Author: Rahman Law PC

Urban Bicycling Workshop: Intro to Safe Biking 6/25/12

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

If you missed the last workshop, don’t worry! There is another workshop on Monday June 25th!

Urban Bicycling Workshop: Intro to Safe Biking

6/25/12
6:30-7:30pm
PUBLIC Bikes (123 South Park Street)

The SF Bicycle Coalition will be hosting a one-hour workshop on safe bicycling for everyone. Learn about types of bikes, the rules of the road, and how to manage everyday riding while performing tasks including grocery shopping. All skill levels welcome and no bike necessary.

RSVP at http://www.sfbike.org/?edu-intro

Urban Bicycling Workshop: Intro to Safe Biking TONIGHT!

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

Urban Bicycling Workshop: Intro to Safe Biking TONIGHT!

7-8pm
Richmond Rec Center (251 18th Ave.)

The SF Bicycle Coalition will be hosting a one-hour workshop on safe bicycling for everyone. Learn about types of bikes, the rules of the road, and how to manage everyday riding while performing tasks including grocery shopping. All skill levels welcome and no bike necessary.

RSVP at http://www.sfbike.org/?edu-intro

The Economy Needs More Cyclists

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

 

The 1% of trips taken by bike in the U.S. save the American people $4.6 billion each year.

 

Here are some useful numbers to know:

1. According to Forbes, the average annual cost of operating a bike is $308. The average cost of operating a vehicle is $8,220.

2. According to the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, bike path and trail projects create more jobs that highway projects.

3. The more paths there are, the more people will use them (it seems intuitive, but it’s an important point when trying to win legislative support and funding for more bike and pedestrian paths).

4. Transportation is overtaking housing as the single largest household expenditure

5. If American drivers replaced 1 four-mile car trip with a bike trip per week for one year it would save the U.S. 2 billion gallons of gas. If we assume that gas is $4 /gallon (a fairly low estimate), that would total a savings of $7.3 billion a year.

 

It seems that supporting cycling infrastructure would:

1. Help with Health Care costs (a hot button issue at the moment) by promoting better health

2. Reduce dependence on foreign oil (something nearly all Americans can agree is a good idea)

3. Reduce the deficit by promoting federal investments that generate the maximum economic activity

 

Really, what is not to love about cycling?

 

Source: SF Streetsblog

BART Bike Plan Focuses on Secure Parking

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

BART is setting a goal in its new bike plan to double the rate of passengers who bike, currently at 4%, within 10 years. Their updated bike plan includes:

  • Expansion of secure parking facilities 
  • Reduction of ‘blackout periods’
  • Reevaluation of the bike ban on escalators
According to a SF Streetsblog post, the plan is supported by the SF Examiner and the SF Bicycle Coalition. SFBC Executive Director Leah Shahum commented that the organization “commends the BART leadership for stepping up their commitment to encouraging more bicycles on and to the BART stations.” 
The final plan will be presented to the BART Board on June 14, 2012. 
The draft BART bike plan can be accessed in its entirety here. 

Rising Rate of Pedestrian Accidents Caused by Headphone Use

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

“Injuries to pedestrians wearing headphones have more than tripled in six years, say researchers from the University of Maryland.”

On the average day, we see dozens of people walking across the street with headphones plugged into their ears. And as city-dwellers, we are practically allergic to silence. So it’s not difficult to feel a bit scared when we read statistics that say, out of the times where headphone-wearing pedestrians have been deaf to train whistles and car horns, 3/4ths of them end in fatalities.
 
According to a Care2 article, “Distraction and sensory deprivation while using electronic devices is called ‘inattentional blindness’.” Case reports published by associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland, Dr. Lichenstein, and his associates listed the following statistics regarding injured pedestrians who were wearing headphones at the time of their accidents:
  • 68% of victims were males.
  • 67% of victims were under 30 years old.
  • Over 50% of accidents involved trains
  • 29% of vehicles involved reported sounding a warning prior to the accident

While pedestrians have no control over reckless drivers, they can help their odds at least a little by keeping their ears open. So try to keep both unplugged and aware of your surroundings out there.

If you ever need a pedestrian accident attorney in San Francisco, Paso Robles, or the surrounding Central California Coast area, contact us for a free consultation.

