Brought to you by these fine organizations: Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Dane County Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin

About the local advocacy scene Preamble The introduction below written in the spring of 1999 by Scott Rose paints a dismal picture of the advocacy scene in Madison. If I thought it wasn't true, I would have replaced it when I took over the maintenance of this web site. Nevertheless, things may not be as grim as they seem thanks largely to the tireless efforts of advocates like Scott Rose, Mike Barrett, Darin Burleigh, Jeanne Hoffman, Amy Kinast, Ben Neff, Mark Shahan, Robbie Webber, and Tim Wong among many others who have attended meetings and organized the letter writing and such. In addition, people like Bob Holloway, Kristina Nairn, Michael Neuman, and George Perkins (among many others) have engaged the bike community and our elected officials in a dialog regarding our biking and living environment. Finally, the community interests of cycling, the environment and land use policy are coming together with the help of the BFW, BTA, Bombay Bicycle Club, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, Environmental Decade, Seirra Club, and New Transporation Alliance (all of which worked together in opposing the expansion of Old Sauk Road). More importantly, is the understanding that we need your help and involvement in any form you can give it. The odds are against us and there will be no end to the struggle but it has been proven that with your help , progress will be made. -- jk, fall 1999 -- updated, dcb, Spring, 2001 Advocacy in Madison These are scary and disheartening times for bicycle advocacy in Dane County. The Forces of Auto are having their way with our city, and few voices are heard in protest. City departments are loaded up with staffers that just don't take bicycle transportation seriously, and city advisory committees are loaded up with "advocates" that won't advocate. The officials we have elected to preserve the bikability of the city roll over for every proposed assault on that bikability, rarely bothering to go through the motions of review or protest. Four-lane Old Sauk Road and Rimrock Road? Well, sure! Plop a giant sports stadium into a residential neighborhood? Absolutely! Load the campus up with ugly and expensive parking ramps, virtually guaranteeing that the University will have a financial incentive to promote driving to campus for decades to come, and ignoring community input all the way? You got it! Blast a four-laner Park Street into the heart of campus? Of course! "Law enforcement" agencies such as the Dane County Sheriff's Department routinely ignore the rights of bicyclists when they become victims of all-too-common motorist violence in our rural areas. The advocates, weary, perhaps, of the losing battle, have in many cases turned their attention to more promising pursuits, such as... well, just about anything. Gardening. Watching TV. Picking at road rash scabs. There is still time to save yourself-- press the back button on your browser or click off to Toyota. Else, press on-- you are riding a bummer! --Scott Rose, March, 1999

How to Get Involved

If you'd like to make the world a better place for cyclists, the best place to start would be to join one or more of the following groups. They will have newsletters listing their latest activities, and back issues are typically online.

• The Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Dane County (BTA), is our local advocacy group.
• The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (BFW) is our statewide organization. If you ride a bicycle in Wisconsin, you really should be a member.
• The League of American Bicyclists is the primary membership advocacy organization at the national level.
• 'bikies' is an email list for cylists in our area. It is the primary means of communication for all things bike in our area.

There are many more groups, advocacy and otherwise listed under Bicycle-Related Groups in Dane County, Wisconsin Bicycle-Related Groups, Midwest Bicycle-Related Groups, and National Bicycle-Related Groups.

Who's Who in Local Bicycle Advocacy
This document cries out for your additions and corrections; send them here.

Next, become informed. Below are the local issues that are currently of interest to advocates in our area.

Do Stuff

City of Madison Bicycling Improvement Request

"Did you notice broken glass, a pothole, or other hazard on your ride today? Have a great idea for the location of a new bike path? Have a problem with a traffic signal not changing for you? General concerns, suggestions, or compliments? Use [this] form... and let us know today!" Requires a PDF viewer such as Adobe's Acrobat reader or xpdf. When you use this form, the BTA would appreciate it if you would send a copy to us. That lets us know what people are asking for and what people see as problems so that we can speak to those concerns when we staff advisory committees or speak out at public hearings. There are two ways to do that:

1. via email to Tim Wong
2. via paper to BTA, Box 641, Madison WI 53701

City of Madison Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission

This commission, which replaced both the old Transportation Commission and Pedestrian-Bicycle Subcommittee, makes most of the decisions about biking issues in Madison. Follow the link above to a collection of agendae, minutes, enclosures, and background information.

We have serious need for advocates to follow several other City and County commissions that affect the cycling community.

