas that give a blueprint on how our society will organize after the decline of the personal automobile. That said, if you are new to how personal transportation issues relate to global climate change, economics, social organization, and urban design, than this book gives a short and concise summary that provides a good overview of all these issues. Overall After The Car is a well-written and well-thought out book that is concise and covers a lot of ground in a very small package.

At a mere 164 pages, After The Car, takes the reader through a handful of today's most pressing issues. The first chapter quickly explores the situation we find ourselves in today, including climate change, peak oil, the growth of the Internets, and the supremacy of urban areas. This quick overview sets the stage for the rest of the book and for how we got to the situation we find ourselves in today.

The heart of the book delves into how the car came to completely reshape our lives. At one time the automobile was a new and disruptive technology. At the beginning of the car's history it transformed the lives of millions of people and led to a huge leap in productivity. But after a century of the car's dominance it has come to signify, "...many of the most troubling aspects of human civilization."

The authors take the view that the dominance of the car is thanks to the convergence of various trends such as allowing for freedom of mobility, the huge increase in economic productivity it allowed, and the complete seepage of car culture into the fabric popular American culture. But this wholehearted acceptance of the car has led to unintended consequences. The car system's full adoption by society has come to mean high levels of pollution, possible climate change, economies that are held back by the maintenance of sprawling transportation networks, and the adverse social affects that come with being so spread out and disconnected from one's neighbor.

As for my aforementioned disappointment, once the book finally makes it to a diagnosis for our future, there is very little in the way of new thinking and rather mostly a simple summary of current trends that might come to partially supplant the current transportation system. The trends covered include denser living through new urban design, rapid personal transit, electrical vehicles (EVs), and green cities. The authors express great hope in the idea of green cities such as Dongtan China, even though most of the over hyped green trophies are still just nice drawings on some government official's desk.

The criticism I can't get out of my head is talk of how EVs and biofuels will be a part of the solution. For a book entitled After The Car it seems a bit of contradiction to propose that EVs and biofuels will really change anything. How many trillions of dollars will ultimately need to be spent on infrastructure to build generating capacity just to power our EVs and how little will that investment reduce our green house gas emissions? This is a question that the authors simply gloss over.

Overall, After The Car, does an excellent job of giving a concise overview of many of the issues that will shape our new century and how that could affect our transportation system. But there is little revolutionary thought held within the pages of the book, and despite the title, there is almost no vision of our future after the car.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays: Bloopers

2009-11-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Bicycles For Kids And Those Who Haven't Grow Up - The best video clips are right here

Complete Streets WIN

2009-11-10T09:21:00.002-07:00

Complete Streets policy has been spreading for some time now thanks largely in part to groups like the National Complete Streets Coalition and local advocacy groups like Missoula's own BWAM and MIST. For the uninitiated, complete streets is a concepts and policy goal of designing streets that are accessible to all populations. This means a de-emphasis on moving at high rates of speed and making infrastructure improvements that make safety for pedestrians and bicyclist more of a priority.

Check out this map of America showing where complete streets are taking affect. And for those interested, Transportation for America has an online petition that asks DOT head LaHood to emphasize pedestrian safety.

And now it appears that we have some evidence that complete streets design is actually helping to make our most abundant of public spaces safer. Transportation For America recently released a long worked on report, Dangerous By Design, that highlights street design failings and success.

Columbia, MO seems to be a shinning example of complete streets policy at work.

This from an article at KOMU.com by Josh Frydman:

In 2004, Columbia passed a complete streets ordinance, which specified how streets should be designed. This included five-foot sidewalks on all streets as well as bicycle accommodations on certain streets, and that sent a very clear signal that Columbia is serious about encouraging people to walk and bike in Columbia.

Columbia's Pedestrian Danger Index scored four times lower than the national average. Columbia reported just two pedestrian fatalities from 2007 to 2008, and just 3.8% of the total traffic deaths during that time were pedestrians.

This is just a portion of the rethinking of street design that is slowly sweeping across our country. After more than half a century of placing almost all our efforts into moving more cars and seeing this strategy fail over and over change is finally snowballing. Bike paths/lanes, mass rapid transit, sidewalks, green streets, and the redesigning of intersections are the new fashionable strategies in many cities for dealing with transportation.

We are even importing a few good ideas from the Europeans, GASP! Hans Monderman's design concept of shared space is replacing the idea of traffic control with controlled chaos. This can be seen in the growing number of roundabouts and uncontrolled intersections that force different modes of transportation to actually interact and be cautious towards one another.

Each roundabout or transportation plan that includes complete streets is only a small step, but a decade of small steps takes you far from your starting point.

Carfree Fail

2009-11-09T17:00:00.002-07:00

Its been about 7 months of not having to worry about traffic, gas prices, car insurance, or car payments. In that time I have found life without the use of a car to be pretty easy. A few times I have hoped in a car to carpool places outside of Missoula or to go to Costco with Ashley, but for the most part its been smoothing sailing, until this weekend when I made fairly extensive use of a vehicle.

I had an art show displaying my photography for Missoula's First Friday Art Walk. Time was short to get everything organized and buy the refreshments (booze). Making the trip over to Costco and the Orange Street Food Farm for supplies in the time frame before the show just would have been impossible on a bicycle. Of course, I could have spent more time planning and gotten everything I needed the day before, but I didn't. And that is the lesson really of trying to be carfree, everything takes a little more thought, planning, and time to get done.

Instead Ashley saved my ass and helped me out getting everything I needed. Without her the First Friday event wouldn't have been a success. While carpooling doesn't go against the rules I set for myself over this year, this instance was different because the trip was something that I created, Ashley never would have run those errands, and she did so only because I needed the help.

The second instance of using a vehicle this weekend involved driving my '83 Toyota Landcruiser. Its been parked on the street for awhile now and had become a place to store things. I've had it for sale for a little over a month; I figure if its just going to sit there and its not going to fit into my lifestyle I might as well get rid of it.

Someone finally wanted to take it for a test drive on Sunday, so there was a mad dash to get it cleaned out and make sure it was running fine before the test drive. While I have been in cars since trying to be carfree this was the first time I have driven, going about two miles to get rid of a few things in the back of the cruiser. The test drive was successful and within a week I'll be rid of the Landcruiser. So, while I used a vehicle a lot more this weekend than I should have, in the end I'll be freeing myself from a vehicle and someone else that needs it will be able to use it.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays: A Monty Python Classic

2009-11-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Engagement

2009-11-02T16:12:00.002-07:00

Last week I wrote about how to get younger people to shift from our dominate car culture to alternative modes of transportation and I have been thinking a lot on the subject since. For the most part I feel like a lot of my people understand the connection between things like environmental change and personal consumption levels. Every day, even in cold winter weather, I see a lot of people my age out on their bicycles.

But I must step back and remember that Missoula is a college town and has a unique culture that is not easily duplicated in other communities. It seems that more and more people are making shifts in their daily behavior and these small changes aggregate into numbers that can actually matter.

