Who is scrubbing away the sharrows on Adams Avenue?
Yesterday, I received two reports that the sharrows that were put in last May were being scrubbed off of Adams Avenue. A fellow rider rode over to check it out and sure enough, they definitely look like someone is trying to get rid of these sharrows:
As far as bicycle facilities go, sharrows are at the very bottom of the barrel only slightly above "Bike Route" signs. Bike Route signs are often placed on the side of the road that essentially serve no real purpose to riders navigating busy and dangerous streets. While sharrows are useful in getting cyclists to ride with the direction of traffic, as a bicycle facility they do very little to actually increase ridership[pdf study].
Still, it is very surprising that some rogue sharrow hater would go to the effort of attempting to scrub away the sharrows and then do a fairly bad job at it.
San Diego's bicycle coordinator, Tom Landre, has already been alerted. He rode over to check it out and I just got word that he will make sure that they get re-installed as soon as possible. Landre also mentioned that removal was not done by the city.
UPDATE: Tom Landre was able to clarify what was going on. He said that the City is just resurfacing Adams Avenue and that the sharrows will be re-installed as soon as possible.
Social Cycle Launches in San Diego
I received the following press release from Laura Rovick at Social Cycle. Rovick can be reached at 619.846.9436, and via email at info@socialcyclesd.com
------
A first-of-its-kind “party on wheels,” brand-new to the West Coast, is gearing up to let the good times roll ... literally.
Social Cycle, a new San Diego-based company, is debuting a unique, 16-passenger touring bicycle, pedal-powered entirely by its riders and steered by a professional driver. Just launched this month with two bikes in operation, Social Cycle currently hosts lively tours through Downtown San Diego — including East Village, Gaslamp Quarter, Marina/Seaport Village and Little Italy. Future tours will expand to such popular urban neighborhoods as Hillcrest, University Heights, North Park and South Park; as well as Orange County, Long Beach and the Los Angeles area.
Catering to both residents and visitors to San Diego, Social Cycle serves as a platform for socializing and having fun with friends, family and colleagues, while exploring local sights and enjoying fresh air and light exercise outdoors. Tours are ideal for simply cruising the city, bar-hopping, corporate events, conventions, team-building, bachelor and bachelorette parties, singles mixers, family reunions, tailgating, picnics, progressive dinners, and even wine tastings — the possibilities are virtually endless, and stopping points along each tour can be customized.
The concept for Social Cycle, owned and operated by longtime San Diegan Laura Rovick, was first launched back in 2000 in Amsterdam, where all bikes are manufactured, then licensed to select cities. Minneapolis was the first U.S. city to debut this eye-catching, Dutch-style party vehicle, with San Diego as the first city on the West Coast to launch it. All bikes are earth-friendly — powered entirely by the manual pedaling of their passengers, thereby burning zero fossil fuels.
The Social Cycle can be rented by the hour and requires a two-hour minimum. Regular price per hour for group tours is $200 (or $12.50 per person filling each of 16 seats) Friday thru Sunday; and $185 Monday thru Thursday. The price includes a “captain” who handles the steering, signals and brakes, while passengers simply pedal and enjoy. Prices may vary and are subject to change. Passengers must be at least 21 years old to ride.
For more information, visit Social Cycle online at and Facebook.com/SocialCycleSD, and follow the company at Twitter.com/socialcycle.
More New Sharrows on A Street and on Broadway
San Diego's streets are getting even more new sharrows. Sharrows have been spotted on Broadway starting at 26th Street. A reader, Matt, wrote in this morning that he spotted sharrows on A Street starting at Kettner Boulevard.
Have you spotted any new sharrows? Where have you seen them?
Previous coverage of sharrows: Sharrows in the Lane, Sharrows Spotted on Marlborough Avenue
Tour de Fat comes to San Diego Again
One of the most successful bike carnivals created by the New Belgium Brewing Company, Tour de Fat, will make a stop in San Diego for the third successive year.
