Do bike lanes increase pollution?

The argument is that bike lanes reduce the space available to cars, contribute to traffic congestion, and therefore cause more idling and more pollution. Obviously, the answer to this question depends on:
a) Whether bike lanes decrease the number of cars in the street
b) Whether they increase the CO2 emissions of the remaining cars (via reduced speed)

I don't take a stand on the issue, but I found it stimulating to read and think about it, in today's Wall Street Journal (I'm not sure whether the link will remain ungated, so I'm pasting the whole article below).

San Francisco Ponders:
Could Bike Lanes Cause Pollution?

City Backpedals on a Cycling Plan
After Mr. Anderson Goes to Court

By PHRED DVORAK
August 20, 2008; Page A1

SAN FRANCISCO -- New York is wooing cyclists with chartreuse bike lanes. Chicago is spending nearly $1 million for double-decker bicycle parking.

San Francisco can't even install new bike racks.

Blame Rob Anderson. At a time when most other cities are encouraging biking as green transport, the 65-year-old local gadfly has stymied cycling-support efforts here by arguing that urban bicycle boosting could actually be bad for the environment. That's put the brakes on everything from new bike lanes to bike racks while the city works on an environmental-impact report.

Cyclists say the irony is killing them -- literally. At least four bikers have died and hundreds more have been injured in San Francisco since mid-2006, when Mr. Anderson helped convince a judge to halt implementation of a massive pro-bike plan.(It's unclear whether the plan's execution could have prevented the accidents.) In the past year, bike advocates have demonstrated outside City Hall, pushed the city to challenge the plan's freeze in court and proposed putting the whole mess to local voters. Nothing worked.

"We're the ones keeping emissions from the air!" shouted Leah Shahum, executive director of the 10,000-strong San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, at a July 21 protest.

Mr. Anderson disagrees. Cars always will vastly outnumber bikes, he reasons, so allotting more street space to cyclists could cause more traffic jams, more idling and more pollution. Mr. Anderson says the city has been blinded by political correctness. It's an "attempt by the anti-car fanatics to screw up our traffic on behalf of the bicycle fantasy," he wrote in his blog this month.

Mr. Anderson's fight underscores the tensions that can circulate as urban cycling, bolstered by environmental awareness and high gasoline prices, takes off across the U.S. New York City, where the number of commuter cyclists is estimated to have jumped 77% between 2000 and 2007, is adding new bike lanes despite some motorist backlash. Chicago recently elected to kick cars off stretches of big roads on two Sundays this year.

Famously progressive, San Francisco is known for being one of the most pro-bike cities in the U.S., offering more than 200 miles of lanes and requiring that big garages offer bike parking. It is also known for characters like Mr. Anderson.

A tall, serious man with a grizzled gray beard, Mr. Anderson spent 13 months in a California federal prison for resisting the draft during the Vietnam War. He later penned pieces for the Anderson Valley Advertiser, a muckraking Northern California weekly owned by his brother that's known for its savage prose and pranks.

Running for Office

In 1995, Mr. Anderson moved to San Francisco. Working odd jobs, he twice ran for a seat on the city's Board of Supervisors, pledging to tackle homelessness and the city's "tacit PC ideology." He got 332 of 34,955 votes in 2004, his second and best try.

That year Mr. Anderson, who mostly lives off a small government stipend he receives for caring for his 92-year-old mother, also started a blog, digging into local politics with gusto. One of his first targets: the city's most ambitious bike plan to date.

Unveiled in 2004, the 527-page document was filled with maps, traffic analyses and a list of roughly 240 locations where the city hoped to make cycling easier. The plan called for more bike lanes, better bike parking and a boost in cycling to 10% of the city's total trips by 2010.

