Predominantly, this section consists of reprints of articles-- both news and features-- from local print media that are of potential interest to bicyclists and bicycle advocates. They are divided into the following topics:

• Bikes and Bicycle transportation
• Cars/Roads
• Rail transit
• Bus transit
• Land use

Also, here are newsletters from local organizations:

Wisconsin Bicyclist from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
Spoke-N Word from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Dane County

Information on local issues is here.

Updated April, 2002

What's not revealed by the collection of stories below is that a top issue for Madison bicyclists these days is the loss of "escape routes": peaceful two-lane roads that can be used to get out of the city for a ride in the temptingly nearby rural areas without having to load your bike into a car. One by one, the old routes out are being four-laned- Rimrock Road and Old Sauk come immediately to mind.

• Congressman Eyes Tax Breaks for Cyclists
  Some US reps want to give bike commuters a tax break - sounds good to me!
• "Bike shop(s) success grows from humble beginning"
  WSJ reportor Matt Mullins writes about about the new bike shop in town: Erik's bikes.
• "Bikes, cars on collision course "
  by Kathryn Kingsbury, Capital Times.
  Sure seems to be a lot of car vs. bike problems on Seminole Highway.
• Leaving Your Car At Home Could Be Lucrative
  a CapTimes article about the new 'cash-out' option for employers.
• "Bicyclists plead for safer ride", by Kathryn Kingsbury, Capital Times.
  A report on this year's annual open hearing on bike/ped issues. According to this article, these cyclists think the standard should be better than "I made it home alive".
• Bicycle Race on the Drawing Board, by Mike Ivey, Capital Times.
  Organizers hope to brink a big bike race to Madison in August, 2002. Stay tuned!
• Bikes are Best for commuting, as reported in Go Far, an on-line mountain-biking magazine from the UK. The quickest anyway, beating bus, car and taxi.
• Joining the Chain Gang , by Kristin Merriman-Clarke, an article in Execute Update online . Discusses the growth of bike commuting around the beltway (Washington, DC).
• Business cycles , By Lisa Schuetz, an article in local Madison Business First magazine, discusses the strength of bike business in Madison.
• Bikers complain about alderman in Fitchburg Several BTA members confront Fitchburg Alder (and scary drive) Richard Zack.
• UW engineers a bicycle paraplegics can "pedal" is an article from the December 1, 1998 The Capital Times.

• Fitchburg bike cops pedaling their wares takes a brief look at the experiences of Fitchburg's four-member bicycle police brigade. They're looking to add another member, so it must be working for them. This article is lifted from The Capital Times of June 12, 1998.

• A Bike-Path Building Boom, an article from the May 22, 1998 Isthmus, talks about the details of "an unprecedented number of new bike paths" under construction or being planned around Dane County. Besides details on the various projects, there is commentary from such folks as the BTA's Mike Barrett, RPC's Bob McDonald, and WisDOT's Mike Rewey. (May 26, 1998)

• Racked Out is a note in Mike Ivey's weekly column for The Capital Times in which he describes the frustration encountered by the Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association when they tried to donate a bike rack to the neighborhood. Thankfully, an ordinance change has been proposed that is expected to solve the problem. (September 22, 1997)

• Southwest Bicycle Path tells a bit about this proposed new bike path, now that the rail corridor that runs roughly from the UW-Madison campus to the far southwest city limit has been abandoned.

• Potholes or not, we love our city, a summary from The Capital Times of the recently released city customer satisfaction survey, in which it is revealed that city residents know that biking is the easiest way to get around town. We already knew that, but we didn't know how many of us knew it. (March 21, 1996).

