INCOG bicycling advisory group meeting

[tulsasignnazi]

quote:Originally posted by pfox
The cyclists can change this "second tier" status,  but only if we show up in mass (and I don't mean critical mass.) everyday so vehicles are forced to pay attention to us, and treat us with the respect we deserve on the road.  So, help us. Tell us what will get you on the road...

The spandex cyclists themselves have to get BEYOND their own little world of spandex, carbon fiber, and VO2 max.

Instead of just rolling on the Avery Drive, they should roll on EVERY bike path where they have a right to roll, Memorial, Riverside, and the BA.

They have NO one to blame, but themselves, for the IGNORANT motorists who yell and scream at the few, BEYOND spandex, who chose to ASSERT their inalienable RIGHTS to the road.  They gave up their rights, simply by NOT exercising them.

On ANY given Wednesday evening, during the summer, starting from 17th and Jackson, West Bank River Park, over 300 strong, they are already cranking MAJOR miles, 40 PLUS, to Keystone Lake, Coyote Trail, and the North Road.  For whatever reason, they feel they need to be CODDLED and PANDERED, just to bike to work, less than 5 miles.  What are you guys?  WEENIES?

Forget about bike lanes.  Forget about EXPENSIVE retro-fits of commercial buildings to put in showers.  Forget about bike boxes, aka great BIG slippery blue rubberized ink spots at the intersection.  They are all simply CODDLING and PANDERING measures, over-engineered by Copenhagen roadway engineering SOCIALISTS and picked by skinny-legged INCOG biking wonks who NEED to show something for their cushy two-week paychecks.

If you guys really want to see where bicycling is happening in this town, hang out at Daycare Center for the Homeless.  

Forget about Devour Downtown.  Pick up a free QT Market Fresh sandwich at the Sallie and talk to some of the skid-row types, who really NEED basic transportation, just to get a meal.

Forget about some idealistic notions of bombing Africa with bikes.  Bomb J3:16 with bikes.

If you want bicycling for the rest of town, hit corporate Tulsa where they will listen, the SKYROCKETING employee healthcare costs, caused by a whole lot of FAT employees driving SUV's to work.  Go talk to the HR Nazis in this town when they cut the Rx coverage, charge DOUBLE for the kids' doc visits, and getting an EARFUL from their automatons, who are usually quiet as Santa in solitary confinement at DLM.  Talk about Donald Shoup's The High Price of Free Parking.

The City could just about afford to do street "repairs," if it could 86 the SKYROCKETING employee healthcare costs.

While we are picking on the City, 86 Tulsa Transit's DESTRUCTIVE grip on mass transit.  DE-regulate it.  Hey, it worked for the airlines.  Why shouldn't some Tulsa transportation entreprenuer make big bucks by figuring out how to get motorists out of their cars by offering transit OPTIONS.

If Hooter's Air got wings, imagine Hooter's Bus!  Man, oh man, Tulsa Transit would have NOTHING on the Hooter's Bus, except clipped WINGS!

With all due respect to Bill Boatwright, Tulsa Transit ONLY think they know better.  Well, guess what, genius?  You DON'T.  Why?  Because you guys have NO profit motive to LISTEN to the MARKET.  Taxpayers don't count, because most of them drive and are really too IGNORANT to care about transit.  Or, they are too POOR to know they have an inalienable right to travel, without an automobile.

You guys could give a CRAPOLA, when one of your PAYING customers politely suggest turning the bus shelters 180 degrees, to protect the customers, instead of the landscaping, from the road noise and spray.

Hey, Bill, what kinda CAR you driving by YOURSELF, everyday to work?  If Tulsa Transit really did its JOB, there wouldn't be a personally owned motor vehicle in their parking lot.  Boatwright and gang are all too well-paid to take their own stinky buses to work everyday.

Guess what, people?  The "Complete The Streets" geniuses say there are almost 100,000, or 28%, Tulsa taxpayers out there who don't have access to vehicles, presumably motor vehicles.  You guys are RIPPING off almost 1/3 of the taxpaying population.

Why is it that when some Downtown hack tries in vain to breath life support to light rail for Downtown Development, the next breath is TAXES?

If you guys really want REAL Downtown Development, think DE-regulated transit.  It's been done, ya know.  Way before a bunch of geniuses decided to burn down the Greenwood Black Wall Street, a profitable PRIVATE bus system rolled the Aunt Jemima cheap kitchen help to Maple Ridge.

Instead of 20 minute headways, 5 minutes.  Instead of 5 transfers just to get from 61st/Yale to Admiral/Mingo, cut that down to ZERO, without paying the taxi premium.

