Protest to make Statement

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While surfing Facebook, I came across a post in one of the many bicycle groups asking that a protest ride to  be organized to complain about the current riding conditions people experience riding their bicycle.(Image 52.2)

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Well when someone did organized a protest ride called critical mass a few years back but only a handful of people showed up. I joke to this day that we were critical, but we were no mass.  The ride that is referred to in the picture is the Downtown Highlife bicycle ride.  It's less of a protest and more of a fun ride which meets at the Alamo every last Friday of the month at 9pm. 

If you're really angry and really want to make a point, I would avoid making the same mistake with the critical mass ride. Instead, might I recommend that you crash the Walk & Roll rally that is held every May.(Image 52.1) This event will take place Friday May 6, 2016 at 8AM.  This event celebrates the action taken by the city to encourage walking, biking and riding VIA. But as I wrote two years ago in the posting San Antonio isn't Serious about Bicycles, this event is simply a lie.

So if you choose to make a point, I recommend the following signs in the memes below. Please inform me that your doing this, I'll be happy to spread the word.  And If I do manage to show up, I'll be carrying this image (Image 52.6)

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Images:

52.1:  The official Walk and Roll Rally.  More info can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1686470051592907/
52.2:  The FB conversation that I'm referring to in the post.
52.3-52.6:  Memes that I recommend that you download and/or make similar protest signs. 

Two Years Old

As I write this post, It's coming up to the 2nd anniversary of this blog.  Two years ago, I've seen the city of San Antonio change it's mind from putting bicycle lanes in the right place to putting them down streets that really don't need them.  The latest example can be found on Trinity and Martin and San Jacinto and Martin.  Narrower lanes do make the streets better, but it's been my experience that a bicycle lane would do more good down Colorado and/or Martin.  Since the start of this blog, the city has gone from actually building stuff that works, to just building stuff which I'm dubbing "green smoke."  It's there to say "hey, we're making a progress" when in fact they're not.  Since I'm not spending a lot of time in San Antonio like I use to, I would have updated my latest Useless bicycle lanes, so far, nothing has really change in this regard.  It's like we went back to 2008 to when we as a city was just talking about the future of bicycle lanes and alternative transportation infrastructure. 

It also seems like I predicted the future in someways when it comes to the future of rail in San Antonio.  As I wrote back in December of 2014 in the post Streetcar IV: The Future of Rail in SA, I wrote the following, quote:

"Union Pacific Railroad will also stand in the way like one of their freight trains blocking traffic at a railroad crossing.  They dragged their feet when it came to the linear creekway trails going underneath their railroad tracks.  I'm personally counting on Union Pacific to seal those feet in cement to prevent that train from getting next to the Westside Multimodal Center, and even further to Blue Star and Elmendorf." 

Fast forward to 2016 and the announcement from Union Pacific Railroad that they will no longer be in negotiations with the Lone Star Rail District in the use of their railroad right of way between Austin and San Antonio.  In some ways, I did call it, but not really.  When I wrote that paragraph, I was referring to a possible future passenger rail on the railroad track that parallels I-10 on the northwest side.  When I heard that the city was taking the Austin/San Antonio Commuter Rail seriously, I was shocked and for once I saw hope.  But that has since changed, and today, I'm convince that the only passenger rail we'll ever have is the Brackenridge Eagle.  Hope I'm wrong. 

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As I look back from my Streetcar Series, I see some hope taking place.  In the recent competition of BYOBroadway, (image 51.1) I saw the stuff I wrote about come to life.  As I read the stories from the Rivard Report on the 6 top finalist, I came to see my park come alive that I wrote about back in August of 2014 underneath US 281 and the I-35 interchange.  In my twitter feed I said that I wasn't worried about getting any credit for seeing the competition and I'm not.  Seeing the competition BYOBroadway was credit enough for what I wrote down two years earlier.in my blog post Streetcar Part III, No Need for Streetcars Down Broadway. Now I can only hope that some of those ideals including mine will be included and rebuilt.  Also a warning to engineers redesigning Broadway, if you keep the center turn lane, we won't get the desired results that we're all want which is a nice place to walk. 

