­­­­­These are the last minutes for 2009…and my last minutes! Thank you for reading my lengthy & often tardy minutes. I hope you found them useful. I look forward to focusing on some specific TA projects in 2010!!

Carolina came in wearing a wonderful orange jacket from “Visibility enhanced reflective apparel” – she said no one can miss her now! Recommended for anyone riding in these cold dark wintry streets – ride bright, ride safe!

1. Chair Remarks

Last meeting of the year! Paco thanked the assembled company for the tremendous energy in 2009 & the positive discussion on the Google group – all this has contributed enormously to our efforts & victories this past year. Said Paco: “There’s plenty more to do. We must remember that angry protest doesn’t go as far as rallying local support and seeking positive interactions with our opponents.”

2. Project Updates

a. Bedford Avenue Bike Lane Removal:

• Waving Wednesdays response: Elena reported that there was a small turnout to the first Waving Wednesday on December 16, but we will continue to spread the word for a larger turnout at the next one: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 (8 to 830 AM). December 16 was a really cold day after two warm days – a reason why so few bicycle commuters were out. Next time they might get coffee & donuts. Wrote Elena: “We will be departing in small commuter pools from Dekalb, moving safely in groups as we head north on Bedford. The goal of Waving Wednesdays is to provide safety in numbers for the many bicycle commuters along Bedford Avenue riding to the Williamsburg Bridge who now must commute without a critical piece of the bike lane. Waving Wednesdays is also intended to realize the civic &  social benefits of the bicycle as a transportation option on NYC streets & to foster the growing community of bicyclists in a safe, positive, communal atmosphere.” Elena said they might change the meet-up spot to Willoughby. Continue reading »

While the Manhattan Bridge may not be an iconic marvel like the Brooklyn Bridge, it is unquestionably a vital link between Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Now in its centennial year, the bridge has two heavily used paths; a northern side for cyclists and southern side for pedestrians. With the completion of the Sands Street protected lane, rider counts have more than tripled (~800 daily riders in 2005, ~2600 riders in 2009) and safety is finally legitimately addressed. The southern side however features a beautifully renovated plaza with benches, antique lamp posts, and NO PEOPLE.

Access to the plaza is near impossible with fences blocking natural pedestrian flow. Too often people must hop a fence or cross the Manhattan Bridge’s exit ramp without any crosswalk. In the coming months, construction on the bridge’s bike path will force even more users towards this unapproachable plaza. The Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee brought these issues to Community Board 2’s Transportation Committee earlier this week, asking for DOT to re-examine the area and create a safer, more sensible plaza approach for pedestrians and cyclists. 

The CB2 committee fully supported the request in an 11-0 unanimous decision. Check out the full presentation here, check out Fort Greene Blog coverage of it here, and stay tuned for updates in the coming months as the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee rallies more local support, and hopefully DOT continues its recent successes of innovative street design.

­­­On September 30^th 2009 a group of volunteers from our committee set out to survey commuters as they were waiting for the bus to take them home from the train station. South Brooklyn has been identified by the committee as a location in Brooklyn with extremely limited bike infrastructure. In an effort to increase the amount of cyclists in this area, the Kings Highway subway station on the B &Q lines was selected as an area were infrastructure may prove useful.­

Comments by Murray Latner­­

Comments by Kate Brattin

­Comments by Carolina Griggs

­Former Mill Basin resident and dedicated committee member Murray Latner produced the survey materials and had this to say about the experience:

“Surveying for bicycle lanes and bicycle infrastructure at the Kings Highway Subway Station (B and Q Line) was a worthwhile and informative experience. When I first started the surveys at the bus stops for the B2, B3K, B31 and B100 at 4:30 PM, I was at first discouraged by the blank looks and lack of interest that many of the line waiters expressed when approached about cycling. I recorded over 40 people that were not interested in participating in the surveys, however, there were more blank faces than I could count.   
Continue reading »

­­1. Chair Remarks

• The year is winding down, but our energy is building up. Keep bringing in the new members, new projects, and new ideas!

• Welcome to the students from Transit Tech Career & Technical Education High School in East New York.. They had to attend a political meeting in the community, for a school project. We hope they will let us know how their project turned out & we hope they will be inspired to work for livable streets in their neighborhoods­

  2. Project Updates
  

• Fix City bulk orders of bike racks: Over a year ago, Dan Latorre chose to head up this goal for the Brooklyn Committee. As a result, there is now a beta website, Fix City, where you can suggest bike rack locations for Williamsburg & Greenpoint. The site has been up for a few months; so far 150 locations have been collected. The goal is 300. The larger goal is to make good software that can be used in other locations. Read more about the project on LSN.

Continue reading »