• Keeping the wheels spinning (George Hesselberg)

• Tommy two-faced on bicycle funding (Mike Ivey, The Capital Times, October 28, 1995)

• Sparks fly over bike path along Yahara (From The Capital Times, October 16, 1995)

• Bicycle advocates face uphill battle
  (Mike Ivey, The Capital Times, September 16, 1995)

• SAGBRAW Accident Details (Added August 28, 1995)

• Making strip malls bicycle-friendly under study (From the Wisconsin State Journal, July 16, 1995)

• Bicycle accidents falling
  (Mike Ivey, July 8, 1995; with a section on the closing of Seminole Highway, including alternate route suggestions)

• Meeting-- and beating-- challenges of a lifetime
  (July 1, 1995; about local ultra-marathonist Connie Barnes)

• Study finds hikers, bikers don't mix
  (added June 30, 1995)

• Police on mountain bikes pedal a good line in crime fighting
  (added June 30, 1995)

• Suddenly, Miles and Miles of Bicycle Paths Are in the Works
  (Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1995)

Updated May, 2002

Three issues dominate the local road rage scene.

Firstly, there is the perennial struggle in the legislature between those who would pour more and more funds into building new highways in general with those who would focus on maintenance of existing roadways and on facilities for alternative modes. The recent passage of the federal "TEA-21" successor to the "ISTEA" bill that specifies the federal funding levels and processes would seem to have provided something for both of these camps: more money for alternate modes, coupled with a dramatic increase in spending for highways. Recently, WisDOT has unveiled a draft long-range state highway plan and is holding public meetings on that plan.

Secondly, there is the ongoing battle over the proposed widening of U.S. Highway 12 between Middleton and Sauk Prairie, and over the associated proposed bypass of the city of Middleton. The New Transportation Alliance has been playing a leading role in coordinating criticism of these projects (more here) On July 14, 1998, press reports indicated that the start date for the widening has been moved back at least a year after federal officials questioned the environmental impact statement provided by WisDOT, voicing particular concern about what's widely viewed as a glossing over of the impact on Baraboo Hills. At this writing, it would appear that Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has thrown her lot with the road-builders, and we expect that the battle is now all but lost.

Third, the loss of most of the "escape routes" from the west and south sides of the city, such as Rimrock Road-- battle lost-- and Old Sauk Road-- battle in progress.

Global concerns about the dependance on foreign oil, and the environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels, have not escaped our attention.

• Economics Of Transportation ,
  "The Price of Going the Distance". According to this NY TImes article, cars are a serious economic liability. But we already knew that.

• North Beltline or Mendota Parkway? , from the Northside News, Jan/Feb 2002

• Another problem with cars is they make us sick. (CapTimes, January 2002).

• People are fed up with speeding traffic. Witness two articles on demands for traffic calming,
  in Madison (Jan, 2002),
  and in Chicago-land (August, 2001).

• With clear evidence for anthropogenic global climate change, it appears our world leaders might be ready to actually do something. But hold on! who will compensate the poor sheiks? In a New York Times article , the arrogant sheiks are "very concerned about this".

• Another inevitable 4-laner: notice of plans to expand McKee Road.
• Bicycle commuter and Wisconsin State Journal reporter Matt Mullins wrote Road-widening plan doesn't please cyclists, about the proposed widening to four lanes of Old Sauk Road west of the belt line. Can you guess that we are among those who don't think it's a good idea? More on the issue is here. [Added March 18, 1999. First published in January.]

• When we heard that Dane County Executive and former Office of the Public Intervenor attorney Kathleen Falk had forged an agreement with WisDOT to allow the four-laning of U.S. Highway 12, our first thought was what could she be thinking? In Why I support the four-lane Highway 12 agreement she tells us. Personally, we still think that Chuck Thompson's thugs must be holding her elderly parents hostage in a basement apartment in Kenosha. [Added March 14, 1999.]

• Is it all over? In Highway 12 to be widened, officials agree, from The Capital Times, the story of the agreement between county officials and WisDOT to build the four-lane highway that's been on their wish list for years is told. Et tu, Kathleen?