The event this year will be held at the Golden Hill Park which is part of Balboa Park and located in the bike friendly neighborhood of South Park. The location was moved from the previous one at 6th and Laurel due to numerous noise complaints from neighbors who resided along 6th Avenue.
Tour de Fat is one of the major fundraising sources for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and the San Diego Mountain Biking Association.
As with previous years, the carnival begins with a bike parade at 11 AM. The parade route is embedded below:
View 2011 San Diego Tour De Fat in a larger map
After the bike parade, Tour de Fat will feature music and theatrics by Daredevil Chicken Club, The Dovekins, YoYo Squared, Free Energy, and Extra Action Marching Band.
As always, Tour de Fat is also looking for a local resident who felt left out of the car-free day celebration yesterday and would like to trade away their car in exchange for a new commuter bicycle from New Belgium.
Below are some photos from previous Tour de Fat carnivals in San Diego.
San Diego Police Department to Train Officers on Cyclists’ Rights and Laws
Within the next two weeks, all patrol officers in the City of San Diego will receive training on the full text of CVC 21202, the bicycle law that applies to cyclists in California. This section of the vehicle code is the one that addresses where cyclists can be positioned when riding on the street and the specific exceptions to the code that have been the subject of two citations we’ve written about here. This has been the section of the vehicle code that has been oft cited when bicyclists in San Diego have been ticketed. Not surprisingly, the lack of understanding of the vehicle code has been a source of much consternation among the region’s cyclists. But with this new training, the patrol officers in the City of San Diego will now be better able to serve the region’s cyclists.
Yesterday, I met with Assistant Chief of Police, Patrol Operations, Boyd Long, and the Lieutenant of Traffic Division, Rick O’Hanlon. Also attending the meeting were Dion Akers, Council Representative to District Three’s Councilmember Todd Gloria, Andy Hanshaw, the new Executive Director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Linda Peter from the City Attorney’s Office, Jim Baross, the former Interim Executive Director at the SDCBC and William Karstens, a fellow bicycle advocate.
The meeting was the fruitful conclusion of a discussion that began with a series of emails between me and Todd Gloria’s office. District Three was where two of the CVC 21202 citations had been issued. Because the recipients of the two citations were trained under the curriculum set by the League of American Bicyclists on how to ride safely, it was disconcerting when they were being cited for riding in a manner that was both legal and recommended. Having officers patrolling the streets and issuing tickets to cyclists without an understanding the vehicle code that applied was causing a lot of confusion and I wanted to be certain that all of San Diego’s police officers were clear on what the law was.
At our meeting yesterday, Assistant Chief Long understood my concerns and understood how the lack of clarity in understanding the law was causing much confusion. He stated that within the next two weeks, he would be instituting a department wide training on the full text of CVC 21202. In response to my concerns that some officers may have unfairly been targeting cyclists on their beat, he offered to look at trends to analyze whether his officers were indeed doing so and to take remedial action to prevent such a trend from continuing. Furthermore, the Assistant Chief and his Lieutenant was open to the idea of reducing the cost of tickets issued to cyclists.
In an attempt to continue this positive dialogue, Lieutenant O’Hanlon committed to attending the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition monthly (SDCBC) meetings so he could continue the dialogue that we began yesterday. He admitted that being aware of all issues that affected San Diego’s cyclists would allow him to take the proper steps to ensure that appropriate proactive steps could be taken to prevent problems further down the road. The Lieutenant assured us that he would take proactive measures to ensure that negative interactions wouldn’t escalate.
Our discussion yesterday was both positive and encouraging. Knowing that all patrol officers will be briefed on CVC 21202 for all oncoming shifts as well as on their yearly training, is assurance that the San Diego Police Department will be able to enforce the law both fairly and accurately.
At the conclusion of this meeting, the common theme underlying the conversation was how we all could work together to interact with all road users safely and cordially. I’m grateful to Assistant Chief Long, Lieutenant O’Hanlon, and Dion Akers for starting this dialogue and I look forward to seeing this continue.