tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12790179570733545742024-03-13T16:08:37.948-04:00Anything but the carbus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-19986255074743279002022-01-24T20:22:00.003-05:002022-02-19T16:20:07.721-05:00Post-snowstorm shoveling trip, MLK Day 2022<p> Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stressed service to others, among many other things, so on my day off, to honor that, I took it upon myself to grab a snow shovel and help Pittsburgh dig out from a 7" snowfall that occurred overnight.</p><p>I had ideas of biking into town, but opted not to, mostly because I wanted to turn in a proper snow gauge reading from 7am, and leaving earlier would interfere with that plan. I wasn't on a schedule, though, so leaving at 7:40 was just fine. Carrying a snow shovel on a bike would have been adding that much more difficulty, and walking in 7" of snow was difficult enough.</p><p>The real motive for the trip, however, was that Sarah wanted me to find her an N95 or KN95 mask, in preparation for her trip downtown later in the week for jury duty. I had four offers for help with this, but went with the friend who lives off of Wilkins Ave in Squirrel Hill. The trek at hand, then, was to get to friend's house, pick up masks, and return home. All else was up to me.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Rough itinerary</p><p>Part 1: McCandless morning</p><p>I took the house's better shovel. If you recall my Christmas 2020 post, I prefer to use a flimsy old plastic shovel for most snow clearing around the house and driveway, but for bigger jobs, a newer, much sturdier shovel. That in hand, I hoofed it the most of a mile to McKnight Road. I made no attempt to clear anything on the way there. Once I got to McKnight, I made quick work of the remaining snow in the bus shelter on MKnight at Perrymont. Indeed, it looked like there's a heater under the cement slab, as it was clear and dry, whereas everything around it had either the 7" from overnight, or a ton of half-frozen slush. In any event, I shoveled a notch out to the driving path, a path back to the bottom of the Perrymont sidewalk, and the not-a-sidewalk along McKnight down to Perrymont.</p><p>With that done, I traveled a hundred yards south to the bus stop at Malibran, in front of the gas station. There, I cut a notch in the snowbank at the edge of the parking lot, and shoveled a path down to the bus stop sign.<br /></p><p>McKnight at Perrymont bus shelter<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXfoVSAb1j501vS_RAkUTUM3VAvDwrz0E7_Pu9M_5xwRi0LYNt3yFgImMhTxjhRECLKGI5aVN8n8PIyeyIhA6LWICPDURoKK0StpLEuxvDZEiv8y_hV5GrSIkCcKBL-JSqQdZKH8Q329avBEJ6EMxDWEdUgEj8rVPJHhfzaEb4P-Q8ZDfn7LJydbcSKg=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXfoVSAb1j501vS_RAkUTUM3VAvDwrz0E7_Pu9M_5xwRi0LYNt3yFgImMhTxjhRECLKGI5aVN8n8PIyeyIhA6LWICPDURoKK0StpLEuxvDZEiv8y_hV5GrSIkCcKBL-JSqQdZKH8Q329avBEJ6EMxDWEdUgEj8rVPJHhfzaEb4P-Q8ZDfn7LJydbcSKg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiArOOqjraQhA3wnonll0qNqZD25Fb77M9GTCTo6SsQ9b2Tpobc-jmAPm1s3vGaaxmB0Hd315dIGiZ3sdnsq0vkwIqhSGElf1Y20tK8Y9MGKEHJBI6nfaAW4Y0fq3Ca8G4xrGgDCHd3q3nr2Tb-zGDH03fLFKCFNjxOJs3gfInTZx-wu1LfRrq4fzBmaQ=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiArOOqjraQhA3wnonll0qNqZD25Fb77M9GTCTo6SsQ9b2Tpobc-jmAPm1s3vGaaxmB0Hd315dIGiZ3sdnsq0vkwIqhSGElf1Y20tK8Y9MGKEHJBI6nfaAW4Y0fq3Ca8G4xrGgDCHd3q3nr2Tb-zGDH03fLFKCFNjxOJs3gfInTZx-wu1LfRrq4fzBmaQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjf9Bj5YLZj2mbi1mAl4hGhq0OSQANsfUnJfcrcOc9CtHnpm1ZWDd_bqKFJQXg582DzYYvq-vGjYHpj5v6BH86adog-uFWJgH0wMTflNwUsYwkV-_TbuxRuA-_QfYiImvuUgsN1EgSdmoIpHEWS0_QV6SvDbwP5BvlQ2H2iJVMt9-6wqOH8bU3jzL9p6w=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjf9Bj5YLZj2mbi1mAl4hGhq0OSQANsfUnJfcrcOc9CtHnpm1ZWDd_bqKFJQXg582DzYYvq-vGjYHpj5v6BH86adog-uFWJgH0wMTflNwUsYwkV-_TbuxRuA-_QfYiImvuUgsN1EgSdmoIpHEWS0_QV6SvDbwP5BvlQ2H2iJVMt9-6wqOH8bU3jzL9p6w=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p>McKnight at Malibran, path from gas station to bus stop</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigPMhRfMp0e-qP203tybvOyfMU0fpwuHbSmFD_y1GSP2kTU5rnBsz4O7jUlni9OPqUoq4enEMzb7tzsPMUHR916rRShovupSWwLC6zRgiWBXm9E7j765WnR7wmFGF80lVOxTp-Lsii_RKbHKq-L-zVPs1tBnZWtxsGGKdUouSRt_wdkq5gdQm7u6H8pw=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigPMhRfMp0e-qP203tybvOyfMU0fpwuHbSmFD_y1GSP2kTU5rnBsz4O7jUlni9OPqUoq4enEMzb7tzsPMUHR916rRShovupSWwLC6zRgiWBXm9E7j765WnR7wmFGF80lVOxTp-Lsii_RKbHKq-L-zVPs1tBnZWtxsGGKdUouSRt_wdkq5gdQm7u6H8pw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitqBE-2AshX2i-VcsdEmXHslKkwmafBgGOT5ZeWvQfqG8Y61iqxYAci4XllSIxHOJ2QpkiFKKr0GpRMXTOF9fBJzQZVFizjSNmcvdklceHQEBd-CXGY_Bm4HegEx4zi6jHzt6BTT5KLP1AqdPOnq6uaBmBOe4O-8bv9haoy0yOaXptN89MrN9FLT7YWA=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitqBE-2AshX2i-VcsdEmXHslKkwmafBgGOT5ZeWvQfqG8Y61iqxYAci4XllSIxHOJ2QpkiFKKr0GpRMXTOF9fBJzQZVFizjSNmcvdklceHQEBd-CXGY_Bm4HegEx4zi6jHzt6BTT5KLP1AqdPOnq6uaBmBOe4O-8bv9haoy0yOaXptN89MrN9FLT7YWA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjQVtnKivzTIC54Omt7lEEozuNiLXzXFe8Lk-a5lAB3-92Ph9T5Tlk0HlMZPMvBAJsOprYCSVo6q6RPjSZtRY3uxa_CBYI1zWmoEb98fvOziIBVW_PPQqpovalOYmz4TVGT0aNvekVt2Fb-WSeo23geplC2zPez8FdoJ13Mj4jgmP9pKXutT7BlsXzmA=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjQVtnKivzTIC54Omt7lEEozuNiLXzXFe8Lk-a5lAB3-92Ph9T5Tlk0HlMZPMvBAJsOprYCSVo6q6RPjSZtRY3uxa_CBYI1zWmoEb98fvOziIBVW_PPQqpovalOYmz4TVGT0aNvekVt2Fb-WSeo23geplC2zPez8FdoJ13Mj4jgmP9pKXutT7BlsXzmA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWeeK2qZXX9RSd5lT776Vsz_9XNfa-lBEWVambo7dX-05TRVLMa32l-MmWFCQXLBrjIrfDnhBP-HA0sQk-PZk4C-sdR1mxtB7IN1esFFeHGBlQ_lyRZUcXMSMigWtTn_NwoEyfNQFxFR5oFKWZ_STcPJRnYU_ZqYAytvWOE9Sc6iskrem0VEEu9a_PHg=s3412" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3412" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWeeK2qZXX9RSd5lT776Vsz_9XNfa-lBEWVambo7dX-05TRVLMa32l-MmWFCQXLBrjIrfDnhBP-HA0sQk-PZk4C-sdR1mxtB7IN1esFFeHGBlQ_lyRZUcXMSMigWtTn_NwoEyfNQFxFR5oFKWZ_STcPJRnYU_ZqYAytvWOE9Sc6iskrem0VEEu9a_PHg=s320" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p> </p><p>Part 2: Downtown morning<br />I exited the 12 at the first stop downtown, 9th and Penn. There used to be a pizza shop here, and the proprietor was pretty good about clearing the sidewalk. But shop and building are gone, so I knew nobody would clear this. As I exited the bus, I shoveled a brief notch in the snowbank so I could get off, which was used precisely one second later by someone waiting to get on. I proceeded to shovel about 50 feet of sidewalk between shelter and the actual stop, and cut a second notch where a following bus might stop to discharge passengers. <br /></p><p>9th Street at Penn Ave, bus shelter and 50 feet of sidewalk near the stop</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQgE8KYg5J0NiWsdTv0RIcVXYPToYX7EMKA8YrIR_ie9Ru2tJ2f4kjJt4RdBL63a2p_gQ4TKl2JQHNaN-4al-b807fgwq6BlZ3iBBtUOv_XnYwMt5es5NpN3ofCqJ6Ky_YbC-tS0FM7hhRZaixP7AbDI4U9ov0AV-vkSF-G_h2jgKINmmHciZrJw_jPg=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQgE8KYg5J0NiWsdTv0RIcVXYPToYX7EMKA8YrIR_ie9Ru2tJ2f4kjJt4RdBL63a2p_gQ4TKl2JQHNaN-4al-b807fgwq6BlZ3iBBtUOv_XnYwMt5es5NpN3ofCqJ6Ky_YbC-tS0FM7hhRZaixP7AbDI4U9ov0AV-vkSF-G_h2jgKINmmHciZrJw_jPg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_DYUE3xsneLa6P8DZBAkFj2fc6mXLf_YQSIp1ApPr_amTndSl_TVE7bo5Y51JnsTWtMXIsI4_KNdtEQ33_n1NkPu5V6535IdrnosfT9sqbmNPdg42oQlkoeXUaY8a88VDgzLzQqdfZdkoj1mOWa0pZ7aFDykzD3fmgbloF23ZszJEqRC9JX7HiUTQ6Q=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_DYUE3xsneLa6P8DZBAkFj2fc6mXLf_YQSIp1ApPr_amTndSl_TVE7bo5Y51JnsTWtMXIsI4_KNdtEQ33_n1NkPu5V6535IdrnosfT9sqbmNPdg42oQlkoeXUaY8a88VDgzLzQqdfZdkoj1mOWa0pZ7aFDykzD3fmgbloF23ZszJEqRC9JX7HiUTQ6Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxEKgDdlJ07jXgiVIyjDYgtrlRyS8KJHdX2hvTvLsRFeBer9t3TtfFSDnwT7GUijcGJdEd9CGZhIIClJLs1Td4-l-MfIPpf3rxhr9U3P1cMWnAha1PcNDVCqVLOuk5865tsfNX8BEv6L-rlDTW0M7sUPoY6qWnMr3fdxwP0EhWsmFrSjSpM_G6U3lRvQ=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxEKgDdlJ07jXgiVIyjDYgtrlRyS8KJHdX2hvTvLsRFeBer9t3TtfFSDnwT7GUijcGJdEd9CGZhIIClJLs1Td4-l-MfIPpf3rxhr9U3P1cMWnAha1PcNDVCqVLOuk5865tsfNX8BEv6L-rlDTW0M7sUPoY6qWnMr3fdxwP0EhWsmFrSjSpM_G6U3lRvQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>My primary purpose in coming downtown was to clear the sidewalk in front of what once was the Smithfield Café, between 7th Ave and Strawberry Way. This never gets shoveled, so after one day and a frigid night, this becomes 100 feet of unwalkable ice rink. So I got to it, clearing one shovel width from the parking garage down to the first storefront that looked occupied. This took some work, as it was already getting pretty packed down. I managed to get a second shovel width for most of that length, as well. I took some care not to make much noise around the homeless people's tent set up in one abandoned storefront. As it had gotten down in single digits overnight, I wondered how they were faring, but did not inquire. Anyway, when I was done, I stopped in at my office to thaw and dry out. Also got some actual work done and a bite to eat from the small self-serve cafeteria downstairs.<br /></p><p><br />Smithfield Street in front of the closed former Smithfield Café</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwXMmbY0VMmC3zSdN3cRoqTCdLAZQVE4B_lk-ZGerIqDCbp1koW8YlmPbjE4GpaXz-Bxu9cfmIfv9Wft-c_hiiEHg7mYkZ7160LI2ZZVI9Y3wUaVq24jL_Q8vJg02VRH5s6fyrA7p7XvuGXUqpfVihWIvhcPJlh-28Ouy7FosAHaiDqzt8UMx5gRP7IA=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1936" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwXMmbY0VMmC3zSdN3cRoqTCdLAZQVE4B_lk-ZGerIqDCbp1koW8YlmPbjE4GpaXz-Bxu9cfmIfv9Wft-c_hiiEHg7mYkZ7160LI2ZZVI9Y3wUaVq24jL_Q8vJg02VRH5s6fyrA7p7XvuGXUqpfVihWIvhcPJlh-28Ouy7FosAHaiDqzt8UMx5gRP7IA=s320" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEije51-gKuPl4zfbcgutw-v45N_ndhRAowdn4aKyHbfunAGF7EgRQUnszLHn_HhOjIBX_4jf2vnlwTKhWCNAbZU2Si_jKBxAHi9zV4ARujo8XAOkARh0N4qSts3Y9rhg5XZbWo4GovdXNAIJGQ2HY9rxffa_epv4tdnah88mnMPk_iWRfdSVxWYoJm9eg=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1936" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEije51-gKuPl4zfbcgutw-v45N_ndhRAowdn4aKyHbfunAGF7EgRQUnszLHn_HhOjIBX_4jf2vnlwTKhWCNAbZU2Si_jKBxAHi9zV4ARujo8XAOkARh0N4qSts3Y9rhg5XZbWo4GovdXNAIJGQ2HY9rxffa_epv4tdnah88mnMPk_iWRfdSVxWYoJm9eg=s320" width="239" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p><p>Part 3: Downtown noon<br />I had a reason to come into the city, and a rough time when I was expected at that spot. Around noon, I packed up my gear and started to head east. Before I crossed Fifth Ave, I took a moment to cut out a notch in the snowbank where the 67 Monroeville and some other routes stop, outside 3-PNC. Along came my 71D, so shovel in hand, I boarded and headed for Negley Avenue.</p><p> Fifth Ave inbound bus stop between Wood and Market Streets<br />Then caught an outbound 71D bus to get to SqHill/Shadyside<br /></p><p>Part 4: Squirrel Hill<br />Attempted a bit of the South Negley sidewalk but it was too much<br />Shoveled sidewalk in front of a couple houses on Wightman St<br />Helped a man on Fair Oaks who was shoveling</p><p>The 5Av/Negley stop was similarly a hip-high snowbank bordered by a yard of slush on the street side, and packed snow on the sidewalk. As I did with 9th and Penn, I backed up to where a second bus might open its doors, and cut a notch there, as well as where the rear door of the front bus would be, and the front door. Also cleared the sidewalk that entire length, all the way down to the intersection.</p><p>Fifth Ave at Negley, sidewalk from the rear of where buses stop up to the corner</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDpMXzg3NqASUhoMESY8e9f7oGfI8rXk-bVaSBaIFHnyDZgLR3U9qwAnoYugBF__BiR3fVtY6-2Z_7JLZyK5GZYEij3Zp7DkVQcL-2DA7g_gwszMz4Kb96TYLPvVl9CxemYNDQZR4On7UFaE7NOz95oYY94qx8yaGXpBq8BDgPNWo22NPkCG7Pevd7Vg=s2592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1936" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDpMXzg3NqASUhoMESY8e9f7oGfI8rXk-bVaSBaIFHnyDZgLR3U9qwAnoYugBF__BiR3fVtY6-2Z_7JLZyK5GZYEij3Zp7DkVQcL-2DA7g_gwszMz4Kb96TYLPvVl9CxemYNDQZR4On7UFaE7NOz95oYY94qx8yaGXpBq8BDgPNWo22NPkCG7Pevd7Vg=s320" width="239" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>South Negley Ave has an enormous hill off of Fifth, and while I ascended the sidewalk, I watched two cars attempt it. One bailed early, one later, when they realized they were not going to make it to the top. A minute later, a four-wheel drive pickup flew up the hill like it was a drizzly evening in June. I attempted to clear a bit of sidewalk in an area where there was no homeowner to clear the walk, but it was too much, and I was barely on time. </p><p>Up Negley, over Dunmoyle, down Wightman, over Fair Oaks, a bit of Wilkins, and left onto Beeler, and the purpose of my mission was accomplished. On the way, I improved a couple of sidewalks where someone had made an honest attempt to clear a walk but gave up, and also helped another man clearing his walk. Did this a couple places on Beeler, too. </p><p> </p><p>Part 5: Oakland before late lunch<br /></p><p>The most fun scene I saw all day was four college girls hauling snow from the sidewalk and nearby street <i>into</i> their driveway, and packing it down. They were building a ski jump! Their driveway was just long enough and steep enough that they could get up a bit of momentum, and with their little snow bump, gain a bit of air for a split second. They were having a grand time, and so was I, watching them as I cleared off a sidewalk I otherwise had no interest in. Sorry, no photo.</p><p></p><p>Shoveled sidewalk in front of a house on Beeler where someone had started but not finished shoveling</p><p>Here is where my snow-cleaning project got serious:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Helped a man shoveling on Beeler at the corner with Forbes</li><li>Shoveled out the crossing on both sides of Forbes at Beeler</li><li>Shoveled out a bus stop on Forbes next to the CMU parking garage</li><li>Cleaned up the crossing across from the end of Craig St by Carnegie Museum</li><li>Crossed Forbes, cleaned out a slot to get to the Forbes at Craig inbound bus stop</li><li>Cleaned out slots by the double bus shelters on the outbound side of Forbes by Carnegie Museum</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSOWqoD69Ve7K4zJjRz49MyLb8yaMtefmPXp2LJs6V624B8BOVQb8Iuv3peaM2lU6Upavh74wxfr3kok1J_lNkMp06hKHdqw-MxzfhXhlLaJj2uFROE2OKsw8r-ZEY0Qf3DMr5mvBCJdJ2xlc3dxQ58Sd3Ll0EApyer887ANDXPcwmLOJd_uXY7mJuYQ=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSOWqoD69Ve7K4zJjRz49MyLb8yaMtefmPXp2LJs6V624B8BOVQb8Iuv3peaM2lU6Upavh74wxfr3kok1J_lNkMp06hKHdqw-MxzfhXhlLaJj2uFROE2OKsw8r-ZEY0Qf3DMr5mvBCJdJ2xlc3dxQ58Sd3Ll0EApyer887ANDXPcwmLOJd_uXY7mJuYQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD65tFbyTdoPlO3XD1wr5CdX4cGEP3nqrW8OMK9pZMU4aoLusYIXSZV2NAQI4MM8C-JWOXT5kNlkd-_OFdAmNZrzkJ7CciYQP0cxRZNNjfl_tZaeJ7VjVUXk-Vi4NC-qrnO_ZLFAM4j7960YUCimxehL6jRAZPn3Jhdp9JexIPM8UoPJOm1TtB1LuTkg=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD65tFbyTdoPlO3XD1wr5CdX4cGEP3nqrW8OMK9pZMU4aoLusYIXSZV2NAQI4MM8C-JWOXT5kNlkd-_OFdAmNZrzkJ7CciYQP0cxRZNNjfl_tZaeJ7VjVUXk-Vi4NC-qrnO_ZLFAM4j7960YUCimxehL6jRAZPn3Jhdp9JexIPM8UoPJOm1TtB1LuTkg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">While digging out a slot by the shelters, I found a CMU student's ID card in a snowbank. She probably dropped it in the snow getting off the bus. It took maybe a minute to find her on Facebook, and a minute later I contacted her on Messenger to get it back to her, and she replied right away. Thinking she would run right over, I said I'd be in the Subway having lunch, and to just look for a snow shovel once she got inside. As it turned out, she couldn't get away right then, so I ended up taking the ID to the CMU campus police station on Filmore. I figured that was the safest way to get it back to her without waiting until evening to leave Oakland.