But how do you get people to go from shifting personal behavior such as their mode of transportation to actually becoming actively involved in a wider movement or organization? In Missoula the people that are personally involved in advocating for alternative transportation and complete streets are not people of my age group. When I show up to a meetings or work on non-profit projects, the people sitting across the table from me are usually 20 to 30 years older than me.

Of course generation Y is well represented at any event where music and beer are present. Events such as Missoula's Bike, Walk, Bus Week and Pedalfest are important in fostering community and spreading ideas, but fall well short of building momentum for sustained change or wider engagement.

Hell, I'm right in the middle of generation Y and I have no idea of how to actually get my friends involved in advocacy work and a lot of times people's eyes glaze over when I talk to friends about some project I'm working on.

My gut tells me that the answer lies in building a vibrant community and maybe Missoula is just not big enough to support something like what I am envisioning. Strong non profits are another important part of the mix and people within those organizations that can really push to organize and do creative things are a huge asset. But how did the Obama campaign capture the energy of my generation so well? I know more than a few people that worked within the campaign at various levels as either volunteers or paid organizers. I'm not trying to compare Obama with exciting world of alternative transportation, but just using his campaign as something to contrast against.

Maybe I'm off base with my concerns, but my generation is full of people that have the energy, creative thinking, and new approach to challenges that non-profits pushing for social change can really use and if those talents go uncaptured it seems like a shame.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2009-10-30T15:46:00.002-06:00

This is really random, but I find it pretty funny. I have numerous articles of clothing that have a bicycle theme. All but one of these have I actually purchased, while the rest have been given to me as gifts. Most have come from my fiance, Ashley, and include many t-shirts. Her last present is... you guessed it, the boxers you see above. I just couldn't resist putting this online for my Friday post; what is more absurd than doing a whole post on a pair of boxers?

Reaching Gen Y and Younger

2009-10-27T10:50:00.005-06:00

An interesting discussion has cropped up over at the Carfree Cities list serve associated with Carfree.com about how all us bicycle and carfree advocates can reach people under 24.

Its a challenging proposition since I feel like my generation is so full of contradictions. We are simultaneously one of the most self-centered, self-absorbed generations while also becoming one of the most engaged and informed age groups. A recent report from the UK found that people in their twenties waste the most energy and have the least knowledge about energy use. At the same time people from my generation greatly involved in trying to push for change regarding energy policy, climate change, and so on. Many are in fact giving up their cars and trying to live in simpler ways. And this trend is being noticed in a lot of media, such as here.

I don't think that a large generalization about car-free being a new trend among young people can be made. Certain cities and areas of the country are seeing an amazing amount of growth in non-motorized transportation, but at the same time large segments of the country are still not experiencing such a cultural shift.

We also can't think of the "young" as being a monoculture. Here in Missoula, MT there are two high schools with two different cultures. One is set in our urban core with almost no parking; most of the students walk, bike, or take our public transit (since there is no room for school buses to park and drop off kids). There must be between 100-200 bikes parked at the high school ever day. The other is more suburban, and has a parking lot the size of several football fields with kids getting there with either a vehicle, dropped off by parents, or on a school bus.

Local culture is probably the most important factor. If there is no bicycle culture present in a city, the work that must be done to get people on board with bicycle transportation and for them to see the need to get out of the car is hugely increased. All the blogs, books, and newspaper articles written about the new trend, environmental, and health concerns will do little.

Much of the cultural change that is taking place is happening in cities that already had a significant bicycle culture presence and that culture has finally grown in numbers to become more important and more visible. I agree that social interaction person to person is probably the most powerful and effective way to spread such ideas. Having that local culture that someone can connect to, have fun, learn new things, meet friends, and become engaged is important because without those opportunities all the information that is being put out there wont inspire anyone.

My experience is that a lot of books about such things are read by people that are already interested in the subject or are already believers. The same with blogs are true, many of my readers and the people that comment are themselves activists and other bloggers. Such things are aids to spreading such cultural ideals as being car-free or living in an environmentally responsible manner but cannot replace the influence of friends, family, and local community.

Rethinking

2009-10-25T12:47:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the prolonged absence from the blogosphere, but it was something I think I needed. It been about two weeks since my last post and during that time, I haven't even been keeping up with other blogs I read or going through the copious emails from various listserves I subscribe to. Let me tell everyone that it felt relaxing not to have to keep up with everything and have that nagging little voice constantly reminding me that I need to read this or right a post for that.

I have, however, spent some of that time off to think about exactly what the point of this blog is beyond the main purpose of keeping a journal about being carfree. The content that I have been posting has not been of the quality I feel that I should be creating and much of it has felt lazy to me. So, in the future I hope to create more work of a higher quality; putting more thought into each post and posting less frequently.

Why the rethink? I set out thinking that I would use this blog not only to chronicle being carfree, but as a platform to write and hopefully discuss urban design theory, concepts, and design. In this respect I have so far failed. I would like to aim to make this blog more along the lines of two of my favorites; the Proper Scale and Discovering Urbanism blogs.

So... with my carfree journey more than half way over I will be aiming to make this a more thoughtful affair, although I wont be getting rid of all the ridiculousness. And now for a few stat updates.

Week 28

Miles Biked: 28.58
Gallons Saved: 1.78
CO2 Not Emitted: 11.22 Ibs

Week 29

Miles Biked: 65.12
Gallons Saved: 4.07
CO2 Not Emitted: 25.56 Ibs

Month 7

Miles Biked: 187.77
Gallons Saved: 11.73
CO2 Not Emitted: 294.8 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays - Hate.. Hate, Hate, Hate... Hate, Hate... Hate, Hate, Hate!!!

2009-10-16T12:03:00.001-06:00

Riding with Swiney

2009-10-14T09:15:00.003-06:00

I'll just start by saying that swine flu really sucks. We've all had the flu before, but for those that are on their bikes excessively, this one pretty much takes you out at the knees. Why? Because this thing really hits you in the lungs. Hell, I'm getting winded just getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen.

On Monday I rode to campus while I was just starting to feel bad. The temperature was hovering around 10 degrees and the streets were virtually deserted of over cyclists. The cold air mixed with a tight chest made cycling pretty difficult.

Its now been two days since I have gotten on a bike and I have been getting around by carpooling. Although thats not much since I have basically living on the couch for the last two days.

So enjoy your experience with swine flu... I know I am. Time for another movie.

Week 27 Carfree Stats

2009-10-11T12:28:00.002-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @ http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Miles Biked: 52.91
Gallons Saved: 3.3
CO2 Not Emitted: 20.71 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays - Thats One Fast Electric Bike

2009-10-09T11:35:00.001-06:00

Better Living Through Density - A Video by David Baker

2009-10-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

A Small Annoyance

2009-10-08T05:59:00.002-06:00

Now that its cold my usual cable bike lock is a pain to use. The cold air makes it stiff and difficult to flex or to fold into small loop that can fit in my bag.

This is just one of those small details you forget when its not right in front of you. Guess this means I'll start having to use my u-lock.

Game Changer

2009-10-06T08:37:00.002-06:00

It is here... winter that is. Until a week ago Missoula seemed to be experiencing a prolonged summer, with temperatures in the 80s up until the beginning of October. Now this morning it is 20 degrees out.