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I even entered the competition myself basically submitting what I put forth two years ago on this blog.  I did however change the Midtown section a bit in one of the cross sections (image 51.2) where I put both bike lanes on the Brackenridge side.  But I said that this was a bad ideal because knowing what San Antonio Transportation and Capital Improvements do to the bicycle signals.  Basically they're going to do what they did to the Hemisfair protected bicycle lane, make the bicycle signal not the same as the motor vehicle signal.  If Chicago can keep their bicycle light green with the motor vehicle green light, so can San Antonio. (Image 51.3)

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As I close this blog, I wonder what the next two years are going to bring.  I wonder if we will actually get those lights fixed along the Hemisfair protected bicycle lane, will we see rail back on the ballot, or will we see my worse predictions come true like SATomorrow2040 just being there to add more lanes to our freeways.  I still want to see several changes to the law to take place like not having it be illegal to ride on the sidewalk, like not having it to be illegal to ride your bicycle after dark on the linear creekways.  But knowing San Antonio's government track record, doing those improvements won't be living up to the saying Keep San Antonio Lame. 


Images:
51.1:  BYOBroadway banner
51.2:  My cross section of Broadway of the midtown section facing north with the protected bicycle lane on the Brackenridge side.
51.3:  Comparing the bicycle signals which are green with the motor vehicle green light in Chicago.  The Chicago picture was taken in November 2015 at the corner of S Dearborn and W Harrison looking north.  The San Antonio picture was taken at Commerce and I-37 looking South. 

My 1st Podcast

As this New Year started, I noticed that my passion has been doused with cold water and is currently not as fully alive as it once was.  It's been a month since I went to both meetings and I come back that it seems that the plan of SA2020 and SA Tomorrow 2040 really feel all talk and no action.  Meanwhile, the people who sit on the BMAC are currently trying to get San Antonio to the goal of #VisionZero.
 Now Normally I would be writing an entire blog on what happen, but not this time, today, you'll have to hear about what happened.  This is my first attempt at podcasting, so please give me a pass, it was recorded while I was at work.

Now in the podcast, I will be mentioning about the TIP, also known as the Transportation Improvement Program. And there will be several meetings taking place soon, so it's important that you get to at least one of these meetings and send in comments.  As you go through the list of projects (download spreadsheet here) make sure you tell them that no protected bicycle lane, then no project.  The projects that I recommend are the following.

Project #29:  

Loop 368 (Broadway) Complete Street (Reduces Road Capacity)

A TxDOT project from US 281 Interchange to Mulberry.  Construct separated bicycle and pedestrian facilities  between US 281 and Cunningham and intersection improvements between Cunningham and Mulberry.

Project #41:

MyLink Pedestrian Connectivity/ Safety

A VIA project on the various State roadway system around San Antonio. Construct curb ramps, landing pads, sidewalks and other pedestrian infrastructure and construct improvements to North Star Transit Center intersection for improved transit access.

Project #10:

Citywide San Antonio Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements

A City of San Antonio Project to Construct citywide pedestrian and bicycle projects to enhance safety  (Z-crossings, medians, surface, signage)

Podcast Notes:  
The SA2020 meeting I attended. 
Realizing the Dream of a World-Class City: Driving Action in San Antonio
Pannalist:
Andres Andujar, Hemisfair,
Molly Cox, SA2020,
Sandy Morander, YMCA,
Sho Nakpodia, DreamWCeek San Antonio,
Ron Nirenberg, San Antonio City Council – District 8.
Moderated by Robert Rivard of The Rivard Report.

My previous Blog Post: Why Bother Going and I give an answer to those pesky cars in the bike lane.

Mr Nirenberg, Ever think of Walking?