<br /> </p><p>Part 6: Oakland after late lunch<br />After leaving the Subway restaurant on Craig, I again went into shoveling overdrive:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cleaned up a bit of sidewalk in front of a closed store</li><li>Cleaned up the crossings on Filmore and Dithridge, both southbound and westbound (both sides)</li><li>Cut a notch in the snowbank on Bellefield at Filmore</li><li>Cleaned up the crossing on the other side of Bellefield across from Filmore</li><li>Removed snowbank at Fifth Ave at Bellefield, outbound stop</li><li>Cleaned up pedestrian crossing at Fifth and Tennyson, cathedral side</li><li>Cleaned up pedestrian crossing at Fifth an Thackeray, same side</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">Then caught a 67 Monroeville downtown and thawed out at office for 2nd time</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqSnV-72-sMdPhTdOsU-X7zZt0WMaROtw5LvKUdhsunEhcciKwAJnbAhtbnb-E5mX23bpGUOAoLy1sW_cOeghVPeeanC6FEYp2qW8tMLMgl_clUwue6bTuC25r5wEqTd97fW-mVMRQ91Sgt6bHVKL8KLRNMRh4KVgxEEqt-b2fLkz6u6BKQMxgbUNizw=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqSnV-72-sMdPhTdOsU-X7zZt0WMaROtw5LvKUdhsunEhcciKwAJnbAhtbnb-E5mX23bpGUOAoLy1sW_cOeghVPeeanC6FEYp2qW8tMLMgl_clUwue6bTuC25r5wEqTd97fW-mVMRQ91Sgt6bHVKL8KLRNMRh4KVgxEEqt-b2fLkz6u6BKQMxgbUNizw=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />Part 7: Downtown afternoon<br /> </p><p style="text-align: left;">Before I left the city for the day, one more stint at making downtown more walkable:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cut notch and cleaned up outbound Liberty at Sixth Ave stop</li><li>Removed major slush buildup across Sixth Ave at Liberty, three places:</li></ul><ol style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><li>1 - Before trying to cross Sixth</li><li>2 - By the island in the middle of Sixth</li><li>3 - Once getting across, next to the T station <br /></li></ol><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmw3R_uhr5tdO8-NYfY3f9SCX_vgMN4jXh3EjAvA9KxLsAUORk5rAZr41ww8zryWGcdfpy3pNdNxi1PrwcbFyGMtLkHusSiuYXiWrWnk6orVHBgG1DB0_IStc_jTQ1VAP8nUqaREdpjFVd4JtaK45IXg0FoP3GcNimLPJ6mOcfxgxZxjlDqFcTDSo5cQ=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmw3R_uhr5tdO8-NYfY3f9SCX_vgMN4jXh3EjAvA9KxLsAUORk5rAZr41ww8zryWGcdfpy3pNdNxi1PrwcbFyGMtLkHusSiuYXiWrWnk6orVHBgG1DB0_IStc_jTQ1VAP8nUqaREdpjFVd4JtaK45IXg0FoP3GcNimLPJ6mOcfxgxZxjlDqFcTDSo5cQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiB1w3t53B19oHj2VPJ29ZYzVOlW0G5lNmOyfgY7lio1b1-VdjEsF16z2GiAoePHRvc84YFgbkEDm2wTmGFmQbrGD4vSvczf8-B14abuxfkBPodUjWHc3xaKtqv81iG6Oi_TyaCT7o1saIIECHtBzKjbgRkTDOlh-nqRbz3BoynwvWv0vDl2X3Yud1viQ=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiB1w3t53B19oHj2VPJ29ZYzVOlW0G5lNmOyfgY7lio1b1-VdjEsF16z2GiAoePHRvc84YFgbkEDm2wTmGFmQbrGD4vSvczf8-B14abuxfkBPodUjWHc3xaKtqv81iG6Oi_TyaCT7o1saIIECHtBzKjbgRkTDOlh-nqRbz3BoynwvWv0vDl2X3Yud1viQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cut notch and cleaned up pedestrian crossing of Liberty toward 7th St</li><li>Cleaned slush out of the way on both sides of crossing Wood Street at Liberty</li><li>Cut notch and cleaned up pedestrian crossing of Liberty across from Tito Way</li><li>Cleaned path across the end of Strawberry Way</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">Then caught a 12 McKnight to head home. It was getting too late to get photos by this point.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim2Du21IYloXU1HW5uZpmCk9VgxaboZYfOuEJU4ZlpOMeBN76PVwdsrjlt7Y19YCSs8G4UfahoB9cCXk4BEiy1yzm8ylb-lCjT7JUWaFo106WuAOwlxUOmFQbRTY6MiYAHmZaVo6U-TyjG-bjOt20pHi9zs3GRpPJAaET66pjJQmpxMA5-Z3TJ3ktUXw=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim2Du21IYloXU1HW5uZpmCk9VgxaboZYfOuEJU4ZlpOMeBN76PVwdsrjlt7Y19YCSs8G4UfahoB9cCXk4BEiy1yzm8ylb-lCjT7JUWaFo106WuAOwlxUOmFQbRTY6MiYAHmZaVo6U-TyjG-bjOt20pHi9zs3GRpPJAaET66pjJQmpxMA5-Z3TJ3ktUXw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHCF3xaN7hhwF_gIhv5ddc1I5mUN5CxdLWv4Of-cjWZZRFiyloKdgs-K9DT8SWVowPrX5nmo-GGQKglIWc3Rh2G0AQ_xNLyeXmHnMr8EbWK7oTh1hE5Q-uprgAgW9WGO4CEur2T01-7-3o04annZHXz5UzpEE_uojKqTXIa3sqUxfzZquDM97xUl6S3Q=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHCF3xaN7hhwF_gIhv5ddc1I5mUN5CxdLWv4Of-cjWZZRFiyloKdgs-K9DT8SWVowPrX5nmo-GGQKglIWc3Rh2G0AQ_xNLyeXmHnMr8EbWK7oTh1hE5Q-uprgAgW9WGO4CEur2T01-7-3o04annZHXz5UzpEE_uojKqTXIa3sqUxfzZquDM97xUl6S3Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Across the end of Strawberry Way at Liberty Ave.<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p 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style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p>Part 8: McCandless afternoon</p><p>One more little effort before I hiked Perrymont to thaw out, get a shower and eat dinner:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cleaned up the first spot of the day, the approach to the Perrymont bus shelter</li><li>Started to clean the sidewalk on the north side of Perrymont but it was too much</li></ul><p> </p><p>All told, I did at least 30 spots in one form or another. Shoveling notches in snowbanks, clearing sidewalks, or removing snow from sidewalks. Would that 50 more people did what I did! Not expecting money or even a gift, just doing good for neighbors, friends, co-workers and total strangers. We're all here and we all need to get around safely.<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Continued home</li></ul>bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-76116079210673305482022-01-02T19:20:00.000-05:002022-01-02T19:20:22.547-05:00 Icycle Bicycle 2022<p><br />Some people do the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day, jumping into the freezing cold river, if only briefly, but Pittsburgh cyclists traditionally do the Icycle Bicycle Ride. I'm not sure when it started; must be at least 20 years ago. I've ridden most years since 2009. Regardless of the weather, cyclists show up and ride around the city as best as conditions allow. If there was a two-foot snowfall, anyone who made it there at all would push their bikes through the snowbanks. That hasn't happened in anyone's memory, but they'd do that if they had to.</p><p><br />Jan 1 2022 presented little challenge beyond a steady drizzle. It wasn't even that cold, 50s F (10+ C), more typical of early April, but apparently enough to dissuade a few riders. Total turnout was 15-20, only two women, though we had at least two first-time riders. The route isn't difficult, no hills, little troublesome traffic, though we were on a few busy streets. </p><p><br />Why do this? The most significant reason, for me at least, is that I can say I rode <i>somewhere</i> in calendar 2022, and in January, when many bikes are gathering dust, waiting for a warm day. I do ride 12 months a year when conditions allow, so this at least gets those boxes checkmarked. Beyond that, any group ride is worth showing up for. Meet new people, share news with old friends, discuss commonalities and differences in our collective bike experiences around the area, find out if anyone has anything interesting planned. I also like to compare equipment -- what do others have that I do not and how is that working for them? What do I have that others don't and how is that working for me?</p><p><br />Once we get underway, I like being with others, especially if someone else is leading. I may learn new paths, shortcuts, where to turn off a trail to get to a bridge or major street, and vice-versa. Most of these are not on any GPS system, so you just have to experience them to know where they are and go. I know the area pretty well, but even I picked up a couple of pointers or noticed road configuration changes, to file away in my head for next time.</p><p><br />The route was simple enough. Starting at REI in South Side Works (which was open at 10am, unlike some past years), straight down East Carson, past Station Square, out West Carson, up the ramp to the West End Bridge (the only hill on the route), right lane on the bridge, ramp to the casino, past the Science Center and both stadiums, River Avenue, a couple quick turns to get up on the downstream sidewalk of the 16th St Bridge, Penn Ave through downtown, through Point State Park, around the Point (group photo! I'm on the far right), out through the Mon Wharf (river level aaalmost up to flooding it but not quite) to the Smithfield St Bridge ramp, to the Jail Trail, over the Hot Metal Bridge, and back to REI. I didn't measure it but it felt like 7 to 8 flat miles.</p><p><br />There were a couple of surprises. <br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The Jail Trail recently developed a serious lake close to downtown. I sent in a 311 request to have the storm drains checked for leaf clogs. I'm not even sure where those drains are; there are no markings or posts. It was easy enough to find the ones not under water, but none have paint symbols on the adjacent concrete wall.</li><li>At 11:25, we <i>didn't</i> hear a loud boom, heard across the region especially south and west of the city. Many in their homes did, including quite a few farther east than where I was. The initial hypothesis is that it was an exploding meteor, as no point explosion or earthquake was reported. A weather satellite did note a flash over the Pittsburgh area at that time, supporting the idea of a meteor. Rain and clouds obscured visibility of anything in the sky.</li><li>Less a surprise, more a plan, I rode wearing sockless, open-toed shoes. This proved helpful when I traversed the flooded trail, where the water was pedals deep. My feet did not get overly cold, as I feared could happen, but I don't think I want to try it at temperatures any colder than 50.<br /></li></ol><p>Anyone else desiring to try this next year, or joining any group ride at REI, if you must drive there, your best bet for parking is under the Birmingham Bridge, accessed from the end of South 18th Street. It's a quick, three-minute ride from there to REI, parking is free, and no need to search for a spot, unlike trying to park on a street near REI, or a garage.</p><p><br />A few of us then adjourned to Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh for lunch and conversation, as we have done in past years.</p><p><br />All in all, a very pleasant start to the new year, as was intended!</p>bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-42248867068932697562020-12-25T17:31:00.001-05:002020-12-25T17:31:26.250-05:00 A brief primer on clearing snow<p>Christmas Day 2020, Pittsburgh awoke to three or more inches of snow, and it continued lightly falling through much of the day. One of my wife's presents was a battery powered leaf (and snow) blower, which she tried out immediately by clearing the back steps down to the driveway. It worked fine, but she didn't clear the 70-foot walkway out to the mailbox. I did that one by hand later in the afternoon, when the snow had tapered off a bit, though not ceased entirely. Along the way, I took a few pictures.</p><p>[picture 1: porch and broom]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCH5HJ12lLA/X-ZjClfo1LI/AAAAAAAAALE/91nzTDdIlZ8tfPoGspvddsyFM1ta2njRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_142408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCH5HJ12lLA/X-ZjClfo1LI/AAAAAAAAALE/91nzTDdIlZ8tfPoGspvddsyFM1ta2njRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_142408.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Here is what I started with, just a dusting on the porch, and maybe an inch on the steps. The broom was the weapon of choice here.</p><p>[picture 2: steps half cleared]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7hrL8M_CY0/X-ZjLFL8N0I/AAAAAAAAALI/g7VEJKuiVCYCxoGxcFVsNFnYgDZXaGnHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_142520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7hrL8M_CY0/X-ZjLFL8N0I/AAAAAAAAALI/g7VEJKuiVCYCxoGxcFVsNFnYgDZXaGnHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_142520.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Once I got the snow off the first couple steps, I remembered that the snow came down after an hour of sleet and freezing rain. At this point, I did nothing with that, only removing the layer of snow atop it. To be honest, I might leave it like this. That crusty stuff is not slippy. If it were glare ice, such as from exclusively freezing rain, that would be unavoidably slippy, but this crusty stuff provides a decent amount of traction, and who's to say there isn't glare ice underneath it. You can step on it and not slip.</p><p>[picture 3: all the steps cleared]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePXOMXPSoWI/X-ZjSqi1tpI/AAAAAAAAALM/LZUwv-rqn1ArRuG8rk4tLB2Kt0lWL9EdACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_142736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePXOMXPSoWI/X-ZjSqi1tpI/AAAAAAAAALM/LZUwv-rqn1ArRuG8rk4tLB2Kt0lWL9EdACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_142736.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>For the bottom couple steps, some of the crusty ice brushed off with a bit tougher brooming. A later pass with a square spade might clear it entirely.</p><p>[picture 4: a bit of brick sidewalk]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dCgcC8X7Io/X-ZjZq34aaI/AAAAAAAAALQ/5ghumPC_3cwyLq9MOpOsdlEerMq9k_b_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_142743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dCgcC8X7Io/X-ZjZq34aaI/AAAAAAAAALQ/5ghumPC_3cwyLq9MOpOsdlEerMq9k_b_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_142743.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This shows how much snow came down since mid morning, when Sarah used the new toy to blow it clean. This square foot of brick took maybe 10 seconds with the broom, the same as was necessary with the blower.</p><p>[picture 5: five feet of sidewalk]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ985bxYX7M/X-ZjhoEcQaI/AAAAAAAAALY/fOKWFsYZeP8nobWI7gcKl251QxQOWJ_2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_142902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ985bxYX7M/X-ZjhoEcQaI/AAAAAAAAALY/fOKWFsYZeP8nobWI7gcKl251QxQOWJ_2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_142902.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Using only the broom, I cleared the three or four inches of snow off the sidewalk, not trying to do too good a job. Gabe's footprints from going out to get the mail last night, when there was only an inch of snow, are clearly visible. His weight packed down what little snow had fallen by that point, but this alone shows, it doesn't take much to start an ice pack under a bit of traffic. Total broom time at this point, maybe a minute, and that's being generous.</p><p>[picture 6: snow shovel]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEVEDT13h8M/X-Zjo3rXMNI/AAAAAAAAALg/jI0UM78R_AgMurzIyQdJe1efQ3H30un-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_143021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEVEDT13h8M/X-Zjo3rXMNI/AAAAAAAAALg/jI0UM78R_AgMurzIyQdJe1efQ3H30un-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_143021.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>My snow shovel of choice was a neighbor's throw-away 15 years ago. The handle is broken, and the cheap plastic blade is quite fragile. To me, this is the ideal tool. Because of its fragility, I cannot push it very hard, and therefore cannot push myself very hard. I take my time, not trying to dig too heavily into what snow is at hand. If I have a foot of snow to clear, I just stand in one place and only peel off 3-4" at a time until I get to bare ground. Here, there is only about that much, so I think I can just use it as a snowplow. This shovel works marvelously as a plow. (I later did most of the driveway via plowing with this shovel, in only about 10 minutes.)</p><p>[picture 7: 10 feet of sidewalk]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CvuJrCT7dU8/X-ZjwS2scyI/AAAAAAAAALk/XyLDXkwvzqwAITUSelbRtf9ZMp4lRc75QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_143139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CvuJrCT7dU8/X-ZjwS2scyI/AAAAAAAAALk/XyLDXkwvzqwAITUSelbRtf9ZMp4lRc75QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_143139.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The first use of the snow shovel was to re-clear what I had just broomed. I plowed another five feet, then used it, scraping sideways, to get rid of Gabe's footprint-packed ice packs, and also any remaining snow off the edge of the brick. This as well took only a minute or two. </p><p>[picture 8: 60 more feet of sidewalk]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-02yIPtxU63c/X-Zj45PYWWI/AAAAAAAAALs/ITat63ikxhI9Gz2uQaS5pJuXRbtZpKjjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_143434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-02yIPtxU63c/X-Zj45PYWWI/AAAAAAAAALs/ITat63ikxhI9Gz2uQaS5pJuXRbtZpKjjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_143434.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Snowplow time! All I did here was plow the snow. Every four or five feet, I would need to take the shovel and actually lift the snow out of the way, but this entire length took less than two minutes, and hardly raised my heart rate at all, no more than climbing a couple flights of stairs.</p><p>[picture 9: our yard critters]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsi74pMX4XY/X-ZkCeemxiI/AAAAAAAAAL0/GciQnaFsR6QdcJ66sImp9sgn6jXrGbbiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_143439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsi74pMX4XY/X-ZkCeemxiI/AAAAAAAAAL0/GciQnaFsR6QdcJ66sImp9sgn6jXrGbbiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_143439.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The sleet, freezing rain and snow toppled our yard decorations. The fans to keep them inflated are still on, and I suppose I should go back out to set them back upright, but let me finish writing this first. (Gabe came out and took care of this, minutes later.)</p><p>[picture 10: use of the broom]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fR3egN2BsNc/X-ZkKZyMHTI/AAAAAAAAAL8/e5ntCe4o3bEeMsR3mzVV4W-mkEgFb1_cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_143633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fR3egN2BsNc/X-ZkKZyMHTI/AAAAAAAAAL8/e5ntCe4o3bEeMsR3mzVV4W-mkEgFb1_cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_143633.