Bike to Berlin Brothel, Get a Discount

What’s more annoying than driving down to your local brothel only to find that there’s no parking available? It’s enough to make you stay home – and that’s exactly why Berlin’s Maison d’Envie, or House of Desire, is now offering discounts to clients who arrive on bicycles.

Thomas Goetz, the brothel’s owner, hopes that the discounts will stimulate sales and help the environment at the same time. From New York Daily News:

The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences.

But Maison d’Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said.

To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70.

Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck.

“We haven’t found a way for people to prove they have walked here,” Goetz explained.

It’s a win-win: get double the exercise, see Berlin up close and personal, and get a discount on a prostitute. Who can argue with that? Even Berlin locals who don’t frequent brothels are cool with it, since it cuts congestion and pollution in this busy urban capital.

But why stop at brothels? This concept could be used by practically any kind of business and it’s a trend that we’d like to see remain long after the economy has picked back up again.

Link [New York Daily News]
Photo credit: Flickr user jesse.millan

Drivers on Cell Phones Threaten Safety of Bicyclists

If you’ve ever seen someone yapping away on a cell phone while navigating an SUV full of children on a congested highway, swerving in and out of the lanes, you know how dangerous talking and driving can be. Unless, of course, you’re one of those people who are amazingly adept at multitasking.

And of course you’re one of those people, right? You can totally handle a business transaction with a client or an argument with your boyfriend while simultaneously operating a two-ton hunk of deadly machinery.

Except that you can’t. Nobody can. In fact, talking and driving – even hands-free – has been found to be just as dangerous as drunk driving. That puts us all at risk on the roads – but bicyclists are especially vulnerable, and one NRDC blogger points out the negative impact that could have on the environment.

If our streets aren’t safe and perceived as such, it will only be that much harder to convince people to leave their perceived fortresses-on-wheels and walk or bicycle instead.  Safety is one of the main arguments of the Complete Streets coalition (NRDC is a member) for making roadways more accessible to all types of users, not just drivers (”complete streets improve pedestrian safety” is the first-mentioned reason offered in the Coalition’s FAQs explaining its agenda).

Too true. There is absolutely nothing that anyone could be calling you about that can’t wait for you to at least pull into a parking lot. Do you really want to find out that grandpa kicked the bucket in the middle of rush hour traffic?

Don’t talk and drive – it’s really, really simple.

Link [NRDC]
Photo credit: Flickr user TalkingDC

Create Your Own Bike Lane with Lasers

There’s nothing more annoying – and frightening – for cyclists than trying to navigate a bicycle-unfriendly area with no bike lanes. Cars come way too close for comfort, especially at night. So, what if you could make your own bike lane with a couple lasers mounted on your bicycle?

A product called ‘LightLane’ does just that, painting a virtual path around your bike with lasers so vehicles know to keep a safe distance. Check out the video:

LightLane is just a prototype for now, but soon it’ll be available commercially.

Link [LightLane] via [Terrapass]

Do You Have Insufferable Cyclist Syndrome?

So, you’re a proud cyclist, cheerfully riding your bicycle just about anywhere it can go and boasting to friends, family and colleagues about how much money and carbon emissions you’re saving. Yet, you’ve begun to notice that their eyes glaze over the moment bicycles become the subject of conversation. It’s official: you’ve got insufferable cyclist syndrome.

Don’t worry. Lighter Footstep is here to help. They’ve put together a simple guide for living with this common syndrome, so you don’t end up alienating the people closest to you.

The best bicycle evangelism is a healthy, productive you. There’s no need to insufferably hector a co-worker about what their SUV commute is doing to the environment. They know. Evangelize by example: folks around the office are going to notice your energy, great attitude — and shrinking midsection. You’ll be asked your secret soon enough.

No bike is pretty enough to block a hallway or access to office workspace. For cyclists, this is hard to accept. Beautiful as our rides might be, if you’re bringing them indoors, they need to be out of the way. Your co-workers won’t appreciate brushing against agreasy chain, and the fire marshall will probably take a dim view of  blocked exits and passageways.

Be punctual. One of the great things about riding your bike to work is that the commute time is actually more predicable than driving a car. You’re far less likely to be effected by traffic jams and slowdowns. But there are some things that take time, too: securing the bike, cooling down, and changing clothes for work. Leave early enough to accommodate all these things. Inconveniencing you co-workers by letting bike time cut into work time will quickly make you – and cycling – unpopular.

Check out the rest at Lighter Footstep.

Link [Lighter Footstep]
Photo credit: Flickr user Hizir

“Stupidest Bike Lane Ever” Campaign – Pointing Out Useless Token Bike Lanes

Most American cities weren’t exactly made for safe bike riding. Narrow streets and hostile drivers make many roads less than friendly for cyclists, and while city planners have had more pressure on them lately to make room for bicycle transit, some of them just seem to throw in a pointless stretch of bike lane in the randomest of places and call it ‘bike friendly’.