The Katy Freeway story from Streetsblog.net

What’s Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse Wired.com

#VIAware VIA Suspends Driver for Hitting Man Downtown

What VIA could do to cut down on Jaywalking.  Link of picture

Couldn't find the News story of the guy or Lady who chased a VIA bus and got killed.  If you do have a link, please share it with me. 

Why Bother Going

About a day or two ago, I got a lengthy message on my Facebook page from a fellow cyclist who complained about how nothing is getting done.  He posted his complaints on the Bicycle Collective Meeting photo which I posted on my Facebook page back in September 2015.

Quote:"I went to such a meeting and got nothing for my efforts. It was at the Via metro center on San Pedro. All the officials listened but gave no plan of action to address my concerns, What a waste of time."

He goes on to say quote: "Every month the San Antonio Event Center hosts the gun show. The attendees park in the bike lanes.  The additional traffic from the event make bike riding very difficult. The event center has a huge parking lot but the attendees choose to park in the street instead of paying the $3 fee to park. The main problem is on Meadow way. I called my Council person ,Ray Lopez and spoke to the president of the Meadow Village Neighborhood association but got no positive response."

Now he didn't attend the Bicycle Collective meeting, he attended one of the BMAC Bike Nights which happen 3 times a year.  BMAC, The Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee meet every second Wednesday at 8AM at the Alamo Area Planning Organization, 825 S St Mary's St, across from Rosario's.  All meeting are open to the public, so if you are unable to attend their bike nights, you can try to attend their morning meetings.

After reading his complaints, I got a notification of one of the three annual BMAC Bike Night meetings taking place on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, this time at the Westside Multimodal Center.  Also that night, SA2020 is holding their own meeting called "Realizing the Dream of a World-Class City: Driving Action in San Antonio" which is going to be held at the Pearl Stables. Now since I already spent the money to attend the SA2020 meeting, I guess I'm going there, sorry BMAC.

Now sorry for sounding like a conspiracy nut, but why are both meetings taking place on the same night? Wouldn't the people at SA2020 want the people who sit on the BMAC to be present and give their input?  Even though the person who sent me the message about the SA2020 meeting asking to get lots of cyclist to come to the SA2020 event, wouldn't it be better to have the people who already advocate for cycling be at SA2020 meeting?  It sounds like they don't want anyone who rides a bicycle for transportation to come. Now I'm certain there are legitimate reasons why they just happen to be taking place on the same night and at the same time, but it sounds like they want to keep the cyclist away and focus on what I think Ron Nirenberg wants his plan, SA Tomorrow 2040 to be focus on, alleviating traffic congestion for which I precluded to what SA Tomorrow 2040 was about in the first place back in September 2014.  

Now this is why you need to attend these meeting, because if you're not heard, you're complaints and concerns are not taken into consideration.  Representative Government don't work if you don't go out and vote and attend local government meetings on things you're interested in and effect you. But the question is which one? Just remember the BMAC meeting is free and open to the public while the SA2020 meeting cost $15.

Bus Stops at Malls

I like to wish everyone a happy new year. In April, it will be two years since I started to write about San Antonio lack of building good bicycle infrastructure and not really having good public transportation even though they operate it pretty well.

Speaking about public transportation, my job keeps me away from San Antonio for months on end and I do enjoy it. When I have time off, I get out and explore the community that I am stuck in. Naturally I get on my bicycle and ride around and use the local transit at the same time.

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Here’s a question, why don't VIA have their buses stop at the entrance to the Mall? It seems that in every place I go to, the local transit buses stop at the entrance to the Malls. Now for the record, DART, The T, and the DCTA also don't stop at the entrance to Malls.  It seems to be a Texas thing.

Every other place I go to, the transit system have the bus stop right at the front door to suburban mall. There's no walking across the vast parking lot, there's no walking almost 1/4th mile from the bus stop to the entrance in 110°F heat or heavy downpour. It's getting off the bus and walking roughly 50ft from the bus to the Mall entrance.

