Google Maps ‘Bike There’

Bibì Bellini of ilikebike.org has blogged about us, and has also done an Italian translation of the petition, which I’ve also added under the ‘Italiano’ button up top.

To see an English-language translation of ilikebike.org, click here. I have to say, this Google Translate tool seems to work pretty well - I can make out 95% of what is written, and figure out most of the rest from context. As an example, here is a Google translation of the top of the ‘Project’ page:

My name is Bibì Bellini. I live in Castel San Pietro Terme (BO), I am a journalist, but especially a cyclist. I do not have a car and my journeys I make them on bicycles and public transport: I boast of being environmental impact near zero.

For some time I have taken upon me the greatest gandhiana saying “Be the change you wish to see in the world” which is why among other things go by bicycle.

Very cool. So, the translation is missing some consonants and things like that, but it’s easy enough to make out. [If there are obvious mistakes in the Google translation, feel free to point them out, please.]

I really like the Mail Art for Bike project, which seems to be a type of collection of bicycle-themed mail/postcard artwork from around the world. Very cool. Bicycle art is cool because people like me can actually understand it and appreciate it.

Thanks again, Bibì!

Google.org is the non-profit arm of Google.com. Yesterday, they let Congress know that the various tax credits in place to continue to support renewable energy were important to Google, and to the world:

Yesterday Google.org, along with representatives from the business and venture capital community, called on the U.S. Congress and the Bush Administration to work together to quickly approve extensions of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The PTC and the ITC are tax incentives designed to spur the market for renewable energy and are critical to financing a new renewable energy generation. The credits are currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2008.

Speaking at a news conference at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, Dan Reicher, Google.org’s Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, said: “We are at the dawn of a green energy revolution that could fundamentally reshape the way the world generates energy. It is critical that we get the policy right in order to drive investment in clean energy and push these technologies out of the lab and into the mainstream. Policy makers can make or break this revolution.”

If you’re not up on this green energy tax credit stuff - it’s very important. The interesting aspect is that renewable energy companies need to know now whether these tax credits will be in place next year so they can get busy planning for financing, construction, etc. If they can’t plan new projects - there won’t be new projects - it’s that simple. Google.org goes on to quote some facts and figures about jobs and so on. So, importantly, even a significant delay in re-authorizing these tax credits (subsidies) can greatly harm renewable energy initiatives.

If you don’t like the idea of subsidies, in general, then you should probably not be crazy about the $65 Billion in subsidies the U.S. government gives out to various U.S. industries every year. The best figures I’ve seen for the ‘Oil and Gas’ industry, for example, go about $5 Billion or $6 Billion a year. There’s ‘Ethanol’ - about $7 Billion or so, last time I checked. The list goes on. I couldn’t find one perfect source to cite, but these numbers seem to comport with what folks all across the political spectrum are saying - the Public Policy Institute, Cato, the GAO (Government Accountability Office), etc.

All that said, you don’t have to agree with Google.org, or me, or anyone else about the course of action we should take, save for one thing - if you sign the petition, you’re signing up to help us persuade Google that providing bicycle routes on Google Maps would be a very good thing.

And if you are Google.org (or anyone else) and you are interested in cutting emissions from wherever they come from - and however they contribute to climate change, then you’ll want to know about a growing consensus that cutting transportation emissions via fuel efficiency and other ‘clean energy’ technologies is not enough:

EU policies focusing mainly on improving vehicle technology and fuel quality are not enough to reduce the transport sector’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, argues the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Read the report here (pdf).

Thanks to at least one member of The Kickstand (blog) for signing our petition. From their home page:

The Gainesville Community Bicycle Project, aka The Kickstand, is Gainesville’s newest community center. At our collective bicycle shop, you will gain access to tools, parts, and knowledgeable volunteers who will help you learn to build, fix, and maintain your bicycle.

Bicycles are empowering! With transportation comes opportunities, and anyone–regardless of age, race and/or gender–can enjoy the benefits of bicycle ownership. We hope to pair up recycled bicycles with those who need them, and engender a spirit of sharing and community around these two-wheeled wonders!

In Austin we have Austin Yellow Bike, and it probably wouldn’t be too much to presume that there are projects like these all over the U.S. and the world.

The closest college/uni to me is UT-Austin, and they have the Orange Bike Project. The University of Toronto has Bikechain. Ripon College has the Velorution Project.