• Cyclists rap Old Sauk plan as building to the size of the car is an article by Pat Schneider from The Capital Times
  of January 14, 1999 in which is reported the battle over proposed widening of Old Sauk Road. [Added March 6, 1999.]
• Sierra Club Reiterates Its Opposition to A Four-Lane U.S. Highway 12 is a press release from the local chapter of the Sierra Club in which the reiterate their opposition to the four-laning of U.S. highway 12 in the wake of press reports that Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk has agreed to support it. Added March 5, 1999.

• Action Alert: Draft State Highway Plan is a brief analysis of the disasterous proposal from WisDOT to pour billions of dollars of additional funds into highway-building over the long term. Added March 3, 1999.

• Federal review blasts state's Hwy. 12 report is an article from the December 1, 1998 The Capital Times about an independant review of WisDOT's 1996 EIS for the proposed four-laning of Highway 12 between Middleton and Sauk City. Surprise! They found it a pathetic whitewashing that failed to seriously consider the impacts upon land use. But, we already knew that (and we suspect that they did, too). On December 3, 1998, The Capital Times responded with this editorial.

• The U.S. 12 delay is appropriate is an article that appeared in the Views of the Capital Times column in the August 2, 1998 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal, applauding the recent decision of the Federal Highway Administration to delay the four-laning of US highway 12.

• Widening of U.S. 12 to Sauk City delayed is an article from The Capital Times of July 14, 1998 about another delay in the start date for the widening of state highway twelve. (July 15, 1998.)

• Bad drivers in Madison!. what can we do?
• Traffic expert rejects necessity of U.S. 12 bypass in Middleton, from the September 18, 1997 The Capital Times, reports on traffic engineer Walter Kulash's words to the Coalition for a Safe Highway 12 Now! on September 16, 1997. He doesn't like the idea of a Middleton bypass, and he doesn't mind saying why.

• Man Is Being Lapped by His Machine was published in the September 21, 1997 New York Times, and reports such fun statistics as that the population of motor vehicles in the United States is growing six times faster than the human population. The number of motor vehicles has now drawn even with the number of drivers, and fewer than eight percent of households are now car-free. New data is drawn from the National Personal Transportation Survey from the Federal Highway Administration.

• If you love asphalt you'll love Wisconsin is an article by Mike Ivey that constitutes the bulk of his September 20, 1997 weekly column in The Capital Times . He explains how the assembly version of the new budget bill deletes (paltry) funding for a study of light rail, bus lanes, or car pools for the Waukesha/Milwaukee corridor from the $1,100,000,000.00 project. That saves a big $10M, or less than 1% of the project cost. He then goes on to summarize information recently published by the Environmental Working Group about how Wisconsin, which spends about 30% less on urban roadway repairs than the average state (per unit distance), has been diverting 20% of its federal funds for highway repairs into-- you guessed it-- new construction.

• County study warns of need to construct N. Beltline (From The Capital Times, June 8, 1996)

• DOT announces plans for 1996 construction (From the Wisconsin State Journal, February 16, 1996)

• Vetoes will delay plans for U.S. 12

• After lengthy infighting, Thompson puts name on transportation budget

• Senate OKs transportation borrowing (From The Capital Times, October 19, 1995)

• Senate passes $3 billion transport bill (From the Wisconsin State Journal, November 8, 1995)

• Residents complain of traffic (From the Wisconsin State Journal, October 19, 1995)

• 4 City Council members rip Highway 12 expansion (From the Wisconsin State Journal, October 18, 1995)

• Foes dennounce U.S. 12 plan at hearing (From The Capital Times, October 19, 1995)

• Mass transit leader drives home need for balance (David Callender interviews NTA leader Rob Kennedy in The Capital Times, October 16, 1995)

• Gas tax hike down the drain (From the Wisconsin State Journal, October 13, 1995)

• State politics sometimes re-routes road plans (From the Wisconsin State Journal, added September 19, 1995)

• Flap over road budget a wake-up call for state
  (Mike Ivey, July 1, 1995; with a section on regional high-speed rail)

• North Beltline panel on road to getting OK
  (June 29, 1995)

• Experts blast Highway 12 expansion
  (added June 30, 1995)

Updated December 9, 2002

For current news on a local rail system, see Transport 2020 .

