BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Took it and posted it to Facebook. I feel like I take one of these surveys once a week.

took it. thank you for posting this erok.

DONE. Thank you very much for posting this.

did it & passed along to some friends/neighbors who work there.

thanks. yeah, there are a lot of these. but really they can't keep ignoring it. if there's one tool we have now that we didn't in the past is that we're all really good at the internet.

thanks for taking it

Thanks Erok! I thought it was an especially good survey for asking me to specify where I thought particular attention was needed,

The Boulevard is so bad for peds.

Done.

Done.

I hate that question 13 is "pick one". For some reason, that question ends up being "choose one" on a lot of transportation surveys. That always chafes me, because it immediately makes me suspect that the people who constructed the survey don't understand bicycle commuting at all.

Done.

My biggest problem was that they refere to the bike trails as "recreational" bike trails. Going shopping or to work is not recreation. The jail trail sucks as a recreational trail, but is an excellent working urban pathway.

Done.

I said I'm basically undeterred by anything (lack of bicycle signage, etc.) on my trips to Oakland. Do we think that means they will take fewer steps in that direction? Or should I pretend to be afraid for the purposes of these surveys so as to increase the attention paid to these sorts of things?

well, even the most hardened cyclist will tell you that there are lots of improvements to be made in oakland

In my fantasy world, there would be some division of city government empowered to enforce the law that cars must stop at red lights and stop signs. Such a "law enforcement" division could, for example, be empowered to stop misbehaving drivers and levy fines.

Oh well, a man can dream.

Perhaps I'm just cranky because I was almost run over twice this morning.

My coworker and I were almost hit in Oakland yesterday on our way walking to lunch. Crossing 5th in front of the rubble pile of children's hospital, some SUV goes speeding through a red light (doing close to 45-50mph I'm guessing) in front of us, swerving into the bus lane to avoid hitting us. I don't know what this guy was thinking.. the light must have been red a good 20 seconds at that point, as we were nearly across the street. The kicker is, he had to stop one block down the road, because every light on the street was red.. and that one had cars waiting at it.

I usually walk to lunch with a full 1L nalgene bottle. I was really tempted to chuck it at this dudes car.

Enforcement of existing laws is my number one gripe walking around Oakland. There should be a dedicated task force for crosswalk stings, red light running, and ticketing all the jerks to flick their cigarette butts on the ground.

+1 for JZ's dream.

Oakland seems like the perfect place to have a few police JUST WALKING. Just like in the old timey movies, right?

Did anyone else notice that on the "What would encourage you to bike more?" question, "Safer drivers" wasn't an option? I typed in that and "better traffic law enforcement" a lot.

I also typed in "enforcement of traffic laws" a few times.

In my fantasy world, there would be a bounty on traffic law violaters. Private citizens who could document an infraction and identify the vehicle would be paid 1/4 of the amount of the subsequent traffic fine.

In my fantasy world I ride a green unicorn with a 1 gigawatt laser in it's horn. Mine is just as likely to happen as yours.

@ edmunds Mine is just as likely to happen as yours.

And either one is only slightly less likely than the fantasy that Pittsburgh Police might ticket cars going through stop signs.

My fantasy (from childhood) was to have machine guns mounted to my handlebars. Like WWII fighters. So I could strafe.

@almklm machine guns

http://www.urbanvelo.org/issue18/p84-85.html

@ALMKLM

http://linux.stevens-tech.edu/kmh/spike.bike.all.txt (disclaimer: this is a work of fiction - I am a non-violent person)

@Mick - Wow, that is spooky - like they read my mind! Except for the GPS, I could do without that.

Anyone know where I can get one? Maybe I could build one with parts from Krayniks?

i think kraynick will only have parts that are pre-WWI, so no machine gun for you

Since I'm now in Oakland a lot more off my bike as well, I've noticed what it might mean to be a responsible pedestrian. Along the busiest stretch of Forbes Avenue, there are tons of people crossing when they do not have the walk signal. I sometimes try to wait for the walk signal, but if I'm running late for something, I'll dash across the street if nothing is coming.

If there is no traffic coming, I can't get myself too worked up about jaywalking, but I often see pedestrians starting to cross at exactly the wrong time, when they do not have the right-of-way. It was especially bad right after school started, with (one imagines) a lot of new people who have not been been much in the way of urban pedestrians.

All of that by way of saying that if traffic enforcement were really stepped up, they could probably make some modest revenues (usually $25 each for non-motorized violations, I believe) from pedestrians and bikers, as well as some serious cash from drivers.

Ha. I typed "enforcement of existing traffic laws" in several of the "other" boxes.

top! if you didn't do so...take the survey! even if you don't bike in oakland, and would like to. or if you are a pedestrian. this isn't just a cycling survey!

I initially ignored this, since I don't bike in Oakland all that often. I changed my mind. Survey submitted.

yeah, if you walk there ever too, submit it.

just found out that the results are in.

http://www.otma-pgh.org/pedestrianstudy/progress-report/default.asp

there is also a public meeting on thursday about this (we just found out about it) and will post more info in a minute

Cut and pasted from Sara's thread:

Oakland Transportation Management Association (OTMA) received PCTI funding to conduct a Pedestrian Safety Assessment/Plan in Oakland in conjunction with CMU.

Their preliminary findings are ready, and will be presented at a workshop on Thursday, from 3-7 p.m.

The goal of the Study is to provide a safe system that accommodates "all users, walkers, bicyclists, transit riders, and automobile drivers."

Your participation could be very valuable in efforts to make Oakland more user friendly from a transportation standpoint.

CMU Campus, University Center, Dowd Room

November 18, 2010 from 3-7 p.m.

Phase I of the Study is complete, and can be viewed at http://www.otma-pgh.org.

For more information, contact Mavis Rainey at mrainey@otma-pgh.org

I hope to see some of you there.