Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Have you ridden the bike loop yet?



This story and graphic ran in the Spokesman Review today. It is refreshing to see our city leaders paying attention to the bike folks who enjoy the benefits of active transportation. Not to throw a wet towel on things, but one has to wonder how much of this we will see in the future with the state of our national economy and the emphasis on cutting government spending. SRTC has been tracking the national debate on spending and transportation funding. While those discussions are far from being settled at this point, it's pretty safe to say that the debate on transportation funding is likely to be spirited... So maybe we should just enjoy what what are seeing now, and hope for the best as we try muddle through this economic downturn. Oooops, almost forgot the link... Read more here

2 comments:

Not said...

Calling a road a "shared use bike and vehicle lane" makes two implications:
1. Bikes are not vehicles.
2. All other roads do not have "shared use" lanes.

Both of these are FALSE, and it is extremely important that drivers realize that.
- Ventura

SRTC Staff said...

Thanks @Ventura. We go round and round on this when out talking to the public. It's kind of the 'What came first- the chicken or egg? argument' of the biking world. While the intention is good and the lanes draw attention to local bicycling potential, some feel it kind of defeats the purpose. You didn't even mention sharrows. I know people who hate them because they are basically just a reminder that bikes can be on that road too. It's kind of a 'duh' thing but again, it's just an attention getter. It's a hard line to walk.


About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.