Living Car Free - If your city could grant you one wish...

I thought it was property taxes that pay for infrastructure?

This is complicated.

In general, property taxes and income taxes pay for construction and maintenence of county roads and city streets. State gas taxes pay for state highways. The federal gas tax pays for US Highways and the Interstate highways. The feds also earmark grants to state and local govts.--usually for new construction and major rebuilds.

Therefore, cyclists do help pay for state and county highways, and for city streets. These are the roads that we use the most.

Fix the pavement sensor on south-bound Humbolt where it crosses Pacific.

I would wish to have every car fitted with a device that could make it immediately cease to function, and I would be given a remote control to operate it. :innocent:

In all seriousness, I'd love to have some sort of passenger rail service here. But that will never happen as long as people consider all taxes "punishment", regardless of what it is spent on.

In all seriousness, I'd love to have some sort of passenger rail service here. But that will never happen as long as people consider all taxes "punishment", regardless of what it is spent on.

I love light rail, too, but it is a bit pricey. I don't know where you live, but if it is in a Third World country or a certain waning, bankrupt superpower ;), how about a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) solution like the one in Bogota (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bus-rapid-transit-bogota/)?

I love light rail, too, but it is a bit pricey. I don't know where you live, but if it is in a Third World country or a certain waning, bankrupt superpower ;), how about a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) solution like the one in Bogota (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bus-rapid-transit-bogota/)?

Yup--trains without the rails. Still expensive, but only a fraction of the cost of light rail, and much less disruption during construction.

I don't know a lot about it, but I think I'd like to see a rerouting of our city buses. Currently, they run them on a hub-and-spoke arrangement. My credit union is 2 miles southeast of my house. To bus there, I have to take a bus 2 miles north to the downtown transfer center, then transfer to another bus that takes me 4 miles southeast to the credit union.

It seems that a route system based on the grid would be more convenient for passengers. Then I could take one bus to the south for 1.5 miles, then transfer to an eastbound for the last 0.5 miles.

But there's probably a good reason that they use the hub-and-spoke instead of the grid.

I have long wanted it to be mandatory for people buying bikes to know about the law regarding riding them. All of my closest calls while cycling in the city have been due to other cyclists. I think that all bike shops should have to show a little 10 minute instructional video when a bike is purchased. Everyone ends up standing around the shop while fenders are mounted, cables are tightened etc, so it wouldn't be an undue hardship. 10 min on a little portable DVD player. Not a perfect solution, and it would only reach those folks buying new bikes, but I think it would go a long way to combating what I suspect is simply ignorance on the part of a lot of new cyclists. This is something I think that a city could pass a by-law to require.


Perhaps also a little brochure to be given out with every bike purchase, and every purchaser must sign that s/he has read and will abide by the laws.

But there's probably a good reason that they use the hub-and-spoke instead of the grid.

Usually it's under the premise that people ride the bus into downtown for work and then back out to home, and not just to get around.

That's part of why DC's Metro subway is hub-and-spoke. Unfortunately, like you said, it can take an awfully long time to go between spokes in the outer reaches, which encourages people to drive instead. They're hoping to add a "Purple Line" to bridge the spokes across the very busy burbs to the northwest.

I don't know a lot about it, but I think I'd like to see a rerouting of our city buses. Currently, they run them on a hub-and-spoke arrangement. My credit union is 2 miles southeast of my house. To bus there, I have to take a bus 2 miles north to the downtown transfer center, then transfer to another bus that takes me 4 miles southeast to the credit union.

Two miles shouldn't be too far for a healthy person to walk or bike. Who needs the bus?

I would like to see the Kanawha Trestle Bike/Pedestrian Bridge project at last go through.

I love light rail, too, but it is a bit pricey. I don't know where you live, but if it is in a Third World country or a certain waning, bankrupt superpower ;), how about a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) solution like the one in Bogota (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bus-rapid-transit-bogota/)?

Thanks for this link. Very impressive bus system and interesting to note how they've managed to effectively use bicycles as part of that system.

I'd be interested to find out how they arrived at such an elegant (and cost effective) method of moving people through the city.

I'd be interested to find out how they arrived at such an elegant (and cost effective) method of moving people through the city.

Check out this interview (http://homepage.mac.com/trorb/TOPP/iMovieTheater144.html) with Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogota and the man responsible for that city's BRT, its separated, protected bike paths, etc.

Two miles shouldn't be too far for a healthy person to walk or bike. Who needs the bus?

Well, an unhealthy person for one.

God bless you if you've never been sick or hurt to the point that you can't walk 2 miles. :)

I would love to see a difficult driving test, one someone could actually fail. Anyone is allowed to drive in the U.S. You can kill people with your car and still drive. You can drive without a license and it is a minor penalty. You can drive drunk and still keep your license. It is insane.

Check out this interview (http://homepage.mac.com/trorb/TOPP/iMovieTheater144.html) with Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogota and the man responsible for that city's BRT, its separated, protected bike paths, etc.

Very interesting interview... particularly what Peñalosa has to say about transforming New York City (where he seems to currently live...). I think his ideas about bicycle transportation are worth discussing on LCF, too. For example, his quotation that a bicycle lane is not a good means of travelling by bicycle unless it is safe for an 8 year old. He seemed to prefer dedicated bicycle streets.

Interesting too that under his leadership Bogota was able to move from 0.2% bicycle commuting to over 6% in about 5 years.

We migh also consider another mayor of Bogota, Antanas Mockus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanas_Mockus) who also helped transform the city.

1. I wish any of the bridges over the mississippi had bicycle or pedestrian lanes so I could get across the river to work more easily. Right now there are ferries but they have limited hours/departures and are often broken down. It's the one thing keeping me from being car-free.

2. A lower violent crime rate so police could focus on stuff like cars running reds, drunk driving, and cyclists riding the wrong way down streets. (VERY common here and a pet peeve of mine) There is enough to worry about cycling on city streets without having to worrry about being shot or mugged. (I'm not being facetious, a girl visiting from SF was shot and killed a month ago while riding her bike.)

3. A bike lane somewhere outside of the 9th ward. I swear they only built the one bike lane because they didn't care about the complaints of that part of the community.

I know it's three wishes, but New Orleans can take its pick.