A Harvard Debate On Bicycles

Students in universities like Harvard are known to probe for answers to all sorts of deep questions.

At least, in popular imagination, they are. 

(At this point, the Harvard graduates of my acquaintance might stop reading this post--or reading this blog altogether.  "There's no other university like Harvard!" they would protest.)

OK...So what sorts of questions might they ponder? Ones about the nature of the universe?  The meaning of life?

How about this:  Should the school's undergraduate council help to subsidize bicycle purchases at local shops for low-income students?  Or should the Council buy those bicycles and rent them on an annual basis?

(And here I thought Harvard didn't have low-income students.  Then again, to be fair, I should point out that Harvard's tuition is less than that of other Ivy League schools!)

However Council members discussed the subsidy-vs.-rental issue, they at least recognize that bicycles are important for students.  Some, of course, use them for transportation.  But Council representative Rainbow Yeung (With a name like that, she should be in Naropa University!) pointed out that bicycles can "definitely positively (Is that the Crimson way of saying "totally, absolutely"?) impact a lot of students' mental health."

A Harvard bicycle. Actually, it's a 1936 Rollfast "Harvard".  I know it has nothing, besides the name, to do with this article.  But I love the way it looks!

So she and the Council have good intentions, at least.  But those who oppose the subsidy idea believe that purchasing bikes and renting them out to students would "take away the upfront costs and make sure it stays within the community," in the words of representative Victor Agfabe.  On the other hand, proponents of the subsidy say that maintaining a fleet of bikes "makes it clear that, oh, here are the UC bikes for the students on financial aid," according to fellow representative Amanda Flores.

The two sides debated, as such folk are wont to do.  And, last week, they took a vote.  In the end, they went with the subsidies.  The Undergraduate Council decided to allocate $3000, of which any one qualifying student can receive $50.  

Students may also use their money to purchase a skateboard or scooter.  I have to wonder, though, how much skateboard, scooter or bicycle they can buy for $50:  they are all just about as expensive in the Boston area as they are here in New York!

A Move To The Left Too Late?

Most streetside bike lanes I've seen on one-way streets are on the right side of the street and demarcated by painted lines and arrows.

The latter feature makes them only marginally, if at all, safer than the street itself for cyclists.  That is something those of us who cycle on a near-daily basis have long known and some planners are beginning to acknowledge.  On the other hand, the hazards of the other part of the equation--lane placement--haven't been as well-recognized.

The fact that the Spruce Street bike lane runs along the corridor's right side may have cost 24-year-old Emily Fredericks her life.  The pastry chef was pedaling to work in Philadelphia's Center City when a garbage truck moving in the same direction turned right from Spruce to 11th Street.

Ms. Fredericks discovered, the hard way, what makes crossing a busy intersection from a bike lane on the right side of the street so hazardous.  Too often, drivers--who, in the US (as in most of the world) are on the left side of their vehicles--have difficulty seeing cyclists or anyone else to the right of their vehicles.  That is especially true if the vehicle is large, like a garbage truck. 

Now Philadelphia city officials, who say they aren't merely reacting to Ms. Fredericks' death, are looking to "flip" bicycle and parking lanes:  the former would move to the left, and cars would be parked on the right.  According to Sarah Clark Stuart, president of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, such a change would allow drivers to "see the bicyclist better because the blind spot is going to be much narrower."  She also wants to see physical barriers constructed but the city's proposal doesn't call for that.  But, she says, her organization supports it because at least the new lane configuration would provide some safety benefits quickly while allowing additional protections later on.

That does indeed sound like a good idea, at least as far as it goes.  While a cyclist crossing an intersection or making a left turn from a left-hand lane wouldn't be in as much danger as a cyclist making the same moves from a right-hand lane,  painted lines aren't going to protect cyclists (or, for that matter, pedestrians) from a driver that swerves or veers out of the motor lane.  Also, I don't think "flipping" lanes negates the need for cyclists or pedestrians to cross intersections ahead of motorized traffic.  That is really the only way a motorist who is turning in the same direction as the location of the lane will see a cyclist (or pedestrian) who is crossing an intersection.

So, for now, it looks like the City of Brotherly Love is embracing cyclists--with one arm.

A New Low In Bike Theft?

Adding insult to injury

Stealing from the grave

No honor among thieves

Any one of those dreary cliches applies, at least somewhat, to what I'm about to report.

In Fullerton, California a 65-year-old woman was walking her bicycle across Brookhurst Street, just south of Valencia Drive (one of the area's main corridors), the other morning.  A 2015 black Mazda sedan was traveling southbound on Brookhurst and had just crossed Valencia when it smacked into the woman.



To her credit, the driver--a 26-year-old woman--has cooperated with investigators.  She did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  And, in her defense, looking at a map and street view lead me to believe eyewitness and police accounts that say the woman with the bicycle wasn't in a crosswalk when she tried to get to the other side of Brookhurst from the Fullerton Armory.

Here is where the story gets considerably murkier:  When police and paramedics arrived, the bicycle was missing.  According to police Sergeant John Radus, it was stolen.  He says that his department wants it for evidence.

Of course, being the skeptical New Yorker that I am, I have to ask:  When, exactly, was it stolen?  Did the driver--who remained at the scene--see the theft or, more to the point, the thief?  

Since it seems unlikely, to say the least, that the bike simply vanished, I would believe that it was stolen by somebody.  

That woman with the bicycle was was crossing just after 6 am:  when residents of the Armory, which is a homeless shelter, are required to leave.  If that woman was homeless--as seems likely--she may not have had much else besides that bike.  

Could this be a new low in bike theft?