Are you inspired by the new Street Seats in Portland? Why not create your own this PARK(ing) Day!

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) invites you to create your own park on Friday, Sept. 21 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

PARK(ing) Day happens every third Friday in September and is an occasion for artists, activists, and community members to temporarily make parking spaces into parks. The event is an opportunity to rethink how public space is used. By parking, cars essentially rent a parking spot at an average rate of  $2 an hour in downtown Seattle. So why can’t we rent a few spots and host a party or create a public park or put up an on-street bike rack? This is what PARK(ing) Day is all about.

 To learn  how you can host a PARK(ing) spot and apply for a street use permit, please visit the  Seattle Department of Transportation’s webpage.

You can partner with SDOT under one street use permit, or you can apply for your own.

IMPORTANT: Site plans and permit requests must be submitted to SDOT by close of business, Tuesday, Sept. 4. 

It’s everybody’s street. Imagine the possibilities.

Our Energizer stations and Bicycle Sundays continue through the month of September!  Though the hot summer days may be over, crisp cool fall riding is nearly upon us, and the Ambassadors are ready to help you transition through the seasons seamlessly.  Here are our upcoming events:

- Sunday, Sep. 2: Bicycle Sunday, Seward Park, 1-4 p.m.  It’s one of our last Bike Sunday helmet sales of the year, so don’t miss your chance to ride Lake Washington Blvd without the car traffic and pick up a low-cost helmet while you’re at it!

- Tuesday, Sep. 4: I-90 Lid Energizer Station, 3-7 p.m. Get ready for wetter weather by lubing up your chain, and grab a bike map or winter commuting tip at the same time.  We’ll also have our trail safety signs on display, and would love to hear what you think of them!

- Friday, Sep. 7: Kiddie Kilo at Marymoor Velodrome. Sign-ups begin at 6 p.m., and the kid’s racing starts at 7:30 p.m. All participants get a goodie bag after the race.

- Saturday, Sep. 8: Neighborhood Fair, Church of the Resurrection (Bellevue), 10 a.m-5 p.m. You can find the Ambassadors on the Eastside this weekend, providing resources and advice to all the riders across the lake

- Sunday, Sep. 9: Interurban Trail Energizer Station (145th St crossing), 10 a.m-2 p.m. We’ll be out at a new Energizer station location with refreshing juice beverages-look out for the Ambassadors on your Sunday morning cruise.

- Tuesday, Sep. 11: West Seattle Energizer Station (Alki Trail), 3-7 p.m.  Take a break on your commute home for  a free snack-it will make those

This week’s highlight comes from a recent helmet sale close to home in Magnuson Park.  Ambassador Stevie was out with our low-cost $15 helmets on a beautiful sunny day!  You can find information on upcoming helmet sales here or call 206-957-6623 and make an appointment for a fitting in our office.

Conflict between drivers and cyclists grows as bike sharing programs gain popularity; bike sharing programs launch in Kansas and NYC

 USA Today reports that conflict between drivers and cyclists is getting more pronounced as bike sharing programs get more popular.

Kansas City's B-Cycles (courtesy of BikeWalkKC)

 “The programs, in which people rent bicycles for short periods of time from self-service kiosks, have grown in Portland, Washington D.C., Miami Beach and other metropolitan areas. And in each of those places, city officials say the influx of new bikers — including many tourists and first-time riders unaccustomed to local traffic patterns — can lead to safety problems that are hard to blame on just bicyclists, pedestrians or motorists,” the article states. [More]

We’ll have to see if this also holds true in New Yorks City where the latest and largest bike-sharing program in the country (Citi Bike) will launch later this month. The program will start with 7,000 bicycles available for quick rides or day-trips and expand to 10,000 bicycles in 600 self-serve stations from Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens. [More]

Speaking of bike sharing programs, The Kansas City Star reports that B-Cycle, a self-service rental program, was inaugurated on Wednesday, July 11, in Kansas City. The program, intended to make it easier for people to get exercise while reducing automobile pollution, has 90 sturdy Trek bicycles available for rent at 12 docking stations throughout downtown Kansas City. [More]

Cities with more women riders experience higher rates of overall cycling

Momentum magazine reports that women are the “indicator species” of cycling cities.

John Pucher, professor at the School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, has found that cities with more women riders experience higher rates of overall cycling. In the cities where there were the percentage of female cyclists were high, Pucher also noted that the cycling conditions were typically safer, more accessible, and comfortable for all levels of cycling skill.

Conversely, where the percentage of female riders was low, overall rates of cycling also dropped and the physical conditions for bicycling tended to be unsafe, inaccessible and uncomfortable.   [More]

City of Costa Mesa bans parking of bikes in parks

In an effort to address the large homeless population in Lions Park, the City of Costa Mesa, Calif, has banned parking of bikes on public property. The Orange County Register reports that an ordinance banning the parking and locking of bicycles on public property was passed last week following numerous complaints about bicycles attached to poles, fire hydrants, bus and park benches around the city, often blocking walkways at city parks or in the street. [More]

Two more bicycle fatalities in London, 9 total this year

The BBC reports that another cyclist was killed in London on Monday, bringing the number of bicycle fatalities in London up to nine this year alone. [More]

Cycle London City adds that of those nine people, one-third have been under the age of 18. [More]

Additionally, Paralympic cycling gold medal hopeful, Rachel Morris was hit by a car from behind while taking part in a Time Trail last weekend. The British Cycling organization has come out in support of Morris, calling for a tougher approach by the criminal justice system on behalf of all road users. [More]

What if we treated our roads the way we treat bike lanes?

England Cycling Campaign posted a fun series of photographs depicting what would happen if we treated our roads the way we treat our bike lanes. Here’s an example of what that would look like:

Photo courtesy of lcc.org.uk

[More]

An economic review of people who bike to the bars

A research team at Portland State University has released the preliminary results of a study  which examines economic impacts of bicycling in the U.S. The study caught the attention of bike activist and columnist, Elly Blue, who is particularly interested in the part of the study that compares spending with transportation mode in the Portland area.

Blue points out that people who walk or bike to bars visit more often than those who use other modes of transportation and that while people who go to the bar by bicycle look like cheapskates, they spend more overall. Blue also notes that people who bicycle to convenience stores go there more frequently and spend more each time than people who use any other mode, spending on average $25 more per month.

“This baffled me until I remembered the primary product of these establishments: Beer.” [More]