Guess what?  As long as Tulsa Transit sucks on government subsidies, they have NO incentive to listen to the market.  Tulsa Transit has NO incentive to treat their drivers like the professionals that they really are.  DE-regulate transit.

Cut the single occupant motor vehicle traffic in HALF with buses, guess what's left?  Nice, wide, four-lane, 40 foot bike PATHS all over town.

All you skinny legged INCOG bike weenies and wonkettes just need to QUIT with the petty weed-pulling, and GROW the GRASS.  But, then again, why should you bother?  You guys are the ones with the cushy, two-week paychecks paid by some old lady's property TAXES.

[sgrizzle]

Interesting perspective TSN, never would've really considered that getting people to ride buses having a direct effect on bikeability.

I would ride the bus everyday if it was an option, I would even take a bike to the bus, I just can't afford a 2 hour commute.

[tulsasignnazi]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle
I would ride the bus everyday if it was an option, I would even take a bike to the bus, I just can't afford a 2 hour commute.

See, there ya go, Bill Boatwright et al.  DO yer damn JOB.  Then again, why BOTHER?  You guys have NO profit motive to do so.  

All you guys do is live on some old lady's property taxes, go to stupid meetings, do stupid studies, and drive your nice, spiffy LEXUS to work, by YOURSELF.  

You guys can't EVEN do transit RIGHT to take your OWN stinky buses to work.  Your damn parking lot is full of single occupant motor vehicles, driven to work by your own FAT bus DRIVERS.  

Help me out, people.  THAT has to be the MOST lamest waste of some old lady's TAXES.

Good grief, at least offer some homeless VET a  RIDE, every now and then.  

DE-regulate transit, DAMMIT.[!][!]

[tulsasignnazi]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle
Interesting perspective TSN, never would've really considered that getting people to ride buses having a direct effect on bikeability.

Note to C-Dog: Try taking a few deep breaths, let loose your inner Lance Armstrong, and take your head out of those LCI classes, every now and then.

Now, imagine what we'd all drive, IF the gub'mint controlled the auto industry:


But, in one UGLY color, PUKE grey, and ONLY on Sundays, AFTER church.  [][}:)]

[sauerkraut]

What about us jogging nuts? Not everyone likes to cycle. I love to run on the trails around "T" Towne.[]

[Ed W]

If I could run (a near-impossibility due to broken bones and dead-flat feet) I'd like to run with the local Hashers in one of their hare-and-hound events.  I knew some of them in Pittsburgh and they always had a good time.

But there's a question here too.  Why do some runners insist in running on the road wearing dark clothing well before dawn?  I get annoyed when I encounter cyclists riding without lights.  Shouldn't runners at least wear light colored clothing or carry a blinkie light?

True story - As I rode to work one morning in the dark, I spotted something moving up ahead in my lane.  As I got closer, I realized it was another cyclist, riding without lights or reflectors while wearing camoflage!  He said, "These car drivers are CRAZY!  I think they're trying to kill me!"

I saw him just that one time and never again.  Maybe they got him.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

If I could run (a near-impossibility due to broken bones and dead-flat feet) I'd like to run with the local Hashers in one of their hare-and-hound events.  I knew some of them in Pittsburgh and they always had a good time.

But there's a question here too.  Why do some runners insist in running on the road wearing dark clothing well before dawn?  I get annoyed when I encounter cyclists riding without lights.  Shouldn't runners at least wear light colored clothing or carry a blinkie light?

True story - As I rode to work one morning in the dark, I spotted something moving up ahead in my lane.  As I got closer, I realized it was another cyclist, riding without lights or reflectors while wearing camoflage!  He said, "These car drivers are CRAZY!  I think they're trying to kill me!"

I saw him just that one time and never again.  Maybe they got him.

I can never understand why people run on the streets. I do not run on streets. I stick to the jogging trails. I would not mind running to work if they had showers to wash off with when I got there, and if I could run on a jogging trail all the way to work.. Running on the streets is not safe at all.

[tulsasignnazi]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

I can never understand why people run on the streets. I do not run on streets. I stick to the jogging trails. I would not mind running to work if they had showers to wash off with when I got there, and if I could run on a jogging trail all the way to work.. Running on the streets is not safe at all.
[/quote]

The reason someone would run in the streets is because there are NO sidewalks.  The idea is to run against traffic in the middle of the outside lane.  

Showers at work?  You think some building manager is gonna do an expensive retro-fit to coddle you?  Whydon'tcha just towel off with a wet rag?  Naaaaaaaaaah.  Forget it, weenie.[]

[Renaissance]

I run in the streets all the time.  I prefer it because the asphalt is a lower-impact surface than concrete sidewalks, and there aren't expansion joints every 4 feet to trip over.  It's perfectly legal to run on non-arterials, as long as you keep to the left.  I just hop up on the curb if a driver is coming up and things look tight.  

