please comment on the posts

2023/05/16 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

As stated earlier, I have stopped using Twitter. When I had my blog linked to Twitter, each post I made automatically generated a tweet, and that is what drove most of my views and readers to the blog. Without that, I am getting far less traffic to my blog. I’m not regretting the decision, but since I post to educate and harangue (and for my own amusement, to be honest), fewer readers means less education and harangue.

So, in order to generate more views and readers, I ask you to comment on the posts. You may of course use your real name and email address, but if you don’t want to do so for personal or work-related reasons, feel free to make up a name – ‘Joe Reader’, and email address – ‘joe@blogreader.com’. So long as the post is constructive and on topic, I will approve it (and not one of the very few prohibited subjects; helmet wars are the only one I can think of at the moment). You can say something simple, like ‘interesting’. You can present contrary points of view, or things I neglected to think of. You can of course agree. And you may provide links to other resources that people would want to know. Keep it constructive, and I welcome it!

Yes, I have thought about using another platform such as Mastodon, but just have not had the time to research that option.

Meetings week of May 15

2023/05/152023/05/15 Dan Allison1 Comment

Note: This will not be a regular feature, but occasional, to share meetings you might be interested in. Some are organizations, some are agencies.

Monday

SACOG Bikeshare Policy Committee: 2:00PM, in person (1301 L St) or Zoom; the agenda is Overview of the Regional Bike Share Program (Nicole Zhi Ling Porter) and Update on Bike Share Technical Expert Agreement (Nicole Zhi Ling Porter). The presentations are not available ahead of time.

Wednesday

Walkable City Book Club: an informal group meets to discuss Walkable City, by Jeff Speck, on occasion of the 10th Anniversary Edition; this week the group is discussing Part 3: Getting the Parking Right (page 117). The group meets 6:00PM at Lefty’s Taproom, 5610 Elvas Ave, Sacramento, CA 95819. Usually second Wednesday, but for May third Wednesday. If you want to be added to the email list, please email me (allisondan52@gmail.com) and I’l get you added.
Sacramento Climate Coalition: meets 6:30PM once a month via Zoom to discuss climate action at the regional and state level; email info@sacclimate.org to get added to the email announcement list

Thursday

ECOS Climate Committee: meets 6:00PM once a month via Zoom to discuss local climate concerns and actions; this month the topic is the recently released City of Sacramento Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.
City of Sacramento Active Transportation Commission (SacATC): meets 6:00PM monthly in person (city council chambers) or via Zoom; agenda on the Upcoming Meetings page; this month the main agenda items are 21st Ave Beautification Project, Pocket Greenhaven Neighborhood Transportation Plan Final Draft, and Streets For People: Sacramento Active Transportation Plan Phase I Outreach.

Friday

SacMoves Coalition: meets 10:00AM on third Fridays via Zoom; the coalition is primarily a gathering of organizations working in transportation, environment, and housing, but individuals may participate in meetings; to get added to the announcement list, please email Mia Machado, MMachado@sacbreathe.org.

Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) maintains a calendar of transit and transportation meetings on groups.io. You may subscribe to that calendar at https://groups.io/ics/1509831/783555437945795328/feed.ics. The calendar is not intended to be exhaustive, but is useful.

what news media gets wrong

2022/07/222023/04/07 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Beth Osborne, Director of Transportation for American (T4A) tweeted on July 20 about what news media gets wrong about crashes involving walkers and bicyclists. She solicited more ideas, and the ideas have been flowing! After just two days, there are 135 comments, 326 retweets, and 2026 likes.

I had assumed that the topic of news media bias and deference to law enforcement victim blaming was a niche concern, but apparently not. The diversity of people commenting is surprising but hopeful, and the list of things news media gets wrong could fill pages. Not that every media article is wrong, or that all parts are wrong, but the consensus seems to be that news media is more wrong than right.

I contributed my own two cents:

It is true that most law enforcement officers have a strong bias against bicyclists and walkers, and so what they say should be taken with a grain of salt, if not discounted entirely. But reporters usually treat LE with deference rather than challenge.
Almost all reporters simply repeat what the law enforcement officer or PIO or news release said. They rarely go to the scene to see what it actually looks like. I realize that not all crash locations can be visited, but current practice is none of them are.

But I really encourage you to follow this tweet thread to see how many ideas there are from so many people of different backgrounds.

Sacramento Tweed Ride, December 4

2021/11/082023/04/07 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento Tweed group is hosting the annual Tweed Ride on Saturday, December 4, starting at 12:00 noon. The ride is “Winter Wonderland Ride and Picnic”. It meets at WAL Public Market at 1104 R St, at 11:30AM, and rolls about at noon. It is a ‘bring your own picnic’ event. The picnic occurs in a local park. There is sometimes an unofficial after-event visit to a drinking establishment.

There were a number of tweed riders on the SABA Mural ride on Sunday, distributing handbills and encouraging local bicyclists to join. Period clothing is appreciated and celebrated (roughly 1902-1920), but certainly not required. Period bicycles are also appreciated and celebrated, but certainly not required. Come as you are!

The handbill flier is below, and the event is on Facebook at Sacramento Tweed Ride 2.0, https://www.facebook.com/groups/534956886520489/.