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Starting over at the staircase end of the walk, I cleared the walk with the broom a little better. This was the most strenuous part of the work, and also took the longest. What I was doing here was knocking down the deep snow alongside the walk, so I could move the broom vigorously across the entire width of brick. What's left at this point is almost bare, dry walk. </p><p>[picture 11: finished walkway]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IrFWRLt3lvM/X-ZkSl5RWpI/AAAAAAAAAME/rodzTzdOiGQuEkCjZJAXdGkcHehz1fcoACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_144215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IrFWRLt3lvM/X-ZkSl5RWpI/AAAAAAAAAME/rodzTzdOiGQuEkCjZJAXdGkcHehz1fcoACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_144215.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Finishing the above to the end of the walkway, by the mailbox and street, took a full five minutes. What I was trying to accomplish here was to remove, as fully as possible, any <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">H</span><sub style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1;">2</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">O</span> in whatever form: snow, sleet, packed snow. Fortunately there was no ice directly on the bricks, so this is about as close to just after an August rain as you're going to get. It is not at all slick, unless your shoes are slick. Pro tip: If you're going to be walking after a snowfall, wear good shoes. You wouldn't drive a car in the rain with slick tires, right? What are you expecting, every sidewalk to have heating elements embedded in them?</p><p>[picture 12: aftermath]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yo1k3FlSxJE/X-ZkZgNaEnI/AAAAAAAAAMI/Fi7zZPVC8VgHJ7PMCyVhvmi_aHJr-VrvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201225_144249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yo1k3FlSxJE/X-ZkZgNaEnI/AAAAAAAAAMI/Fi7zZPVC8VgHJ7PMCyVhvmi_aHJr-VrvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201225_144249.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>During the 20 or so minutes I was outside, it continued to snow lightly. You can see there is a trace of snow on the bricks, which had been swept clean in picture #4, above. Once this snow ceases entirely, I should be able to go out and sweep, or blow, this clean again with little difficulty.</p><p>What else I should do is get out the square spade and clear off the remaining crusty ice and snow off the back steps. Update: This happened about an hour later.</p><p>But in none of the above do I need to use salt. In my opinion, far too much salt is thrown on sidewalks, far too often. The point of shoveling is to remove moisture before it freezes or is compressed into a condition that makes it unwalkable. Get rid of the snow while it's still fresh. Get rid of any frozen water of any sort before it melts and re-freezes to make it unwalkable. Get rid of all upstream snow that would blow or melt onto the walk. If there isn't any ice that can't be scraped off easily, and there isn't any snow left that will become packed into ice, and there isn't any source of snowmelt that will flow back onto the walk, then there is no need for salt. Stop using salt. Clear your walks fully first.</p><div>End Rant!</div>bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-42021375511212198632019-01-05T19:07:00.002-05:002019-01-06T08:42:09.512-05:00Never mind fault, nobody is looking at the real problemThe Washington Post ran a story a few days ago about a fight between a cyclist and a motorist on M Street in the District, a four-lane street. Apparently, the cyclist was in the right lane, the motorist came up behind and honked, the cyclist took offense, the motorist grabbed the guy's bike, and the cyclist responded by clobbering the driver with his U-lock, sending the guy to the hospital to get 18 stitches. Lots of other stuff involved (drugs, a non-functional ankle bracelet, lots of stuff involving race).<br />
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/white-bicyclist-charged-in-what-dc-prosecutors-say-was-racially-motivated-assault-on-black-motorist/2019/01/03/f7838ae8-0f80-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?outputType%3Dcomment%26tid%3Dsm_talk%26utm_term%3D.89b274b0ede2&source=gmail&ust=1546819024701000&usg=AFQjCNFP4AWAEGXv6ySa3axaeBwlgiFV0w" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/white-bicyclist-charged-in-what-dc-prosecutors-say-was-racially-motivated-assault-on-black-motorist/2019/01/03/f7838ae8-0f80-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?outputType=comment&tid=sm_talk&utm_term=.89b274b0ede2" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.<wbr></wbr>com/local/public-safety/white-<wbr></wbr>bicyclist-charged-in-what-dc-<wbr></wbr>prosecutors-say-was-racially-<wbr></wbr>motivated-assault-on-black-<wbr></wbr>motorist/2019/01/03/f7838ae8-<wbr></wbr>0f80-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_<wbr></wbr>story.html</a><br />
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After reading the story and about a hundred comments, the one thing everyone missed is that a driver came up behind a cyclist on a four-lane street and honked at the cyclist. All else is downstream of that.<br />
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The cyclist was legally in the lane. Ignore for now any inebriation. Not relevant to the upstream issue. Cyclist was biking slowly, as if that mattered. It doesn’t matter if the cyclist was totally stopped. Four-lane street, you change lanes and go around, regardless of what the obstruction is. That’s what four-lane streets are *for*.<br />
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I will assume the driver was at or below the speed limit. I have no reason to think he was speeding, though my own experience from 10 years of on-street cycling tells me that 50% are 5 mph over, 10% are 10 mph over, and 1% are more than 15 mph over. But even if he was at or below 25, there’s no reason for him to lay on the horn. Just silently change lanes and go around.<br />
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Not doing that started the chain of events. So, why’d he honk instead of changing lanes? There’s the fundamental problem, never mind everything else. That is what every cyclist deals with on a constant basis, whether city, suburb or rural. Drivers simply do not know what to do when there’s a cyclist ahead. Cyclists are startled or annoyed, or scared out of their wits when this happens.<br />
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We have a cyclist who lives in the same area as where I bike occasionally, who’s regularly been in the news for being difficult when approached from behind. At the base of it, he’s right for insisting on lane control, but he’s been known to block cars trying to pass legally, and once brought rocks into a courtroom to pelt anyone he disagreed with. So, yeah, there are some idiot cyclists, but that does not excuse motorists who didn't just go around him, thus triggering the bad interactions.<br />
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I blame state departments of transportation for not educating drivers what the rules are. If everyone had to take a written exam every four years when renewing their license, and had to show they know what the rules are regarding interaction with bikes (and motorcyclists, horseback riders, pedestrians, motorized wheelchairs, etc.), maybe we’d see less of this.<br />
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We will only get significantly greater cyclist mode share, and have a hope of reducing the nation’s carbon footprint, if we can reduce driver stupidity on this.<br />
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bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-89165699910171914952019-01-01T08:04:00.005-05:002019-01-01T08:05:41.769-05:00Bicycle goals for 2019It’s 10:47 p.m. on New Year's Eve, so I’ll scribble down some ideas off the cuff. I won’t refer back to my similar post from 2012, but instead start over. (Though it was fun to re-read that <a href="https://www.bikepgh.org/message-board/topic/goals-for-2012/">entire thread</a>!)<br />
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1. I know I am riding less than I was, since I work from home a lot, and often don’t leave the house for days in a row. So a good goal would be to have at least one purposeful ride per week, somewhere.<br />
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2. The biggest problem with traveling downtown is poor to non-existent bike parking in downtown buildings. Steel Tower has only 16 slots for a population of several thousand workers, 2 PNC doesn’t have a single indoor rack for a 34-story building. Trying to get any of this rectified would be wonderful.<br />
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3. Toward riding in traffic, trying again to get local cops to be able to use radar for speed control.<br />
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4. Toward driver licensing, trying to require better driver education through implementing a written test at each license renewal. I don’t care if we hand them the answer key along with the test, so long as they pick the right answer and sign their name to it.<br />
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5. Toward my own situation, improve my indoor storage space and set up space for the bike stand I got for my birthday.<br />
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6. Clean out the trash. I have about 10 bikes I either don’t ride or can’t ride. I need the space, and frankly most are little better than scrap, or are clearly scrap.<br />
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7. Continue participation in Walk//Bike Ross, Walk Ride North Side, Walk-Bike Shaler, and Bike-Pgh to further the cause of cycling on a community basis.<br />
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8. Similarly, set up or assist someone else with setting up a McCandless equivalent to Walk//Bike Ross. I have ideas for defining a set of on-street paths for getting from one place to another within McCandless without having to deal with its high-capacity, high-speed stroads.<br />
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9. Ride my 29″ unicycle in group rides. It worked really well on the one Underwear Ride.<br />
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10. Finally properly resolve my Rule 9 problem. I’ve never found rain gear I like that actually works.<br />
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That’s enough for a half hour of thinking. Howzbout yinz?bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-30062808285912834922018-11-25T00:07:00.000-05:002018-11-25T20:03:14.530-05:00Coffeeneuring 2018, a summaryI need to get blogging again, and I need to get riding again. Despite getting a new bike at the end of the season last year, I don’t think I put 300 miles on it in 11 months. The annual Coffeeneuring Challenge gives me motivation and reason to do both. Coffeeneuring, for those unfamiliar, is riding a bike for some non-trivial distance, for the singular purpose of drinking a cup of coffee. The challenge takes place as the days are getting shorter and the air is getting colder, when people tend to put away their bikes for the season. Point being, of course, don’t! Get out there and ride, preferably someplace new. Then tweet or at least photograph proof that you went there and did that. Do that for seven weeks in October and November.
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I take this idea one further, to hit seven of eight different areas around Pittsburgh. To me, there is no adventure in going to seven nearby coffee shops one town over. The idea is to explore, find out new venues, new roads or trails, new people to ride with, learn about neighborhoods and nearby towns you have not been to. To that end, in 2016 I devised a rough set of destinations.<br><br>
1 - Near north: North of the Allegheny or Ohio Rivers, but without climbing a big hill or going any distance.<br><br>
2 - Far north: North of the rivers, but up a big hill, or going some distance into the suburbs.<br><br>
3 - Near south: South of the Monongahela, but without climbing a big hill or going any distance.<br><br>
4 - Far south: South of the Mon, but up a big hill, or into the suburbs.<br><br>
5 - Between the rivers: In the city. Getting east of the Blue Belt is #8.<br><br>
6 - West: Anywhere south of the Ohio and west of US19 is a particularly difficult area to get to.<br><br>
7 - Distant diagonal. McKeesport, Cheswick, Emsworth, are all close to a river but a long distance from the city. <br><br>
8 - Far East: Similarly, anywhere east of the city line is an entirely different area from close-in city neighborhoods between the
rivers. For purposes of category, I consider this anywhere beyond the Blue Belt, a series of roads that roughly denote the eastern edge of the city. <br><br>
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Ride #1 - <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1051584384929853442">OTB Bicycle Café, North Park (northern suburbs)</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dpf6a3HWwAA6a35.jpg">
For me, since I live in what classifies as far north, I tried to pick a location that I had not previously biked to. I also got a late start, past 4:30 p.m. on a Sunday. Though I’d been out on the bike earlier, it didn’t occur to me to try to work in my coffee adventures as part of my travels. So much for planning.
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Where to go? A good Plan B was the Panera barely two miles from the house. But I’d used that for my 2016 far north trip, and I ate there within the week. No adventure there.
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Well, how about North Park? I had not yet eaten at the OTB Bicycle Cafe in the park, though I’d been to their South Side location many times. OK, that’s a plan. Nor had I biked to the park in a very long time, probably a couple of years.
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Once there, I ordered a coffee, and since the sun was getting low in the sky, got my obligatory tweet sent while I could still see the lake. Dinner itself was pierogies and a pumpkin ale. It all tasted great and settled well. But with tip, the bill got darned close to $25. Can’t do that every day!
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The trip back, it was starting to get dark, and was fully dark by the time I arrived home 20 minutes later.
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The only unfamiliar road here was Babcock, strange in that the start of the unfamiliar part isn’t a mile from my house. Just that I never go that way.
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Ride #2 - <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1053666210171228160">Between the rivers</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dp9fxJnXcAEpK_w.jpg">
This started as a 412 Flock ride. "Flock" rides grew out of Critical Mass rides a few years ago, and a core group of the original Flock riders meets at Dippy, the huge dinosaur outside the Carnegie Museum in Oakland. That day there were just three of us.
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Of that, two of us headed for his book study group that meets at The Big Idea Bookstore on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. Turned out to be an enlightening discussion of witchcraft and witch trials in 17th century North America.
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Also, tea. You cannot properly discuss books and their contents without a pot of tea on the table. [pictured]
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My trip to the ride started, oddly enough, in a park. There wasn't enough time to ride to the ride from home, and parking in Oakland is always difficult, so I drove to a spot in Schenley Park, more than a half mile from our rendezvous point, but what's a half mile on a bike?
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From Dippy, it was a fun little ride on Forbes, Craig, Bayard, Neville, Centre, and finally Millvale Ave up to Liberty, where we parked the bikes outside the shop.
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After discussing witches and religious trends and political and world history for the last 400 years, we tied it up for the night. I reversed my tracks - Millvale, Centre, Neville, Fifth, Dithridge, Forbes sidewalk, library sidewalk, and back through the park to the car.
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Ride #3, <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1055898495146700800">West End</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqdOEVbX0AEI_rP.jpg">
I got out of work early on Friday, before 3. I had an all-night work commitment the following night, which was going to make any sort of bike trip over the weekend difficult, so if I wanted to complete this week’s installment of my Coffeeneuring challenge, it was now or never. The question was, where?
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Retrieving the bike from the Third Avenue Garage, I noted with pleasure that Third Avenue now has a contra-flow bike lane, facilitating riding toward Grant Street. I would not have noticed that were it not for this trip to parts unknown. Then I biked south on the Smithfield St bus lane, now legal to bike on. It even has bike symbols between the words of “bus only”. Nice touch, whoever arranged and designed this.
