Saturday, February 25, 2017

Bike Share Plans Worldwide

Since VĂ©Lib was started in Paris ten years ago, bike shares have taken the world by storm. They come in many forms and sizes; some where wildly successful, some had to be scaled back.



Most bike share programs means a battery of bikes parked at docking racks strategic placed throughout a city. But one has started a park-anywhere scheme. Another is integrated into the public transport network. A recent article in the Guardian has a nice overview.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

NJ Assembly passes bill to increase ped & bike safety

In January 2017, the New Jersey Assembly overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill (A-4165) that is to improve driver education to make our roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Correct ways to share the road with cyclists and pedestrians will be required in driving courses, and the New Jersey Driver Manual will be updated. The NJ Motor Vehicle Commission would also include bicycle and pedestrian safety questions as part of the written examination required to obtain a permit and basic driver's license.



The New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, which supported the bill, points out that even as bicycle ridership is rising in New Jersey, it remains one of the states where cyclists account for a higher portion of traffic fatalities than is the case nationwide.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

NJ Bike & Walk Summit 2017

The 2017 Summit of the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition will, like last year, be held at Princeton University. It's a one-day meeting on Saturday, February 25, from 8am to 4pm.



Princeton's Mayor Liz Lempert will be speaking at the plenary session, and many interesting sessions are planned throughout the day. Meet and learn from other New Jersey bike advocates!

Pre-registration at the discounted rate is open until February 22.


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Take the Bus in Princeton

Some are un-apologetical fair-weather riders. Some don't leave home without their bikes unless a brutal polar vortex has parked itself over New Jersey.

Wherever your limit lies, for those days that you have places to go, but don't want to or can't get there on your bike, try the bus. Sure, NJ Transit buses go through Princeton - but here I want to tell you about Princeton's local buses.




FreeB

The FreeB is Princeton's jitney; its cute logo, the blue "B" surrounded by a constellation of orange dots, is displayed on the bus stops and on the bus itself (named "Marvin", after former Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed).

It comes in two versions, commuter and daytime; the latter runs between 9.40am and 4.30pm. The two versions have different routes: for instance, only the commuter FreeB goes to Princeton Station, and only the daytime FreeB passes by the Municipal Building on Witherspoon Street. If you click on the links in this sentence, that downloads the PDF files of the map and schedule for the Commuter FreeB, and the Daytime FreeB. (In case you're wondering: Yes, Princeton is working on getting the FreeB schedules on Google Maps).

Note: even though the schedules say you can flag down and board the FreeB between stops "where it's safe to do so", in practice you're best off boarding at a designated stop. Bus drivers are highly risk averse - and that's how we like them!

The FreeB is equiped for wheelchair access.
Best of all, it's free!

Tiger Transit
As you can see from the maps, the FreeB services mostly the town side of Nassau Street. For travel on the University side, there's Tiger Transit, Princeton University's bus service which is also free and open to the public. Their buses are fully accessible, and have bike racks.

Tiger Transit coverage is of course densest around Princeton University, but its routes cover an area extending to the new Merwick Stanworth apartments, the Forrestal Center / Plasma Physics Lab, and Canal Pointe Boulevard.

Moreover, Tiger Transit buses have trackers, so you can see where they are at any time on this TigerTracker map.

Try the bus, it's fun!
And tell your friends about it.