Posts under ‘Opinion’

This weekend, an Austin on Two Wheels reader set me news that the City of San Antonio is moving forward with a public bike share program to open up later this year. For those unfamiliar with bike share, it is a program that lets you check out bikes from self serve stalls at various locations [...]

I am a major fan of Social Cycling Austin’s Thursday Night Social Ride, and while I don’t make the ride as often as a should, it really is a cornerstone of bike culture as we know it in Austin today. That’s why I was disheartened to see this e-mail from a ride participant last night:
As [...]

Thanks to everyone to called and wrote to the Austin City Council to voice concern about the calendar games being played with the Downtown Bicycle Boulevard briefing and to ask for public comment on the staff recommendations. I just heard from Rob D’Amico, President of the League of Bicycling Voters, that Councilmembers Chris Riley and [...]

UPDATE: An A2W reader sent me an e-mail asking me to clarify a point in this post. The decision to put items on the City Council agenda is done at a managerial level above the City of Austin Bicycle and Pedestrian Program.
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In a move reminiscent of some of the slimier actions taken by legislators up [...]

Does advocacy get new people on bikes and if not, what will?
May is Bike Month, and in addition to all the special rides and bike shop discounts, our local, statewide, and national bicycle advocacy groups are front and center highlighting the need for good infrastructure and encouraging us to get on bikes. Locally, this means [...]

No Friday Film Fun today. Instead, I cannot resist posting this auto ad brought to my attention by Copenhagenize.
The ad which ran in Canada a few years ago was a more radical departure from the automotive industry’s usually more subtle attempt to make alternative transportation less appealing than throwing down tens of thousands of your [...]

Critics of bike blvd make factually incorrect statements in calling for delay or removal of bike boulevard. Plus an update on the free swim policy at Barton Springs Pool.
Tuesday night, the City of Austin Urban Transportation Commission met to review the current progress on plans to create Austin’s first bicycle boulevard on Nueces Street. [...]

More to learn from Copenhagen on making a city bikeable for all
I have spent a lot of time in my professional life trying to sell Texans and Austinites on a vision of life that does not center around the car. Whether it was sharing cars, using a bike for everyday errands, or riding rail, I’ve [...]

Inspiration for the Copenhagenization the rest of the world
With the Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen remains very much in the news especially on the bike front. As a city with a dominate car culture until the 1970s, Copenhagen pulled back from the gasoline induced sprawl most of the Western world embraced and now has 37% of [...]

Thoughts on where we’ve been and where we are going ahead of tonight’s Bike Boulevard Open House
As Austin prepares to experiment with the concept of bicycle boulevards, it is important to remember where bicycle infrastructure has been and why bike boulevards are really important in the goal of creating a city where large numbers of [...]