John.Hopkins's blog

One thing that keeps Miamians from biking daily is not knowing where to lock up a bike.  Here, then, is a map to accessible bike parking in downtown Miami.  It's the work of Green Mobility Network volunteer Roy Rodriguez.  Comments and additions are invited.  Say thanks to Roy while you're at it! This is his photo of the racks at the front door to Miami-Dade's main public library. Unlike most racks mapped here, this one is in clear view of a guard.  That's important.  Even a good lock won't always adequately protect a bike in a tempting location.

This week Florida must come up with $113 million from unspent federal transportation aid and send it back to Washington to help put laid-off teachers back to work. If this "rescission" goes like those of recent years, the money is likely to come from Transportation Enhancements funds, the federal aid that pays for most of the bike and pedestrian facilities installed around the state.  (Not that there are many such facilities, but that's another day's discussion.)  Today, we're calling on you to prevent a raid on Transportation Enhancement in this round of rescissions. 

Please write today to Gov. Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com and Secretary Kopelousos at fdot@dot.state.fl.us.  Feel free to make your own argument, but at least tell them, “Don’t raid Transportation Enhancements.”

Or, if you prefer, sign our petition at change.org. The petition reached 100 names about midnight -- and it's still growing. Won't you tell your friends about it today?

This is not a case of education vs. bike-ped facilities. The rescission is going to be carried out. The question at hand is what transportation money gets sent back. It's our opinion that we have enough highways and not enough sidewalks and bike paths.

Our friends at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden have extended their Bike and $5 offer beyond its recent introduction at the International Mango Festival, where Green Mobility volunteers, above, welcomed riders to our bike valet.

Given a couple of bike-bus collisions we've heard of locally in the past year, this video from the Chicago Transit Authority should be watched by every Miami cyclist and everyone at Miami-Dade Transit.  It's pretty good, too.

Late on Friday, Gov. Charlie Crist signed HB971 despite the efforts of more than 2,000 Floridians who had written or called to object to one or more provisions of the 81-page bill. Starting in October, state law will require that bicyclists ride in the bike lane, where one exists, instead of in the motor lanes.

Our opposition wasn't just about bike lanes, though.

From around the state there's a growing number of calls for Gov. Crist to veto HB971, that grab-bag of road legislation that includes a handful of troublesome mandates along with several innocuous ones. As of noon today, the governor's office had received 1,190 calls, letters and e-mails opposing the bill, and 54 in favor of it.  It wasn't on Crist's desk yet, but may be any day. Then he has two weeks to make up his mind.

It's time again for the annual Ride of Silence, a nationwide event commemorating bicyclists who have lost their lives on the road. Miami-area cyclists will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19, for the hour-long slow ride. The gathering spot is the Miami Seaquarium parking lot at 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway. The local ride is sponsored by Everglades Bicycle Club, and organized this year by Maria Luisa deJesus.

The more we learn about the catch-all HB971 that awaits Gov. Crist's signature or veto, the more the bill stinks. We need to use whatever influence we have to make sure this bill is vetoed.  The governor's office phone is (850) 488-7146 and his e-mail is Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com.

Green Mobility Network operated bike valet on Saturday for riders in the Biscayne-Everglades Greenway Bike Festival, sponsored by Homestead Main Street. Our crew of Peter Schuetz, Mike Park, and Andrew Cunningham, aided by this team of Homestead police Explorers, looked after nearly 70 bikes during the hearty end-of-ride luncheon at Capri in Florida City. On Sunday, board member Eric Tullberg rode as a guide for phase two of the festival, a fat tire excursion along the route of the planned Biscayne/Everglades Greenway.

The Miami Herald reports today that a bill to ban drivers text-messaging while driving is one of the popular measures that's unlikely to survive the Florida Legislature's frantic last week of the 2010 session.  Please click here to let your own senator know that you support CS/SB448 and don't want it left behind. Tallahassee reporter John Frank writes that the logjam is about big-money bills on tax breaks and job creation. But it's like this every year: our Legislature rolls down to deadline with a ton of unfinished business. It's not like they couldn't have seen the texting bill coming; various senators tried last year and the year before to focus their colleagues' attention on the dangers of distracted driving.

Want to know more? You can read the Senate's staff analysis here.