Scary Drivers Registry

This started out mostly as a joke for the BTA newsletter, but got some extra publicity when the story was picked up for a column in The Isthmus. Since then, there have been proposals for a Scary Cyclists Registry and a Scary Roads Registry. The joke weakens, though, every time a cyclist is threatened by an incompetant, malicious, or sloppy driver-- that is, thousand of times a day. In any event, here is our little list of Genuine Registrants:

• Scott Pulver, who threatens cyclists with his Ford Bronco.
• Richard Zack, Fitchburg alder.
• Charles L. Foxen, recently convicted of an unprovoked attack on a pair of local cycle tourists

Local Issues

Current

Past

Ban on biking to school

The Madison Metropolitan school district policy on bicycles appears to ban any bikes, even if a parent bikes with the student.

Last update: May 26, 2003

Status: begin investigated

Contact: John Coleman

, http://www.lic.wisc.edu/bike.htm

Stoughton Road (hwy51) Reconstruction

This road is getting busier with auto traffic - must be time to upgrade to 'concrete ribbon of death' status. Or do we make it more bike/ped friendly? hmmmm
A video about the project is available at the BikeFed office. Or you can see it online: http:/www.loganfamily.ws/matt/bike/gallery/hwy51.ram (RealPlayer)

Last update: May 10, 2003

Status: planning

Contact:

Edgewood Park and Pleasure Drive

A remnant of one of the original 'Pleasure Drives' from the late 1800s still exists behind Edgewood College. Why not restore it to its original purpose?
The web address for the resolution is http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/ccattach/att061703/34242.pdf

Last update: June 15, 2003

Status: Resolution introduced to City Council

Contact:

East Rail Corridor

Exciting ideas for planning the area bounded by E. Washington Avenue, Blair St., Williamson St., and the Yahara River. Include within this is the Central Park plan, begin crafted by the Urban Open Space Foundation

Last update: May 6, 2003

Status: planning

Contact: Michael Waidelich

Starkweather Creek

Friends of Starkweather Creek has been hard at work putting together a detailed vision for biking and pedestrian trails along Starkweather Creek. These trails will someday connect the Isthmus Path at Olbrich Gardens to East Towne Mall and the new Felland neighborhood via the east branch, and MATC, the airport and Token Creek via the west branch.
At the PBVMC hearing on 4/29, we will be presenting our ideas, along with some suggested priority sections to be funded in 2004 and 2005.

Last update: April, 2003

Status: proposed

Contact: Michael Forster Rothbart, rothbart@alum.swarthmore.edu

The "Nobbie" Trail

aka the Nob Hill trail.

About 1/4 mile separates the Capital City Trail from the Monona Bike path. So, lets connect them already!

Last update: December, 2002

Status: Most of the construction is done; but some landscaping remains. Keep posted for the ribbon cutting expected in Spring, 2003.

Plans for the Nob Hill Bike Path will be sent to the Board of Public Works on June 19 and the Common Council on July 2. Plans have also been sent to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Rails and Harbors for approval.

Education Programme

The BTA is trying to educate motorists and cyclists as to their rights and responsibilities

Last update:

Status:

Pave The County

The tremendous growth here in Dane County has lead to inevitable demand for more highways. Here are a few:

Verona Rd./W. Beltline

This monter project is still in the planning stages.

North Beltline (see below)

Last update:

Status:

Middleton

The city of Middleton is developing a regional trail system.

Last update: January, 2002

Status:

Contact:

North Beltline

The long discussed plan to encircle the county with freeways.

Last update: January, 2002

Status: The county is taking public input.

Contact: Todd Violante

The "Missing Link" proposal

A proposal to connect the new SouthWest Path to the Monona Bay Path. John Coleman has done a great job putting this together.

Last update: April 6, 2003

Status: There is a public hearing about a path crossing of the railroad tracks at Doty Street.
The meeting is April 10 9:30am, at the Rail Commissioner's office, 610 North Whitney Way, Suite 110 Attend if you can, and most importantly;
Letters or e-mails to the Commission of Railroads are needed to insure that this important crossing is approved by the Commission. When you write a letter send a copy to the City.