Not a big inconvenience, but the cold isn't helped by the unique topography of the Missoula valley. This time of year, as the suns declination declines in the sky, our favorite Mountain in Missoula seems to get in the way of the suns warming rays. Its 8.30 and the sun is just visible, but over at campus, which is right under the mountain, it will be another hour before the sun starts to warm the area.

Still... this means its that time of year to start layering clothing for the morning commute. I think I might also have to start riding something other than my fixed gear, since the only shoes that feel comfortable on that bike are not necessarily that warm.

This is just the beginning of a long winter, lets see if I can keep up this carfree thing when it hits -30 degrees.

Pictures From Missoula's 2009 PedalFest

2009-10-04T18:47:00.003-06:00

I finally made it through a few my photos from this years Pedalfest. So, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy.

Week 26 Carfree Stats

2009-10-04T11:14:00.003-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Miles Biked: 48.36
Gallons Saved: 3.02
CO2 Not emitted: 18.93 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays - Only the coolest PSA ever

2009-10-01T08:17:00.002-06:00

Pet Peeve Regarding Motorists Number 1

2009-10-01T07:33:00.006-06:00

Throughout my time being carfree there is one nagging behavior that keeps popping up among motorists that really annoys me. The complete disregard certain drivers (assholes) display for a cyclist waiting at an intersection. Here I am in these situations trying to obey traffic laws and be a good little cyclist when some asshole acts like an asshole. Maybe assholes just don't view people on bikes as real people, and therefore they can ignore and marginalize us. We are less then them, we are... sub-asshole. For more on the subject of assholes, cars, and the cyclists they hate, you should read this blog post from the Boston Biker Blog, explaining how to deal with assholes.

Over and over again while I wait patiently at intersections, a vehicle will come from behind and not stop after me, but pass and stop in front of me at an intersection. It happened again yesterday and seems to happen regardless of whether I have taken the lane or am waiting behind another vehicle.

At the intersection of Scott and Toole, I stopped behind an SUV turning left, about ten seconds later a Chevy truck pulled up and rather than acknowledge me, nudged in behind the SUV. When I waved at the driver to get his attention and using my hands to explain, not the middle finger, that I was there before him, he just looked at me and shook his head in apparent disgust. At which point, when the SUV got an opening to go, I quickly moved forward to block the asshole from moving forward.

At the same spot a month back I was the only one at the intersection trying to take a left but cross traffic was to heavy to find an opening when an Eclipse pulled up, passed me, and without stopping peeled-out into traffic. Of course I learned a valuable lesson then... Eclipse are officially cool again now that I know they can peel-out.

These incidents seem to happen mostly at stop signs. But still, in the 6 months I've been carfree, this has happened 6 or 7 times. Maybe I need something like the clothing below to fend off assholes:

Covered Bike Racks in Missoula?

2009-09-30T08:13:00.004-06:00

I just came across this bike rack design on the city of Missoula's website. Its a design for a covered bike rack and the date on the document is from 1998. However, I have been living here for about 7 years and have never seen on of these covered racks.

This isn't really a big deal, but this information is on Missoula's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program website. So why is a government website putting out false information? Maybe because no one will notice, other than me, but really if a government agency is going to claim they have done something, it would be nice if they actually did it. I would love some covered bike racks in this town, or something that is a little more pleasing to the eye than the usual racks around here.

A Few Thoughts on Jane Jacobs

2009-09-28T10:17:00.004-06:00

I finally made it through Death and Life of Great American Cities the other day and can move on with my life. I'm embarrassed to say that I started reading Jane Jacobs' classic last spring while there was still snow flying.

While the book is showing its age, especially regarding discussion about banks and housing projects (now that most housing projects have been or will be torn down). Nut overall Death and Life is still a very important piece of literature.

Jane Jacobs obviously takes a lot of pride in the small details that make up a city, the parks, people, sidewalks, building facades, and local entrepreneurs that make up a city. The small details are what matter the most when it comes to building a community with a sense of place and character and it is precisely these most important small details that planners often over look.

That is the inherent contradiction of planning, it is a profession that takes a look at the big picture for the most part, and until recently when collaborative planning has become part of the process, the small details that make a community thrive were missing from planners' radars. That is way the collaborative process is so important, to fill in gaps in knowledge and design that planners might not have access to.

The book is a big proponent of cities as "organic" structures that are not stagnant but alive and constantly in flux. As such, organic growth of neighborhoods, associations, relationships, and the urban structure of cities are what make fro vibrant and strong cities and not massively scaled urban renewal projects that attempt to sanitize an area.

She doesn't spend much time on the car, other than to emphasize the positive feedback the car's influence on city design has on the erosion of vibrant and diverse cities. Cars must be designed for, and in accommodating the use of cars, forces a separation and spreading out of what used to be mixed-use areas because of the pressures of moving and storing vehicles.

Her message from all this critique is simple; that people have to take back the planning process from government bureaucrats that don't have a city's or neighborhood's best interests in mind. Ideas such as Radiant City and Garden City design must be thrown out and replaced with something that actually expresses the reality of people's needs and psychology.

I guess since planning will be my profession I need to heed her words even though the planning process has significantly changed since the book was originally written.

Week 25 Carfree Stats

2009-09-27T16:52:00.003-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Miles biked: 62.47
Gallons Saved: 3.9
CO2 not Emitted: 24.52 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays: Advertising FAIL

2009-09-24T22:14:00.003-06:00

For today's Random Bicycle Crap Fridays, patent pending, I am once again diverging from my normal pattern of irrelevant nonsensical crap and featuring something I find just a little ironic.

Obviously, people that visit this blog know that its about trying to live carfree for a full year besides the other transportation and urban design related musings. But this small little tiny detail must have slipped by someone recently when they wanted to advertise on this site.

A spokes-person for RentACarNow.com emailed me inquiring about possible advertising space. Here is the email:

My name is ____,

I work for RentACarNow.com, a rental car search engine.

I stumbled on http://imaginenocars.blogspot.com/ and was interested in advertising on your front-page.We are interested in a link featuring our company.

Would you be interested in something like this? Also, would you be willing to set up a 6 month or 1 year deal?

Please let me know.

Thank you for your time.

I personally find this fairly amusing, as I never set out upon this journey with the idea that I would make any money. Not only that but obviously this person didn't spend that much time figuring out what this blog is about, but maybe that is my fault. Do rental cars count as "alternative transportation"?

I guess these are the kinds of opportunities/hassles that I have to now deal with since becoming a "new media" content producer/shit shoveler. The kind of opportunities I like having offered to me are more like book reviews (which come with free books). I had my first complimentary book sent to me by a publisher titled, After the Car, by Kingsley Dennis and John Urry. I have not started reading it yet, but now that I'm done with Jane Jacob's masterpiece, I can finally move on.

What I want to know from the few readers that have made it this far, and I'm guessing thats not many since there is now video of a cyclist hitting their nuts on something, is is there a difference between the two offers?

