King Street Bike Boulevard Dead in the Water

The headline in the Senile today reads, "King Street Bicycle Boulevard on Hold" but the article itself doesn't back that claim up. If anything, the King Street Bicycle Boulevard that many of us fought so hard for after 2 people died on Mission Street, is dead.

Noticeably absent from yesterday's Public Works Department wish (a.k.a. Capital Improvement Projects) list presented to the city council, the King Street Bike Boulevard has been put on "indefinite hold" due to a budget deficit the size of the grand canyon...or Ryan Coonerty's gut. But budget issues only tell a part of the story - political will, priorities, and the fecklessness of our so-called "progressive" city council is the other part.

This isn't simply a defeat for bicyclists. It is a defeat for folks concerned about oil dependence, global warming, and yeah, bike safety. Public Works Department assistant director Chris Schneiter claims that accidents on King Street are already low so it's safe for bicyclists to ride but that's not the issue. The issue is accidents on Mission Street being high, and likewise the need for an infrastructure that encourages more people to ride/walk while simultaneously discouraging driving. The interests of bicyclists verses automobile drivers here are mutually exclusive.

Even at a deeper level this illustrates the fundamental flaw in approaching something like a bike boulevard as being solely an issue of transportation when in reality it involves ecology, mental health, safety, and sustainability. So the King Street Bike Boulevard is dead....and wouldn't you know it? It's Earth Day today.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_12196586

Obama, Trains, & Hobos

"Eat shit boozshwa pig!"

Railroads. James Howard Kunstler has been talking about this for years. Namely, the United States' myopic reliance on building a bloated and costly auto-infrastructure while neglecting rail lines. From an anti-capitalist perspective, both of these forms of transportation enable the exploitation and export of life we humans refer to as "resources." Today though, I'm gonna look the other way and say that Obama coming out and supporting railroads as an alternative to a 100 years of car-addiction is a step in the right direction.

Considering yesterday's idiotic tea-parties, Obama has my support...at least for this week.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE53D78C20090414

Cannondale layoffs

two words: fuck globalization

Apr 3rd, 2009 | BEDFORD, Pa. -- The company that makes Cannondale bicycles is eliminating 200 jobs at a south-central Pennsylvania facility that will no longer make the bike frames...

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/business/2009/04/03/D97B55K01_cannondale_layoffs/index.html

Why so serious?

"Add a little anarchy into your day."