Please address comments to: 
Office of the Commissioner of Railroads 
Douglas S. Wood, Hearing Examiner 
610 North Whitney Way, Suite 110 
Madison, WI 53708 
(608)266-7607 
doug.wood@psc.state.wi.us

please cc: your comments to me at: 
John Coleman 
413 S. Dickinson St. 
Madison, WI 53703 
608-256-8164 262-2500fax 
colemanj@calshp.cals.wisc.edu

and cc: your comments to the City at: 
Tony Fernandez 
City-County Building, Room 115 
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 
Madison, WI 53703 
voice: (608)266-9219 
fax: (608) 266-9275 
afernandez@ci.madison.wi.us

Contact: John Coleman

Capital City Trail - User Fee

Dane County parks wants to charge a 'user fee' for use of this new trail. What's next - a 'ped' fee on all new shoes?

Last update: March, 2003

Status: Dane County board comes up with an imperfect solution.

Old Middleton Road

This badly deteriorating road will probably be reconstructed in the near future. Will it include bike lanes?

Last update: July 2000

Status: A resolution was introduced at the PBMVC to rebuild the road without bike lanes.

Southwest Commuter Path

This historic rails-to-trail project has all of Madison excited. It will connect downtown Madison with a string of west side neighborhoods and eventually to Freeport, Illinois!

Last update: December, 2002

Status: Finally, we will be connecting the SWP to Odana Hills golf course.

Phase I is complete, and a gala Grand Opening was help; a 'Friends of the Path' groups has started.

Old Sauk Road

A proposal the expand this road to 4 lanes west of the Beltline drew oppoostion from bike groups, environmental groups, business leaders, and others. The proposed expansion would inevitably lead to loss of this important escape route, and exacerbate our growing sprawl problem.

Last update: July, 2000.

Status: The project did not get the approval to paint the hill to Pleasant View road with a divided four lane highway as proponents had wanted. The real outcome of this struggle won't be fully known, however, for a few more years.

Pheasant Branch Road

The City of Middleton is looking for input on trails in its Conservancy land. Bike advocactes argued against bike trails IN the park, but strongly for improved access TO the park.
Now is the time to propose a road construction project! Let's not let this road decay while traffic counts climb. Let's get another Seminole Highway built on the north side while the warrants make yet-another-four-lane impossible. We start by not trashing the local conservation area with a bike path. With any luck, the cranes that once nested there will return.

Last update: March, 2000

Status: The conservancy Committee voted unanimously to build a grass/woodchip trail for pedestrians. No solid word yet on the status of Pheasant Branch Road itself.

The Buckeye Road project

was successfully changed from a four-lane road to a two-lane road with parking and physical barriers which will hopefully inhibit conversion to four-lanes at a later time.

Last update: Oct. 99

Status: approved.

Highway 12

In the guise of a 'safety' project, WisDOT is planning on expanding Highway 12 to 4 lanes, from Middleton to Sauk City.

Last update: January 2001

Status: Project has been approved.

Dane County Sheriff

In the past, bicyclists were not treated fairly by this department. Things seem to be changing.

Last update: September, 2000

Status: No new incidents

UW Campus issues

One of the dominant land owers in Madison, and one of the biggest employers.

Campus Master Plan, c. 1995

Prelim. Composite

Minutes, Trans. Comm, on Campus Master Plan 3/28/95.

Lakeshore Path

Constant closure of the Engineering Quad.

Last update:

Status:

Last update:

Status:

Last update:

Status:

Last update:

Status:

Last update:

Status:

The Bikes on Buses program

Madison has taken a giant leap forward towards a truly multi-modal transporation system.

In the spring of 2000 bike racks were installed on Madison Metro buses, 90% of the cost was paid by the Feds.

Last update: May, 2000.

Status: Most buses now have bike racks!

East Rail Corridor Bicycle Path

This is a report by former Pedestrian Bicycle Subcommittee (remember that?) chair Tim Wong on the litany of problems encountered by the bicycle commuter along Madison's ERCBP.

Last update: Feb. 1998

Status: in limbo.

Last update:

Status:

State Bicycle Plan

The State Bicycle Plan was recently revised and is pending WisDOT approval. Here's some documentation, some of which is by now strictly of historical interest:

• Summary of State Bicycle Plan Final Draft
• State Bicycle Plan: Vision, Goals and Objectives
• State Bicycle Plan Work Program
• Membership of the BAC (somewhat stale)
• Report from the State Bicycle Plan Committee, September, 1996
• Minutes from the second meeting of the BAC (February, 1996)
• Why a State Bicycle Plan?, from the November 1996 Spoke 'n Word

Last update: 1997

Status: approved.

Bicycle Bill

In late 1995, both houses of the Wisconsin legislature passed AB96, the "bicycle bill." Passage of this bill has been a prime goal of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.