The plan irked Mr. Anderson. Having not owned a car in 20 years, he says he has had several near misses with bikers roaring through crosswalks and red lights, and sees bicycles as dangerous and impractical for car-centric American cities. Mr. Anderson was also bugged by what he describes as the holier-than-thou attitude typified by Critical Mass, a monthly gathering of bikers who coast through the city, snarling traffic for hours. "The behavior of the bike people on city streets is always annoying," he says. "This 'Get out of my way, I'm not burning fossil fuels.' "

Going to Court

In February 2005, Mr. Anderson showed up at a planning commission meeting. If San Francisco was going to take away parking spaces and car lanes, he argued, it had better do an environmental-impact review first. When the Board of Supervisors voted to skip the review, Mr. Anderson sued in state court, enlisting his friend Mary Miles, a former postal worker, cartoonist and Anderson Valley Advertiser colleague.

Rhonda Winter/San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

San Francisco cyclists protest bike-plan delays in front of City Hall.

Ms. Miles, who was admitted to the California bar in 2004 at age 57, proved a pugnacious litigator. She sought to kill the initial brief from San Francisco's lawyers after it exceeded the accepted length by a page. She objected when the city attorney described Mr. Anderson's advocacy group, the Coalition for Adequate Review, as CAR in their documents. (It's C-FAR.) She also convinced the court to review key planning documents over the city's objections.

Slow Pedaling

In November 2006, a California Superior Court judge rejected San Francisco's contention that it didn't need an environmental review and ordered San Francisco to stop all bike-plan activity until it completed the review.

Since then, San Francisco has pedaled very slowly. City planners say they're being extra careful with their environmental study, in hopes that Mr. Anderson and Ms. Miles won't challenge it. Planners don't expect the study will be done for another year.

Meanwhile, Mr. Anderson and Ms. Miles have teamed up to oppose a plan to put high-rises and additional housing in a nearby neighborhood. He continues to blog from his apartment in an old Victorian home. "Regardless of the obvious dangers, some people will ride bikes in San Francisco for the same reason Islamic fanatics will engage in suicide bombings -- because they are politically motivated to do so," he wrote in a May 21 post.

"In case anyone doubted that you were a wingnut, this statement pretty much sums things up!" one commenter retorted.

Mr. Anderson is running for supervisor again this November -- around the time the city will unveil the first draft of its bike-plan environmental review. He's already pondering a challenge of the review.

Write to Phred Dvorak at phred.dvorak@wsj.com

Jeannie Longo Is One Tough Cookie

Since May, Jeannie Longo has been training and racing in Colorado in preparation for Beijing. Sure, she's headed to some bigger races like Mt. Hood, but she also has shown up to almost all the local things. Sometimes she races in the men's 35+, a field that is stacked with former pros, former Olympians, and other local strongmen, and she walks away in the top three. When she races the women, she always adds another one to her list of over 1000 career wins. 1000! I think I have 3-5 career wins, and 2 of them don't count as they were by default, so 3. She is also in her 50s, went to the Olympics the year I was born (1984), and is a really cool person. She hangs out after the races and shoots the shit with everyone and talks about how much she loves Colorado. I would love to be badass by proxy by saying that I have raced against her, but really she and I have only ever shared the same start line for a very short amount of time, and then she lights the field on fire, cooks it, eats it, and spits it out. The picture is lifted from a friend, M. Hottman, and is of Jeannie accepting a medal at the Salida Omnium. She is so cool, and though French, I'm totally rooting for her in Beijing!

Former UCVC Rider Gets in on the Anti-Doping Fight

J (full name is Jean Jacque Cabou) was one of the guys who led the charge of the UCVC into the collegiate racing scene. After stints working for the government (including our own Mayor Daley), it seems that he has been pulled into the dope wars.

An interview with Devon at cyclingnews.com

Cyclingnews.com published a short excerpt of an interview with Devon yesterday. (Hat tip to Loren Bo.)


Nature Valley announces women's collegiate team

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

The Nature Valley Grand Prix, one of the top NRC stage races in America, will once again have a special collegiate women's all-star team comprised of the top riders from the recent US collegiate nationals. Each member of the team will race in her school's team kit, garnering national exposure for the school, while the rider gains exposure in front of the top women's teams.

The first year success of the program prompted its continuation, as half of the 2007 team were signed to pro contracts for this season – Penn State's Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Cycling), Fort Lewis College's Kristin McGrath (Colavita-Sutter Home), and Lehigh University's Andrea Luebbe (Verducci Breakaway Racing).

