I have started riding a bicycle more and more around #GreaterLaLa thanks to a lovely Jamis I purchased from Virtuous Cycles in Downtown Lafayette.

One challenge I am constantly faced with on this new adventure is the disconnect between bicycle and automobile culture.  Thankfully, a great of cycle-minded citizens exists, Bicycle Lafayette.  They are currently working to inform the public, among other admirable activities, with some recent spoke cards.

We are also working on a small zine to help expand upon the great work #BikeLaLa has done.  Now, more than ever, time and energy is needed to help make cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians mindful.

For legal and safety reasons, cyclists have to follow the same rules (IC 9-21-11-2) when using the same transportation systems (traffic lights, one-ways, stop signs, etc). I have been a good steward in this diplomatic missing, trying to help educate people on all sides; cyclists who fail to signal or stop, automobiles that don’t share the road, and pedestrians who ignore the world around them.

While putting away my laundry, I listened and watched Bicycle Culture by Design: Mikael Colville-Andersen at TEDxZurich.

A few takeaways for myself were:

• While designing or redeveloping anything (especially transportation systems in Greater Lafayette), we need to study the desire lines (or desire paths) in order to meet the current needs of the community.
  • This could easily be accomplished with any tripod and modern camera that can take time lapse videos.
• While cyclists need to follow the rules of the road, little consideration is given towards this, and other, alternative modes of transport.
  • If we truly want to encourage travel via other, non-automobile or non-motorized traffic, we need to investigate solutions that facilitate this result.
    • As stated in the video, one such creative solution is found in the various regions of the Netherlands (the Dutch love bikes!) where the traffic signals are changed more often to green to give priority to bicycle travelers.
• Designers and engineers should work together on projects to satisfy a workable solution vs. a paper-only theory.