Wisconsin DOT State Rail Plan 2020 "will define the rail system's role in the movement of people and goods within the context of Wisconsin's multi-modal transportation system. "

A feasibility study of commuter rail will be unveiled on July 29 1998. If, as expected, that study is a "thumbs-up," the next step would be... another study (but in much greater detail). The route from Middleton to Sun Prairie is expected to run between $30-$50 million for capital costs.

Here's a link to the Dane County Commuter Rail Feasibility Study section of the Dane County Web Page. Also see Dane County Commuter Rail Studies. Those pages include nice maps of the proposed route.

• Now's time for public to speak out on commuter rail is an opinion piece by Scott McDonell, Dane County supervisor and chair of the Commuter Rail Feasibility Study Committee, lifted from the July 27, 1998 edition of The Capital Times.

• 3-day commuter rail trial proposed talks about a possible test-run of commuter rail, sometime in the second quarter of 1998, and gives other updates and information on the feasibility study currently underway. (From The Capital Times, January 30, 1998)

• Rail Market Now Open is an opinion piece by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk about the Commuter Rail Feasibility Study. (From The Capital Times, January 5, 1998)

• FRA Grants Minnesota $200,000 For High-Speed Rail Study is a press release from the Federal Railroad Administration that tells about a contract recently granted to the Minnesota DOT to study high-speed rail for the three-state region of Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
• Buses called future of city's travel, a news report about Harvard economist John Kain's talk to local officials, in which he promoted the idea that commuter and light rail is a waste of money for towns like Madison.
• NTA Forum: Light Rail, Commuter Rail, or Hybrid? (By Scott Rose, May 2, 1996)

• Commuter rail needs state support (From the Wisconsin State Journal, February 16, 1996)

• Bikes and trains could run side by side (From The Capital Times, February 16, 1996)

• Train study leaves the station (From The Capital Times, February 1, 1996)

• Riding the rails with Chicagoans quite a trip (From The Capital Times, October 18, 1995)

• Dane, Trains, and Automobiles (From the Isthmus.)

• Commuter rail not yet feasible for Dane County
  (July 4, 1995; a letter to the editor of the Capital Times)

• Flap over road budget a wake-up call for state
  (Mike Ivey, July 1, 1995; with a section on regional high-speed rail)

• Push for commuter rail in county chugging along
  (June 22, 1995)

• Forget Highway 12, build commuter rail line instead
  (May, 1995)

• Transportation team examines rail travel
  (May, 1995)

Updated April 11, 1996

A lot of the news about buses is related to the state transportation budget, which is discussed (disgust?) here. Also, deep cuts and fare increases for both the vanilla Metro and MetroPlus service for the mobility-impaired have been adopted. On the upside, the University of Wisconsin student body recently voted to fund, from student fees, bus passes for all students on all but the campus routes.

• City Council OKs bus fare increases

• Angry riders can't stop bus changes

• Legislators slice Madison bus system

• Bus service for disabled to be trimmed (From the Wisconsin State Journal, November 8, 1995)

• What "Cadillac" service? (From the Isthmus, October 27, 1995, about proposed deep cuts in Madison's MetroPlus service)

• Drivers, riders lament possible bus system cut (From the Wisconsin State Journal, October 18, 1995)

• Our transit priorities are on the wrong track (Mike Ivey, The Capital Times, October 14, 1995)

• Bus service cuts, fare increases slated (From the Wisconsin State Journal, October 13, 1995)

• GOP cuts imperil city bus service
  (June 19, 1995)

Updated December, 2001

The further one gets down this page, the further the appearance of a connection to bicycles, eh?

How Land Use and Transportation Systems Impact Public Health. (PDF)
Just reading the table of contents is worthwhile. You can also backtrack in the address a bit to see other information about how sedentary the American population has gotten. ::sigh:: Yup, gotta drive everywhere - biking and walking are for the poor!