• the full text of the bill.
• An analysis of the bill.
• An action alert with contact information for the Senate committee members.
• The roll call for the assembly vote. The Senate vote was unanimous!

Effect of Dane County Regional Airport Expansion on Biking

From Harry Read, about the plan to cul-de-sac Messerschmidt Road when the DCRA is expanded. The plan was approved, despite plenty of outcry against it-- mostly from environmental groups, but also from such diverse quarters as American Family Insurance and other divisions of WisDOT itself. BTA opposed it because it would lengthen cycle trips by several miles, and no mitigation was offered.

The Blackhawk Bike Path

The long awaited East-West connector.

Last update: July 2001

Status: Without too much fanfare, the path was offically opened.

Traffic Demand Management.

Michael Neuman's (Feb 2000) plan to reduce auto usage caught the attention of the media late in 1999. Since then his official work on that project was ended. However, being the community-minded person he is, he finished it on his own time and published it on the BCP (the DNR is does not sponsor this plan). The most recent is the August 2000 version. You'll need a PDF reader for them. An earlier version of this plan was once part of the DNR's comment on the State Highway Plan 2020.

Michael Neuman's work on global warming is also here:

• His letter to Rep. Baldwin, requesting that the EPA regulate auto emissions for their role in global warming.
• Final version of the plan. (Sep. 2000).
• A paper presented to the 11th Global Warming International Conference and EXPO in Boston . (PDF)
• A Letter to Representatives (PDF)
• Neuman on Global Warming (PDF)

Critical Mass

If you don't already know that Critical Mass is a spontaneous, global movement that is manifested in mass rides with an element of civil disobediance-- read this page right now.

Critical Mass arises again in Madison

Spring, 2001:

See Ian's photo report
or Matt's critical mass page.

Political Mass Photo Shoot

Local activist Joseph King is serving up this page of photos from the March 31, 1995 Political Mass ride in Madison. Lisa Goodman took the shots.

Fair Share Transportation Initiatives

Progressive Dane has taken the lead in moving against sprawl development by proposing this set of legislative steps to reduce the ease with which our green space is paved into parking lots.

Parking Fee Fact Sheet

Progressive Dane has started a campaign to institute a parking space fee that would be levied on merchants and other businesses with more than a few parking spaces. In this document, Mike Wyatt discusses some of the issues in a question and answer format, copiously decorated with references.

Robbie reports on the State Bike Conference.

Scott Exo Speaks to Dane County Rural Land Use Network

Portland OR has a land-use planning structure that is often held up as a model for Dane County. The citizen's group 1000 Friends of Oregon is credited with organizing support for that structure. In March 1996 their executive director, Scott Exo, spoke before the Dane County Rural Land Use Network (recently recast as the Dane County Rural Land Use Association) about how that structure could be applied here, drawing upon the knowledge of Dane County he gained by growing up here. Mike Barrett reports.

Dane County RPC Transportation Forum

Notes on this November 1, 1995 meeting-- at which mostly local experts discussed light and commuter rail, bus transit, bike/ped ehancements, and road improvements in the context of the Visions 2020 planning process-- by Scott Rose. Added November 3, 1995.

National Interest

America Burns Cyclists

This is an action alert from our friends at the League of American Bicyclists in which they entreat us to join them in expressing our disgust at the recent Amtrak decision to use the space promised for roll-on bicyclist access on intercity trains for smokers instead. Thanks, guys. February 7, 1997.

Urban nightmare drives Americans out of control

This is an article from British Journal New Scientist that reports on Peter Newman's paper at the recent European Transport Forum, in which he shared some thoughts and numbers on the trends in American driving habits. As you might guess, it's not a pretty picture. [Added October 3, 1996.]

Clinton Signs National Highway System Bill

This letter, sent to attendees of the Bike Action 2000 conferences held in late 1995, is a legislative analysis of recent Federal action on the ISTEA front from the viewpoint of a bicycle transportation advocate. The news is mixed but probably substantially better than you had feared.

National Rails-to-Trails Victory

Forwarded from the LabAnnounce list, report on recent developments in the House that are favorable to the rails-to-trails movement. Added November 3, 1995.

National Highway System Bill update

Forwarded from the LabAnnounce list, analysis of recent developments in Congress.

The X factor: the secret ingredient that brings bike plans to life

This reprint from Bicycle USA describes, in part, a series of workshops that were held Fall, 1995; one of them in Madison. .

Bicycle Travel Forecasting

This reprint from Bicycle USA is subtitled "What is transportation modeling? And why should bicyclists care?"

