Category Archives: Bicycling

Bruce Epperson’s observations on transportation funding

Bicycle historian Bruce Epperson has written a paper examining trends in transportation funding in the USA from the 1960s to the present. It makes interesting reading. With his permission, I have made the paper available in PDF format on this … Continue reading

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Wow, it’s a laser!

A post on the Grind online news site heralds the Blaze, a  laser bicycle light gimmick — not the first to be reviewed on this blog The Blaze hits the market with some rather clever — and deceptive — advertising … Continue reading

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Helmet disparagement and ethics

To quote the late, great Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, “Never treat anyone in the public sphere like an idiot. If you treat him like an idiot, he will act like an idiot.” Providing helmets is difficult when bicycles are … Continue reading

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M. Kary on the epidemiological approach to traffic-safety research

M. Kary has released the manuscript of his paper on the unsuitability of the epidemiological approach in studying traffic safety. Unsuitability of the Epidemiological Approach to Bicycle Transportation Injuries and Traffic Engineering Problems Author: M Kary Injury Prevention 2015;21:73-76, Published … Continue reading

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Tesla Thermal Troubles: the Li-ion in Winter

My friend Brad Meyer, who lives in the next town over from me in Massachusetts, has owned a Tesla Model S car for more than a year. His observations raise some serious questions about the advantages of an electric car, … Continue reading

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Streetsblog’s Angie Schmitt seeks to purge engineers

I just ran across a post from March 2015 by Angie Schmitt for Streetblog: The title is “Engineering Establishment Sets Out to Purge Deviant Bikeway Designs” I quote: The NCUTCD consists mostly of older engineers from state DOTs. In recent … Continue reading

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A review of the film Bikes vs. Cars

I knew I’d have a problem with the film just based on the the title. There can be animosity between people on bikes and in cars, but bikes and cars are machines, which have no feelings and generally don’t get … Continue reading

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The Downtube bike

On the weekend of November 7 and 8, 2015, I traveled to Pennsylvania and attended the Philadelphia Bicycle Exposition. My host John Schubert lent me his Downtube folding bicycle. I used it to explore the city and shoot video of … Continue reading

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Reflective Clothing as Panacea — again.

  This photo in a New York Times article shows a bicyclist riding with a reflectorized shirt, which shows up well in a photo taken with flash on the camera, but the bicyclist has NO HEADLIGHT. The manufacturer of the … Continue reading

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Another crosswalk confusion, and a fatality

In response to my post about confused yielding requirements where shared-use paths cross streets, Ryan Reasons has published comments on a recent fatal truck-bicycle crash in the Seattle, Washington area. The photo below is from the KOMO TV/radio station news … Continue reading

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