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Straight across the Smithfield St Bridge, ported down the steps, and rode through Station Square. I was still not sure where to head from there. Choice A was to go up the Duquesne Incline and find a coffee shop in Mt Washington (south up a hill). Choice B was to head west, out West Carson (west). That decision was guided by checking my lights and cameras. If anything was amiss, Mt Wash; all good, west. Once heading west, decide: West End or McKees Rocks? As I didn’t feel like dying on outer West Carson, I went with West End.
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The first place I came to was the 412 Café on South Main at Sanctus. I wasn’t too hungry; I’d just had lunch an hour or so ago. But I’d heard good reviews of the place, so partook of a simple cup of coffee and a muffin. [insert tweeted photo here]
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Ride #4 – <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1060727424693006336">Coughlin’s Law, Mt Washington (south up a hill)</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Drh1oFDWwAAY7lR.jpg"><br>
<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Drh1u2YXgAA3kDH.jpg"><br>
<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Drh13VEWwAAgWLk.jpg"><br>
For this ride, I only knew I wanted to head south. How far south, and getting what, I didn't care much. I found myself climbing Sycamore Street, one of the toughest hills in the city. This became a problem, as my chain was skipping badly, to the point where I nearly had to get off and walk. Somehow I found a gear I could climb in, though, and made it up to Grandview Avenue.
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However, there are no coffee shops on Grandview, and precious few choices of any type. I ducked back to the main commercial street a few blocks away, and started scouting choices. There really wasn't much outside of gas stations and convenience stores, and I didn't really feel much like leaning against a brick wall and gulping down coffee from a styrofoam cup.
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Where I ended up was Coughlin's Law, a trendy restaurant that ended up costing me even more than my OTB trip a month earlier. But it got me out of the traffic downtown (Thursday night Steelers home game), and got me some choice cider along with a huge meal.
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Ride #5 – <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1062493678353244160">Crazy Mocha, South Side Works (south near the river)</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dr68WU0U8AAcp3N.jpg">
This one was totally on impulse. I didn't feel like heading straight home after work one day, and the weather was decent except for being a bit breezy, so I rented a bike and headed out the Jail Trail. I wasn't sure if I would head out toward McKeesport like I did in 2016, or simply short-circuit that by picking a coffee shop on the South Side itself. I opted for the latter.
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The trip out was fun! I flew like the wind! Turns out, as I discovered on the way back, that it was indeed a strong tailwind that pushed me along, as I fought a strong headwind all the way back downtown.
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I didn't feel all that adventurous once I parked the bike, so landed at the Crazy Mocha on East Carson in South Side Works, a place I'd been many times before. But it fit the bill, so I got a brownie and a cup of coffee, pawed through my social media feed, and called it a night.
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Ride #6, <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1064239160423325697">Tazza d’Oro, Millvale</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsTv3vJX4AIAcY2.jpg">
For my sixth trip, I limited myself to either the North Where It’s Flat or Distant Diagonal. After losing all of last weekend to a weird work schedule and rotten weather which stayed unpleasant all week, I wondered if I would fit in these last two trips at all. Sunday morning dawned looking pleasant, though, but my initial plan to drive the bike to a different starting point as part of my food rescue mission got kiboshed by oversleeping.
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The chain and drive train got oiled well after the Mount Washington trip, but I found out in my first half mile that I was still having trouble. This was going to limit my travels, but didn’t veto the trip altogether.
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I made it almost to 30 mph on my way down six-lane McKnight, but even this wasn’t enough to stave off the haters who flew past me one or two lanes over, 10-15 over the posted-40 limit, complete with profanity and horns. Just verbal harassment, but good to grab plate numbers nevertheless.
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Upon reaching Millvale, I debated whether to remain there or brave the railroad ballast to Sharpsburg. Millvale would be “level north”, Sharpsburg would be distant diagonal. As I hadn’t eaten lunch, and the brand new TdO was right next to me, that was an easy choice to make. Stop in and get some food.
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Ride #7 - <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1066438624902819842">Anchor & Anvil, Ben Avon</a>
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<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DszAQ7nX4AUrca9.jpg">
Friday I had to work all day, and though I worked from home and the weather was great, it was nearly sunset before I even had a chance to get out the door. Saturday dawned with a downpour, nearly a half inch of cold rain before noon. Some places nearby had freezing rain, so I was almost ready to call the whole day a wash. But it warmed into the 40s after lunch and the rain petered out to a mild drizzle, so I said Rule 9, strapped the bike to the car, and went one town over to start my trip. (Between being hit in 2016, and dozens of horns and verbal abuse and many close passes, all within two miles of my house, I avoid the main road next to my house if I can.)
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Where to go? I wanted to try a distant diagonal, but didn’t feel like driving anywhere beyond where my errand had me go, to West View, a mere three miles away. Good enough, though. Three miles from that is Bellevue, from which I could hit any of the Ohio River towns NW of Pittsburgh.
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West View to Ben Avon is a pretty low-key ride, just rolling hills through the suburbs on what had at one time been a trolley line, so sight lines are good, the grades are manageable, and traffic speeds rarely exceed 25 mph. From Bellevue I knew I couldn’t get beyond Emsworth before I ran out of good road, but when I saw Anchor and Anvil Coffee Bar in Ben Avon, I knew I’d found my destination. Also not lost on me was that it was “small business Saturday”, so I was quite willing to spend a few bucks there.
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Even better, they had Oram’s Donuts! If you’re ever in the NW reaches of Pittsburgh, you *have to* find Oram’s Donuts. Their store is, I think, in New Castle? Some ways up north. You have to look for them! Their cinnamon rolls will feed an army, or one very hungry person. I settled for a donut.
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The trip back to West View was also uneventful. Not a single horn, holler or close pass.
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Trip #7 in the books! And so is the challenge!
<br><br>bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-37116261389190880382018-01-26T22:03:00.000-05:002018-01-27T07:49:17.133-05:005 Musts, 5 Shoulds, 10 Like-tos for the new Port Authority CEO<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">A transit company can do its day-to-day work just fine without a CEO. The buses and trains run, stuff gets fixed or plowed or paid for, as appropriate, and existing projects lumber along to their eventual completion. Upper-level staff can do the routine directing to allocate people, materials and money. What the CEO does, though, is define that direction. She figures out what major work should get done. She makes the connections to keep the money flowing. She thinks outside the box, brings in new ideas, and sometimes has to say no. Some top staff can be placeholder CEOs, but what we really need is a visionary who can also manage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think we have that person in Katherine Eagan Kelleman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We in the advocacy and advisory world must grasp this opportunity to work with the new CEO. What are those things that were asked for 20 years ago and just couldn't ever get done, for whatever reason, yet are still needed? What problems have never gone away? Now is the time to ask all those old questions again. Now is also the time to bring to attention that the world has changed, and we simply cannot do things the way we always used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ask all the questions. Again. Only put some order to it. I ask of everyone to categorize them into "must-do", "should-do" and "like-to-do". I have my bigger wish list, and it's far longer than 20 items. But these 20 always keep coming back, 10 of those are big, and five of those are paramount. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What are yours? These are mine.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Five Musts</span></b></div>
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<b>1. A stable, reliable revenue source for the operating budget</b><br />
Funding the transit system each year has been an ongoing problem ever since PAAC was
formed over 50 years ago. We thought we had it solved in 1986, 1991 and 2013, only
to see the legs of the stool kicked out yet again. For once and for all, solve this.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>2. Peace between labor and management</b><br />
We have one of the strongest labor unions in the country in ATU 85. This is fine if
they’re happy. The customer suffers, the city and county and region suffer, if they
are not. Get their leadership on board with any needed changes.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>3. Management accountability beyond reproach</b><br />
Love or hate Barack Obama, one thing he did right was to hold his staff to a level
of professionalism such that there was not one firing, not one scandal, not one
resignation, in his entire eight-year presidency. Do likewise.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>4. Vastly better rider information delivery</b><br />
The Achilles Heel of riding transit is not having truly usable travel information in
a form and at the time it is needed. Not incremental but exponential improvements
are in order. Think of it this way: Any use of a car where transit could get the job
done is a failure of information delivery.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>5. The respect of the ridership</b><br />
Admittedly the most nebulous, subjective, and unattainable goal on this list. You
will never get there, but you’ll know if you’re headed in the right (or wrong!)
direction. Do the other 19 things and this will follow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Five shoulds</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>1. Return to 24-hour service on a few routes</b><br />
We had it on six routes with plans to expand to eight. One of the annual cash
crunches killed this. Solve the funding problem and this will solve itself. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2. 50% ridership increase in three years</b><br />
We have about 110,000 warm bodies who use the system daily. Decades ago, that was more like 200K. What will it take to top 150K?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3. Restore routes cut in 2011, along with complete implementation of TDP</b><br />
The Transit Development Plan grew out of a 2008 study (Connect ‘09) at the behest of (urban public transit hating) state legislators in the FY06 funding fight, who insisted the system
become more efficient, more cost effective, more responsive to riders’ needs. But
because of the March 2011 cuts, the plan was never fully implemented. Solve the
funding problem and finish this long overdue task.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>4. A fifth bus division</b><br />
Harmar Division was shut down in that same 2011 cut. But don’t rebuild Harmar. Site
a division as close to downtown as possible, and run all that 24-hour service out of
it, thus freeing the outer divisions to better serve the farther reaches of the
county.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>5. Rebuild the complaint system</b><br />
“Dysfunctional.” “Black hole.” “Worse than useless.” Those are the family friendly
terms used to describe it. How does any other system handle complaints?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ten like-to-dos</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>1. Free fares</b><br />
While resolving the revenue problem, aim high. Do it without paid fares. You are
running a horizontal elevator system. Does a building landlord charge fares to get
tenants and their customers to upper floors?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2. Vastly cleaner rolling stock</b><br />
However we’re doing it, the floors and seats are usually disgusting, and are a lot
of why riders jettison the system as soon as they are able. Yes, I know some buses are in motion 21 hours a day. Other cities don't have persistently filthy buses.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3. Revamp the lost-and-found system</b><br />
Tying in with the dysfunctional complaint system, it’s not out of line to say that
if lost articles are reunited with their owners, it’s a miracle. Sometimes it
happens, usually it doesn’t.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>4. Resolve debate over whether a bus is in service when on/off-road or cross-country</b><br />
A long standing labor-management dispute. Several locations in the area have meager
to no service despite a steady flow of buses going past. Operators won’t let them on
because of this argument. Again, the rider suffers, and people use cars more.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>5. Vast expansion of bike parking & bike rental at light rail, busway, and high-usage stops.</b><br />
The world is changing. People use their own bikes, people rent bikes, and we may yet
get a dockless bike share system. But hardly any of the high-use stops via any mode
have a high capacity bike rack. Even neighborhood stops could use a two-bike lockup like the Three Rivers racks.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>6. No-drop cell service on entire light rail system</b><br />
Dead zones in tunnels and underground sections seriously discourage ridership.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>7. Bicycle usage of the Wabash Tunnel</b><br />
There is only one of the 12 routes to bike downtown from south of Mount Washington without either
climbing an enormous hill or taking your life in your hands, and Port Authority
disallows it, due to an ancient and arbitrary decision based on a bad design. Change
the rule.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>8. A more useful website. Specifically, less overhead, more substance, far faster.</b><br />
Trying to use the website on a slow line or old phone is painful. Lose the glitz,
pack an order of magnitude more information on it, and make it easier to navigate.
How does any other system do this?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>9. Return of 6-month farecard subscription, as well as 3-month, 30-day and 7-day options.</b><br />
The six-month subscription was lost in the same FY02 crunch that killed 24-hour
service because it was considered too costly to administer. With the move to
electronic farecards and 16 years of technology improvements, this objection is no
longer relevant. Similarly, a seven-day pass is not the same as a weekly. These
could be bought in advance and given out as gift cards. The clock starts ticking the
first day it is used and ends after six days later. Ditto 30-day cards. Think of a 7-day pass as
valid from a Wednesday to a Tuesday, or a 30-day pass valid from the 14th to the 13th.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>10. Seamless connections to nearby public transit systems, Amtrak, private carriers, and aviation.</b><br />
Make it possible and even easy to transfer between systems from nearby counties, as
well as aviation and Amtrak. <u>Aviation</u>: The 28X stops service long before many
flights arrive. <u>Amtrak</u>: Trains arrive at horrid times, 5:30a eastbound, 11:30p
westbound, when transit availability is meager. <u>Everything else</u>: It’s nigh impossible to move safely between an unused piece of the light rail system, the East Busway, the Amtrak station, Greyhound, a large parking garage, and Megabus's pickup stop by the Convention Center -- a distance of only 400 feet -- any time of day. Fixing any of this is going to cost money, probably a lot. Make it happen, and Pittsburgh becomes a beacon of intermodal travel.<br />
<div>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I urge everyone to join the Allegheny County Transit Council, the officially recognized citizens' advisory group for Port Authority of Allegheny County. Contact me for details.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-3043310751624648312017-10-22T19:15:00.000-04:002017-10-22T19:16:10.743-04:00Coffeeneuring 2017 #1, 22 Oct, Cold Stone Creamery, AspinwallOff to a late start this year due to both schedule and equipment problems. My main bike is out of service, and Bike #2 is limited to shifting only the front ring. Since this makes biking in traffic difficult for me, I am employing the use of a car for the first time. For the first time in over 20 years, I have a car for my exclusive use. This will at least let me vary my starting points.
<br />
<br />
For Trip #1, I drove to Millvale, parked the car and headed upstream on two wheels. This is an improved trail for only a quarter mile, then over a mile of rough railroad ballast. Today's excursion also featured a railroad construction crew which blocked 90% of the passable space. Nevertheless I was able to get by them by dismounting and walking the bike on the far side of their equipment. They didn't even look at me.<br />
<br />
A bit later I was in Sharpsburg, and took the opportunity to explore some of the back alleys near the river. Later, I tried to find a cut-through under the Highland Park Bridge, close to the railroad tracks, but was not successful, if only due to having to stop to pull a wire out of my gearset. I had to backtrack some, in so doing finding a back way to the entrance to the Boy Scouts' Camp Guyasuta, but alas I did not find a simple, level way to Aspinwall.
<br />
<br />
Once in Aspinwall, I figured I'd traveled far enough to qualify as a proper coffeeneuring excursion, so scouted out a place to consume such. Water Works Plaza offered several possibilities, as did a few spots in the village. When I got to the end of the plaza, though, I considered the hour and the sun angle, and so opted not to try to get to the next town upstream.
<br />
<br />
Cold Stone Creamery was the most appealing of several options. A quick check verified that they did indeed have coffee ice cream. I picked out something decadent and sealed the deal.
<br />
<br />
Since I am off to a late start this year, I am going to have to double up on some weeks. The real trick will be getting these trips in such that they are not part of my routine commute.