I automatically accepted the offer for a review copy of the book, but have yet to respond to the advertising offer. After the Car seems to fit perfectly with the message/bullshit I broadcast from this blog on a daily basis, but the rental car thing is just plain contradictory. But am I selling out by accepting either of the offers? Or would I be selling out if I accepted the rental car advertising offer?

Random Bicycle Updates

2009-09-23T07:19:00.002-06:00

As I said in my previous post, its getting to be busy around here, and so I'm falling behind with posts and not keeping up with things as I should be. Case in point, two widespread events that I missed until the days of the events; Park(ing) Day and World Carfree Day.

First up is a call for public participation in a new series of photo slide shows at Streetsblog.org

From the Streetsblog:

We need your help.
We want to see what you're seeing when you're out there on the streets of America, and we're going to be asking you to send us your pictures on specific themes in the weeks to come.
This week: bike traffic.
In pretty much every part of the country, fall is prime biking weather -- not too hot, not too cold. Just right for riding to work, doing your errands or getting out and about for some recreation.
Well, we want the proof. Shoot us your pictures of bike traffic in the places you live -- the more cyclists the merrier. Of course, while pictures of jam-packed bike lanes are welcome, feel free to send along anything noteworthy, beautiful or just plain fun.
We'll gather the results and put them together in a slide show for your enjoyment and edification.
You can send JPEGs to me at sarah [at] streetsblog [dot] org. Or tag your photos with streetsblog in Flickr.
Don't forget to include caption info, and let us know how you want to be credited.
Need a deadline? Submit your entries by next Tuesday, September 29th.
And have fun out there!

Next:
This being Missoula, Montana, we don't have the population, or the people paying attention and willing to organize for everyone of these big events. But we're doing our best here.

Park(ing) Day took place on Sept. 18th and was a demonstration of citizens taking back public space from cars. The local paper, the Missoulian, even covered the event in their Strange News section. Part creative art project, part public demonstration project... the goal is to show that public space currently used for parking cars can offer much more in the way of public needs, engagement, and cultural expression.

World Carfree Day took place yesterday, and while not a big event in America, certainly a big rallying cry around the world. Both these events ultimately aim to get people engaged in thinking about how cities can be different from the auto-dominated environments most are today.

Here in Missoula, Pedalfest took over Caras park all day Saturday. A celebration of everything cycling, the day started with a costumed ride around downtown, followed by lots of music, bicycle stunts, bike jousting, and plenty of flowing beer. I'll have a more in depth look at the event with photos within a week.

Finally, Missoula is once again attempting to organize a series of Sunday Streets events for next year. Originally they were going to happen this year, but too much organization had to be done in too little time. The tentative idea is that two events will happen next year, one in the spring and one in the fall. If anyone is interested in being part of the planning and organizational process, meetings happen once every two weeks on Fridays @ 9 am @ Liquid Planet. Nest meeting is this week.

James Corless of Transportation for America

2009-09-21T08:20:00.005-06:00

Photo via T4A

Last week was a big week in terms of both my class load and things happening that I want to write about. I hope I can catch up a little this week.

On Thursday, James Corless from Transportation for America (T4A) was in Missoula for a small conference on health. While he was here he also gave a short guest lecture at the University of Montana sponsored by ASUM Transportation.

What is T4A? Its a large non-profit organization geared toward campaigning and advocating for reworking America's national transportation system. A large coalition has been built around the need for reform of over 300 other non-profit, for-profit organizations, and government officials. As an organization, T4A is very much geared toward lobbying and policy, but have a wide range of resources available for partner groups to access.

Mr. Corless' speech covered the usual "why we need reform" points that most of the people in the audience had probably heard before; certainly preaching to the quire. But he had a lot of good points to pass along. He stressed the connection of land-use and transportation and that the two are so interrelated that they can not be treated separately.

Our current land-use patterns certainly don't promote people getting out of their cars and hopping on transit or a bike. The last 70 odd years have seen an erosion of our cities and public spaces to provide for vehicular traffic. And as this process has continued, the more cars are accommodated, the more cars are present on our roads and need to be stored somewhere, which then reinforces the need for more space for cars and more travel by cars.

The only way to stop such a process is to stop designing for ever more cars and design for more public space to be given over to transit, sidewalks, and cyclists; as demonstrated by the recent Park(ing) Day events that aimed to take public space back from vehicles. This strategy needs to be accompanied by a reorganization of our land-use practices. Putting a transit corridor down a an area of sprawl does little to alleviate traffic. But add in mixed-use zoning and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) along that corridor for several blocks on either side, and all of a sudden you have a game changing situation.

Another important factor is the cost of transportation, not just monetary, but time and convenience (as even Thomas Friedman knows and points out in his recent column). If transit can be made to be faster and easier to use, while var travel is made harder to use, people will naturally switch. This is what has happened for almost a century, but in reverse; making it harder for people to use transit or walk to where they need to go. And so people have intuitively made the switch by the millions to use of the SOV because other modes of transportation where so damn hard and confusing to use.

Once people see that transit or active transportation (biking/walking) can be enjoyable, easy to use, convenient, and cheap they will flock to it to reach there destinations. Vehicular traffic now creates so much of its own friction as people compete for limited road space and congestion builds, that people don't want to deal with the stress of driving. Give people an enjoyable experience on their way to a destination, as Phoenix is discovering with their new light-rail line, and people will flock to public transportation.

A long road to reform looms ahead, but already local and national organizations like BWAM and T4A are already working hard to make a difference. It will take a lot of collaborative effort to achieve T4A's vision for transportation. Thanks again to James Corless for talk with us here in Missoula.

Carfree Stats For Week 24 and Month 6

2009-09-20T10:14:00.003-06:00

After this week I am basically half way through my Carfree year. Of course, this being Montana, the easiest half is now behind me.

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Week 24

Miles Biked: 86.42
Gallons Saved: 5.4
CO2 Not Emitted: 33.91 Ibs

Month 6

Miles Biked: 284.12
Gallons Saved: 17.76
CO2 Not Emitted: 111.49 Ibs

Oops

2009-09-16T07:39:00.003-06:00

I was debating even writing about this, but since I wanted this blog to chronicle the highs and lows of being carfree, and this is certainly a low that I am ashamed of.

Yesterday, right after getting to campus, I hit a pedestrian with my bicycle just in front of the Adams center. It was a fairly low speed impact and I didn't even knock the man down; he looked like the kind of person that plays a lot of sports and so was just going to take the pain and walk it off without complaining.

What happened is that I had just transitioned onto the side walk in front of the Adams Center on my way across campus. I saw the guy walking in the same direction as me as well as an on-coming cyclist. The guy was walking with his head down and so didn't notice the other cyclist until he looked up. At that point I was already going to might right to go around him, but when he saw the on-coming cyclist, he stepped into my path. I couldn't go anymore right, since there was a big-ass sign I would have hit, so I tried to veer to the left but there was no room and I would have hit the cyclist. So, in the end I hit the brakes hard and then hit the pedestrian. I made sure he was alright and he just kept walking and ensured me that he was fine, so I headed off to my destination.

Like I said before, I'm ashamed that this occurred. I guess if you bike long enough things like these will eventually happen, as I've been hit by a car. I don't feel like I was riding dangerously, but that doesn't change the fact that I fucked-up just a little.