If you don’t yet have a place like The Kickstand in your town, then start one. If you don’t yet have a program like Bikechain at your school or college or university, then start one. Don’t worry if you have no experience in organizing anything - everyone has to start somewhere. Don’t be deterred - plenty of people will say ‘no’ - plenty of people will say, “yeah, but…” - forget the haters - just keep pushing ahead. It won’t happen overnight. You’ll face plenty of obstacles, but your persistence will pay off.

And don’t be afraid to involve your local bike shops. Go and talk to them. Tell them your ideas. Tell them about the programs you read about online. Bring a print-out. Ask them how you can help each other be more successful. Listen to what they are saying. Chances are, they’ve been there, and done that. They can become your greatest allies. And many bike shops are small, community-type shops that may be hurt by big school/government-subsidized programs - we want to find ways that we can all be enthusiastic supporters of the major programs that are going to change the landscape for bicyclists and pedestrians. All of this is just my opinion, of course.

Thanks for representing, Kickstand, and best of luck to y’all, and to everyone making this happen!

And you, Moscow?

Yes. Unfortunately, the people of Moscow also must deal with hazardous road conditions if they want to hop on their bicycles:

Some maintain, however, that there is no point in extra bike stands, calling the roads “mental and unsafe for cyclists,” some think that the bike culture is just not for Moscow, mainly because of the extreme cold in winter and slushy dirt in-between seasons. With a distinct lack of bikes around the city and a knack of creating six lanes of traffic on streets designed for three, Moscow certainly does appear user-unfriendly for cyclists. Could it possibly pull some experience from other European cities such as London or Paris, where a large number of people cycle to work safely, crossing parks and cities on special cycle lanes?

[The bold is mine.]

I’ve just been looking for an excuse to use the caption from this cartoon. There’s no comparison, the context doesn’t match, etc., but now I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Momentum Magazine jumped in early to help give our petition a boost back in the good ‘ol days - a loooong time ago. Well, less than a week ago, but that actually was a lot of signatures ago.

Their main blog link is here, and their RSS feed is here.

A blurb from their home page (momentumplanet.com) reads:

Momentum Magazine reflects the lives of people who ride bikes. Momentum provides urban cyclists with the inspiration, information and resources to help them fully enjoy their riding experience and connect with their local and global cycling communities.

You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but I think just the opposite is true for magazines, and judging from their list of previous covers, Momentum Magazine is definitely something you’ll want to check out.

Thank you, Momentum!

…whoops - not sure how I forgot the cover picture. That cover is from the most recent edition - Jan/Feb 2008.

But this is a good kind of torture - it shows us what is possible. We have to set our sights high - very high.

Very cool stuff!

…not sure if this came out clearly or not - basically, I’m saying I’m jealous. It’s late.

Austin Miller was a 15-year old boy who was killed while riding his bicycle in Beaverton, Oregon. He and a transit bus somehow managed to collide. The accident happened about three weeks ago.

About a year before his death, Austin wrote in his school newspaper a column titled, “Please Do Not Run Me Over“.  The article is just straight up and talks about why we need to do everything we can to address bicycle safety. One thing that Austin Miller seemed to understand very well is that our lives, as bicyclists, are constantly on the line. Some responses to this petition seem to suggest that we should just get over it - that this whole ’safety thing’ is really nothing more than alarmist drivel - that maybe we just need an injection of bravery. There are several things that can cause this type of reaction, I think, but one of them seems to be the belief that things are fine the way they are. Well, for me, I don’t believe things are anywhere near fine the way they are. And I hope you feel the same.

The final two paragraphs of Austin Miller’s article, about a year before he died:

Bikers will always be here; as long as it costs less than driving, helps us stay fit and pumps those feel-good chemicals throughout our body, we will remain on the early morning pavement, and that will not change. There is no excuse for a driver who does not pay attention and mind not only other cars but bikes. You cannot control other people’s actions, but you can control your own. Why anyone would rather sit inside a massive metal death trap for their commute is beyond me, but there are those with family, disabilities and other impairing things keeping them from biking. There will never again be a society 100% dedicated to driving or biking. It is like all other integration that had to happen in history-it takes time, patience, and a great deal of compromise.

There will always be hard feelings about this subject-we can only hope that no one will get hurt or loose a loved one due to a lack of responsibility and respect for the road. These are dangerous times, and especially for bikers, our fate lies not only in our hands, but in the hands of the drivers of which we share the road. I am glad for every day I reach the X point unscathed, but besides doing everything I can for myself, I cannot control you, I can only mutter these few words in a hope that it might do good: please do not run me over.

