Getting around campus  has become much easier for students and staff at the University of Richmond.

In September, 35 green bikes were placed around campus for students to ride to class, the library, residence halls, or other destinations.

Students can pick up and leave the bikes at racks placed throughout the campus.

The bike program was the idea of students in the campus Sierra Club and RENEW (Richmond Environmental Network for Economic Willpower), which have merged to form Green UR. The group has been working with campus Recreation and Wellness to implement the bike program.

“The Richmond campus is very bikeable, and we just wanted to see more students out there on bikes, both for exercise and for the environment,” says Karen DeBonis, a member of Green UR.

“The bikes reduce traffic and minimize the University’s carbon footprint,” says Tom Roberts, director of recreation and wellness, “The program also supports the goals of the nationwide (college) Presidents’ Climate Commitment and encourages everyone in our campus community to live healthy, balanced lives.”

14 new, yellow bikes have been purchased to supplement the original 35 placed in service in the fall.

How is the program working?

“There used to be people who would make fun of the program, or be like, ‘Stupid green bike,’ and kick it, but now people are like, ‘Sweet, green bike,’ and jump on. It’s been great to see that happening over time,” said  sophomore Jerry Giordano, president of GreenUR, “It’s clear to anyone that has set foot outside campus in the last two weeks that the bikes have been generally well received. Every day I see members of the university community enjoying and taking advantage of the green bikes.”

According to bike mechanic Daniel Kinka, there have been some initial glitches and bikes were being treated roughly.  But things seem to be  going better.  Kinka said there hadn’t been any major damages to bikes so far this semester.  “The damages are all very minor, and only constitute 10 to 15 minute repairs on average,” he said, “However, what’s unsettling is the obvious fact that much of the damage is intentional, or at the very least, the result of flagrant neglect.”

In addition to Kinka, the university will be hiring one or two student mechanics from GreenUR, Giordano said. “Many students don’t know this, but they can take their own bikes and get free maintenance,” he added.

“Next year is the first year the bike program will be in full swing, with the maintenance shop, the store, the bike sale and the whole inventory,” Giordano said, “If the bike programs become popular enough, and this becomes more of a bike-oriented campus, we’re hoping especially the freshmen will catch on and maybe we can get more funding and nicer bikes.”

A new version of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices has been released, with a lot of new bike-specific signage and road markings — especially sharrows. Thanks to Elijah Sharp from the New River Valley Planning District Commission, we have the MUTCD bicycle section (PDF) available for download.

Rails with trails: San Francisco Bay Trail (photo: Rails to Trails Conservancy)

The Rails to Trails Conservancy has just released a new report, titled, “California Rails-with-Trails: A Survey of Trails Along Active Rail Lines.” This report was designed to update data collected for the RTC’s 2000 rail with trail report.

Some conclusions from the 2009 California survey:

• Safety:  there were no incidents between a trail user and a train.  In fact, using a rail-with-trail may well be significantly safer than walking or cycling next to a busy main road and it may serve to keep people from walking on active rail tracks.
• Growth:  California now has 21 RWT projects, up from 7 in the 2000 study.
• Dual benefit:  constructing a trail along an active railroad doubles the value a community derives from the rail corridor and provides citizens with an extra transportation choice.
• Liability: the survey revealed the vast majority of rails-with-trails are insured by existing city or transit district insurance coverage in a similar manner to other trails.

Despite opponents’ rhetoric against rails with trails, this study seems to reinforce what many already know: rails with trails make safe and practical bike and pedestrian trails, and communities across the United States should include rails with trails as part of their comprehensive transportation infrastructure.

A Sharrow - Shared Lane Arrow or Shared Lane Marking

The Federal Highway Administration has released the 2009 edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the national standard for traffic signs and road markings.

Cyclists can rejoice at the inclusion of sharrows, or shared lane markings, along with “bikes may use full lane” signs. Now that they’re in the manual, local engineers can feel comfortable using them.

Cyclelicious has a great write-up, with pictures.

Establishing national standards is a slow process (nearly 10 years to get sharrows included). Many thanks to Richard Moeur for sticking with it, and advocating for cyclists in committee.

Update: more from BikePortland, with info and pictures about the new bike route signs. Also from Bike Pittsburgh, and BikingBis.