If anyone out there knows a big guy that likes to work out at the gym on campus that had a run-in with a cyclist yesterday, let me know because I think I owe him a drink.

A Little Wisdom from Jane Jacobs

2009-09-14T08:10:00.002-06:00

Traffic arteries, along with parking lots, gas stations, and drive-ins, are powerful and insistent instruments of city destruction. To accomidate them, city streets are brocken down into loose sprawls, incoherent and vacuous for anyone on foot.

-Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of Great American Cities

Week 23 Carfree Stats

2009-09-13T15:19:00.004-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Miles Biked: 61.23
Gallons Saved: 3.83
CO2 Not Emitted: 24.03 IBS

Fridays Random Bicycle Crap

2009-09-11T09:03:00.003-06:00

Today's post is dedicated to my lovely fiance, Ashley. Thanks for being there with me on this long and convoluted journey.

I'm going to veer off my usual course for this Friday's post and subject people to some of my thoughts. Plus... I really don't feel like wading through all the stupid stuff out there on the intertubes.

When I first started this carfree experiment, Ashley was pretty insistent that I try it out for a month or so, and depending on how that went I could expand it. She was also pretty upset about me not driving and how that would affect her life, as she felt it would be an unfair burden; plus no more DD at 2 am. I figured that a month was a pretty puny goal and held strong on the full year idea. Now I'm just about half way through and Ashley's attitude has changed just slightly.

Now within the last few weeks Ashley has expressed different opinions about cars and bicycles. She has repeatedly said how frustrating driving anywhere can be, how crazy and inconsiderate other drivers are, and how long it takes to get anywhere with congestion - and all this in a town of about 70,000.

At the same time she has discovered how fast a simple bicycle ride can be to get to places and how enjoyable it can be as well. Recently she has been coming home and asking me how long I think it took her to get somewhere and when I'm wrong she proudly exclaims her time.

I must say that I'm proud she is finding bicycling so convenient and fun. She has significantly increased the amount of trips she does by bicycle and she is getting more comfortable riding around town. One of my goals of this experiment was not only to see if I could not operate a vehicle for a year, but to hopefully inspire other people to do the same. I didn't have any naive idea that this blog would reach people and they would get my message, but I was mainly hopping that people close to me might make small changes in their daily habits.

I guess I've succeeded in that small goal. Have a good weekend everyone.

Missoula Roundabout Opening

2009-09-10T06:54:00.005-06:00

Last week Missoula's first roundabout opened to the public. It was a pretty large event for the opening of an intersection; maybe because it was built with stimulus money and was the first large project to be completed in the state of Montana. A lot of big political players sent people from their offices, such as Senators Tester and Baucus and all the local politicians were on hand for the ribbon cutting.

Before I get any farther along though, I would like to point people's attention to the photo above. Hopefully people can notice the abundance of signage present; 32 in all, even everyone in my Land Use Planning class thought that was a little excessive. I think Montana's DOT was a little scarred of stupid or distracted drivers driving through the middle.

Of course I believe the signage itself is a bit distracting, and even with all the signs people in cars still tried to blow through the intersection when it first opened. Most of these people were on cell phones and one even came close to running over city councilman Jason Wiener.

Here in America, traffic engineers like to tell the public exactly what type of behavior is expected of them, mostly through signs (but then we do things like have speed limits on wide, open, and straight roads that encourage speeding). Drivers are mostly o.k. with this, since it allows them not to have to think too much while simultaneously being on the phone.

But does having 32 signs at a roundabout do anything for safety, or does it fill a contractor's pockets? A roundabout is a perfect situation for "shared space," a concept first proposed by Hans Monderman. Essentially, shared space takes away all on road instructions and allows users of the road to "negotiate" with one another for road space. The intent is to slow traffic, increase safety, and allow all users to share the road more equitably. I can almost guarantee that most people's reaction to this idea in America would anger and puzzlement. There are places in America that already implement this principal, such as Savannah, GA as pointed out at the Proper Scale blog.

Anyway... back to the opening ceremony. Below is the ribbon cutting ceremony performed by our mayor, John Engen and Jim Lynch, head of the MDOT.

And what would the opening of a roundabout be without cyclists to test it out? As you can see in the photo below, we had a pretty good turnout. The MDOT was giving out pamphlets on how cyclists and pedestrians should behave in the roundabout. It called for cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes through the cross-walks. Lets just say that none of us cyclists performed that stunt.

Missoula's own bicycle ambassadors, where there to educate the riding public about proper on street behavior. Ben even had a hand painted helmet on, go Vikings!

Dogs even came out to participate in such a monumental moment. Below is a BWAM member's dog along for the first ride through the roundabout.

Infrastructure Needs to be Factored in on Long-Term Transportation Cost/Carbon Emissions Calculations

2009-09-09T10:09:00.003-06:00

Tracy White recently left a comment on an old blog post of mine that discussed the per-mile Carbon Dioxide emissions of different modes of travel. She brought up an excellent point that infrastructure costs and resource-use needs to be taken into account in cost-benefit analysis.

She even conveniently linked to an abstract of a research paper that indicated that adding such information to the analysis can significantly add to the lifetime energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The study's abstract finds... "that total life-cycle energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions contribute an additional 63% for onroad, 155% for rail, and 31% for air systems over vehicle tailpipe operation."

This seems like a a substantial impact... and I'm sure that it is. But the headline numbers touted in the abstract can be misleading. Now, I will admit that I have not taken a look at the full text of the study. Rail's impact on a per mile basis is much lower than that of cars, especially SOVs. It is because rail starts out at such a smaller GHG impact that the increase is so much higher when infrastructure is taken into account.

I'm sure that rail's lifetime environmental impacts are still much lower than that of vehicles, and from the research I have seen that is what people are finding. I'll have to dig into the study a little more when I have the time. Thanks Tracy for bringing up a great point that needs to be considered in these types of issues.

Week 22 Carfree Stats

2009-09-06T11:25:00.002-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Miles Biked: 57.62
Gallons Saved: 3.6
CO2 Not Emitted: 22.61

100th Post - Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2009-09-04T10:51:00.003-06:00

The Mustache Ride

Just a few pictures from the Sean Kelly's Cruise Tour held on Wedsnday Sept. 2nd. About 70 people showed up, their biggest turnout this season.

Does Motorist Road Rage Against Cyclists Never End?

2009-09-03T07:15:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I came across two stories describing extremely disturbing examples of road rage against cyclists. Thanks to BikePortland and Cyclicious for covering the incidents.

The first happened in Portland during the afternoon. Apparently a motorist in an SUV and cyclists got into an argument in a parking lot. The driver then proceeded to back his vehicle into the cyclist, a man in his fifties, at approximately 40 mph. "After impact the the victim appeared to be stuck to the back of the SUV." The cyclist was taken to the hospital in critical condition with his condition improving since the incident.

