Fellow Cyclists,

Greetings from "terminal car hell" on the southeast side of Houston, TX.
BLECH.

I attended the first part of the commission meeting and corroborate what
James said about the tone of the majority of the comments. I salute all
GCC'ers in attendance and James and the other GCC speakers. I didn't speak
but plan a follow-up message to the commission, which seems to be in full
retreat.

Two things here:

1) The commission got a non-representative sample of comments from people
the other night, and GCC members need to step forward and contact the
commissioners; and

2) It is FEAR that is driving most of the comments we heard, and while
fear may be a good stimulant to action, it is not a good guide to a
reasoned course of action.

Cyclists have to rebut the largely irrational comments made by people who
oppose bike lanes out of fear, because as several people on this listserv
have already noted, the comments are not based on systematically collected
data that have in many US cities already shown that streets with bike
lanes have calmer traffic, cities with more bikers have lower accident
rates, and so forth.

I agree with James and several others that 16th Ave needs some type, of
bike facility.

Do we want car hell or the Gainesville of bike lanes of recent years?
Silence implies the you want first option. Let's speak up!

Stephen Perz
League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor #864
Daily bike commuter 18 Years (11 on 16th without bike lanes)

> Riders,
>
> The public City/County meeting on Wednesday was at once disturbing and
> also uplifting.
>
> On the one hand, the vast majority of local residents (probably about
> 80 present) spoke against bikes being in the roadway at all.  By the
> end of the evening, even our pro-bike County Commissioner Mike Byerly
> and cycling activist City Commisioner Randy Wells were conceding major
> ground, agreeing with all county and city commishes that bikes don't
> belong on the road at all.  To be fair, some said so in the guise of
> seeking mixed use lanes (which I don't see as viable given the
> residential entries and exits along the corridor, cost, and political
> will), and others did so simply because they don't like bikes in their
> way.  We were called "young," "dangerous," and "crazy" on multiple
> occasions, and commissioners and residents relied on anecdote and
> personal experience to make their points.   In short, it was probably
> one of the worst nights for Gainesville cycling, politically speaking,
> in my fifteen years in this town.  I was ashamed to be a Gainesville
> resident.
>
> On the other hand, there were thirteen GCC folk there that I can
> count, maybe even more, including several Board Members, commuter
> committee folk, and some new faces.  Contrary to my disappointment,
> the emails exchanged afterwards were upbeat and forward looking.  Five
> GCC folk spoke to the public, making concise and diplomatic points
> that spoke to logic and the heart.  Many of the anti-cycling comments
> were in fact made by self-proclaimed "cyclists," so it was refreshing
> to hear us represent those 5,000 people that the U. S. census says use
> the roadways to bike in Gainesville for work and school.  I have never
> been more proud to be a GCC member.
>
> My general conclusion is that, like Mike Byerly said, this isn't about
> safety (median reduction being the main issue for car folk), it is
> about allowing cars to move as fast as they like through our streets.
>
> By the way, the only elected official who said we need lanes in the
> street, even if we do mixed use, was Mayor Craig Lowe.  We'll be
> helping him educate his elected peers over the next few weeks about
> mixed use, in-lane, and segregated cycling data so they can, I hope,
> back track on what was a terrible evening for vehicular cycling.
>
> More to come, thanks for listening, and thanks for coming out.
>
> Regards,
>
> James Thompson
> Advocacy Director
> Commuter Committee Member
>
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