I don't really know the reason why this happens here in Texas, but it just does and it seems to be an antiquated thing really.  In all my years of riding VIA, the bus got close like at Westlakes Mall and even actually stopped at the entrance to Central Park Mall.  For a time, it stopped at the entrance to Crossroads, now Wonderland.  So the next time you end up speaking to a VIA bus official, ask them why can our buses stop at the entrances to our malls here in San Antonio.  And yes, Rivercenter don't count. 

Also I noticed that in some cities, the bus stopped at the entrance to grocery stores. The closest thing VIA has are stops in Walmart parking lots.

Image:
48-1: A Transportation Authority Of Northern Kentucky (TANK) route 1 stopping at the entrance to Sears at the Florence Mall in Florence, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.

No One Lives in La Villita.

With being active and working long hours, I rarely have time to catch up on the news.  So it's sad that I came across this story from the Rivard Report only now that was written back in February.  I forgot who shared it on Facebook or who tweeted it, but I read it and I can't believe that I missed such news on La Villita.

According to the commentary quote:

"All reports concluded that re-imagining the retail mix and the quality of goods and services, improving infrastructure, programming public spaces, and better marketing were equally necessary. In short, La Villita is a historic treasure, but much is needed to bring it up to 21st century retail standards. We agree."

So the problem seems to be that not enough people are coming in.  It's walkable, it's quaint an such a nice place, so why aren't people coming in?  The answer to that isn't because there's no coffee shop with wifi, it is because there's no people living there.  Now I'm not saying destroy a few historic buildings and build a apartment complex, I'm saying that no body lives there and we're currently treating it like a suburban mall.  So like every other suburban malls, it has a bunch of vacancies and eventually even the kiddos stop hanging out and the mall closes.  You can point to the success of North Star and Wonderland, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.

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As you look on Google Maps, (Image 47-1) you see an area surrounded by parking lots, those dead areas where we store our motor vehicles.  This is why they're referred to as Parking Craters by advocates like me, because they're a blight on the urban landscape.  This is one of the main reasons why people aren't going there. It's because it is so far away from where they live and there's these wide stroads surrounding it such as S Alamo.  As long as we have this undeveloped spaces being used as blighted storage areas called parking lots, the problems will continue with the historic downtown and downtown viability as a whole.  Because if you don't live there, you have no real vested interest in the place.  If an opportunity arises, we should look into having housing inside the historic La Villita. Parking Lots are simply areas with no activities what so ever.  This is why they're referred to as "Parking Craters."

Now some of you will say, hey, didn't you say La Villita Should be a model for the redevelopment for Hemisfair?  And that I did, but it wasn't about how La Villita was being treated, it was how there's no cars there.  There's a reason why I'm so against cars and that's because cars have more rights than you or I do when we're walking or riding our bicycles.  I don't know how many times I've heard getting hit by a car and the driver just driving off and just getting a slap of the wrist.  And if you don't believe me, Freakanomics did an episode on how to get away with murder, and it was about how you can kill with your car and get away with it.

When we built towns, we use to build them like La Villita, small places where everyone could get to where they were going by walking.  We're now coming back to this original design as we rebuild Hemisfair and redevelop areas in the inner city. La Villita has a heads start in being walkable  because the streets are too narrow for motor vehicles. As the development continues in Hemisfair, we'll see a bleeding effect from people calling Hemisfair home.  Now we don't have to destroy anything in La Villita, but we should work on making housing opportunities available with in the historic neighborhood and around it especially in those parking craters.

Images:
47-1:  A Google Satellite Map image of La villita and the surrounding area. 

Doing Commuter Rail Right Part I

I would like to admit that I was wrong about something.  In my post Streetcar IV: The Future of Rail in SA, mentioned that if any rail transit would be built in San Antonio, it would be along the rail line that parallels I-10 on the northwest side.  Well it looks to be that I was wrong, for now there's talk about actually building the Austin/San Antonio Commuter Rail and the city council approved the money for the project back in August.