The second story I came across didn't end so well for the cyclist. Canadian politician Michael Bryant was arrested on on Tuesday for criminal negligence in the death of a cyclist. Witnesses say that Mr. Bryant and bicycle messenger were involved in a collision. When Mr. Bryant tried to flee the scene, the cyclist grabbed on to the driver side door and wouldn't let go. The car then accelerated and tried to knock the cyclist off the car by running into lampposts and mailboxes. Eventually he succeeded and the cyclist fell off after which he was taken to the hospital and died shortly after arriving.

These are both sad examples of how utterly unequally matched cyclists and motorists are. If a cyclist ever got pissed off and rammed an SUV the poor cyclist would probably walk away with a few broken bones.

These are WTF kind of moments. What is it that is causing all this road rage against cyclists? I can't believe that people on bicycles are behaving so badly as to warrant a lot of this behavior. And I also can't believe that these motorists are truly as big a set of assholes as these incidents seem to portray them as. I think its more to do with the situation society has built for itself in terms of our urban environment - we must really suck at providing a healthy urban environment that produces well adjusted adults.

These two incidents are just as bad as the man who shot at a cyclist for riding with his family on a busy street a few months back. In the end there is NO rational explanation for this kind of behavior other than that these people really need to get out of their cars more often.

I'm a big believer that cars kill communities; whether they be communities of people or wildlife, the car is not a force that brings people and places together, but divides them. Cars compete for a limited amount of road space usually at high speeds and a limited number of parking spots. This situation isn't conducive to cooperative community building, but I guess it is the American way; fighting to appropriate a limited resource, CAPITALISTIC social engineering at its best. The infrastructure needed to support cars even destroys whole neighborhoods, especially when building freeways, just so that better off suburbanites can get to their downtown office jobs a little faster.

When people get out of the car and walk or bike, they have time to appreciate their surroundings, they can meet their neighbors and have an in depth conversation, and generally interact with the world from a totally different perspective than from the protected-electronic cockpit of a car. But thats just the opinion of one carfree asshole, I'm sure a bunch of motorist assholes would wholly disagree with me and be willing to back over me to prove it.

New Belgium Brewery Promotes Going Carfree

2009-09-01T16:48:00.004-06:00

If your a beer enthusiast/snob, or even a cyclist, then you'll know the name New Belgium Brewery. They have long been champions of bicycles, having long been the organizer and sponsor of the Tour De Fat Festival that travels the country and ends up giving away many bikes for festival competitions

But this year is a bit different as New Belgium is promoting going Carfree through a video contest in each of this year's locations. They want people to trade in their cars for bicycles and at this years 11 Tour De Fat locations they will give away 11 hand-crafted commuter bicycles and trailers to the winner of the video contests. New Belgium will promote the winners through a Tour De Fat ceremonial event in each city and will follow people's carfree success and folleys over the next year.

This is a big step forward for the carfree movement. Such a huge sponsorship and promotional campaign of the carfree lifestyle is something that only a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable. I'm sure this campaign will evoke a lot of media attention, mostly for the novelty, as "normal" Americans wonder why the hell someone would give up their car. But at the same time this will give a big boost to the idea of being carfree, and I know that I will be watching the google stats through the end of the Tour De Fat to see if it boosts carfree searches.

I must say that I'm a little jealous of the marketing they will be doing. Missoula used to be a Tour De Fat stop, but we have lost our sponsorship and now have the Pedal Festival. Anything that promotes the idea of getting people out of their cars is great and this is the kind of creative marketing that can help the carfree movement really gain some ground. Cheers to New Belgium for trying this, maybe this will make me drink a little more Fat Tire or 1554, although its a little hard when Kettlehouse is based in Missoula

Complete Streets Comes to Missoula

2009-08-31T12:03:00.002-06:00

Within the last week Missoula Montana has joined the likes of San Diego, Salt Lake City, Miami, and New York by passing a resolution that calls for Complete Streets. The resolution passed the Missoula City Council on Aug. 24th a wide margin. The resolution has been pushed for by local resident John Salmonson and its thanks to his hard work and many others including BWAM that we have this change in policy. More can be viewed here and the actual resolution can be found here.

The new policy calls for any new construction or reconstructed streets to be designed with all users in mind to create a safe environment for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and transit. Missoula is already a fairly friendly place for pedestrians and cyclists, but that usually only extends to certain neighborhoods such as those around campus and closer to downtown. There are currently many sidewalks badly in need of repair and even many places where sidewalks just abruptly end.

The Complete Streets measure won't change anything overnight; there are millions of dollars of projects spread around Missoula that need to be taken care of. This will be a decades long process to "complete our streets" here in Missoula. But this is still a major step forward for the bicycle and pedestrian organizations within Missoula. The hard work that many of these groups and the individuals volunteering their time to advocate the city, county, and state for better infrastructure over the last decade is finally legitimized in this resolution. The potential is great as the design process is now officially sanctioned to have Complete Streets designed in rather than as something that local groups have to push and fight for.

Week 21 CarFree Stats

2009-08-30T09:24:00.002-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Week 21

Miles Biked: 78.85
Gallons Saved: 4.93
CO2 Not Emitted: 30.94 Ibs

Month 5

Miles Biked: 286.47
Gallons Saved: 17.9
CO2 Not Emitted: 449.76 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2009-08-28T11:44:00.002-06:00

Queen Bicycle Videos - I can't decide which one is the Worst

And then we have the artsy entry, just because its done in black and white

Don't Always Trust Free Shit

2009-08-27T09:34:00.003-06:00

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday, one that almost cost me my fixed gear bicycle. Good components are important, because shitty ones will blow up on you.

Riding around Missoula trying to have some new prints ready for saturday's market, I started to hear a strange noise. At first I thought it was just my ipod headphones not being plugged in all the way, thus creating interference, but the noise kept getting louder. With my earbuds out there was a series of clicks, pops, and grinding coming from my bike; lets just say this scared me a little.

Flipping my bike over, the chain was extremely tight, and when set in motion would almost immediately come to a stop. At first I just thought my chain was binding up and being afraid to ride anymore in case something were to happen, I threw my bicycle over my shoulder and walked the mile or so to the nearest place I could get some help, Sports Exchange.

On getting there, the owner and I flipped the bike over out front of his store to take a closer look. We soon found a seal popping out of the bottom bracket at the beginning of the crank arm. Trying to pop off the crank, the internals of the bottom bracket were loose and moving around. At that point I decided to venture to a full service bike shop where they would have all the right tools for this job.

I hit up Hellgate Cyclery and they helped me out right away. Within two minutes they had the bottom bracket apart and found that the bearings in the bottom bracket had flown apart. Not only that, but it was a French bottom bracket in an English setup (the male/female threads are opposite - damn French).

Let me explain the history of the bottom bracket. When I was searching for a frame, I had come across a Nishiki with a bottom bracket already in it. At the time I had debated whether to replace it or not, and figured why buy something new when the part is already there and seems to work. The frame had obviously been through a few owners and setups as it had multiple pain jobs that I had to strip away. Someone had slipped (maybe not the right word since it would have been a real pain to get the bottom bracket in) in a French bottom bracket without knowing what they were doing.