All that said, I avoid high-traffic areas when at all possible.  There are too many drivers not paying attention.

[tulsasignnazi]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd
It's perfectly legal to run on non-arterials, as long as you keep to the left.  I just hop up on the curb if a driver is coming up and things look tight.  

All that said, I avoid high-traffic areas when at all possible.  There are too many drivers not paying attention.

The following City ordinances apply:
37 TRO 100
Right-of-Way shall mean the privilege of the immediate and prior use of the roadway before other traffic.

Traffic shall mean pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and
other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any street or roadway for
purposes of travel.

37 TRO CHAPTER 11
PEDESTRIANS - RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Section 1100. Pedestrians Subject to Traffic-Control Signals.
Section 1101. Pedestrians' Right-of-Way in Crosswalks.
Section 1102. Crossing Street.
Section 1103. When Pedestrians Shall Yield.
Section 1104. Pedestrians Walking Along Roadways.
Section 1105. Pedestrians Soliciting Rides, Employment, Business or
Contributions.
Section 1106. Blind Pedestrians.
Section 1107. Pedestrian Procedure.
Section 1108. Penalty.

SECTION 1100. PEDESTRIANS SUBJECT TO TRAFFIC-CONTROL
SIGNALS
Pedestrians shall be subject to traffic-control signals as described in Section 606 of
this title, but at all other places pedestrians shall be granted those rights and be subject to
the restrictions stated in this chapter.
Ord. No. 12405

SECTION 1101. PEDESTRIANS' RIGHT-OF-WAY IN CROSSWALKS
A. When traffic-control signals are not in place or are not in operation, the driver
of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a
crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon that half of the roadway upon which the vehicle
is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the
roadway as to be in danger.
B. No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk
or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.
C. Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a crosswalk, the driver of any other
vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle until
the overtaking driver has ascertained that such movement can be made with safety.

SECTION 1102. CROSSING STREET
Every pedestrian shall cross the street within the crosswalk or at an intersection,
whether or not such intersection is controlled by traffic-control signals; provided, however,
that this provision shall not apply to residential neighborhoods, except where a major
street passes through such neighborhoods or traffic-control devices are provided. A
pedestrian crossing a street in a residential area shall take the shortest possible route to the
opposite side of the street and at a right angle to the side of the street.
Ord. No. 13227

SECTION 1103. WHEN PEDESTRIANS SHALL YIELD
Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point, other than within a marked
crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, shall yield the right-of-way
to all vehicles upon the roadway.

SECTION 1104. PEDESTRIANS WALKING ALONG ROADWAYS
A. Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to
walk along and upon any adjacent roadway.
B. Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon
a roadway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its
shoulder, facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction.

SECTION 1105. PEDESTRIANS SOLICITING RIDES, EMPLOYMENT,
BUSINESS, OR CONTRIBUTIONS
No person shall step or stand in the roadway or median used to channel traffic for
the purpose of soliciting a ride, employment, business, or contributions of any kind from
the occupant of any vehicle; provided however, that sworn public safety officers may
solicit contributions for a charitable project officially adopted by their bargaining agents.
Ord. No. 17372

SECTION 1106. BLIND PEDESTRIANS
Blind pedestrians shall be given the right-of-way over all other pedestrians and
vehicles and shall indicate such right-of-way by holding out horizontally a white cane in
the direction they desire to travel over crosswalks on any street, avenue, alley or other
public way.

SECTION 1107. PEDESTRIAN PROCEDURE
A. Pedestrians facing an official green traffic light signal, except where the sole
green indication is a turn arrow, may proceed across the roadway within any marked or
unmarked crosswalk, unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian signal.
B. Pedestrians facing an official steady yellow traffic light signal, are thereby
advised that there is insufficient time to cross the roadway before such signal turns red
and no pedestrian shall enter the roadway on such yellow signal.
C. Pedestrians facing an official red traffic light signal shall not proceed across
the roadway.
D. Pedestrians facing an official "WALK" signal may proceed across the roadway
within any marked or unmarked crosswalk. Any pedestrian who has begun the crossing
during the "WALK" signal may complete such crossing.
E. Pedestrians facing an official steady "DON'T WALK" signal shall not enter the
roadway.
F. Pedestrians facing an official flashing "DON'T WALK" signal are thereby
advised that there is insufficient time to cross the roadway before a steady "DON'T WALK"
signal is exhibited and no pedestrian shall enter the roadway when such signal is flashing.
Ord. No. 13253

SECTION 1108. PENALTY
Unless otherwise provided for in this chapter, every person violating any provision
of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be
punished by a fine of not more than ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00), excluding
costs, fees and assessments.