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Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for this project and whatever the outcome may be, I will be using it and encouraging everyone else to use it if only to encourage people to see what a proper protected bike lane should look like. In the end, it's not like it's going to be a great success. Now I'm going to put this in a two part series. In this blog post, I'll be focusing on the train operations.

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If you ever rode the DART light rail in Dallas, or any of the other rail transit systems in the DFW area, you would know by now that this train takes about 45 minutes to get from the end of the line to downtown. It takes the Trinity Railway Express about an hour to get from Downtown Fort Worth to Dallas Union Station. The train makes stops at all the station along the route. To ride this train, you have to buy a ticket to ride from one of many tickets machines at the station. If you happen to board the train without a ticket, you'll most likely encounter a fare enforcement officer of DART and if you fail to produce a ticket, you'll either get a $150 fine or a warning which I received after failing to produce a day pass I purchased earlier on a DART bus. This same situation also is on the Red Line in Austin.

Now when I was in Chicago, I rode the Metra Electric District train. I purchased my ticket from a ticket machine as I've always done when I went to other cities, but I didn't have to. For as I just finished purchasing my ticket, I almost missed the train. It's a good thing that the conductor saw me and open the door to allow me to get aboard. As I was riding the train to Millennium Park, I came to discover that I could have purchased my ticket from the conductor on-board the train. For the record, the conductor's official title on-board the Metra Electric District is Trainman. 

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Now this train doesn't stop at every single stop along the way. Several stops are bypassed and can be requested when informing the Trainman that you want to stop there. If you happen to be at one of the stations which the Metra Electric District bypass, there's a light you can turn on to signal the train that you want to board.

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The PBS News Hour recently did a story on the DART light rail system in which they mentioned the fact that more people ride the light rail in Houston compared to Dallas, yet Dallas has more miles of track. The reason that the story gave was that Houston's Metro light rail system is built where people already go compared to Dallas DART system which is built along old railroad tracks. The Metra Electric District is also build along a railroad R.O.W., it was built back in the 19th century built along an active class one railroad, Canadian National.

So here's a question, if the goal is to get people to ditch their cars in choice of transit, why can't DART, DCTA,  the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), CapMetro, and now The Lone Star Rail District, (LStar) the name for the Austin/San Antonio Commuter Rail, do what they do on the Metra Electric District?  The way we plan for transit here in Texas seems to go against the reason on why we all drive cars. The way we operate all the rail transit service including the way we're going to operate the LStar, is by having the train stop at every station. This is akin to driving your car along the freeway and stopping at all the gas stations along the way from origin to your destination.

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We punish everyone who fails to buy a ticket either on their smart phone or at a station. Instead of punishing the people who are unable to buy tickets early on, why don't we give them a chance to buy them on the train with a small surcharge fee so they're more likely to use the system again especially if they're running late.

If we're going to operate the LStar the same way the TRE, and every other transit system in Texas operates it's trains, I can say with certainty that only one percent of commuters between Austin and San Antonio will ever use it. If we fail to plan for express trains between Austin and San Antonio, driving will still be the preferred choice. If we make it hard for first timers to use the train, we simply make it harder for other people to choose it. We have a chance to not repeat the mistakes that every other system in Texas has done. We can either learn from their mistakes or keep on doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result; the very definition of Insanity.

If you wish to comment on the future LStar, you can click here. Don't be afraid to leave a link to this blog post.

Images: 

46-1: The DCTA Commuter Train at Downtown Denton Station.
46-2: The Metra Electric District Train at Homewood Station. 
46-3: A Lady hurrying off the Train while The Trainman stands watch at Homewood Station
46-4: DART Light Rail Blue Line Arriving at Garland Station
46-5: TRE Arriving at Fort Worth ITC Station.