DRPA Commits to Ben Bridge Ramp

From John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

Yesterday's the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) put their 2010-2014 Capital Program into the sunshine on at a public meeting and on their website. Included in the year of 2012 is 3.2 Million Dollars for an ADA accessible ramp on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin Bridge (south walkway). Previous 5 year Capital Budget programs included the ramps but placed it in "Later Years", a category which serves as a placeholder for long term (and often unfunded) projects.

We commend DRPA for prioritizing the bridge walkway. We hope that design and construction happens in a timely manner. The Bicycle Coalition is willing and able to provide technical assistance and to promote public outreach of this important bi-state connection.

John asks: Is my morning bike schlep/cardio workout at risk?
DRPA plans to replace these steps with a ramp in 2012.

To wear a bright safety vest or to not wear a bright safety vest: That is the Question!

I'm a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, APBP for short (yes such an organization exists and it is growing rapidly). Members have access to a member listserve where some of the brightest minds working in the field of bicycle and pedestrian safety exchange ideas.

A recent discussion came up if cyclists should wear bright retro-reflective safety vests under all conditions. Some professionals came out in favor, other were ambivalent, while some were downright opposed particularly if the bicycle is already equipped with a full legal (varies by state) complement of bicycle lights.

Image via Bike Nasbar Catalog.

I fell into the ambivalent category (wear 'em if you want to but I don't) until I read a response by one of the more respected members of APBP, Mighk Wilson out of Orlando, Florida:

When we start portraying such safety items as very necessary at all times, we run the risk of the contributory negligence problem. While it may not be explicitly written in law that failure to wear brightly-colored clothing is contributory negligence, we might foresee a time when that might be the common belief, and juries might unfairly rule against cyclists in some cases for that reason.

Once Mighk brought up this possible scenario John Sigurjonsson of Cycle Chatham-Kent of Ontario, Canada informed the group that:

Police reports in Ontario note the color and reflectivity of cyclists clothing (e.g. “dark, non-reflective clothing worn by smeared cyclist”)

So, since you the cyclist DID NOT dress like a 1980's neon prom queen, you had it coming to you because the helpless (hapless) driver couldn't help but NOT see you. Unfortunately this is already a common excuse when a driver hits a pedestrian who was otherwise walking along or crossing a street in a perfectly legal manner. "The pedestrian victim was dressed in 'dark clothing'" is often cited as the PRIMARY reason why a crash happened at night or other dark conditions.

Hmmm... Last I checked my finest cloths are all fairly dark (my best suit and overcoat are all black). Most police uniforms are mostly black too but I have yet to hear of the "dark clothing" being an excuse when a driver hits an officer of the law.

Bike JC - Bicycle Advocacy Reborn in Jersey City

Chalk up another urban bicycle advocacy group forming in North Jersey. Today's Jersey City Independent announced the first meeting of BikeJC at Zeppelin Hall Restaurant and Bier Garden 88 Liberty View Drive in Jersey City Tuesday December 8th at 8PM.

Also take time to sign the online petition that asks the city to work towards becoming the most bike friendly city in the state

Linwood officer yields to a pedestrian; Deserves praise

I got a sad laugh out of this letter published in The Press of Atlantic City on Thursday, December 3, 2009.

The letter reads:

"Linwood officer deserves praise"

On Nov. 25, at approximately 12:20 p.m., my wife and I were walking our dog, Mick. For about two minutes, we waited to cross west over Route 9 at a designated pedestrian crosswalk. To our surprise, yet pleasure, a Linwood police officer stopped his patrol vehicle in the northbound lane of Route 9 and employed his safety lights, thereby signaling both lanes of traffic to yield to us, which allowed us to cross safely.

We are not impatient people, as we frequently wait several minutes to cross Route 9. And yes, I realize that at that time of day, traffic is usually heavy and was compounded by the holiday.

But my reason for writing this letter is to commend the officer for his courteous action and for enforcing a traffic law that was designed to promote safety for all residents and pedestrians in New Jersey. Thank you, officer, for your courtesy.

RICK McGUIRE, Linwood

Dear Mr. McQuire,

You should NEVER have to wait several minutes to cross a road at a marked crosswalk. While it's great that this police officer did the right thing by yielding to you and using the overhead lights to force people to yield, it should never need to come to that. A driver of a car yielding to pedestrians shouldn't be such an exceptional event that you take the time to write your local paper. It should be a mundane everyday occurrence that doesn't even register in your memory, like stopping at a red traffic light

Drivers must ALWAYS yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk wanting to cross. It's the law!