Devon Haskell (University of Chicago) is returning to the team this year. She told her school newspaper, The Maroon, after last year's race that being the test group meant a lot of unknowns, but was happy with the result.

"Nature Valley is one of the biggest and most competitive races in America for women's cycling," said Haskell. "All the big pro teams are there. [It was] my first year bike racing so it was a pretty cool experience to be racing with the best. [It was] the first year that they put a collegiate all-star team together, and I think nobody really knew what to expect, [but I] think we came out of the event feeling like the team was a success."

Collegiate cycling is seen as one of the biggest potential recruiting venues for women's cycling in the US, said USA Cycling board president Mark Abramson, who sits on the board as the collegiate cycling representative. ""The Ryan Collegiate All Stars is a great way to build awareness of collegiate cycling and to help talented women move up the ladder in the sport."

Ryan Collegiate All-Stars: Chloe Forsman, University of Arizona; Devon Haskell, University of Chicago; Anna McLoon, Harvard University; Amanda Miller, Colorado State University; Jen Stebbins, Dartmouth College; Carla Swart, Lees-McRae College.

Second article in the Maroon

We got some more love from the school's newspaper.

They say that Devon placed second in the omnium, which is not true, she won the omnium. This is my fault because this is what I announced in the first place, following the list published by USCF. I corrected this information on the club's website and on this blog as soon as Devon and Megan told me, but the Maroon wasn't aware of the change. Oh well, I guess it wouldn't be the Chicago Maroon if all the information was correct.

But, again, for the record, Devon won the omnium, as well as the road race.

Here's the article:

Haskell wins national title for cycling
By Steve Saltarelli
16 May 2008

The University of Chicago Velo Club (cycling) may not be the best-known team on campus, and they may not even have the title of “varsity sport.” They do, however, have something other teams on campus don’t have—a national title.

On Saturday, economics graduate student Devon Haskell took home the national championship at the D-II road race, dominating the field in Fort Collins, CO. Haskell, along with her teammates, economics graduate student Aspen Gorry and anthropology graduate student Carly Schuster, qualified for the race by earning enough points at the conference championships. The trio took on the rolling hills of Colorado, and Haskell came away with her first national title.

After the first climb, the pack started to break up, and Haskell established her place among the five pace-setting racers. She made her break from the front six miles from the finish and never looked back, crossing the line for first with 24 seconds to spare. Taking the gold marked an improvement from a third-place effort in last year’s race in Lawrence, KS.

“I’ve been training all season with this race as a priority,” Haskell said. “The road race turned out to be a challenging course with strong winds, long and steep climbs (which you can’t find anywhere in Chicago), and tough competition. [The win] was definitely a highlight of my cycling career.”

While Gorry and Schuster weren’t able to join Haskell among the top finishers, they completed their races successfully and earned valuable experience in their first appearance at nationals. They didn’t have much time to rest, and Haskell was unable to savor her victory because the next day the three were back on the bikes and competing in the D-II Criterium race.

Shorter and usually held on closed-off city streets, the Criterium featured a much tighter race. Gorry and Schuster both turned in solid performances, with Schuster finishing in a strong position and Gorry among the pack. Haskell was again at the front of the race, this time taking fourth. No clear break occurred in the Criterium, and Haskell ended up being part of a mad dash for first.

Combining the points from her results in the road race and the Criterium, Haskell wrapped up the weekend tied for first in the ominium classification but had to settle for second overall. Taking runner-up honors bumped her up from last year’s fourth-place standing.

The strong showing at nationals by Haskell, Gorry, and Schuster is a sweet end to a successful season that included a Midwest Collegiate Conference championship for the Maroons. Haskell’s individual title is the second of its kind for the velo club; the first came when Todd Yefezski won the Criterium race in 2005.

This is an especially amazing accomplishment given the difficult competition at nationals, where powerhouse programs are able to qualify more riders with their large budgets. Chicago’s cyclists, on the other hand, are part of a club sport that gets the majority of its funding through donations and sponsorships. In addition, riders have to balance the rigorous demands of academic pursuits with a world-class training schedule.