<br />
<br />
The trip back to the car was uneventful, though I did find the level way back next to the tracks that I couldn't find earlier. It really cannot be ridden in its current form, as it is loose ballast. Boy it would be nice if that could be set up as a direct bike path.<br />
<br />
The last little bit of fun was finding a new set of tire-eating drain grates. Seems every time I try to go someplace new, I find another one of these. In this case, three, all at the same corner in Sharpsburg. We're fast coming up on 10 years since I started tracking these. Coffeeneuring helps me find more of them! Is that a good thing?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coffeeneuring?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coffeeneuring</a> #1, coffee ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, Water Works Plaza. <a href="https://t.co/bhBwyY9OSC">pic.twitter.com/bhBwyY9OSC</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/922207755452211205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tire-eating drain grate, Main at 8th, Sharpsburg. Bad on 3 corners. <a href="https://t.co/TzTJSuOYjV">pic.twitter.com/TzTJSuOYjV</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/922221502967271425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-71815663210000620232017-08-14T18:46:00.000-04:002017-08-14T18:46:53.576-04:00In what way can I help the BLM movement?After reading a friend's thoughtful, well written introspective about the
Charlottesville incident, with a call to action, I have to think, where am I with
the Black Lives Matter movement, and what can and should I do to promote it? This
blog post will serve as a second draft.<br><br>
First, I am pretty sure I don't have any slave-holding cousins. My stock is only two
generations removed from Canada, and prior to that Scotland, the north of England,
and a bit of German. I'm about as WASP as they come. The problem is that though my
lineage is free of white supremacist entanglements, my upbringing is not.<br><br>
In my own lifetime, I went to a rural, all-white high school and a 95% white state
college. At 18 or 19, I clearly was the product of an intolerant background. Had I
not made a couple of strong, lasting friendships in college, I might have remained
that way. To this day, most of my near-blood relatives have
diametrically different views on this topic.<br><br>
The details of when and how I evolved, and who helped, are irrelevant to this
discussion. What matters is that over the years I became what those near-blood relatives refer to
as a bleeding heart liberal and a social justice warrior. In my day to day life,
that matters because my goal in life is to make it possible for people to do
anything other than drive. That means improving public transportation. Owning and
operating a car is darned expensive, but it seems black people end up living where
the only reasonable way to get around is via public transport that is either
inadequate or absent altogether, and costly to use what does exist. The economic
injustice aspect of this needs its own explanation, which I do not care to enumerate
here. All that's relevant to this discussion is I have been part of organizations
fighting to better the lot of transit riders for close to 30 years. To me it is all
too clear where the red lines were and are, and blacks are getting screwed. Specific
things like the fare and transfer policies favor pass holding suburbanites. Being
white myself, conversation with the people from these areas is often awkward
because they see me as the do-gooder, the outsider, there to meddle, or just
white and that's reason enough not to converse. Maybe they're right sometimes; it's
hard to say. I haven't been as effective as I wanted to be, but that doesn't keep me
from trying, caring, or understanding.<br><br>
So what do I do? Posting on social media seems a waste of time, merely a chance to
vent, to throw my lot in with the side of justice, without actually changing
anything for the better. But I have no pull where it really matters, in places which
provide that proper leg-up to those in need. <br><br>
I suppose I need to settle back to what I do best, provide the support to the organizations I
am involved with, and focus on using them as tools to help the afflicted help
themselves. For me, those would be two or three specific groups. First: ACTC, the
citizens' advisory group for Pittsburgh public transit riders. No problem finding blacks who ride transit,
but the organization currently has its own issues, limiting its efficacy. Second:
Toastmasters, helping people develop speaking and leadership skills, in this specific case, getting
minorities to join and participate. In my experience, Toastmasters tends to attract mostly white male professionals. Not all clubs are like this, but many are. It's
just how word gets out. Money, too, is a limitation, as it isn't free, and the dues are high enough to scare many off.<br><br>
Third: The cycling community. Most of the bike rides I find
myself on are overwhelmingly white. Is cycling just one of those things white people
do and blacks avoid? A solution to that might be beyond my scope. Merely pointing it
out and questioning it might be all I can hope to accomplish. Again, I don't know
how to reach out, or to have them understand I am in a position to help, or even for
them to understand that what I am offering is help at all. I fear we may as well be
speaking different languages.<br><br>
Within cycling, my specific purpose is to focus on law-abiding riding techniques,
supporting commuting by bike. Here, though, the places many blacks live are very
hilly, thwarting the very idea of cycling. This has a chicken-egg aspect to it, as
the desirable level places have forced out anyone who can't pay the higher rent, so the ones who need the most help are already living where it is most difficult to help them. If
a black dominated area is flat, it's also distant from where people work, so they
bus instead. So whether because of steep grades or long distances, you don't see too
many black bike commuters.<br><br>
What I will not be is complacent, merely tweeting opinions and posting relevant
stories. I do plan to act. I just do not know how best to provide that help.
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-40347488824517406422017-08-01T17:35:00.002-04:002017-08-03T13:39:41.286-04:00Test-sitting a new busEvery few years, Port Authority of Allegheny County, metro Pittsburgh's public transit system, orders an entirely new style of bus. When they do, it has been customary for them to invite their citizens' groups -- the Allegheny County Transit Council (ACTC) and the Committee on Accessible Transportation (CAT) -- to tour the bus and make comments. <br />
<br />
There is more than a grain of sense to this. We are the end users, and no matter how much planning and research goes on, when all is said and done what often happens is that the Pittsburgh order gets built into a larger order with other transit agencies, some larger, some smaller, and maybe we like some of what gets added or deleted, sometimes not. But we do get one prototype bus shipped in. We, the end users get a good look at it, as do various drivers and mechanics at the garages, in their own time and place. After all, they as well as we will have to live with these beasts every day for 12 to 16 years, the typical lifespan of an American transit bus.<br />
<br />
Monday 31 July 2017 was a gorgeous summer day, bright blue skies, 80 degrees, just perfect for checking out this 2017 model New Flyer Excelsior articulated bus. It was parked just beyond the regular boarding area for East Busway routes at the Penn Park station downtown. When I arrived, the bus and various dignitaries and staff were already there, looking it over. Interim CEO David Donohoe was there himself, giving it a test-sit and talking to staff, management, and a couple of ACTC and CAT members. I myself arrived by bicycle, and within a couple of minutes had checked out the bike rack. It was nothing extraordinary, the same sort of rack that's already on hundreds of buses. Nothing new here; the real fun was inside.<br />
<br />
It helps that I had been on a couple of these tours before. In 1993, I toured new Flxible #2300, along with #2292, one of 10 Orion V buses with a different engine that had arrived only a couple months earlier. I missed getting to tour the 1996 Novabus prototype. I did tour the Neoplan 45-footers (1901-1940), which also involved a tour of the not-yet-completed West Busway, in July 1998; it dead-ended between Crafton and the Parkway West at the time. I missed the tour of the last Neoplan artics (3100-series, in 2004), but did test-sit the New Flyer articulateds (#3200, November 2008). Anyway, a lot of them over the years. In each of these, I learned to listen to the managers as they explain some of the thinking that went into the design decisions. The way to do this is to have an intelligent question or a relevant concern to point out, then just stand next to the right people and patiently wait your turn. Meanwhile, take mental notes. <br />
<br />
One thing I pointed out was that there seemed to be a bit of an elevation difference between the main floor of the bus and the articulation joint, maybe a half inch. That's enough to trip over, and I mentioned this to someone. Fifteen minutes later, someone else pointed out the same thing to me, independently, so I went over to the same official and pointed it out a second time. This time, he came back with me to take a look at it himself. One thing that came of it was that he thought it might be possible to get the big rubber ring around the artic point ordered in yellow instead of black, so that it would stand out better. To be honest, that might be enough. But the fact that the concern got looked at at all was because ACTC was invited to have its say, and pointed out something top brass had missed.<br />
<br />
I counted 52 seats, about the same as existing artics, and about the same as the 1900 series 45-footers that were retired a couple years ago. The artics will be used on heavy ridership in-city routes like the 61- and 71-series, the East and West Busway all-stops, and a few heavy hauling suburban routes like the O12 McKnight Flyer. We could probably use more than these will replace, as a lot of routes are full to bursting, but the net difference after the 2004 order of artics is retired will be zero or close to it. (The real problem is space; we just don't have room to hold 10 to 20 additional rolling stock, as I understand it. Find 30 acres closer to town than the old closed Harmar facility, and $250 million to build a garage, and then maybe.)<br />
<br />
On to the tour. My video camera worked for about the first eight minutes of the visit. About half of that is walking toward the bus and trying out the bike rack; the other half is counting bus seats. Would have been nice to get another 15 to 30 minutes, but oh well. At least I could take pictures and tweet. Here is the video:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/57O8PuDs37k" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br />
Photos I tweeted.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking out the top of a new bus. The New Flyer artics have two skylights. <a href="https://t.co/xqOZJtGfJB">pic.twitter.com/xqOZJtGfJB</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892146904376725508">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New thing for drivers to watch for. <a href="https://t.co/5xdMBb4MRj">pic.twitter.com/5xdMBb4MRj</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892150865565536257">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A bit of a lip to the articulation disc. As a result of my asking, these might be switched from black to yellow. <a href="https://t.co/RcChrsEXRw">pic.twitter.com/RcChrsEXRw</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892151568749015040">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hafta step up to the rear part, like current artics. <a href="https://t.co/inJMEeGytj">pic.twitter.com/inJMEeGytj</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892151833636069376">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two new stuff-holders toward back bc you're not supposed to store stuff over front wheel well. <a href="https://t.co/OafgjOm9Zc">pic.twitter.com/OafgjOm9Zc</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892152573825871872">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">White headsign. That's different. <a href="https://t.co/YhPKsXdcs3">pic.twitter.com/YhPKsXdcs3</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892153839662637057">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Diff seating arrangement in the back. 17 seats. <a href="https://t.co/DjruRFyUBA">pic.twitter.com/DjruRFyUBA</a></p>— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/892154513326575616">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some photos that Andrew tweeted: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mixed opinions on new signs. Several invited viewers agree tho Yellow/Orange/Amber is better and maintains uniformity <a href="https://t.co/k1PZaFZ0aN">pic.twitter.com/k1PZaFZ0aN</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892167264631492609">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More of the rear seating that <a href="https://twitter.com/bus15237">@bus15237</a> mentioned <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewBus?src=hash">#NewBus</a> 3401 <a href="https://t.co/W3duNExXU0">pic.twitter.com/W3duNExXU0</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892168030419079168">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shiny new wheelchair ramp <br>Front and other doors seem wider too <a href="https://t.co/Rzj4RVl4yK">pic.twitter.com/Rzj4RVl4yK</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892170044972642305">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Side doors <a href="https://t.co/UCQjOTnDg9">pic.twitter.com/UCQjOTnDg9</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892170375634833410">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New annoying bar design next to easier use wheelchair seating <br>( please don't vandalize these folks ) <a href="https://t.co/FQX7Y4Y5Mh">pic.twitter.com/FQX7Y4Y5Mh</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892173402148089858">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Possibly new bike rack? Or at least an uncommon one we've not seen. Demo staff at least confirmed handle different and easier to grip <a href="https://t.co/3eQaSwzcZZ">pic.twitter.com/3eQaSwzcZZ</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892174420286078978">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New digital unit box ( for those hardcore transit fans/enthusiasts or operators who follow us ) <a href="https://t.co/BKMslCnR0c">pic.twitter.com/BKMslCnR0c</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892174868418088960">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New rear of the artic brings back the steps on artics not seen since the 3100's but similar to existing 40 foots <a href="https://t.co/tNajVlNsaJ">pic.twitter.com/tNajVlNsaJ</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892177418169049092">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Middle seats on articulating ( bending ) joint reduced to 1 on each side. <a href="https://t.co/ie2EWI2CmT">pic.twitter.com/ie2EWI2CmT</a></p>— NOT Port AuthorityⓂ️ (@PGH_BUS_INFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PGH_BUS_INFO/status/892178154080620545">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-38368726547418747032017-07-29T10:08:00.002-04:002017-07-29T10:08:18.022-04:00The Denver Street StepsIn the summer of 2006, my son took a four-day class at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, located at the time in the building on Melwood Street just off Baum Blvd. I accompanied him on the trip there, as we were going by bus and I was not sure of the path myself. Since I myself was not taking the class, I had a couple hours each morning.<br />
<br />
I asked the lady at the reception desk whether there was a faster way to get to the location other than the circuitous method we had used; I think we had used the 81B Lincoln (now the 82) and walked up from Centre Avenue. She replied that yes, there was a bus that dropped off up by the Craig-Bigelow split, but that didn't save much since you still had to walk all the way around Craig and Baum. But there was an unusable alternative, a blocked staircase that made a beeline from the corner to the building.<br />
<br />
Blocked, as it turned out, by inch-thick poison ivy vines and other major overgrowth. It had been decades since anyone could walk through here easily. But since I had several hours at hand with little else to do, and the promise of being able to enjoy the fruits of my own labor within a day or two, I set to work. My tools at hand: a couple of discarded grocery bags, and Stone Age tools.<br />
<br />
It took all that first morning, but I did get it to where you could see from one end to the other. As good a cleanup as I could manage, and I was done for the day. On day two, I got the rest of it pulled out and thrown over a cement block wall into a small lot full of wrecked cars. At the time, Mayor O'Connor was in the midst of a "Redd Up Pittsburgh" campaign, so I contacted the office and let them know there was a mound of poison ivy branches to pick up. One more pass to pick up just plain junk, and the steps were clear.<br />
<br />
Once a year since, I revisit those steps to tidy up my work. It only takes 15 minutes, once a year, to keep the ivy pulled back as well as the rest of the undergrowth and trash.<br />
<br />
In 2015, the City of Pittsburgh embarked on an inventory project for all of the city steps, all 700 to 800 of them. I assisted with the project on several steps in the Fineview neighborhood on the North Side. Dozens of others did likewise. We observed conditions of usability, overgrowth, deterioration, railings, cracks, and other matters. The city has since used this data to assemble a plan for repairing them. Of course there is far more to do than the city can accomplish in a decade, let alone a year, so figuring out which to do first requires human input. Thursday 28 July 2017, the city held an event to gather that input, which I attended.<br />
<br />
Afterward, I filmed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjeH92S7WrE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this little video</a>, showing what Denver Street looks like now. I had not been here yet in 2017; I don't think I got there in 2016, either. The couple years of growth shows that the poison ivy is indeed coming back with a vengeance. I plan to present the city with my little story here and the video, in hopes that someone else can take up the adoption process, whether it be city crews or simply another concerned citizen a little closer than me, 12 miles away, who can devote 15 minutes a year to keeping that growth down.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-22244959949069304782017-07-14T14:24:00.002-04:002017-07-14T14:28:21.264-04:00New York passing lawsIn some ways, I'm glad I don't live in New York anymore. I would be breaking the law every time I got on a bicycle. NY is one of those states that *require* cyclists to ride on the road edge.
<br><br>
Sorry, NY, your law is wrong. Cyclists should have explicit permission, and be expected, to use the entire driving lane by default. PA has the right idea, explicitly giving motorists the right to cross a yellow center line to pass a bike, if visibly safe to -- same as crossing a center line to drive around a fallen tree. If you can see to pass safely, go ahead and pass. If you can't, you wait until you can.
<br><br>
But NY expects cyclists in the lead to yield to motor traffic behind them. That's just wrong. And generations of motorists and cyclists alike passively accept this. I do not. I'm in front, you're behind me, I don't care if there's a 40 mph difference in our travel speeds. The fallen tree sure doesn't care.
<br><br>
Cyclists *may* release following traffic to pass them with a "straddle pass", by moving to road edge and allowing cars to pass more easily by moving partway into the opposing lane. That technique is called "control and release", and is very effective for maintaining a balance of traffic flow AND cyclist safety. But still, the cyclist gets to decide, not the motorist. The cyclist can see whether the road edge is safe; the motorist cannot. It is neither fair nor safe to require cyclists to ride unsafely, such as between a road-edge hazard and a car passing too closely.
<br><br>
I don't know how you get state law changed. But if I end up in NY for any length of time, you can darned well bet I will be advocating for the law to change, and riding the way I feel most safe.
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-1385574883860039262017-03-31T13:15:00.002-04:002017-03-31T13:15:16.521-04:00My proposal for functioning Bus Rapid Transit in 2017<i>I presented this in front of the Port Authority Board of Directors at their 31 March 2017 meeting.
</i><br />
<br />
I am glad to see that PAAC, the City, and others have finally published a formal
proposal for some sort of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. That BRT is on the table
at all is because the PAAC Board killed the last light rail extension to Oakland
proposal in 1996, and that itself was over a decade since the previous failed
attempt to build it. Half a human lifetime is a long time to wait for a transit improvement.
<br />
<br />
Unfortunately I hold little hope for the plan as written. There is so much
infrastructure to construct, and so many political and engineering hoops to jump
through, it may well be another decade before a single rider can board. We can do
better and we can do it soon.
<br />
<br />
In short, instead of dithering over lane configurations, propulsion modes, station
designs, forced transfers, and a thousand other details, you could have a
functioning plan in place in a matter of months. Implement at least part of the
Connect '09 plan to run "R" routes in conjunction with the existing 61- and 71-series
routes. Use existing equipment, routing, and stops. Do not eliminate any existing
routes, though modifying headways would be necessary.
<br />
<br />
For example, for the 71A, which runs 15-minute service much of the day, run the
R-equivalent trip alternating with the regular 71A trip. The routing would be
identical for both, but inbound after Centre and Negley, the R would stop limited
times until the edge of downtown -- Aiken, Craig, Bellefield, Atwood, Robinson,
Kirkpatrick, and Stevenson, then every stop after Diamond Street. Outbound, after
turning onto Forbes, stop only at Stevenson, Kirkpatrick, Robinson, Atwood,
Bellefield, Craig/Centre, and Aiken, before resuming local service at Negley.
Timing, run a regular 71A at :00 and :30, run an R at :15 and :45.
<br />
<br />
Everyone will still have a one-seat ride to downtown. Everyone who still needs the
every-stop service will still have it. The riding public gets the rapid service
they've waited decades for, and they have it within a year. While I'm sure there
will be a learning curve, it should be minimal. Just like the fine folks of
Bridgeville and McCandless can distinguish between 31/G31 and 12/O12, respectively,
I'm sure the residents along the chosen R corridors will learn quickly enough.
<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, plans can still continue for installing traffic signal hold-green
technology, modifying travel lanes, constructing pre-pay stations, special rolling
stock, etc. None of that is on the critical path to a fast bus, and none of what I am proposing needs the approval of anyone outside this room.
<br />
<br />
Implement this for one 61 and one 71 route in 2017, and commit to running them for
one full year. I think you'll find it will work well, and if it doesn't, you can
call it quits without having built or rearranged a thing.
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-91913890601810846062017-03-20T21:35:00.002-04:002017-03-20T21:58:45.483-04:00My testimony on the Mon-Fayette before the Southwest PA Commission <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good afternoon, commissioners, and thank you for the opportunity to speak.