U.S. Helmet Standards Update (June 12, 1995)

Industry, Advocacy, Publishing Groups Create Action Plan to Save Federal Funding for Bicycle Facilities (March 9, 1995)

Action Alert: USDOT is Scuttling ISTEA Funding! (February 3, 1995)

Brock Yates' Memo to Secty. Peña (January 17, 1995)

Issue 23 of Tubular Times, newsletter of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

New Transportation Alliance white papers:

• On Automobiles
• Your Car: Is it a Servant... or a Master?
• Cars and the Obsession with Speed
• How We Subsidize the Automobile
• Environmental Health and Social Impact of Cars
• On Rail Transit
• About Rail Transit for Dane County
• Light Rail/Commuter Rail Benefits
• Feasibility of Light Rail in Madison

Global Interest

Online Quizes

Try our online bicycling quizes. If you have a late model browser-- that is, one that supports JavaScript-- they'll score themselves for you. These little quizes are supposed to be fun to take, but let's face it: we use them to ram our point of view down your throats. Feel free to submit your own set of questions if you don't like our point of view, or if you want a peice of the Bully Pulpit.

The bIke Quiz

This little bIke Quiz tests your "Madison bicycling IQ" (though there really isn't much here that is specific to Madison). Some of it is common sense, some of it is knowledge of the law, and some of it is rather philosophical. It was written by Arthur Ross, the City of Madison Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator.

The Bicycling Community Page Quiz

This advocacy-oriented asks about such fun facts as the trends in motor-vehicle homocides... er-- fatalities.

In Praise of the Bicycle

An excerpt from the essay Energy and Equity, by Ivan Illich, which is in the book Toward a History of Needs (Pantheon, 1978). The full text of the essay is available online here at The Ivan Illich Archive.

Thinking Regional at a Local Level: Portland, Oregon

This original article comes to us from Lynn Ann Peterson, formerly a planner with Metro in the Portland, Oregon area-- an area that is felt by many to hold important lessons for Dane County as it confronts the spectre of big growth. Lynn has local ties, and knows Dane County well. In this article she explains how land use decisions can affect bikability, and how Metro is acting to make sure that those decisions keep bicycle transportation open as a high-quality option.

Cars Make Suburbs Riskier than Cities, Study Says

"The automobile, long considered the ticket to freedom in suburbia, is instead turning suburban life into a territory of destruction more dangerous than urban communities, according to a [recent] study..."

Neighborhoods Return

Consumer Reports published this article on the rise of Neotraditional neighborhoods. Bicyclists understand the attraction of this approach to urban design, and it turns out Joe Public is starting to get that same grip on reality. Surprise!

Whose Roads? Defining Bicyclists' Right to Use Public Roadways

This widely-published article gives the lie to the whine often heard coming from the lips of motorists that bicycles "don't deserve a share of the road because they don't pay their fair share of the costs." As you already know, that's hogwash; this article gives you the numbers, the rationale, and the proof to explain to the losers just how false and offensive their pathetic claims are.

Helmet Law Results

Analysis of recent literature on the helmet use and helmet laws, with good bibliography.

Summary of Risk Factors for Bicyle-Motor Vehicle Collisions at Intersections

A very short summary of an article from the ITE Journal on this topic.

---

Articles by John Forester

Most of these were simply lifted from rec.bicycles.soc , but a few were republished at the request of the author. He now has his own web site with a larger collection of articles, some of which are independantly coded duplicates of those here. Yet a third good place to find JF's contributions is at the John Forester section of Chainguard Online.

These articles are chock full of strongly-held but controversial opinions. The lack here of articles rebuting those opinions is more due to a scarcity of well-written responses than to any endorsement of the opinions expressed, though we don't have trouble with that, either. Take that as an invitation to submit your own article. -Ed.

For some alternate viewpoints, read what Reed Kempton and Jeffery Hiles have to say.

• Review of: Prevention of Pedestrian Injuries to Children: Effectiveness of a School Training Program
• CPSC Reflector Meeting (held March 13, 1996)
• Review of Bicycle-Safety-Related Research Synthesis
• On Bike Lanes
• Nighttime Safety Equipment Requirements of the CPSC
• Elementary-Level Cyclist Training Program: Objectives, Techniques and Results
• Intermediate-Level Cyclist Training Program: Objectives, Techniques and Results
• Defects of the Design-Cyclist Approach as Adopted by the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities

---

---

? ? ? About the BCP