So, where’s the stupidest bike lane in America? The guys at SlateV.com found what they considered to be the winner, and asked readers to send in examples of stupid bike lanes in their communities. They got tons of responses. Surprisingly, the stupidest bike lanes of all are in Europe (probably because there are so many more bike lanes in Europe than in America) but they did manage to find an amazingly dumb one in America, too.

“Depending on some traffic engineer’s thin stripe of paint to keep you safe may be the stupidest idea of all”.

Kudos to SlaveV.com for pointing this problem out. Bicyclists certainly aren’t fooled by city planners’ attempts to get a pat on the back by randomly inserting dead-end bike lanes into streets.

Link [Green Daily]

Norwegian Eco-Kids Keeping Their Parents in Check

Don’t mess with this kid! The Norwegian organization Miljøagentene, Eco Agents is educating kids about the environment and how to behave in an environmentally friendly manner.

According to their website,

Our aim is to stimulate children’s interest and love for nature, and to make them realize that the way we live our lives has influence on the environment. Eco-agents always focuses on possibilities, and our goal is to make the voices of the children heard.

Check out their first commercial:

Keep up the good work kids!

Bike-Sharing in the Capital

Change is coming to Washington, and it’s not just about the new Obama administration. Washington, DC is now working to incorporate bicycling into its transportation infrastructure. Much like cities across the world, DC is feeling the effects of years of dependence on cars: pollution, congestion, obesity. The documentary below takes a look at why D.C. sees bicycles as part of the solution and examines the challenges the city is facing with the increased popularity of biking.

More info about bike sharing programs at metrobike.net.

Manhattan’s Car-Free ‘Summer Streets’ Will Return

Good news for Manhattanites! This August’s ‘Summer Streets’ program, which closed select streets in Manhattan on three consecutive Saturdays, will be back next year and possibly the year after that! The Summer Streets program prohibited motor traffic on a 7-mile stretch from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to take back the streets – and oh, they did.  Revelers strolled, danced and even did yoga while children decorated the pavement with sidewalk chalk.  They enjoyed air free of fumes and freely crossing the street without fear of being hit by a cab.

What a great concept.  We’d love to see this catch on, on a larger scale – cities across the world should start similar programs.  It’s an awakening to what life can be like without relying on motor vehicles for everything.

Link [Gothamist]

The Size of Your Car is Inversely Proportional to…

In the middle of a very cool comic was this gem.  You’re welcome.

Link [Virus Comix]

Bicyclist Injured After Hitting a Bear in Colorado

Normally, we hear stories about bicyclists having run-ins with vehicles while out on the streets. In this case, however, the obstacle that one cyclist unexpectedly ran into had claws and sharp teeth. Tim Egan, 53, was riding in Boulder, Colorado one afternoon and hit a speed of 45 mph when a bear suddenly appeared in front of him.

From Rocky Mountain News:

This bear looked at me with a look of terror on his face and sort of made a noise,” said Egan. “I looked at him with a look of terror and we went, ‘aaaahhhhh.’”

He cracked some ribs, suffered cuts on his head and had road rash. Egan said he and the bike flipped and flew over the bear, hitting the pavement hard.

The bear ran away after the accident when a deer appeared.

Afterwards, he got back on his bike and pedaled to a hospital.

I guess I’d rather hit a bear than a tree – it’s at least softer – though trees don’t chew on your foot after you hit them.

Link [Rocky Mountain News]
Photo credit Daquella Manera

Fewer Traffic Signals, Signs & Curbs for Better Safety?

Two European towns have proven that you don’t necessarily need road signs, curbs, sidewalks and stop lights to have safe intersections where motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists can share the road. Though this seems counterintuitive, for the Dutch town of Drachten and Bohmte, Germany, it has worked brilliantly to reduce accidents and provide an all-around safer atmosphere for everyone.

I first heard of the idea on NPR back in January, as Kyle James explained Bohmte’s reasoning for removing all traffic control implements in an attempt to manage a busy, often jammed intersection where 12,000 cars and trucks pass through on an average day. Drivers who pass through the area now that it’s been revamped say that traffic moves slower, but in a more orderly way as every person is more aware of those around them. Instead of a free-for-all where each person tries to cut in front of the other in order to get ahead, drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists actually communicate through eye contact and hand gestures to safely navigate the streets.

From NPR:

Advocates of this traffic-management philosophy, called Shared Space, say it works. Ben Hamilton-Baillie is a leading Shared Space advocate based in Bristol, England.

“If you’re faced with a traffic signal, you don’t have to think anymore. Whether you go depends on whether the light is red or green,” he says. “In the absence of such things, we’re perfectly capable of reading and understanding the situation so that if grandma’s in the road ahead of you, you don’t run her over.”

He compares the Shared Space concept to an ice skating rink. It might look chaotic, but people usually navigate the shared area pretty well. In a traffic context, it means cars, bicyclists and pedestrians are in much closer proximity than they usually are.

But common sense and courtesy, as well as drivers feeling more a part of the space they’re moving through, is supposed to cut down on accidents.

OntheCommons.org also explored this idea, citing the case of Drachten, where the main thoroughfare sees 22,000 cars per day. Once they adopted the ‘shared space’ approach, casualties at one junction dropped from 36 over the previous 4 years to only 2 in the 2 years following the removal of traffic lights. Traffic jams no longer occur at all.

