Bike Erie

But that was many, many failed attempts to raise the gas tax ago. A new report from the Tax Foundation shows 50.7 percent of America's road spending comes from gas taxes, tolls, and other fees levied on drivers. The other 49.3 percent? Well, that comes from general tax dollars, just like education and health care. The way we spend on roads has nothing to do with the free market, or even how much people use roads. "Nationwide in 2010, state and local governments raised $37 billion in motor fuel taxes and $12 billion in tolls and non-fuel taxes, but spent $155 billion on highways," writes the Tax Foundation's Joseph Henchman. Another $28 billion of that $155 billion comes from revenue from the federal gas tax.

Rob Ford, the Toronto mayor who recently admitted to smoking crack while in office, was elected in large part by car commuters, and reserves special venom for the menace called the bicycle. He is perhaps the most antibike politician in the world.

From 400 child deaths on the roads in 1957 to 14 in 2009.

Some commentators recently expressed outraged that governments spend money on cycling improvements. Examples include Christopher Cadwell's Drivers Get Rolled: Bicyclists Are Making Unreasonable Claims To The Road-And Winning, in the Weekly Standard, and Bob Poole's A U.S. Bicycle Route System? in Surface Transportation Innovations #121. You could call them cycling critics, because they assume that bicyclists have inferior rights to use public roads and that cycling facility investments are wasteful and unfair, or call them automobile dependency advocates because their general message is that transportation planning should focus on facilitating automobile travel with little consideration for other modes. Their arguments are largely wrong, I'll call them "half-truths" to be charitable, presented with great certitude and self-righteous anger. These articles are published in ideologically-oriented periodicals for readers who share their prejudices, so they make little effort to justify their positions. However, it is important that people involved in multi-modal transport planning understand these issues because they often surface in policy debates.

Getting people out of cars and onto bicycles, a much more sustainable form of transportation, has long vexed environmentally conscious city planners. Although bike lanes painted on streets and automobile-free "greenways" have increased ridership over the past few years, the share of people relying on bikes for transportation is still less than 2 percent, based on various studies. An emerging body of research suggests that a superior strategy to increase pedal pushing could be had by asking the perennial question: What do women want?

Seaway Trail PA is committed to joining NY in achieving the National Scenic Byway status, with both states seeking the All-American Road status. If successful, this designation will make the corridor eligible to receive additional grant funds for various types of improvements; including safety enhancements, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, scenic overlooks/pull-offs, streetscaping, information kiosks, interpretive signage, and visitors centers. A formal working relationship between the County of Erie and Seaway Trail, Inc. will only enhance the likelihood of receiving funding for corridor-wide improvements, with the partnership between NY and PA potentially leveraging additional Federal funds. Planning Tourism Development Plans for Seaway Trail regions, Byway Interpretation Plan, Conservation Plan (under development) and Bicycle Plan (under development). Seaway Trail, Inc. is pleased to extend the opportunity to our Seaway Trail partners in Pennsylvania to participate in a number of ongoing and new projects to enhance, interpret and market the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of these projects further, please contact David Cutter. Bicycle Guidebook and Development Plan S 11,000.00 Existing total project cost $148.000.00; completion 12131106. * Add Pennsylvania to new byway bicycle map and guidebook as appropriate

Library Wish List April 27, 2009 Edinboro Branch Cable lighting in magazine area Bike rack Concrete pad for bike rack Media shelving Total $3,976 $ 570 $ 820 $ 452 $5,818 Iroquois Avenue Branch Bike rack Concrete pad for bike rack Total $ 570 $ 820 $1,390

If we boost the research on pedal powered technology - trying to make up for seven decades of lost opportunities - and steer it in the right direction, pedals and cranks could make an important contribution to running a post-carbon society that maintains many of the comforts of a modern life. The possibilities of pedal power largely exceed the use of the bicycle. One way to solve the large energy losses of pedal power generators is not to produce electricity at all but power devices mechanically, whenever possible. Another way - the only way for devices that cannot be powered via a direct mechanical connection because they do not rely on rotary motion - is to make the generation of electricity more efficient. This can be done by building a pedal powered generator from scratch instead of using a road bicycle, or by ditching one or several electronic components in the power transmission chain. All approaches can be combined, resulting in a pedal power unit that can power a multitude of mechanical devices and generate electricity comparatively efficiently.