Week in Review: Bicycle News & Opinions from Around the World

Lately the news has been dominated by politics and the passage of health care reform. There is a lot more news out there however, and some interesting news about bicycles (and government). From Taiwan to Mexico, to Washington D.C. and the Eastern Seaboard, cycling is in the headlines … especially in regard to bike lanes.

• March 23, 2010: To cut pollution and traffic congestion, Mexico City is initiating bike-sharing programs, installing new bike parking, and legally requiring all government workers to ride their bicycles to work once a month. Mexico City makes way for bicycles (Lisa Schroeder, Christian Science Monitor)
• March 22, 2010: United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made an announcement on his blog (FastLane.gov) last week that “People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning.” Some disagree. Read the entire article and join in the conversation here: Should Bikes And Cars Be Treated Equally? (Lisa Caruso, NationalJournal.com)
• March 21, 2010: Although bicycle sales in Taiwan dropped 20 percent to 30 percent in 2009, Chairman of Taiwan Bicycle Exporters’ Association, Yang Ying-ming predicted that bicycles sales will surge in 2010 by 10%. Taiwanese bicycle sales to see more than 10% grown this year (Staff Writer, Taiwan News)
• March 21, 2010: Northeast Illinois’ commuter rail system Metra has seen an explosion in the number of riders bringing bicycles on board. They are planning to increase the number of bikes allowed per train car from 3 to 5. Metra to allow more bicycles on board (Bob Roberts, WBBM780.com)
• March 21, 2010: Should the state of Maryland adopt the “three-foot” rule, like other states have? Simple legislative options that go further than road markings could set Maryland (and the rest of the country) on the path toward being a place where people who want to bicycle can do it when they want; where motorists are not in conflict with bicyclists; and where energy consumption is measured more in miles pedaled than in miles per gallon. Learn more about the three-foot safe-passing distance law here: Give Cyclists Some Room (Gregory T. Simmons, BaltimoreSun.com)
• March 19, 2010: D.C.’s most famous street, Pennsylvania Ave., may soon get bike lanes right along the median. DDOT plans to roll out the new bike lanes later this spring. DC Plans to Expand Bike Lanes (Beth Parker, MyFoxDC.com)
• March 19, 2010: Host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Pardon the Interruption” Tony Kornheiser made some remarks about cyclists taking up too much room on the road, and Lance Armstrong leapt to the defense of all two-wheelers! On his twitter page, Armstorng said Kornheiser was “disgusting, ignorant, foolish” (Kyle Koster, SunTimes.com)
• March 18, 2010: Auto-branded bikes are nothing new, but it seems BMW actually played an active role in designing the two bicycles announced recently. BMW Launches Two New Bicycles Including M Variant (Evan McCausland, AutomobileMag.com)