My distrust of the PA Turnpike Commission dates to my great-grandparents'
generation, who sold part of the family farm in 1937 to build the original
Irwin-to-Carlisle segment of the Turnpike. <br>
<br>
To this day, the road is an over-the-back-fence neighbor at my New Stanton house. (I was out there yesterday. It's now my daughter's house.) My Aunt Sarah, who was 29 when that deal went down, and I, lived together in the New Stanton house in 1987 when the Greensburg Bypass was under debate, and she noted then how similar the arguments were for building that extension, to building the original road 50 years earlier. Meanwhile, even in the 1980s and later into the 1990s and 2000s, I saw first-hand those same arguments for building each piece of the Mon-Fayette project. And now it's 2017, and here they are again.<br>
<br>
The original road essentially killed the family farm as a viable business. That farm
used to supply half of Greensburg with eggs and some milk. So much for economic
development. If the Greensburg Bypass was to bring development to the New Stanton
area, it didn't happen. They were still building Volkswagens out there when Toll 66
was approved. That fizzled, and Sony didn't last much longer. The site is still in
use, but it would be foolhardy to suggest that building a huge road a mile away has
helped it all that much. <br>
<br>
So just remember, as its proponents ballyhoo all these economic benefits, that we've
heard it all before, and it doesn't wash. If you're going to spend two billion
dollars (that you don't have), spend it on stuff we know will work: Fixing local
roads, improving public transit, and making it safer to walk across and along the
streets in these old, industrial towns. <br>
<br>
We do not need the Mon-Fayette project. Please vote NO on adding it to the TIP.</span>
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-37041461188020727552017-03-10T16:30:00.001-05:002017-03-23T08:03:05.978-04:00My comments to the PA Turnpike Commission about the Mon-Fayette ExpresswayToday was the deadline for public comments on the proposed Monroeville extension of PA43, the Mon-Fayette/SOuthern Beltway project (MFSoB, for short). Here is what I sent them.<br />
<br />
I oppose construction of this road. The desired connectivity of West Virginia to Monroeville is already available in limited access form via PA43-Interstate 70-existing Interstate 76 Turnpike, and the slightly shorter US119 path is only local access for a few miles. To get to Pittsburgh itself, I-79 to I-376 works well enough not to spend $2+ billion for a new parallel.<br />
<br />
The long depressed river towns of Clairton, Glassport, Duquesne, and McKeesport, will not benefit from the road in any meaningful way, any more than Trafford benefits from being four miles from the existing PA Turnpike interchange at US22. There already are plenty of other roads in and out of these towns. Fix those first.<br />
<br />
The reasoning for building this road dates to at least 40 years ago. I have lived here 35 of that, long enough to see how little difference the construction of Toll 66 made to the New Stanton area, where I own a house and land since the mid-1980s. That road never did live up to its hype, and the traffic it was expected to carry (25-30K/day) simply has not materialized (~15K/day), while 20K+/day still use US119 through Youngwood. Why should we believe that the same arguments used in 1987 to justify building that road will work 30 years later when they did not work then? Do you really believe that argument is worth spending two billion?<br />
<br />
I dispute your financial strategy. While it is true that no federal or state funds will be used, funding still comes from two general state taxes, one on motor fuel, the Oil Company Franchise Tax (OCFT), and one on a public service, the Motor License Fund (MLF), ultimately borne by the average motoring public who will rarely if ever use this road, and most will rarely use any other part of the Turnpike system at all. If your financial justification is the OCFT and MLF, and if their main purpose is to fund the Turnpike, then eliminating both this project and the OCFT and MLF will actually benefit the average PA motorist by lowering fuel and licensing costs statewide.<br />
<br />
The road itself would serve no useful purpose that cannot be obtained faster and cheaper through other means. If you want to move lots of industrial materials to and from these river towns, that's what railroads, pipelines and the rivers are for. If you want to improve commuter travel, the old PATrain and transit in general will accomplish that. If you want to improve accessibility inside these business districts, do like Carnegie, Millvale, and Bellevue just did with pedestrian improvements, bicycle facilities, improved stream flow, and traffic flow treatments. If you want better roads between the Mon Valley and downtown, then fix those existing roads! Those will cost far less than two billion dollars, be realized much sooner than 2036, and will actually work.<br />
<br />
Then there is future maintenance. I-279 in the North Hills, another road that took decades to build, is now old enough at 27 years to need major reconstruction. The PTC is already in the news for not being able to make ends meet. Do the tolls on Toll 60 and Toll 66 even pay for plowing and salt in the winter and grass mowing in the summer, let alone future bridge replacements? If it does get built, are we then only 20-some years from closing it anyway for lack of funds to keep it fixed?<br />
<br />
Enough. Other cities are tearing down expressways. Why are we even thinking about building yet another? No, we don't need it. Stop thinking that we do.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-50804556710613450652017-01-25T13:08:00.000-05:002017-01-25T13:08:11.458-05:00A solution to rotten transit service, but do we want it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.metro-magazine.com/post/M-20170119-easymile-metropolia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images.metro-magazine.com/post/M-20170119-easymile-metropolia1.jpg" width="320" height="240"></a></div>
While Uber, Google, and others are working on autonomous vehicles, others are working on a specific use for autonomous vehicles, namely, to provide some minimal transit service to areas difficult to serve with full-size buses.<br/><br/>
In <a href="http://www.metro-magazine.com/management-operations/news/719638/alstom-invests-in-driverless-vehicle-co-easy-mile">this story</a> from a transit industry magazine, tiny electric vehicles shuttle people to a nearby bus stop. I can see these being very helpful in areas where it's hard to thread a 35-foot bus around tight, inner-city streets. I can also see these as helpful for getting people from deep inside a suburban subdivision out to a bus stop on a trunk line.<br/><br/>
Pennsylvania state law already allows for similar vehicles. See Title 75, Chapter 35, Subchapter F, Sections 3591-3596 (<a href="http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/LEGIS/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=00.&chpt=035.&CFID=453347471&CFTOKEN=55464317">link</a>). These little transit vehicles theoretically could be stored on-site, in storage sheds in or adjacent to the neighborhood served. Then, whether on-demand or by fixed schedule, these could come either to your door or a nearby corner, and shuttle you to the nearest bus stop. They would not get you downtown, and they likely would not get you from one suburb to the next; they are not taxis. But if your house is a mile or two off the main drag, they can get you down the street in a few minutes instead of having to walk it.<br/><br/>
If you really wanted to go all out, equip each storage shed with a Tesla Wall, so it can be recharging its battery when not in use. Of course, run a utility line to it anyway, so it can recharge when weather is bad, or the neighborhood kids throw a blanket over the solar panels. Just like kids 100 years ago strung clotheslines under the trolley electric lines to knock the car out of service. But barring routine vandalism, they could get some of their go juice off-grid.<br/><br/>
Next complaint: Labor unions. They're stealing our jobs! Well, yeah, they might be. OTOH, those jobs don't exist already. You already don't have service back into suburban cul-de-sac neighborhoods, so I don't see these as a big threat. On a larger scale, every bus driver job in the world might well be automated out of existence in 25 years, so go ahead, be the Luddite and oppose every use right now, no matter how much good it might do, how many additional people might be brought into the system, how many cars might be taken off the road, how many driver jobs are preserved by dint of these stabilizing ridership on outer parts of a route. I cannot and will not fight that argument. Been there, done that, and it's pointless. I'm speaking to the glass-half-full people, and those who can see the way forward. <br/><br/>
I see jobs in this idea. Someone has to design a system that makes best use of them. Someone has to construct storage facilities. Someone has to service them. There needs to be a method to handle on-road situations where they become inoperable while containing passengers. These are solvable problems, but they do mean employment where no employment exists now.<br/><br/>
Anyway, an idea worth looking into.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-1945043092884864252017-01-15T23:20:00.000-05:002017-01-16T00:28:50.590-05:00The 2016 ShitlistThis post is about the drivers who did me dirt in 2016. The boorish SOBs who shoved me off the road, passed me within inches, threatened me verbally or worse, and plenty more who blasted a horn in my ear. For a lot of these, I have video. For a lot of these, I have plate numbers. I went to the police with a couple. For a whole lot of these, as soon as it happened, I pulled over and tweeted the plate, if I did not already have it on video.<br />
<br />
Everyone should do this. Call out plate numbers. It's good practice for when you have to.<br />
<br />
I went through my Twitter feed, my Facebook posts, and my YouTube playlist I titled "Motorists Behaving Badly".<br />
<br />
I should explain what a fucking horn is. A fucking horn is where someone comes up behind or alongside me and lays on the horn, to startle or alarm or force me to move over. Beyond being boorish, it's unsafe, not a whole lot different from coming up behind someone and popping a paper bag behind their head. On a bike, it's unnerving, causing possible loss of control. I will tell you nicely once, if you do this: Please stop.
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
2016 Shitlist<br />
<br />
<br />
January<br />
<br />
1 Jan<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/683006871087742976<br />
JNC-3661 grey Dodge, first #fuckinghorn of the year. Andersen St under railroad tracks. Where the hell did you expect me to go?
<br />
<br />
3 Jan<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/683733718134034432<br />
JYP-2140 #fuckinghorn while *I was driving the car*. I was going 25 in a 25 zone! Pulled over so I could get the plate, & him off my tail.
<br />
<br />
20 Jan<br />
JFT-5505, high speed thread-the-needle pass, Perry Hwy just before Lindley Lane.<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBb-IsIZ4WI<br />
Reported to Ross Twp police, who followed up on this. No charges pressed.<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153813221418955<br />
Same incident I posted last Wednesday, but this time with the plate number: "JOHN FRANK THOMAS FIVE FIVE OH FIVE"
Now, to talk to the Ross Police.<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153804704743955<br />
How I almost died this morning. Hey JFT-5505, would you cut off a car that closely?
<br />
<br />
<br />
February
<br />
<br />
3 Feb<br />
JZG-0283, #fuckinghorn, Perry Hwy northbound at Washington Blvd<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBb-IsIZ4WI<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153843199078955<br />
Classic case of a fucking horn. Pulls right alongside me and honks. The two cars at 0:11 and 0:25 figured out how to pass slower traffic without using a horn.
<br />
<br />
4 Feb<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153837347573955<br />
As I sat at a red light in West View on motorcycle this morning, someone pulled up behind me and snapped my photo. Say what? Ten seconds earlier he was laying on the horn. Best I can figure is that I wasn't doing fully 25, and had let a space grow in front of me, but I could see I was going to be fourth in line approaching a red light.
<br />
<br />
8 Feb<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153844981208955<br />
Post-script to the day: At one point today I was driving 28 mph in a 35 zone, and a car comes up behind me and lays on the horn. All I could think of was, what an entitled ass. How would he know if I'm carrying something delicate? Or maybe having engine trouble? Or looking for an address? At a different point today, traffic was at a standstill for 20 seconds while a family of turkeys made their way across the road. Sorry, pal, you don't get to go fast because of a number on a sign.
<br />
<br />
14 Feb<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153859900513955<br />
How dare I drive 35 mph over a posted-35 bridge? HONNNK! (McKees Rocks Bridge, westbound, around 10:30 this morning). Later, how dare I start to change lanes after signaling and the signal blinking two full times? No, I have to wait for the Lexus going 20 mph faster to get past me first. <br />
<br />
(Browns Hill Rd heading away from the bridge about 1:30.) The damned nerve of some people.
<br />
<br />
<br />
March
<br />
<br />
6 Mar<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/706618731590504448<br />
FRR-2803, dark green Jeep-like. Fucking horn & super close pass. Give this fucking idiot a ticket. Perry Hwy past Cemetery Ln.
<br />
<br />
8 Mar<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153911966698955<br />
East Street close pass, JPD-0473<br />
Front and rear view of earlier stupdity: Two cars pass me after following me down Concord to the right onto East St. The first one is fine, gives me a full lane pass. The second one decides to pass me within two feet. <br />
Front video: https://youtu.be/UVnjRfOurQQ<br />
Rear video: https://youtu.be/Omk8yJbD4DE<br />
<br />
<br />
19 Mar<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10153948118498955<br />
When I'm doing 22 in a 25, there is no reason to ride my butt because you want to do 35+. When I'm doing 32 in a 35, there is no reason to ride my butt because you want to do 45. Both happened to me today -- the 22 on a bike, the 32 driving a car.
<br />
<br />
<br />
April
<br />
<br />
6 Apr<br />
...sequence starts...<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/717876049569325056<br />
I get 10.1 miles of my 10.4-mile bike trip home, and _then_ get a horn in my ear, or as I call them, a fucking horn, to startle or bully.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/717876402377383936<br />
I don't know what it is about that last half mile of Perry Highway, but if I'm gonna get honked at, it's usu w/in sight of my house.<br />
...sequence ends...
<br />
<br />
12 Apr<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/719876492457476097<br />
EGP-2255 small dark red car, very close in-lane pass. Perry Hwy near Thompson Dr.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/719877926360113152<br />
What's maddening about that one was, at next light, 0.1mi later, he rolled down his window to argue. So that was deliberate.
<br />
<br />
21 Apr<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154052698588955<br />
Judge Manning has decided at least one case this week that pissed me off, and a few more that have me scratching my head. First, the guy driving his Mustang 85 mph while high and drunk, killing a girl standing in her own front yard, gets to walk. I think there were more, but that's just this week. (An earlier version of this post said he decided against a cyclist who was obeying the law. The decision happened as described, but it was a lower magistrate, not Manning, I have been informed.)
<br />
<br />
25 Apr<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/724735772771774464<br />
GJH-9608 blue econobox, #fuckinghorn, again almost eyesight from the house. PerryHwy at Lee.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
May
<br />
<br />
3 May<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154081515803955<br />
Someone passed me on posted-35 East Street, crossing the double yellow to do so. Which would be fine if I was going 14 on a bicycle, but I was going 35 on a motorcycle at the time.
<br />
<br />
4 May<br />
...This next one was City Councilwoman Darlene Harris<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727861085907386368<br />
GPJ-8259 grey Jeep, white female, 50. Overweight, smoking. #Fuckinghorn, yells at me to stay in the bike lane. There WAS no bike lane.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727861232598945793<br />
This was in the 15 mph part of East St; I was doing 23.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727861524426051586<br />
When we start requiring drivers to acknowledge that cyclists have a legal right to the road, this bullshit will stop.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727867341812420608<br />
Also, my front camera was on. I might have a good view of her face when I caught up w/her (of course) at the next traffic light.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727868077891850241<br />
Meanwhile, I had just biked 7mi of McKnight Rd & most of East St wo any trouble at all. Just her, right there, where I'm 133% of speed limit<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/727966662088114176<br />
I checked my camera. No, didn't get pic of Jeep driver, but do have decent audio. Will process & post when I get home.<br />
Front video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0V3mkBxZm0<br />
...end sequence
<br />
<br />
4 May<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154084095953955<br />
This is a public service announcement: When driving your car, turn off the motherfiretrucking phone. Last night, two good friends got mowed down by a texting driver, who stopped _not_ because he hit the cyclists, but because he also plowed into a parked car. No, the cyclists are not all right.
<br />
And, yes, I am emotionally a wreck.
<br />
<br />
5 May<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154086348918955<br />
I chose not to wear my front camera today, traveling by motorcycle. Mistake. I missed being able to video a car drift left over the center line *three times* in a half mile. Clearly texting. Around noon, Perry Hwy by the park & ride.
<br />
<br />
6 May<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154088581698955<br />
Walking westward from the bus tonight, on my road at the height of rush hour, I get to the blind curve. 12 cars in a row were on or over the paint line into where I would have to walk. This is the same curve where, when biking (going east), I get flat up against the yellow line, going uphill at about 6 mph for upward of 20 seconds. Without a bike there, they're coming around that curve at 35-40 mph. And that's also why I don't squeeze onto the shoulder on the bike, because they'd be flying around there and not see me until they were on top of me. On foot, I can see them and jump into the grass.
<br />
<br />
12 May<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/730941869811761152<br />
The only unpleasant part of the trip home was getting honked at by the Shaler Shop'n Save, as usual.<br />
<br />
<br />
25 May<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154133453478955<br />
The next $175 I can lay my hands on, I am getting a new rear camera. This morning, I'm on West Commons alongside Allegheny Center, turning onto South Commons, then onto Sandusky. I'm sailing along at 20+ mph (posted 25), and I'm just enough in front of this black car that I got to the Sandusky light first. I also have a car in front of me. The three of us get the green, we all turn onto Sandusky, and poor baby sounds the horn because he has to follow a bicycle up to the light at Lacock, where the car in front of me waits for pedestrians before turning right. Meanwhile, I can slither by and actually get a little space up to the next light at General Robinson, but four seconds later, same black car right on my butt. I had a red for a short bit and now he's less than a car hood length off my back, tailing me past the Warhol Museum up to the bridge. Then of course goes screaming by me on the bridge (two lanes southbound). I caught up with him, of course, as he got stuck behind a van on Sixth Ave at Wood Street. The van wasn't going anywhere for a few seconds, so I slid in between him and the van, sideways, and screamed at him, "Really?" Then got back in the lane and followed the van up Sixth. The impatient idiot turned onto Wood.
<br />
<br />
26 May<br />
Rolling coal, Babcock Blvd by Ross-Shaler line<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909McEzZizM<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154137292468955<br />
If you know your vehicle can do this, and obscure your plate so nobody can report you when you do, you suck.