“I have a great coach, Brian Conant, who helps me keep a manageable workout schedule that fits in well with a grad student’s agenda,” Haskell said. “My training actually provides me a good balance with my studies.”

Haskell will continue to train and compete in races over the summer, but for now the Velo Club’s focus is on this Saturday’s Monsters of the Midway Criterium, when the UCVC will play host.

The race, which attracts over 400 participants from the Chicago area, has been organized by the club every year since 1993 and perhaps earlier. The one-day event, which takes place on a 1.1-mile rectangle around the Midway, features categories for all ages and skill. The youngest competitors fall between 10 and 12 years old, and the oldest bracket is from 60 to 69, while the experience ranges all the way up to the professional level.

The Monsters of the Midway competition gives UCVC riders an opportunity to compete without traveling, as well as to gauge how the young riders are progressing.

The first race will start at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Midway Plaisance between Ellis and Dorchester Avenues.

Hawaiian news

In case you don't know, UCVC has a one-man outpost in Hawaii. His name is Mark Kadowaki, and in spite of the oceanic distance, he continues to race for UCVC.

He participated in the "Tour de Big Island," a stage race in Hawaii, and placed 2nd in the overall classification of his category!! Check out the results.

Tony Lang in action
Incidentally, while at the race he bumped into Tony Lang. Tony Lang is one of the founders of UCVC and creator of the UCVC logo, back in 1989. Tony won the overall classification of the 1/2/3 category at the same race!!

Here's an interview with Tony, where he briefly mentions his initiation to competitive cycling, while at the UofC. I've tried to find his e-mail address to ask him to write a summary about the origins of UCVC, but his contact info proves damn hard to find (maybe it's because he works for the FBI). Hopefully he'll read this and will contact me...

Terrorists on wheels

That might as well have been the title of Claire McNear's column in the Chicago Maroon. My favorite passages:

it clacks its fierce metallic teeth and charges at students, clicking its gears menacingly

The University would be wise to [...] impose regulations upon the well-armed hooligans who circle our campus astride their potent death machines, forever in search of speed and the blood of innocents.

The article is a fine example of hysterical alarmism; it is hardly possible to take this overblown caricature seriously, let alone relate to it. A balanced presentation would have served Ms McNear's cause better.

Style considerations aside, the Maroon is right in pointing out the rude behavior of cyclists. (I am the first one to admit not respecting all traffic rules, although I don't ride on campus.) The problem lies in the "special" status of bikers: they're not pedestrians, but they're not accountable for respecting traffic laws either (or at least not forced to).

The solution is not "requiring cyclists to obtain licenses," as Ms McNear says. Who are we kidding? What difference is it gonna make to pass a test? And how much money would it cost the University to "train" the hundreds of bike users that join the neighborhood every year, as well as to administer the system?

The only things that would change the behavior of cyclists would be:

(a) Setting clear rules of where and how cyclists and pedestrians can share the campus roads and sideways. For example, are bikes supposed to use pedestrian crossings? Are they supposed to ride on the quads? Which areas are off limits for bikes? And so on.

(b) Enforcing those rules, as well as the regular traffic rules (does any day pass without seeing a biker going the wrong way in the street?)

Enforcement is probably the hardest and the most important part. But the UCPD is overburdened as it is. And lately they have to worry about people's getting shot, which seems more important than regulating bike traffic. I don't know how many cops you'd have to use to make a significant difference. Maybe you'd only need a few, especially if the penalties for careless or unlawful riding were steep.

But, again, in order to implement any enforcement system you first need to set clear rules about what you're not supposed to do while riding your bike on campus.

U of C Economics Professor on Performance Enhancers

An interesting op-ed from Allen Sanderson, U of C economics professor, regarding the problem in line drawing when talking about performance enhancers.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/chi-oped1120barrynov20,0,434863.story

Also, when I get a little time, I will post about a continuing legal education program I attended a few weeks ago that was on the topic of performance enhancing drugs. It featured the General Counsel of the US ADA, an attorney who defends accused atheletes, and Greg Lemond. I thought Greg's perspective was pretty interesting -- a bit unfortunate and not one I agree with, but understandable hearing how his career ended.