News and Other Links from San Diego and beyond
- Two weeks ago I mentioned that SANDAG’s newest Active Transportation Planner, Beth Robrahn, was on her way to San Diego. Chris Kluth wrote in to state that SANDAG’s first Active Transportation Planner, Chris Carterette from Fort Bragg, started his first week at SANDAG last week.
- Is it too little too late, or was Velo Cult’s departure just the impetus we needed to change? Jonathan Maus at BikePortland.org profiled Sky Boyer of Velo Cult. Boyer articulated the reasons on why San Diego is lagging behind the rest of the major cities when it comes to both bicycling rates and bicycle infrastructure, “as someone who has worked as a volunteer on bike advocacy issues, Boyer was also frustrated at the lack of progress (due in large part to the dominance of the vehicular cycling philosophy in San Diego) in building a bikeway network.” It certainly is a huge source of embarrassment that vehicular cycling has impeded San Diego’s progress for so many decades and has thus driven away valuable economic activity from San Diego. I’m glad we’re coming to a point where we can move forward and put this behind us.
- Looks like L.A. is going to put San Diego to shame again by having Southern California’s first bike share program.
- Grant Fisher, the cyclist who was severely injured on Sorrento Valley Road last month, may never walk again thanks to a speeding and inattentive driver.
- Two more injuries last week, one in North Park on University Avenue and another one Girard Avenue in La Jolla. I hope the city accelerates the process to tame our streets so all users can use it safely and residents aren’t deterred from riding in an environment that is perfect for year round bicycling. Given how our environment has been designed, it is hardly a wonder that the Alliance for Biking and Walking ranked San Diego as being 23rd in biking and walking to work.
- Brent Petrencsik has a great writeup about the experience of riding on the trails around Lake Hodges [pdf].
- LaRon Lindsay shot a fantastic video last month documenting January’s Critical Mass ride. The video depicts the wide spectrum of riders who ride and enjoy the experience.