<br />
<br />
<br />
June
<br />
<br />
4 Jun<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154156837628955<br />
The power was off for over an hour this morning, so I walked up to Perry Hwy and rolled video for 15 minutes. Hardly anybody follows the rules.<br />
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERCf_wvd6wE<br />
<br />
<br />
9 Jun<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/741041809309245440<br />
JYJ-3133 white Jeep, first wouldn't give me 4ft. Then of course I caught him. Didn't wanna know what the law actually said.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/741041990624804865<br />
His wife was impressed I could quote the law, chpt & verse.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/741043472862478336<br />
Also worth noting the male driver of JYJ-3133 threatened to run me over at the next light.<br />
<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154171939093955<br />
And a shout-out to the driver of JYJ-3133, in a white Jeep in Millvale yesterday, who said he'd run me down if he caught up with me at the next light, because I dared to take the lane -- just yards after a sign that clearly says "[bicycle symbol] MAY USE FULL LANE". He beeped at me after seeing me in traffic two more times in the next 15 minutes, so I know he knows me on sight now.
<br />
<br />
17 Jun<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/744011884190404608<br />
HVD-1645, red Caddy SUV that then turned onto Edwood, why was it necessary to blow a horn in my ear while I was walking on t'other side?
<br />
<br />
<br />
July
<br />
<br />
9 Jul<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/751837651406360576<br />
JGL-?045 "?" was a 5,6,8,9 not sure. Silver 4-door sedan. First laid on the horn bc I was going too slow. Then passes me *& the bus* ...<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/751838037773025281<br />
...on a curve, at a traffic light. Somehow no oncoming traffic. This is on downhill 19 in WView btwn McD's & WVwParkDr.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/751838486207102977<br />
Further note that I was in the car at the time! Not on a bike! Passes a car going 20 then a stopped bus & tries to cut in front of the bus.
<br />
<br />
12 Jul<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/753011320245612544<br />
KCM-2589 red Jeep-like thing, unnecessarily close pass, both right wheels on my side of the lane line when I'm clearly taking the lane.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/753011624458457089<br />
This occurred on Perry Hwy, Ross Twp, in front of Pines Plaza, less than one mile from my house. <br />
<br />
<br />
16 Jul<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154268445973955<br />
Adding JPY-1934 to my shitlist. I'm on the motorcycle, on a 2-lane road (Ferguson Rd in Hampton, between Mt Royal and Duncan), going 35 in a 35 zone. This car comes up behind me somewhere around Post Rd and tailgates me all the way down to Duncan. No more than a car length back for over a half mile. I pull away from the stop sign at Duncan, the driver pulls away right after, and again comes up right behind me, but this time also puts on the high beams and lays on the horn, and continues to follow me, barely a car length back. We get up to the corner at Peebles, and I get in the left turn lane to make the left, and he goes screaming past me going straight. OK, fine, there's nobody to tangle with so I abort the left and follow him down to Babcock. He tops out at about 51 mph, never going less than 45. The damn nerve! I've seen the high beam thing on a superhighway, but on a suburban two-laner where there's no passing? Fuck you, pal.
<br />
<br />
<br />
18 Jul<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/755181384323465217<br />
JXF-7341, silver car, passes me on the right in parking lane as I am getting to the right to make a right turn. Brighton by Calif/NCharles.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/755181527709941760<br />
I am on the motorcycle, going 25 in a 25 zone.
<br />
<br />
21 Jul<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/756152149780946944<br />
HNC-9261 #fuckinghorn McKnight Rd. Had 250 yards to pass me, lays on horn, passes, makes immed R turn. On front video. Did not engage.
<br />
<br />
23 Jul<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/756963112322990080<br />
@PGHtransit KBZ-7491 gold/tan SUV turns L dir in front of moving bus, Sandusky/GenRobinson. Props to driver for avoiding crash!
<br />
<br />
<br />
August
<br />
<br />
8 Aug<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/762650413166424064<br />
GXY-9750 white Prius, #fuckinghorn, verbal abuse, Perry at Highland, WView<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
9 Aug<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/762966929619517440<br />
JXT-0440 white car, #fuckinghorn McKnight Rd. At that moment I was going 27 mph, pretty fast for the curb lane on a 40 road.<br />
<br />
<br />
19 Aug<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/766788610888704004<br />
HVH-7696 white SUV, ignorance, honks instead of passing, then full bore pass. Perry Hwy nb, WView.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
September
<br />
<br />
2 Sep<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154407209023955<br />
Stupid drivers on McKnight. I'm slowing for the red light ahead. Car on right passes me and changes lanes left because of the bus. Car on left had been directly behind me, passes and changes lanes right, nearly sideswiping the other car. They didn't touch, but it was close. The one on the left was most at fault, choosing to get back in the center lane when the left lane he got into was wide open. He just wanted to move in front of me.
<br />
<br />
7 Sep<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/773667626404806657<br />
JXF-8177 black SUV, tonight's #fuckinghorn awardee, Perry Hwy 1/2 mi from my house.<br />
<br />
<br />
21 Sep<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154462077918955<br />
Last night's ride home was almost uneventful. I forgot about the nine-inch pass by a Pittsburgh motorcycle cop at the corner of Grant St and the Busway. It was actually two cops. One was in a marked car in the left lane, but his buddy on two wheels rode alongside and passed me in my lane, while I was taking the lane. So he managed to squeeze between me in the center of my lane, and the police car on his left. No lights, no siren, not responding to a call, not in any particular hurry, AFAICT.
<br />
<br />
<br />
October
<br />
<br />
9 Oct<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/785211508531888128<br />
YZL-2589 grey pickup, passes me on R in intersection of Perrysville & Ivory, has to climb median to do so, and #fuckinghorn, too.
<br />
<br />
14 Oct<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154532594643955<br />
I got another "fucking horn" on Perrymont this morning, as I took the lane approaching the top of a blind grade. Wasn't the car directly behind me, but the second in line. We all get up to the very long light at McKnight, I put down the kickstand, set the bike sideways in the middle of the road, and stormed back to have a word with the blithering idiot. She didn't put down her window, but I gave her an earful nevertheless. "Do you know WHY I have to take the lane here? So YOU won't try to do something senseless like trying to pass on a blind grade! And then decide to take ME out when you find a car staring you in the face! Next time, hold your horn, and be patient!" I did not swear. And the guy I had to walk past, twice, thanked me and told me that he knew the rules and gave me the space I needed. I thanked him in return. And as I got back to the bike, the light turned green.
<br />
<br />
18 Oct<br />
I am hit from behind and thrown to the pavement after being tailgated over 200 yards. 7800 Perry Hwy, about a half mile from my house. Car stops; does not run me over. Police and ambulance respond. I am transported to Allegheny General Hospital. Treated and released. This has been resolved legally. Police filed no charges against the driver. Case is closed.
<br />
<br />
20 Oct<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/789161071269511168<br />
HTZ-3306, silver grey GM SUV, yells at me on Grant St to get in the bike lane. There is no bike lane on Grant St.<br />
<br />
<br />
25 Oct<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/790922524783681536<br />
JSS-0222 black Subaru? Grant Ave, Millvale, punishment pass and verbal abuse; then made L turn 100 yards later anyway. I did not engage.
<br />
<br />
30 Oct<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154587132343955<br />
Tfw you're driving a car 31 in a 25 zone, and someone comes up behind you and leans on the horn because you're holding them up.
<br />
<br />
<br />
November
<br />
<br />
11 Nov<br />
PA plate "PUGDOGS" #fuckinghorn, Perry Hwy soutbound just before Lindley Lane<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZBuA9Zu6Ls<br />
<br />
<br />
13 Nov<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/797957126232690688<br />
JBJ-5271 white Caddy, close pass & close pull back in, Perry Hwy 100' b4 my turn onto Perrymont. Literally can see my house from here.
<br />
<br />
22 Nov<br />
Perrymont unsafe pass<br />
Front video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUi2CL8MXko<br />
Rear video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvt73oUAlYs<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154656483513955<br />
Sure, pass me at the very top of a blind grade. With an oncoming car you could not possibly see. (It happens at about :55 in the front video. Rear camera, in first link, shows the guy never even thought about slowing as he approached.)
<br />
<br />
25 Nov<br />
Perry Hwy past HOV, close pass<br />
Rear video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fSYPOoCA48<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154664040863955<br />
46 seconds on Perry Highway. If you see that the two cars immediately ahead of you are changing lanes to avoid something, maybe you should think about getting over, too. The driver of the Jeep waited until the very last second to start to pull around me.
<br />
<br />
29 Nov<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/803768433506746369<br />
Car passes me on right on inside of a blind curve. When did this become OK? <br />
Front video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks1WEQnTGlY<br />
Rear video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJNwunjAOho&t=37s<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154674479303955<br />
Pretty sure passing someone on the right on the inside of a curve is illegal. Pushing me into the opposite lane is just bonus points. Film at 11.
<br />
<br />
<br />
December
<br />
<br />
16 Dec<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154740076233955<br />
Once more, I took evasive measures not to be killed. On foot this time, walking Perrymont, on that same curve where the car passed me on the right, this car comes out of that same curve and does not straighten out. Aims directly for me on the shoulder. I jump into the snow, he straightens out and continues up the road.
<br />
<br />
21 Dec<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/811617866239705089<br />
JYJ-6028, white ?Toyota, someone tell this fuckhead what 75-3301c1 means. #fuckinghorn, verbal abuse, tried to force me into line of parked cars.<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/811618302694981632<br />
Perry Hwy in Perrysville, barely 1.5 miles from my house. I'm wearing orange vest, taking lane bc there's nowhere else TO be.
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154757099253955
Wish I could have gotten today's idiot on video. Blared on the horn repeatedly, then pulls alongside me to chew me out for not riding on the shoulder. Good trick, with 15 parked cars along the curb. PA plate JYJ-6028. White male, 35-40ish. As usual, only 1.5 miles from home. Perry Hwy in Perrysville, between the 7-11 and the fire station.
<br />
<br />
21 Dec<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/statuses/811624516191391744<br />
EFT-8510, do I know you? Long horn, directed at me, but going the other dir on an empty 4-lane road. (Perry just S of HOV Lane entrance.)
<br />
<br />
28 Dec<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/814139007336665089<br />
KBZ-3566. Arrest this asshole and take away his license. I had to bail so as not to get hit at speed. No attempt at all to pass me. Video!<br />
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPpivPC6y_k&t=8s<br />
https://www.facebook.com/unicycleintransit/posts/10154781205148955<br />
KBZ-3566 is going to get a call from the authorities. This is me, bailing, because the car you see at left made no attempt to change lanes to pass me. The left lane was empty. It's a four-lane road. Broad daylight. I'm wearing a blaze orange vest with a blinking light on my bright yellow helmet.
<br />
<br />
28 Dec<br />
https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/814143944212750337<br />
KCG-8367 inches away pass starting from light. Video.<br />
<br />
* * * <br /><br /><br />
Take note how many of these are on <br/>:
<OL>
<li>Perry Highway between Pines Plaza and my house, a distance of about a half mile.</li>
<li>Then another set within the next mile, down to the hamlet of Perrysville. </li>
<li>A third clump is along Perrymont Road, within 0.9 mile of my house.</li>
<li>Along Babcock Blvd in Shaler, near the Shop'n Save</li>
</ol>
<br>Both in quantity and quality, most of the trouble I face is within a mile or so of my house. I don't face nearly as much grief inside city limits.
* * * <br /><br />
I have been keeping track like this for years. I only dug back through 2016 because it's a lot of work to assemble this list in this format. What I really want to do is see if there are any repeat offenders. What else I want is to know if anybody else in metro Pittsburgh has had bad encounters with any of these. If anything truly bad happens, this could be very useful in showing that there is past history, particularly if there is intentionality involved.
<br />
<br />
Expect no apologies for language or tone. If my life is being threatened, I will use whatever language is appropriate at that moment. If you feel you are in some way offended, YOU owe ME the apology for valuing some absurd decency standard more than my life and safety. And you can bet I will call you on it. I don't care who the hell you are, or how long I've known you. Grow the fuck up, and understand that language has a purpose, and some words are there to convey feelings, and being mortally threatened tends to bring out various words. If you're offended, YOU need to change, not me.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-79091057187206828652017-01-13T18:59:00.000-05:002017-01-16T09:56:29.504-05:00My input to PennDOT on self-driving car policy documentYesterday, 12 January 2017, was the deadline to submit input to PennDOT on their proposed policy document for guidelines for R&D concerning self-driving cars, a.k.a. Highly Automated Vehicles (HAVs). A good many of us in the transportation community only found out about this on the last day, so had zero time to do much analysis and still attend to our day jobs.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, I took a few minutes to scan through the 96-page document, study who put it together, and employ a search tool to look for text strings like "bicycl", "horse", "motorc", and "wheelchair". They mention motorcades, but not motorcycles, I noticed. The developing board kindly included General Motors, but everyone there saw the world through a windshield. That was all I needed to know. So in a mere 10 minutes, I composed the following:<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">
As preface, I am an ordinary citizen who commutes about 10 miles each way to an office job in downtown Pittsburgh from a single-family residence in the suburbs. I regularly make this trip by bicycle, and have many times encountered one of the Uber vehicles in traffic, often directly behind me.<br />
<br />
In short, I have had no trouble at all with the Uber vehicles in Pittsburgh. I wish I could say the same for human operated cars.<br />
<br />
My concern with the policy document is that bicycles get only a single mention, in the introductory paragraph. Nor is there any representation on the developing board of anyone from the at-risk communities: motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, horseback, motorized wheelchairs, among others. I was hoping for a more direct inclusion of those communities in the development of a policy document.<br />
<br />
With regard to bicycles, Pittsburgh has a well defined cycling community, both at the representational level in Bike-Pgh, and various members who communicate with one another both in social media and in real life, and whose input could be helpful to anyone analyzing HAVs. Some mechanism to reach out to either or both for their input would be worth a mention. Ditto for other well populated areas of the state. If you did have this, and used that information, it would be a bragging point after all the work is done and these get official recognition. Not having it is opening yourselves to future criticism.<br />
<br />I have no serious objections to the rest of the document. I just want to make sure you are including all road users in your policy development, not just cars.</div><br />
<br />
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-56437106342512674562017-01-08T20:54:00.000-05:002017-01-08T20:54:43.265-05:00100% car dependencyIt is not too often that I am totally reliant on a car to get around. Today was one of those days. Not only did I not bike or bus anywhere, I don't think I so much as saw one. Yet I traveled most of 100 miles.<br/>
<br/>
The occasion was a Toastmasters event at Westmoreland Community College, some 45 miles from Pittsburgh. I got a ride there and back with other attendees. This was actually fun, as it would have been a boring ride going out solo, had I had my own wheels available. For them, they each had a radio of some sort to listen to, had I not been there to converse with.<br/>
<br/>
I am not against car use. I am against 100% car dependency 100% of the time. I would not have been able to attend this event without a car. <br/>
<br/>
I actually got to previous events of this type by motorcycle, even in January, but even that was fraught with trouble: 2016, wrecked on ice. 2014, got there (actually, Zelienople, that time) but couldn't get the bike started when leaving. 2013, got there but fog covered up my glasses so badly I was temporarily blinded at times. So the m/c is not necessarily a worthy option for the winter trips.<br/>
<br/>
Other years, like today, I've been able to catch a ride with one of the many other attendees coming from the metro Pittsburgh area. We all benefit, as we get to discuss matters of common interest. In turn, I've done favors or assisted people, not that either of us feels indebted to the other, just more of that karma I mentioned in a post last week. We all help one another.<br/>
<br/>
Nor is there a concern that the event is in an inaccessible location. Like it or not, while it is quite a haul from Pittsburgh, it is central to the larger District 13 Toastmasters, which stretches from State College PA to Morgantown WV to Salem OH. WCCC is only a couple of minutes from several major highways, so is not difficult to get to other than distance.<br/>
<br/>
What would be bad, for me, is acquiring a car for the sole purpose of driving twice a year to an event 50 miles away. That's what rentals are for. I would sooner drop $100/day for a car I need only sporadically, than $10K/year for the same purpose. Sure, I can use that car for other purposes, but that is justifying the huge cost from the avoidable 100% daily dependency, which to me seems just nuts.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-32844342892972500232017-01-07T02:27:00.000-05:002017-01-07T02:27:01.796-05:00Autonomous bike path snowplows<br />
Attention Mayor Peduto, PennDOT, Uber, Google Robotics, Bike-Pgh, and others with a stake in winter cycling in the city:<br />
<br />
All this talk about autonomous cars and taxis and so forth is missing an important boat. Cycling after a snowfall in Pittsburgh is darn near impossible because the city, or PennDOT, or whomever, does not ever, it seems, clear the bike paths. This needs to happen hours after a snow, not days or weeks or not at all. I myself am the proud owner of a busted shovel, accomplished by chopping ice off of the ramp from Second Avenue to the Hot Metal Bridge in February 2010. Nobody even tried to clear that ramp between the Feb 6 storm and the Feb 20 shovel brigade. To this day, if it gets done at all, it is long after a snowfall.<br />
<br />