Assembly Bill 819 to Aid Bikeway Developments

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

For those unfamiliar with it, Assembly Bill 819 is the important new bill that would give California cities a significant boost towards advancing bikeway designs and renovations. Introduced in February 2011, the bill aims to “amend Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to bikeways.” The bill’s opening statement is as follows:


“Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in cooperation with county and city governments, to establish minimum safety design criteria for the planning and construction of bikeways, and authorizes cities, counties, and local agencies to establish bikeways

[…]

This bill would include a class IV bikeway among the bikeways subject to the above provisions and would define a class IV bikeway to include a segregated bike lane which provides exclusive use of bicycles on streets, as specified.” [1]

How would AB 819 change current bikeway advocacy plans?
Around this time last year, select San Francisco streets were newly painted with green bike boxes. The effort and lobbying put into implementing these boxes are often ignored, but it is important to acknowledge that just these 7 boxes took a year to complete. [4, 5]
Such delays in development are caused by current state laws and Caltrans guidelines, which dictate what and how new bikeways are created. And “under current state law, facilities like protected bike lanes and bike boxes–which are not established within Caltrans guidelines–must go through an expensive and time-consuming approval process.” [2]
Meanwhile, AB 819 would allow planners to “use guidelines that have been established outside Caltrans, like the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, which includes designs for protected bikeways.” Such guidelines have allowed cities like New York, Chicago, and DC to develop protected bikeways with greater ease, efficiency, and therefore success than those in San Francisco. [3]
Current status of AB 819
Last Monday, the State Assemble Transportation Committee passed AB 819, but with crucial corrections. The amended bill “would only require Caltrans to create an experimentation process through which engineers can establish bikeway standards” [3] before making any real and effective changes to bike lanes and bikeways.
Though a step forward, it is still not the greenlight the California Bicycle Coalition and other advocacy groups have been waiting for. Despite such setbacks CBC Communications Director Jim Brown says, “We’re continuing to work with Caltrans to figure out how innovative bikeway designs already used in other parts of the U.S. and Europe can be implemented in California.” [3]
Sources:

The Tour de Fat is Back!

Posted on by Rahman Law PC


Grab your bike and get ready to party. Because this year’s Tour de Fat is gonna be next Saturday the 24th at Linley Meadow in Golden Gate Park, from 10am to 5pm.

Organized by member-volunteers over at the SF Bike Coalition, the Tour de Fat is a free and open celebration for everyone of all ages. This year’s entertainment features live music, face painting, and silk screening. On top of the fun will be the conventional bike parade, as well as the slightly-less-conventional fire-jumping bike show.
And finally, if a rodeo-circus isn’t your cup of tea, remember that there will be plenty of good food and beer for sale in the park as well, with all proceeds going to the SFBC and The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council!
For event details, visit the SFBC website at http://www.sfbike.org/?fat

Ford to Leave Muni at the End of June

Posted on by Rahman Law PC
At the end of this month, Nathaniel Ford will be leaving his post as the chief of Muni. And in the search for his replacement, the SFMTA is switching it up from their conventional nationwide hunt and sticking to the local candidates with more intimate knowledge of the city’s transit history and needs.

Tom Nolan, the Chair of SFMTA’s Board of Directors, revealed the leading local choices to be Chief of Department of Public Works Ed Reiskin and Executive Deputy Director and Interim Boss of the SFMTA Carter Rohan.

Reiskin is described as the more popular and likely choice because of Rohan’s time spent in Texas, where his family resides. Friday’s SF Examiner Editorial entitled “What the City needs from Muni’s next boss“, explains the need for a chief that is “in-it-for-the-long-haul” with “100 percent commitment to solving the problems.” The column specifically criticizes Ford for displaying a lack of investment into his post other than using it as a “stepping stone to some even-larger city’s better-paying transit post” as exemplified by his recent dalliance with DC’s Airports Authority.
It should also be mentioned that these changes bring some potentially good news for the taxpayers. The SFMTA is looking to negotiate the salary with its next chief, which will hopefully mean that he won’t be making Nathaniel Ford’s preposterous $308,000 annual salary. Not only was Ford the highest-paid city official, he is also receiving a $384,000 severance check along with three months of $3,000/month family healthcare coverage. On top of that, he will also be cashing in $67,000 worth of deferred compensation and unclaimed bonuses.
Source: SF Examiner

Muni Overtime Budget Exceeds Expectations

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

Muni’s budget for overtime this year was $30.8 million out of a total budget of $775 million. Now overtime has gone up $18 million to $48.3 million. Why?

A normal day for Muni requires 1,491 operators to run all services. And also on any normal day, they are short 300 of those required operators (which might explain why your bus never seems to be coming). Muni officials say that if they were to decrease the budget for overtime, buses would have to run less frequently, angering more passengers.
However, passengers are already angry. Comments in Chronicle article say things like, “The riding public will not miss the runs as it’ll just be normal riding Muni” and “Is anyone working for this agency competent? Problems with drivers are well known, but it’s pretty clear that management (especially the absentee Nat Ford) are a pack of idiots as well.”
And the criticisms aren’t just coming from the public, but from city officials as well. Board President David Chiu is accusing Muni officials for not taking their budget mishaps seriously, saying, “The years of promises remind me of Groundhog Day. Management is far better at providing excuses than delivering results.”