New York Bicycling Coalition?s
November E-News


1. NYBC to Host League Cycling Instructor Seminar in May 2007
2. 2007 Walkable Communities Conference
3. NYCDOT Installs ?Sharrows? in Manhattan
4. NYPD to Introduce New Rules for Parade Permits
5. NY City Police Dept Spent $1.32M To Suppress Bike Rides
6. Bike Friday Discounts for NYBC Members
7. City of Poughkeepsie Awarded Transportation Enhancements Funding
8. NHTSA 2005 Bicycle Fact Sheet Available
9. NYMTC Bike Counts Go On-Line
10. Thunderhead Hires Complete Streets Coach

1. NYBC to Host League Cycling Instructor Seminar in May 2007

As part of National Bike Month 2007, the New York Bicycling Coalition will be hosting a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) Seminar the weekend of May 18th-20th. The LCI program is a national certification offered by the League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.org). For more information on the LCI seminar or other bicycle education classes, contact Joshua Poppel: nybc@nybc.net, 518.436.0889.

2. 2007 Walkable Communities Conference

The third Creating Walkable Communities Conference will be held in Corning, NY on April 17-18, 2007. The conference is sponsored by the NY Bicycling Coalition, Parks and Trails New York, NYS Physical Activity Coalition, NYSDOH, NYS Dept. of Transportation, NYS Dept. of State and the NYS Governor's Traffic Safety Committee.
The conference will include sessions on Safe Routes to School and Complete Streets and will bring together community advocates with interests in safety, land use, economic development, transportation, education, law enforcement and health promotion. Mark your calendar, more information will be available in the coming months.

3. NYCDOT Installs ?Sharrows? in Manhattan

Finding your way to the East River Greenway by bike got easier recently thanks to the DOTs installation of shared lane pavement markings on Delancey Street leading from the Williamsburg Bridge biking and walking path to the bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the FDR Drive. The new markings, made up of a pair of chevrons above a standard cyclist stencil and called "sharrows" (shared-lane arrows), encourage motorists to share the road with bicyclists and work like bread crumbs on low traffic streets, connecting bike lanes and paths and popular destinations. The "sharrows" are fifteen feet long. This new design in the DOTs toolbox is a step in the right direction for NYC.
This is the first time DOT has installed shared lane markings since the spring of 2003 when they tested them on a six-block section of University Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.

4. NYPD to Introduce New Rules for Parade Permits

After unsuccessfully trying to implement new parade regulations for New York City earlier this year, the NYC Police Department is once again moving to require parade permits for groups of 10 or more bicyclists or pedestrians who plan to travel more than two city blocks without complying with traffic laws. It is also pushing to require permits for groups of 30 or more bicyclists or pedestrians who obey traffic laws. The new rules were unveiled in a public earlier this month and the department will discuss them at a hearing on Nov. 27.
? Any group of ten or more cyclists traveling down a street who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation for more than two blocks can be arrested for parading without a permit;
? Every group of 30 or more cyclists or pedestrians, in any public street, must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD, even if they abide by all traffic laws. Groups without permits or groups that leave their permitted routes would be subject to arrest.

5. NY City Police Dept Spent $1.32M To Suppress Bike Rides

In a Nov. 16th Streetsblog article, Charles Komanoff wrote, "Time's
Up [New York City's Direct Action Environmental Organization] took its
campaign for safe bicycling into the economic arena this morning with
release of a report documenting the Bloomberg administration's
squandering of New Yorkers' tax dollars in suppressing the Critical
Mass bike rides. With the City Hall steps as backdrop, the grassroots
environmental group released a report I helped prepare, estimating that
police and other agencies spent $1,320,000 harassing and arresting
Critical Mass riders from September 2004 through August 2006.

"This figure comprises:
- $1,000,000 spent by the NYPD policing the rides and processing
arrestees...
- $150,000 spent by the Manhattan District Attorney's office charging
arrestees and trying cases
- $170,000 spent by the NYC Law Dept. bringing and settling lawsuits
against Critical Mass (the "Bray" and "Time's Up" cases)

"During the same two-year period the city spent less than $700,000
planning, engineering, and installing bike lanes in the five boroughs.
Thus, over the past two years New York City spent twice as much
suppressing two dozen bicycle rides as it spent creating a safe
bicycling infrastructure that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers
could be using every day. At the City Hall event, Marquez Claxton, who
does public relations and political affairs for 100 Blacks in Law
Enforcement Who Care, called the NYPD's suppression of Critical Mass a
'personal campaign' by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. 'When you see
such illogical allocation of police resources,' Claxton said, 'you have
to conclude that the impetus is personal vindictiveness rather than
dispassionate analysis.'..."

To read the full story on Streetsblog: http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/11/16/nypd-spent-132m-to-suppress-monthly-bike-ride/

6. Bike Friday Discounts for NYBC Members

In support of New York Bicycling Coalition, Bike Friday, manufacturers
of custom folding travel bikes, is offering a 10% discount or up to $400
in extras, such as fenders, racks, travel bag or a flight case with a
bike purchase.

Bikes must be purchased in the month of November 2006 for production between December 15 to January 15. Previously owned bikes and the Pocket Tourist models are not eligible. Offers cannot be combined. Subject to available production dates.

For more information contact:
Jim Wilcox
Bike Friday
1-800-777-0258, ext. 106
jimw@bikefriday.com

7. City of Poughkeepsie Awarded Transportation Enhancements Funding

The City of Poughkeepsie has just been awarded funding from the federal Transportation Enhancements Program. The award will result in $330,000 of investments in bicycle facilities such as bike lanes, bike parking, racks on buses and a stretch of multi-use trail. For more information contact Brian Kehoe: bkehoe@cityofpoughkeepsie.com, (845) 451-4055.

8. NHTSA 2005 Bicycle Fact Sheet Available

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2005 Fact Sheet on bicycling accidents and deaths is up on their Web site. We are sorry to report that deaths are up a shocking 20 percent since 2003. See the whole fact sheet: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2005/BicyclistsTSF05.pdf

9. NYMTC Bike Counts Go On-Line

Do you need to see or use bicycle data? The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) has been collecting bicycle use data for several years. The ongoing bicycle data collection project has produced interesting and useful information. Now you can access that same data directly at NYMTC?s website at:
www.NYMTC.org/project/NYMTC_Bicycle_Data_Collection_Program/www_html/index.htm.

10. Thunderhead Hires Complete Streets Coach

The Thunderhead Alliance has hired Dominic Liberatore as their full-time Complete Streets Campaign Coach. Liberatore will focus his time on securing complete streets policies in all 50 states by 2008 to leverage a federal complete streets policy through the reauthorization of the federal transportation law. If you need assistance with a state or local complete streets policy campaign, contact him at: dominic@thunderheadalliance.org.