Saturday, April 25, 2015

stop by our booth at Communiversity tomorrow !


Our booth will be located next to that of the Greater Mercer TMA,
on Witherspoon, close to Holsome Teas and La Mezzaluna.


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

new book "BIKE BATTLES: A HISTORY OF SHARING THE AMERICAN ROAD"


150 Years of Bike Lane Battles 

"After the war, only children rode bikes, so bikes became a symbol of childhood."


Author James Longhurst is a historian of urban and environmental policy.
He is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 
with a Ph.D. in history and policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Related links:




Saturday, April 11, 2015

Princeton U grad student struck by car in crosswalk accident


Chemistry grad student Nyssa Emerson was seriously injured
Wednesday night, when using a crosswalk to return to her lab 
from the Frist Campus Center. The accident occurred at the 
intersection of Ivy Lane and Washington Road, around 9:30PM. 
It was raining lightly at the time.

According to the story in The Daily Princetonian, which was
able to talk to the victim, a car had stopped at the crosswalk.
However a second car came along in the other direction, did
not notice the pedestrian or the oncoming stopped car, and
a serious accident ensued. 

In this sense, the accident had something in common with
on Washington Road, at the crossing of the D&R towpath: the
initial car stopped as required, the next car failed to stop.

Let us keep Ms. Emerson in our thoughts as she recovers
from her injuries.

Related info:


"According to the NJ State Police 563 people were killed by motor vehicle
crashes in 2014, a 4% increase from 2013. But there were 170 people killed 
by motor vehicles while walking in New Jersey, a 28% increase."

YouTube:  IBM's "Flashing Zebra Crossing" in Rotterdam, NL.

As part of its "Smarter Planet" corporate initiative, IBM teamed
up with ad agency Ogilvy & Mather. They started asking children 
for smart ideas. One idea was to make street crossings safer by 
making the "zebra crossing" (crosswalk) light up when you walk 
on it. Building such a "flashing zebra" crossing on a busy street
in Rotterdam "made people realize anything can happen if you 
challenge the status quo". 
 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

from Paris to Hoboken by way of DC on a Cartesian Centaur

Paris has a smog problem. And the SMOG brand of bike is not the solution.

"Paris has unveiled a bold, $164 million plan to make itself "the cycling capital 
of the world" by 2020. The goal of the plan, which goes to the city council
for approval April 13, is to triple the share of all trips made by bike from 
5 to 15 percent. To get there, in the next five years, it wants to double its 
network of bike lanes to 870 miles (partly by making many lanes two-way)
and drop speed limits on many streets to 18 mph. It would create 10,000 
secure bike parking spaces and offer financial incentives for those buying
electric and conventional bikes.   Read more here and here.

"We think that there are people ready to cycle but don't do it due to a sense 
of not being safe," said Christophe Najdovski, Green deputy mayor in charge
of transport. "This plan will create a new form of tourism in Paris which is 
booming elsewhere," he said.

From "Wonkblog" at the Washington Post - a collection of bleak maps:


"Washington's 'bike route network' is disjointed and incomplete. We'd never 
build a street grid that looks like this and expect drivers to navigate the city 
through it. But this is the reality for cyclists, and it may help explain to other 
people why cyclists have such a hard time staying out of the way — off the 
shoulder, off the sidewalk, out of traffic or car lanes. It's quite literally not 
possible to travel between many points in the city using only cycling infrastructure.

Even closer to home, a "listicle" of The Most Hipster Cities in America featuring
a nice photo of a cyclist riding off into the sunset ... but on a non-hip ten-speed!

It rates Hoboken as the top hipster place. What would Frank Sinatra say ?

He might also say Princeton has no hipsters, only a noted expert on hipsters
who published an essay about the insomniac Romanian philosopher Cioran
and his bicycle which then leads me to an essay by Christopher Fan:









Sunday, April 5, 2015

Hopewell event: Sourland Cycles' grand opening - next Saturday, April 11


"The revitalization of Hopewell's Broad Street continues this year with the
grand opening of Sourland Cycles, a full-service bicycle shop featuring one
of the broadest selections of bikes in the region."


[..]  "The grand opening, April 11, will feature demo bike rides across their range
of brands and styles, hourly mountain/trail rides through St. Michael's Preserve,
prizes, how-to classes, special one-day discounts, raffles, food from area restaurants
including a joint venture with the Brick Farm Market.
"

Read more at the Times of Trenton online article, or at the store's website.