The much-ballyhooed Bikestation DC opens tomorrow, Friday October 2, with a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:30am, in conjunction with the League of American Bicyclists. (Please RSVP to Steve Mathis at ((877) 572-2453.) Bikestation DC is at 50 Massachusetts Ave., appropriately at Union Station.

The concept, location, and design of Bikestation DC have generated a lot of discussion and press attention. Examiner.com has a great page of links to media highlights. This is a great addition to our nation’s capital — for the city itself, and as a nationwide example of how things can be done. Bikestation has been operating successfully in other cities for over a decade.

There’s a lot of talk about sharrows lately — shared lane arrows — which are properly used instead of bike lanes to keep bicyclists out of the “door zone,” and motorists aware of a bicyclist’s place on the road.

Information on the web about sharrows has been sparse. But this video from the San Luis Obispo County Bike Coalition does a great job showing what a sharrow is, where it goes, and what it does.

We love sharrows, but we especially love good communication efforts like this!

Blacksburg has a sharrow project in the works — stay tuned.

As veteran bike advocate John Forrester said, “Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.” Accident statistics reflect this, as more bike accidents happen when cyclists act as “pedestrians on wheels” — riding against traffic, on sidewalks, etc.

An article in North Carolina’s Independent Weekly explains the concept of bicycle driving better than most, and illustrates the value of bicycle driver training. With the aid of League Cycling Instructor Bruce Rosar, writer Bob Geary returns to cycling in downtown Raleigh after a 44 year hiatus. Some of the things Bob learns are:

• Obey stop signs, yield signs and red lights.
• Ride with the traffic.
• Take the lane for yourself—the travel lane—when you’re comfortable doing so, especially when you’re keeping up with traffic.
• If the lane is wide enough, and you’re comfortable “sharing” it, move to the right side of it and let cars come alongside in the same lane.
• The general rule is, slower traffic stays on the right. However, if there isn’t room to the right—a narrow lane with no shoulder, for example, or not much of one—and it would be unsafe to go there, don’t. Stay in your lane.
• Also in general, the safest position when taking the lane is the “primary” position, which is in the middle of it, where you’re the most visible to cars coming from behind.

Why do we not need bike lanes in our cities? Read the article to find out.

The Independent Weekly has lots of other good articles about biking, so check them out too.

Update: the new edition of the MUTCD has been released.

by Richard C. Moeur, PE

This morning (02 January 2008), the Federal Register contained a notice announcing a proposed new edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the national standard for all signs, signals, markings, and other devices used to control traffic in the US — including bicyclists operating on roads, streets, and paths.

FHWA has placed the proposed content for the new edition of the MUTCD up on their website at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/proposed_amend/index.htm for public review and comment.

However, the manner in which this information is presented by FHWA might be a bit unwieldy, especially if one is interested in looking at one specific part of the Manual. So what I’ve done is chopped up and rearranged the draft material a bit, and grouped it by MUTCD Part. Each file contains (by Part):

• Proposed new MUTCD text, in “plain” format (no revisions shown)
• Proposed new MUTCD text, with additions, revisions, and strikeouts
  shown
• Proposed new tables
• Proposed new figures

I’ve tried to preserve the original page numbering, and bookmarks are provided for easy navigation. For right now, I’ve put these files on my www.trafficsign.us website at http://www.trafficsign.us/npa.html This webpage also has tips on posting comments to the docket and other useful info. Feel free to redistribute or forward as needed.

Part 9 of the MUTCD is the section that deals specifically with bicycle facilities, although all the other Parts do affect bicyclists to varying degrees. New items proposed for Part 9 include:

• Mode-Specific signs for skaters & other users
• Revised numbered bicycle route marker signs & plaques
• Reference Location Signs (Mileposts) for paths
• Bicycle-specific direction & distance signing
• Revision of Use of Bike Lane Signs
• Shared Lane Markings
• Bikes May Use Full Lane regulatory signs

One more thing: references and citations to relevant research or studies can help increase the credibility of individual or organizational comments. The docket number is 28977, and comments are accepted at www.regulations.gov until Thursday, 31 July 2008. Let the rulemaking fun begin!

Richard C. Moeur, PE is the Chair of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD) Bicycle Technical Committee. This article was originally posted on Usenet.