From OntheCommons.org:

The idea is to return public spaces to people in order to encourage them to take greater personal responsibility. Monderman explained, “We’re losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior….The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people’s sense of personal responsibility dwindles.”

I think this is a great idea, in that it forces people to stop talking on their cell phones, daydreaming, fiddling with the radio and other things that distract them and actually, you know, DRIVE. Being aware of your surroundings is a huge factor in traffic safety. Navigating the streets of America, you’ll most often find that everyone is so engrossed in themselves and where they need to go that they hardly pay attention to everyone else – they weave in and out of traffic at will and expect everyone else to get out of the way. Removing traffic signs would certainly be one way of making sure people were alert.

One thing that I wonder, though, is how much the training of drivers plays into the success of these programs in the Netherlands and Germany. After all, both countries are known for the rigorous training periods that potential drivers must go through before receiving a license. Many drivers in Holland must take up to 25 two-hour driving classes before obtaining certification. In Germany, a license costs $1500-$2,000 and requires a minimum of 25-45 hours of professional instruction plus 12 hours of theory.

In America, you barely have to meet the low standards of DMV employees for 10 minutes and pass what basically amounts to a memorization test in order to get a license. It’s mind-bogglingly easy to get and retain a driver’s license here, opening the roads up to all sorts of half-blind idiots who don’t even grasp the concept that the left lane is for passing. So, I’m not sure that such a concept would work here without a retooling of the whole driver licensing song-and-dance.

It’s a great theory, though, and I’d love to see more cities adopt it all over the world so we can get a better idea of exactly how well it works. We certainly need some kind of push for drivers to be more conscious of bicyclists and pedestrians, so that the roads are safer for all of us.

Link [OntheCommons.org] + [NPR]
Photo credit: Khuê Pham for NPR

The French Won’t Bike to See Radiohead for Free

Radiohead, known for being an environmentally conscious band, had a previous free giveaway tactic meet with success – namely, their decision to release their most recent studio album ‘In Rainbows’ for whatever price the consumer wanted to pay, even if it was nothing at all. This time, though, they didn’t get as many takers.

From AOL:

… Radiohead were left with a row of empty seats at a recent French concert after a ticket giveaway backfired. The eco-friendly group announced 50 passes were available for their show at Paris’ Bercy Arena but fans could only get by cycling to their record label’s offices in the French city.

However, Parisians were not prepared to get on their bikes so 35 tickets went unclaimed. A source said: “Radiohead are using their current world tour to highlight their commitment to green issues. They advise all concertgoers to use public transport and are doing all they can to make their carbon footprint as small as possible. Unfortunately the French didn’t appear to share their noble intentions and roundly ignored the free ticket tactic.”

Strange – bicycling is fairly popular in this city, which even has a nearly one-year-old bike share program. Riding a bike, indeed, is one of the best ways to experience Paris, and as in Amsterdam, Parisians are often seen riding beach cruisers in full formal wear. Perhaps Parisians just aren’t that into Radiohead, or the giveaway wasn’t promoted widely enough.

Link [AOL]
Photo credit: Flickr user Joe Shlabotnik

Even Suave Obama Looks Dorky in a Bicycle Helmet

Wearing a helmet while cycling kind of sucks. It’s hot, sweaty, causes that ultra-attractive ‘helmet head’ hair phenomenon and just plain looks dorky. We all know that wearing helmets is necessary in the U.S. especially because of the fact that drivers here just can’t seem to process the idea of sharing the road with bicyclists. So, it’s good to know that as we put on these ugly brain protectors, even a suave gentleman like Obama looks like a dork with a bike helmet on.

Via [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Cyclist Killed by Car During ‘Bike to Work Week’

A 22-year-old cyclist participating in ‘Bike to Work Week’ was killed on Monday when the owner of an SUV opened their car door in his path. He was riding in the bike lane. Clinton Miceli was the fifth bicyclist to die in Chicago so far this year. WTF, people. Can we really not manage sharing the road with cyclists? Is it that hard to go a little slower, avoid going around blind curves at high speeds and give these people some room?

The Chicago Sun-Times has it:

Miceli, 22, was cycling in the bike lane on La Salle around 6:45 p.m. Monday when he slammed into an open SUV door, was thrown from his bike, then struck by a second car. The driver of the Nissan Xterra who opened the door into Miceli’s path was cited for opening a car door in traffic, police said.

A second rider collided with a CTA bus around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday at Broadway and Patterson in Lake View. That cyclist was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition, a Fire Department spokesman said. The CTA driver was cited for failure to yield and suspended without pay, authorities said.

First of all, it never fails to amaze me when people throw their car doors open without checking first to see if there’s anyone coming. Second, you would think that drivers would be a little more conscious, especially during ‘Bike to Work Week’. But everyone is so preoccupied with cell phone conversations, iPods, fiddling through their purses, putting on mascara, eating Big Macs or just plain zoning out. Wake up. Bicyclists have a right to safety on our roads.

Link [Chicago Sun-Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user borkur.net