Land use policies determine the suitibility of our county for all sorts of bicycling, but particularly for commuting and on-road touring. Projections for Dane County population are show an expected population of 488,000, up from 367K in the 1990 census (more data here). And, a greater percentage of those people will live outside the central urban service area. More people, driving further.

There is a certain amount of tension between the urban and rural authorities when it comes to land use policies. Rural authorities don't wish to have the urban agenda-- which typically calls for more stringent land use restrictions than we currently have-- thrust down their throats. At the same time, a movement-- typified by the Dane County Rural Land Use Association-- recognize that strict land use policies serve to preserve the rural way of life.

Another theme in current land use thinking in Dane County is that of "New Urbanism" or "neotraditionalism," which is a development philosophy that says that traditional neighborhoods-- with small lots, mixed uses, and narrow streets-- are a better model for both people and the environment than the current conventional model, which is "sprawl." This theme has gained momentum in the wake of a wonderful conference in Madison in in June, 1995 (John Nolen in the '90s) in which several leading proponents of New Urbanism-- most notably Andres Duany-- participated, and another in November, 1995, sponsored by Dane County Executive Rick Phelps, at which Peter Calthorpe spoke. Two developments in Dane County are currently following that piper: Erdman and Associates' Middleton Hills project off Airport Road in Middleton, a Hovde project between Madison and Sun Prairie, and a big American Breeder Services project in Windsor.

• A ongoing battle over the plans for a housing development adjacent to the UW Arboretum in an area known as Greene Prairie has taken a new, positive turn, after all seemed lost just a few weeks ago. In Fitchburg looks to scrap plan for Harlan Hills, The Capital Times reporter Beth Whitaker reports on the March 10 meeting of the Fitchburg City Council. Some background on the issue, rather stale, is here. The latest news is this: there will be a ballot measure (September, 1998 election) in which Fitchburg voters will decide whether to spend up to $750,000 to help purchase the land. That doesn't sound like that much money, but it amounts to several hundred dollars per household for a small community such as Fitchburg, and therefore passage of the measure is not a foregone conclusion.

• In Falk tackles growth management for Dane County, Wisconsin State Journal reporter Marv Balousek reports on a recent workshop hosted by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk that focused on the topic of farmland preservation. Additional workshops, all open to the public, are planned for January 10 and February 10, 1998.

• Dane County Land Use and Transportation Plan Summary, from the Dane County Regional Planning Commission.

• Putting City Sprawl on a Zoning Diet talks about the growing popularity of "green line" boundaries around urban areas beyond which urban services are not provided. (From the June 16, 1996 New York Times.)

• Confab aim: 'Quality Urban Development' reports on a conference sponsored by Wisconsin Environmental Initiative. (From the June 6, 1996 The Capital Times.)

• Bad land use? You can look the figures up (From The Capital Times, June 8, 1996)

• Land-use plan has direction for future The subhead for this article from the Wisconsin State Journal about the draft report from the state's Interagency Land Use Council is "But many holes must be closed."

• Meetings offer chance to shape Dane County is a news report from the Wisconsin State Journal about the new round of public meetings on the Vision 2020 planning process.

• Huge housing plan for east side unveiled, a news report from The Capital Times, about Don Hovde's new East Side housing development, which has shades of New Urbanism to it. Yippee! (March 21, 1996)

• Citizens help guide vision of land use plan (From The Capital Times, March 9, 1996

• The demalling of America (From the Wall Street Journal, February 18, 1996

• Unthrottled growth sends taxes higher (Mike Ivey, The Capital Times, February 17, 1996) Here is a link to a summary of the $prawl Costs Us All report referred to in the article.

• Report urges Wisconsin to get a grip on land use

• 'New urbanism' housing vision gets city boost (Mike Ivey, The Capital Times, November 7, 1995)

• A report on the John Nolen in the '90s Conference ( Scott Rose, ExtraOrdinary Reflections, June 1995)

? ? ? About the BCP