So, now that the part had eaten it, my frame was potentially no good if the threads couldn't accept a new bottom bracket. At this point I wondered off to a bar a few blocks away to drown out my thoughts of having to find a new frame. They worked on the thing trying to salvage the frame and an hour later I checked back in.

Luckily, upon returning to Hellgate Cyclery, my fixie was all put back together again. I have to thank those guys for really saving my ass. Now every time I am able to hop on my bike, its all thanks to them.

Bicycle & Transit Infrastructure More Efficient Than Car - Road Combo

2009-08-26T09:26:00.007-06:00

Classes start up again within a week, and what am I doing for my last week of summer? Why... reading a book titled Sustainability and Cities by two professors, Peter Newman & Jeffrey Kenworthy.

The book lays out how the automobile city is an extremely inefficient method of moving both people and goods in an urban setting. The freedom that has seduced so many people into buying a car in the belief that all roads are empty like in car commercials is questioned and proven to have been a very short transitory state. Sustainability and Cities is full of great data compiled from academic studies - admittedly a little old at this point, as most were undertaken in the '80s and '90s -but still very useful.

Again and again the bicycle and transit come out on top of all other types of transportation. For example, a study (Aschauer 1989) of transportation costs associated with moving around the Boston urban area shows that on a per mile basis, cycling is the cheapest form of transportation. In the study cycling costs $.13-.14 per mile compared with a single occupancy vehicle (SOV) at $.81-.94 per mile while rail operated at $.29 per mile.

The costs associated with personal vehicles is something that most people dealing with transportation and alternative transportation are well aware of. Even so, it can be a very contentious issue as promoters of laissez faire will point out that cars promote economic activity, provide freedom of movement, and are what the public wants, and so roads are needed because the demand is present; this, of course, discounts the fact that roads are a government provided service, that externalities are discounted, and the billions of dollars spent convincing people that they aren't good Americans without a car.

In five studies conducted in the early '90s the average external costs of operating a vehicle came to $3,063 per year (those costs not taken into account and not paid for by the individual). In 2007, there were roughly 250 million registered vehicles on the road in America. That comes to $765 billion in external costs that are not factored into our conscience decision to operate a motor vehicle (very rough estimate, probably higher at this point). Externalities in this case include pollution, loss of productivity from congestion, traffic accidents, etc.

This doesn't even begin to take into account all the myriad costs associated with the build out of auto-centric cities. Dependence on auto use forces other urban systems to change - we need a place to park all those cars - and each one, sprawl, parking lots, land paved over for roads, congestion, adds to the inefficiencies of automobile use.

This point can be visualized in the following graph (sorry for the low quality), which displays the relationship between density and private transportation energy use. The graph shows per capita energy use - basically how efficiently we use our wealth to accomplish our daily needs - and America scores very badly - with our cities hovering around 60,000 megajoules (MJ) expended for transportation on a per capita basis. One MJ is equal to 947 BTUs, 1 million joules, 238 kilocalories or .277kilowatt hrs - thats a lot of energy. 60,000 MJs are equal to 56 million BTUs.

Every other region of the world is more efficient in moving people and goods around their cities than America, with Asia being the most efficient. Pretty straightforward, the more dense a city, the less one has to travel to take care of their daily needs and trips to work. Why drive when most things are within a mile of your residence.

America has, for a long time, believed that economic and ecological constraint do not apply to how we organize our society. We could always develop land on the urban fringe to create jobs and housing for our growing population while ignoring the costs. This worked well for the first half of the experiment, but now the costs have so exceeded the benefits of low density sprawl that we are seeing major environmental, economic, health, and even moral consequences from our arrangement of cities. Suburbs aren't going away, and neither is the car or the detached single family house, but its important that these things are re-envisioned to meet America's needs and challenges in the 21st century.

Missoula Roundabout Almost Ready to Ease Traffic Headaches

2009-08-24T08:48:00.008-06:00

Missoula is getting its first single lane roundabout at the intersection of Higgins - Hill - Beckwith. This is completely different than the current traffic circles that can be found in our towns residential neighborhoods; which are meant to calm traffic at non-controlled intersections.

The roundabout has been under construction for about two months (more here) and is meant to make safer and more efficient a major intersection for traffic going to both the University of Montana and downtown. Pedestrian safety was a major design factor for the reconstructed intersection as the old intersection provided no safe or marked way for pedestrians to cross.

Roundabouts like the one about to open have been proven in numerous studies (here and here) have shown that roundabouts can reduce traffic accidents at intersections by anywhere from 30% to 70% depending on the prior intersection environment; this is mostly due to decreased speeds and the elimination of traffic crossing paths.

Roundabouts also reduce congestion, wait times at intersections, CO2 emissions, decrease fuel consumption and can reduce lifetime maintenance costs by up to 90%.

The Higgins - Hill - Beckwith roundabout will also feature some beautification with a park on one corner and the landscaping that can be seen in the photo below.

Carfree Weekly Stats

2009-08-23T16:05:00.003-06:00

Calculate your carbon emissions @ http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

Week 20

Miles Biked: 35.29
Gallons Saved: 2.21
CO2 Not Emitted: 13.85 Ibs

Week 19

Miles Biked: 97.58
Gallons Saved: 6.09
CO2 Not Emitted: 38.01 Ibs

Confirmation - More Bicycles on the Road = Safer Cycling Environment

2009-08-19T11:53:00.004-06:00

My neighbor, Hank Green of EcoGeek.org, came across an interesting graph courtesy of Treehugger. In this short article here Treehugger shows the relationship between the number of people taking to the road on bicycles and the number of annual injuries and fatalities.

Essentially, the graph shows that between 1998 and 2008 the number of cyclists on New York City streets roughly doubled while annual casualties dropped from roughly 5,000 to under 3,000. This is something that many bicycle advocates have been arguing for some time now. The original article out of The Atlantic Magazine is conformation of this relationship.

Now... there is more going on here than just increased numbers bringing about increased safety for cyclists. The increased demand from bicycle commuters has corresponded to an increased supply of bicycle facilities on NYC streets and the inclusion in the design process of road features that makes cycling a more attractive and safe option.

Whatever other factors contribute to the decrease in cyclist fatalities, the situation in NYC is something that all bicycle and alternative transportation supporters should take note of. Just from my own and other people's experiences in the parts of Missoula - where cyclists have become normal and even clog the bike lanes at certain times of day - there is an increased awareness of and respect for cyclists coming from motorists. However, in parts of town where cyclists rarely venture, the slaughter continues, on streets like Reserve - a five lane expressway.

Going to the Country

2009-08-18T09:43:00.001-06:00

Just a little update... I'll be in Ft. Benton Montana for the week, so the postings will be pretty light. More to come next week.

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays - Bicycles of Missoula Vol. I

2009-08-14T10:33:00.004-06:00

Missoula has some great bicycles to be found around town. In the last few years a lot of vintage Bicycles have come out of hiding, adding a lot of variety to the streets of Missoula. Here are just a few.

This first one isn't vintage, but a custom fixed-gear build by Cody Gould. He sent me this photo after he saw a photo of my fixed-gear, joking that one of us was the evil twin since we had such similar setups - though I don't have wood grain wheels like Cody. The frame is a custom hand-built frame from a friend of his out of Helena.