39:4-36 Driver to yield to pedestrian, exceptions; violations, penalties.

a. The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except at crosswalks when the movement of traffic is being regulated by police officers or traffic control signals, or where otherwise prohibited by municipal, county, or State regulation, and except where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided, but no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield. Nothing contained herein shall relieve a pedestrian from using due care for his safety.
(For complete statute follow link above)

Next BPAC Meeting December 9 at Rutgers New Brunswick

The New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council (BPAC) will hold their next meeting on Wednesday, December 9th from 10am to 12pm in the Civic Square Building, room 261 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

View Larger Map

Rutgers University, Civic Square Building at 33 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick NJ.

The featured talk at this BPAC meeting will be from members of the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition who will be discussing their formation, mission and their upcoming New Jersey Bicycle Summit.

All interested persons are invited to attend (but please be polite). Organizers ask that you please RSVP by emailing Rob Williams at ( rjwill@rci.rutgers.edu ).

The Case for Bicycle Friendly Communities from Bikes Belong

I recently came across these two excellent videos from Bikes Belong making the case for Bicycle Friendly Communities. Given that the deadline (February 19th 2010) is coming up for the next round of BFC nominations finding these videos is as timely as ever.





Also be sure to check out the other four Bikes Belongs videos on their Vimeo video feed.

Bergen County Visioning Day

Saturday, December 5, 2009 – 9:30am to 2:00pm
Bergen County Learning Center
Bergen County Administrative Building
One Bergen County Plaza, Hackensack, NJ 07601
(light lunch to be served)

Be mindful however if you go, that this meeting is a county wide master plan touching upon many aspects planning and is not solely focused upon bicycle and pedestrian or even transportation issues. That said, please let decision makers understand that these issues are of utmost importance.

The below message is from our friend Stephen Mosca at Go-One LLC and local advocate in Maywood, New Jersey about the plan:

Cycling-related deaths and injuries are rising in New Jersey and cyclists from around the state are coming together to address this disturbing trend. On December 5th Bergen County will sponsor a “Visioning Day”. Many actions are taking root in our state towards more effective transportation for all citizens. The New Jersey Department of Transportation is conducting Pedestrian Safety Impact Team (PSIT) meetings to study along NJ Route 93 (Grand Street) in Bergen County; Bergen County members are involved in the Bicycle/ Pedestrian Think Tank in New Brunswick, NJ. Sponsored by the NJ/ DOT and Rutgers University Voorhees Transportation Policy Planning Group; Municipalities around New Jersey are par-taking in the “Sustainable Jersey” Program (Safe Route to School & Complete Streets); and, people are realizing the health benefits, environmental, noise and congestion benefits of cycling. We need to be proactive and apply the basic lessons of transportation.

Cyclists throughout the state will attend, representing bicycle clubs, shops, advocates, retailers, manufacturers, and other interested individuals committed to safe access of cyclists to our state’s roads and trails. State legislators and transportation policy officials will also attend. The following are “Bicycling” transportation transformation recommendations to the County of Bergen to Considers as part of this Master Planning Exercise.


1. “Complete Streets” design on County Road Bike Lane Implementation.
2. Cyclist/motorist education
3. Three (3) Feet Passing and other Legislation
4. Creating bicycle-friendly communities in New Jersey.
5. Bicycles on Busses with NJ Transit.
6. More Bicycles on Mass transit Trains with NJ Transit. Bicycle Path interconnection from rail stations to points NSE&W.
7. More Bergen County retail establishments allowing Bicycling (i.e. Bicycle usage is against the law in the new Bergen Town Mall Property in Maywood). This needs to change!
8. Construction of feeder paths to the Rochelle Park/ Wood Ridge Mixed Use Path from all points NEW&S.
9. Implementation of a NYC style bicycling Master plan with Connection to the GW Bridge, Verazzano and Lincoln and Holland Tunnels from all points NSE&W.
10. Partner with Voorhees Bike Group at Rutgers to become the most progressive Bike County in NJ.
11. Encourage Municipalities to begin the bicycle path, trails and lane inter-connectivity studies. Use the TMAs and Google Maps/ DOT Analysis technology.