I don’t think it’s fair that Austin, or any child or adult, should ever have had to wonder if they would reach ‘the X point’ uninjured. And it’s obviously not something we can let stand, now.

Whenever I think about tragedies like this, I get angry - very angry. And when I think of the suffering of the family - mom and dad, brother and sister, an entire community - I know I’m going to be part of the solution, and that I have to get busy right now.

I’d never heard of them before, but the National Center for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is definitely an organization that would appear to have goals very similar to ours. Their ‘About Us’ page says this:

Established in May 2006, the National Center for Safe Routes to School assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school. The Center strives to equip Safe Routes to School programs with the knowledge and technical information to implement safe and successful strategies.

The National Center for Safe Routes to School is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.

One of the key outputs of the Center appears to be the Safe Routes to Schools Guide. The guide is:

a comprehensive online reference manual designed to support the development of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs. It provides links to other SRTS publications and training resources. Readers of the online guide can pick and choose specific topics based on their interests and needs, such as guidelines for adult school crossing guards or tools to create school route maps.

There is an SRTS wiki page.

I sent an email to everyone on their contact page, which includes folks with email addresses from the organizations already mentioned, and bicyclinginfo.org and tooledesign.com.

I also sent an email to the listed Texas contact person. Anyone else care to email the 49 other states?

There is also this entity called the SRTS National Partnership - I have no idea how it is different, or if it is different in any meaningful way, from the National Center for SRTS.

Thanks to Washington City Paper for the shout-out.

Find out more about Washington City Paper in Wikipedia.

The District is a good town (<sniffle>). (music)

p.s. there’s a little meetup going on in DC starting tomorrow.

Good work, y’all - we hit 10,000 signatures today. (Get the latest count here.) Thank you, everyone, for signing the petition, for telling your friends, blogging, etc.

I think it’s pretty clear that there is a great hunger for this functionality.

As for next steps, I think we should definitely continue to let people know about our petition and our enthusiasm for bikes and bicycle routes mapping. If 10,000 signatures is a strong show of support, then something more than 10,000 can only be a good thing.

In the very near term, I’m looking for some ‘industry numbers’ reflecting the size of the bicycle industry in America, and worldwide. I’d be interested to know of trends, and possibly breakdowns of ‘commuting’ vs. ‘racing’ vs. ‘leisure’ cycling.

I’m not sure what all Google does with its search data, but I suspect they’ve steadily seen ‘bicycle’-related searches continue to grow - that’s a good thing, for us.

Bike Hugger has written us up - thanks y’all!

One of the best parts about starting this initiative is that we’re all getting to find out about all the people who are out there doing good work and who are interested in seeing more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly cities and towns and communities. Very exciting stuff.

Incidentally, I now keep up with I don’t know how many bicycle blogs on a daily basis - 25? 50? more? And it’s pretty easy, and not as time-consuming as you might think - if you know how to use an RSS feed reader, that is.

If anyone is not yet an rss feed reader, then I would highly recommend looking at becoming one - it can make you more productive, save you time, make you a better person, etc. OK - but it can save you time, and make you better informed, etc. Really, I like to see what everyone is up to - they come up with the good ideas, and then I try to tweak it to suit my local area. Reading blogs using a feed reader can help you find out about things like the Bicycle Film Festival, or introduce you to a whole new way to think about bicycles.

And I say that not because I am a technology snob (which, I suppose, I’m capable of being sometimes), but because I think it’s a game-changing tool that we can use to help keep each other informed and inspired. The most common frustration I experience is when I find out about some new and awesome bicycle advocacy group, and then find out that they don’t have a blog or an RSS feed. That makes it very difficult for me to keep up with what they’re doing. Signing up for their email list is just not feasible when I want to keep track of what so many different groups are up to. And bookmarking a site and going back and checking every hour/day/week/etc. is not feasible, either. Enter blogs and RSS feeds.

I’ve posted a simple introduction video, below, from a company called Common Craft. [Update: Removed embedded video because it was messing up WordPress. You can still find it here.]

We added a ‘Blogs Talking’ section to the column on the right-hand side, where you’ll be able to see the latest that the blogosphere is saying about our efforts. Some of the articles showing up there will be non-English, of course.

Thanks to Frank Bueltge for creating this ‘WP - RSS Import‘ plugin for WordPress.