The solution is to have a set of brush trucks traverse the bike paths, in the middle of the night if necessary, anytime it snows. If humans are not available to make this happen, it should be done by automated driving, like the Uber cars. Imagine, snow starts to fall at midnight, but at 3 a.m., the automated plows come to life, and begin their routes. By daybreak, the paths have had at least one good pass. If it's stopped snowing, they return to their sheds (or a fueling station), but if not, they repeat their routes. <br />
<br />
This will require some figuring out. Unlike streets, bike paths do not follow the same rules of pavement markings or lane widths. Still, it's a solvable problem. For example, if cutting through deeper snow, it may not be possible to discern where the path is at all, relying exclusively on GPS coordinates. <br />
<br />
But high-tech aside, even if a human was available to do the driving, it's still going to take a fleet of these to handle clearing our many miles of bike paths, bridges, ramps, and other infrastructure. Fuel, routine service, and longer-term repairs, all seem like the sort of thing that has already been figured out for other applications, say PennDOT keeping the grass trimmed along highways, or street sweeping equipment owned or contracted by any of the above. This shouldn't be that difficult to plan and execute, provided the money is available. (Separate discussion.)<br />
<br />
Can we, sometime this winter, develop a plan for getting this done? Give each machine a range of, say, eight miles to clear, so four miles out and back. Some that come to mind:<br />
* Eliza Furnace Trail and Smithfield Street Bridge. (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406147359" target="_blank">route</a>)<br />
* Bottom of Boundary Street to Hot Metal and its ramps to the end of South 18th. (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406151220" target="_blank">route</a>)<br />
* 6th, 7th, 9th Street sidewalks and bike lane, if present, plus ramps to river level (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406158099" target="_blank">route</a>)(only about 4 miles, but many street crossings, plus heavy usage)<br />
* Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne Bridges (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406169070" target="_blank">incomplete route</a>)<br />
* Penn Ave bike lane, starting at Point State Park, looping at north end of 16th St Bridge, and Spring Way out to 31st Street (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406170324" target="_blank">route</a>)<br />
* North Shore Trail, from Alcosan to Millvale (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406190703" target="_blank">route</a>)<br />
* South Side Trail, from Duquesne Incline to South Side Works (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406192461" target="_blank">route</a>)(SSide works is about 4 miles of the 9 shown)<br />
* Strip District Trail, and along the city side of the river from Convention Center to Point State Park (<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1406195173" target="_blank">route</a>)<br />
<br />
That's eight paths, just off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are plenty of others. I didn't try to optimize this, just sketched a few ideas. We should come up with a more scientific approach to this, complete with actual humans with appropriate equipment, to perform a full sweep after a couple inch snowfall. Get some data, figure out what it's really going to cost to acquire and run this service. Put it out there when we get a stronger storm, say 6" or more, see whether or where it gets bolluxed up.<br />
<br />
If we care enough to mow the grass in our parks in the summertime, we should care enough to sweep the bike paths in the wintertime. <br />
<br />
This idea gets bandied about every winter, yet nothing happens. How about this winter, we finally do something about it?bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-66722230545605917662017-01-06T19:06:00.001-05:002017-01-06T19:06:57.986-05:00About a bike lane advisory committeeA current news story in Pittsburgh has Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith proposing a bike lane advisory committee to review any proposed new bike lanes in the city. Ignoring the rather obvious problem that her district is devoid of any bike infrastructure -- there's hardly a bike rack to be found, let alone a lane -- the bigger problem is that it adds a layer of red tape where none is necessary and the equivalent functions are already covered by other departments' responsibilities.<br />
<br />
If we are going to spend political capital on bike lanes, whose purpose is to get more people on bikes, then let's tackle what really needs to be done.<br />
<br />
<div class="small-12 medium-9 column">
I like the idea of an advisory committee. I just don’t think I’m
the one who should be on it. Aside from the fact I am not a city
resident, a more salient concern is that I’m not a fan of bike lanes. I
would rather we tackle the larger problem of intolerant motorists,
something the idea of bike lanes addresses by separating motorists and
cyclists for much of the time, except for when they do have to interact,
and then the unsolved problem becomes a real-time problem.<br />
<br />
In short, rather than worry about bike lanes and how and where to put
them and what they should look like, I would rather we focus on the
99.8% of the lane-miles in the city that do not now and likely will not
ever have a bike lane, but can be expected to have bike-car
interactions. We accomplish that by:<br />
<ul>
<li>Enforcing speed limits, particularly on streets cyclists should be able to use</li>
<li>Prosecuting drivers who endanger cyclists</li>
<li>Assisting cyclists with the knowledge necessary to video and report dangerous drivers</li>
<li>Establishing laws, at the state level if necessary, for a bounty
system to reward cyclists for bringing dangerous drivers to justice</li>
<li>Educating law enforcement, magistrates, and others relevant to the
justice system, to what the law truly means concerning best-practices
cycling (so cyclists don’t get pulled over for taking the lane, as one
example)</li>
<li>Forcing state, county, and city planning and engineering entities to
design streets that make it less possible for drivers to have a chance
to mow down cyclists and pedestrians</li>
<li>Getting road maintenance departments at municipal, county and state
levels to address road surface hazards that endanger cyclists, such as
diagonal rail crossings, longitudinal drain grates, unswept shoulders
which cyclists are expected to use, etc.</li>
</ul>
Somehow, I do not think it is envisioned that a bike lane advisory
committee would have the charter, let alone the teeth, to bring that
about. But that is precisely what we need to get us to the next level of
bicycle usage for routine transportation in both the city, and by
extension, the metro area.<br />
<br />
So, while I will not stand in the way of setting up such a committee
within the city, I do not think its purpose is all that useful.<br />
<br />
I cannot say it often or loudly enough: Make it possible for the average person to do anything other than drive.<br />
</div>
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-66151764312014527102017-01-05T22:03:00.002-05:002017-01-05T22:04:08.251-05:00Back to having an annual passAs of 1 Jan 2017, I again own an annual bus pass. Starting in the mid-1990s, I opted to get an annual instead of monthlies to save money. At the time, you paid for 10 months yet got 12. It's a little less generous now, 11 gets you 12, but still a deal. If you're flush enough to cough up a grand-plus for a single transaction, do it.<br />
<br />
The winner for me, though, was elimination of the second zone. I had previously gotten a two-zone annual, which cost over $1,600. With the one zone, that's about a $530 savings. I stopped with the Zone 2 annual when I realized that all my biking meant I was only using maybe $1,200 in real bus fare, so I pocketed that money. But I'm biking less, so need a cheaper, more reliable method of getting myself around. This is that method.<br />
<br />
How great it would be for everyone to have an annual pass! What fare to pay and when to pay it become non-issues, as are the annoyance of having to either swap out paper passes or remembering to re-up the electronic one in time. Of course, it takes some self-discipline to set aside the cost of a monthly pass each month all year so that you have that grand-and-change for the annual purchase. Not everyone can do that, but every alternative costs more in the long run.<br />
<br />
For me, having the pass is more a form of insurance against getting stuck. I generally don't go anyplace the bus can't get me home, so if the weather is too rotten, or some other reason makes the bike not an option, I can always get where I'm going.<br />
<br />
If you don't use transit at all, taking the plunge to drop a stack of C-notes may seem bizarre, but consider your own alternatives. Cars cost money, big money, if you're using them, and even when you don't, they still have ongoing costs -- insurance, registration, inspection. Those latter items alone likely exceed the cost of an annual pass, never mind any actual operating costs.<br />
<br />
Sum total, next to a bicycle, the most cost-effective form of transportation is the annual pass. $1,072.50 of your hard-earned money, and you can go just about anywhere transit can take you.bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-39362345678413477112017-01-03T13:01:00.001-05:002017-01-03T13:01:07.585-05:00UPMC-induced traffic, and a modest proposal for funding transitAs one of the area's largest employers, UPMC is also one of the area's largest generators of traffic. In employees alone, over 50,000 people travel to jobs daily. In people traveling to receive medical and related services, I do not have figures readily available, but an easy assumption is to triple that figure. Some use transit, but tens of thousands drive.<br />
<br />
It is not unreasonable to think that 200,000 of the cars on Pittsburgh roads on any given day are related in some way to UPMC business. If someone has better numbers, let's see them.<br />
<br />
Being able to provide the capacity for those employees and customers to choose to or are required to drive is a large part of the overhead of state, county, city, and municipal road departments. At the same time, Port Authority has a hard time making ends meet, and its mid-day service, when people need to travel to appointments, is often the thinnest in places where service remains at all, following major cuts in 1993, 2002, 2007 and 2011.Nearly everyone working evening or night shifts needs to drive, since evening service is minimal, and 24-hour service ended almost 20 years ago.<br />
<br />
If UPMC sees fit to pay the salaries of its people to pay the $10,000 per year per car cost of providing their own, private transportation fleets, it seems reasonable to ask it to pay $1,000 apiece for those 50,000 people, to help fund the transit system fully. A solid, stable income would allow Port Authority to put in place the Transit Development Plan devised in 2009, at the service level that, at the time, we decided we needed. It never did get done, because the last of the TDP service changes took place in the same March 2011 service pick that cut 15% of the routes.
<br />
<br />
Port Authority's funding issues always stem from Harrisburg not wanting to pick up the nearly 70% of local operating costs. Getting fifty million from UPMC, along with comparable amounts from other big players, would do just that. Continuing the thought, if all these health plans from UPMC included a complimentary annual bus pass, that would help assure that anyone covered under the plan would be able to travel to an appointment without the hassle of driving, or the cost of parking.
<br />
<br />
UPMC spends millions on advertising and promotion. If that money was instead put into transit fare, then the plans would sell themselves, and we would have a more sustainable funding source to run the transit system we already decided we are supposed to have.
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-39526186964649187272016-11-24T13:05:00.000-05:002016-11-24T13:05:14.014-05:00Coffeeneuring 2016, a summaryA recap, for those unfamiliar with the term: coffeeneuring is a seven-week series of bike rides ostensibly to get a cup of coffee. The term derives from the term randonneuring, taking long bike rides, sometimes very long, dozens or hundreds of miles. Coffeeneuring is intended to be fun, to get you out on the bike, exploring different places, and takes place as the weather is starting to get colder. <br/>
<br/>
A blog post on the topic a few months ago mentioned that the hobby was particularly popular in Pittsburgh, and I'm proud to say that I've participated most years. On that post, I made the comment that it would be a fun project to try to hit seven wholly different destinations in the region. It would be too easy to hit seven coffee shops where it's easy to get to them, such as on or near a flat river trail, but a different game entirely to spread them out. Our hills and the terrain in general are famously difficult to traverse, so let's use that to our advantage, shall we?<br/>
<br/>
My goal, as played out and achieved, went like this:<br/>
<ul>
<li>Week #1: South up a hill. I climbed Josephine Street in the South Side and explored Mount Oliver, before heading out Brownsville Road into the neighborhood of Carrick. I saw few cyclists in this part of town, not surprising as this area is all hills.</li><br/>
<li>Week #2: North Side, near the river where it's flat. I met up with an old friend who works as a barista in one of the local chains, Crazy Mocha, and caught up on what's new and doing with her.</li><br/>
<li>Week #3: Between the rivers. I had been in a crash only a couple days earlier and still quite sore, so kept it simple, another Crazy Mocha that's the café in the main branch of Carnegie Library, just prior to the observance of a ghost bike placement (first anniversary thereof) just a few yards away.</li><br/>
<li>Week #4: A distant diagonal. Allegheny County is roughly round, with rivers going off on three diagonals, NW, NE and SE. I rented one of the city's HealthyRide bike-share bikes and rode southeast, out the GAP trail to McKeesport, some 17 miles each way, taking a side trip into Duquesne. The side trip was a little unsettling. While I was tying up the bike at a possible destination, three teenage girls started questioning me about the bike and why I was there. They assumed that I'd stolen the bike, and were incredulous that I'd biked from downtown. Every answer I gave prompted ever more probing, to the point where I started to feel unsafe, and so left. Even at that, I didn't get out of town before being asked by a motorist what sort of bike I was on. Needless to say, here was another town where I didn't see a single other cyclist. Rather disheartening, in fact. They'd never heard of the bike-share system, and couldn't believe people use bikes as transportation. If this was part of the point of coffeeneuring, to get out into the environment we live in and learn about it, it succeeded. I eventually got coffee and dinner in McKeesport, the next town on the trail.</li><br/>
<li>Week #5: Northern suburbs. I live north, so needed a destination I was not already familiar with. Because of time, I didn't get started until late afternoon, so opted to replicate my son's commute by bike to his job at a local Panera. I ran video of the trip there and showed it to him later. Apparently I made a wrong turn and ended up in weeds taller than I was, which he found hilarious. Oh well, sense of adventure and all that.</li><br/>
<li>Week #6: West. The western part of the city, and its suburbs, are very difficult, even dangerous, to get to. There are only a couple of ways to do it, none of them safe or pleasant. I rode a sidewalk along the one major street, West Carson, where a cyclist was killed only days after the road was reopened after a three-year construction project.</li><br/>
<li>Week #7: South, near the river where it's flat. Actually on a Tuesday, since I knew the coming weekend was overbooked. I took in my last trip at a local coffeehouse, Big Dog. I was also looking for a particular church building, part of a game we play in Pittsburgh called Tag-o-Rama. Figure out where someone has taken a picture of their bike -- in this case, in front of an unnamed church -- post the photo, then go somewhere else to take a pic of your bike in some spot that someone else has to figure out where is. So this trip was part of that game, and a reason to go exploring that part of town. I didn't find the tag, but did find some great coffee.</li>
</ul>
<br/>
For a couple of these rides, I made use of alternative starting locations and ways of getting there, or home. Three of them, I used the HealthyRide rentals, starting downtown. Two others, I used the bus to get me home afterward because of the amount of stuff I was carrying. Our company moved to a new location during the ride series, and I took the opportunity of being downtown to take bagsful of stuff from my old desk home, rather than try to pack it. For me, much of the difficulty of coffeeneuring is the 10-mile trip each way just to get anywhere that isn't north, and then that again getting back home, probably in the dark. Getting hit within a mile of my house commuting home one night didn't help.<br/>
<br/>
Still, each of these rides was eye opening, getting me to experience new parts of town, or known parts in new ways. And isn't that the point?bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1279017957073354574.post-6708161982869829592016-11-24T10:19:00.000-05:002016-11-24T10:19:10.518-05:00Being passed unsafelySome people should not have driving licenses. A license indicates you have knowledge
of the rules of the road, and apply them in the second-by-second navigation of the
roadways such that you can get where you are going safely. If you cannot or will not
do that, you should have no such license.<br/>
<br/>
Tuesday, 22 Nov 2016, again I did not die at the hands of an idiot motorist, nor did
another totally innocent motorist who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time. I was returning home from work, and used the bus to get 90% of the way home.
It takes less than four minutes from exiting the bus to standing inside my house.
The 0.9-mile trip on Perrymont should be simple, just a short climb then a half-mile
downhill. Should. But often isn’t.<br/>
<br/>
There are two blind crests going west off of McKnight, the first at the top of the
aforementioned climb, the second a bit later before the big descent. It was at that
second one Tuesday night that someone passed me, at speed, at the very top of that
crest, and very nearly hit an oncoming car head-on. They were both going 35+, and
missed each other by less than 50 feet.<br/>
<br/>
<div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUi2CL8MXko">Front video</a>. The incident occurs just after :50, or 20:04:58 on my camera's clock (which was an hour fast).<br/>
<br/>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvt73oUAlYs">Rear video</a>. The car at :25 is fine. It's the second one, at :50.<br/>
</div>
<br/>
You can see in the rear video that the guy made no attempt to slow down. He just saw
me in the lane, changed lanes, passed, and pulled back in. Which would have been
fine if there hadn’t been oncoming traffic he could not possibly see.<br/>
<br/>
It's easy enough to figure out what he was thinking. It's a sense of entitlement, a
belief that one should and must proceed at least at the speed limit, without ever
needing to be delayed for anything. Absent any other traffic, motorized or not, this
driver would be going 40 or better, on a road posted 35. I've lived in my house over
25 years. This is simply how people drive, not just here, but everywhere.<br/>
<br/>
But you cannot. If you see an obstruction in the road, be it a cyclist, a garbage
can that fell over, a disabled motorist -- whatever -- and cannot see the way clear
ahead, you slow down, or stop if necessary, until you <em>can</em> see the way clear. If
you will not do this, you should not have a license to drive. <br/>
<br/>
This has nothing to do with a cyclist's right to use the road or where in the lane I
happened to be at that moment. This is all on the motorist. The motorist passed me
at the very top of a blind hill. Had I been a mere 15 yards farther along, that
would have been either a full head-on crash, hood ornament to hood ornament, or an
immediate swerve back into his lane, taking out the softer target -- me -- similar
to how he might have been trying to avoid a raccoon.<br/>
<br/>
What else could I have done? Even if I had been stopped on the shoulder, he would
have moved over the center line at the top of the grade, still colliding head-on but headlight to headlight. So, no, it's not on me to move over or do anything differently. It's for
that motorist to lose the sense of entitlement that says, "I shall not be delayed
even the slightest."<br/>
<br/>
PA plate ZFY-8649, pickup truck, could not tell make, model or year.
<br/>
bus15237http://www.blogger.com/profile/17860940267143493425noreply@blogger.com1