I like the colorway of this next bike, but I think the bike is a little naked with that puny chain locking it up.

This bike was setup for a father - daughter ride. I don't know if people can make it out, but the second seat has a second crank that a little child can reach, although the little girl could only reach it with her toes.

I really had no idea what the lever was for, I just thought it was interesting

The handlebars caught my eye with this fixed-gear, also looks like custom paint.

Good example of the vintage style that is showing up in Missoula

Clean fixed-gear build, props for the color coordination

Bicycle Themed Music Videos: New Trend?

2009-08-12T08:38:00.004-06:00

So... I usually hold this stuff in until Fridays, but I already have a post planned for then. Plus this is just too good of a bad music video to pass up. I mean its got everything the bike culture has to offer: fixies, road bikes, wannabe triathletes, bicycle clans, bad fashion, and trackstands.

Is this a new trend? I'm sure BSNYC will let us all know soon enough.

Via @Cyclelicious

Carfree Entrepreneur Profile

2009-08-10T20:38:00.005-06:00

As I have probably said before - and no doubt people from outside Missoula are tired of hearing about - Missoula is a one of a kind place. And like Portland, us arrogant Missoulians like to shout this from the top of the nearest mountain... as long as it has a big letter on it. Thats why there is a Facebook page advocating that Missoula should be the capital of the WORLD.

I digress, the intention of this post is to showcase yet another Missoula carfree Entrepreneur from the Farmer's Market.

Meet Chris Johnson - founder of Zoo City Apparel

Chris started Zoo city Apparel in 2007 as a custom printing and design shop for clothing. He has since expanded his business into reail and wholesale markets that include local hipster fav Betty's Divine.

Chris was also a founding member of the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC) that has been an important anchor in the revival and redevelopment of Missoula's Northside district. ZACC, as member Holliday Jeremiassen puts it, "...prides itself on bringing art to the entire community, offering scholorships and other forms of assistance to families in need. Its a great way for emerging artists to learn how to market and sell their items in a local retail outlet."

Chris does just about everything he possibly can on his bike, with the help of a very cool trailer. But I'll let Chris tell it from here.

Why did you chose to be carfree in running your business?

If you do most of your moving about within Missoula, it's a no-brainer. This town is flat, easy to commute around in and has copious bike trails, paths, lanes and secret backways to ride. So there's a common sense aspect to it of course and then there's the moral/ethical reasoning that we all know so well and need not be repeated here. There's also a demonstration or evangelical sort of side to it of "Hey look at all this big, heavy-ass shit I just hauled on this trailer- you can do this too!". But, aside from all that, I just like to ride.

What have been the major obstacles and challenges of operating a business carfree?

It's hard to think of much.... Probably the lack of a vehicle for quick business trips outside of town. That usually requires either a car rental, or a commandeering of a friends truck. I've been working in fits and starts toward a small car share with friends. Typically, I'll help cover some costs of someones vehicle in exchange for getting use of it a few times a year when other options won't work. See that last question for a little more on this.

How did you decide to start your business?

I was a street vendor as a third side-job when I first came to town (another story involving bicycles), distributing a lot of stuff from Microcosm publishing and things like that. Street vending felt right to me so I decided to start printing my own clothing and from that first step the rest of this sprung up. My drive to operate a business stems from my desire to stay in Missoula- I love this place but it's a hard line getting paid enough to survive.

Are you carfree in all aspects of your life?

No. Is anybody? I'm not a hardliner when it comes to this (or much else in life) and I think that sort of attitude can turn people away from it. You have to recognize that a lot of internal combustion takes place to keep your daily American life in motion no matter how much you ride a bike. All the components of my clothes are sourced as close to Missoula as possible for this reason.

While I haven't owned a vehicle for years I do still use them. Cars and especially trucks have an "appropriate use" and I am certainly one to take full advantage of that where I can. I do enjoy getting out of the valley once in a while and a rig can make that happen when time is too short for a little bike tour. That's the main thing I use them for- recreation. And, this might seem paradoxical, but I actually enjoy driving and like cars quite a bit. Were money no object, I'd have a nice greasel rig parked in the yard for getting the really big chores done and for muddin around in. I just don't see where you need a vehicle for the vast majority of your daily tasks.

Week 18 Carfree Stats

2009-08-09T17:09:00.002-06:00

Miles Biked: 64.98
Gallons Saved: 4.06
CO2 Not Emitted: 25.5 Ibs

Random Bicycle Crap Fridays

2009-08-07T11:03:00.001-06:00

Missoula Hit-&-Run Incident Sparks Same Old Us vs Them Arguement

2009-08-06T08:56:00.002-06:00

In this post I get a little local... but I'm sure this kind of thing happens in every corner of America.

You would think that when an innocent elderly women gets killed as a result of a hit and run incident at a busy intersection, people from the community would band together to express their grief and desire for a safer transportation environment. But no, thats not what happened. Very quickly the Missoulian articles... here and here turned into a shouting match between people (mostly avid cyclists and pedestrians) blaming the motorist and those that deafened the motorist and said that anyone on a bicycle or a pedestrian on that road was an idiot and most likely deserved what they got. (Its a shame that by now you can't view the long series of comments made about the initial news story).

I'll just give a quick overview of what happened. On June 22nd at the intersection of Brooks and Reserve streets (a big 20+ lane intersection with sweeping corners) a women was walking her bike across the intersection in the crosswalk going northbound when a pickup truck that was idling in the left hand turn lane suddenly proceeded into the intersection and struck Beverly Joyce Felton whom eventually died of brain injuries.

The man in the pickup sped off and later turned himself in and admitted to hitting Beverly, this of course was only after a witness had come forward and identified for the police the man's vanity plates.

As I said before, I wish the record of comments was still available, but I can sum things up for people from memory. Within only a few comments people started blaming the "victim" for not paying enough attention to her surroundings, for even being on that street because it is so dangerous, complaining generally that cyclists and pedestrians act as if they own the road and that their arrogant behavior was the problem, and that Beverly was an idiot for even being out there while not in a car.

The "Bicycle Nazi," as some of the angry motorists called them, fired back with the usual stupid people in SUVs rant.

All this went on all the while Beverly's family members were participating in the debate, calling for all sides to calm down and realize that a human being had just died and that people need to respect that fact and not use this as a forum to express hatred of "the other."

The sad thing is that it now continues in the latest article, although not nearly as bad. It only takes one person's comment to send the rest of the discussion on a tangent about the cranial deficiencies of the other group. All the while Beverly's memory is trampled upon while individuals get in their own hateful speech about their adversaries on bikes or in cars.

Perhaps the most ridiculous thing about all this is the fact that the man turned himself in and admitted to hitting Beverly, and yet is now pleading not-guilty. The judge has let him out on bail with his driver's licence in hand. People are defending this decision as his right to a fair trial and that we shouldn't jump to conclusions. But honestly... when someone is charged with murder using a hand gun I don't think they let that person out of court with a Glock in their hand... no, they confiscate any deadly weapons, but apparently this man still has access to his.