Tour update: across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Time for some bike touring! While I won't be camping quite yet, I am excited to ride in what has been described as one of the best biking environments in the United States.

I had a great few weeks in Minneapolis and another week in Duluth, Minnesota, before boarding an overnight Indian Trails bus across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My preference was a day trip but it's a state-subsidized bus line that runs once a day. Buses from each direction (Duluth, St Ignace, Hancock and Milwaukee) meet in the small town of Escanaba at 4 AM for connections. Mine will arrive in the "unincorporated place" called Engadine shortly after 6 AM so I can ride along the northern shore of Lake Michigan toward St Ignace. Then I'll do a loop of the eastern Upper Peninsula ending with a ferry ride to car-free Mackinac Island.

Should be a great ride, as long as my internal hub doesn't cause trouble again. I think I finally fixed it right ... And hope so ... Probably no bike shops on my route!

Episode 31: Nice Ride: Bike Sharing in the Twin Cities

I stopped by the Nice Ride Minnesota offices near the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis.  Nice Ride is a bike share system now in its fourth year of operation and its second year in St Paul.  Anthony Ongaro and Mitch Vars discuss the state of the system and how it is helping to make the Twin Cities a happier and healthier place. Later we dream about moving Nice Ride bikes by bike, and Executive Director Bill Dossett explains the evolution of the local bike network and shares his favorite places to ride.

Learn more about the show and my ongoing transit tour, send questions and stories, suggest destinations, topics or guests by emailing feedback@criticaltransit.com, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Bicycling in Minneapolis: city of lakes and trails

Aside from the cold, Minneapolis is a great city to get around by bike. Unlike other cities which have been working hard to add bike lanes, the backbone of Twin Cities bicycle network is its system of off-street paths.  Trails around the lakes have existed for decades the spine is the newer Midtown Greenway. Built in an old railroad trench, the greenway ranges from an arterial to a limited access highway, with separate spaces for bikes and pedestrians. It provides a safe, fast and direct route across the city and connects with several other trails. Experienced bicyclists tell me that once the greenway opened bicycling took off everywhere. I am impressed by how many people are biking through the winter (at least according to the weather it's not spring yet). The city does an overall excellent job of clearing snow from the trails, especially compared to other cities that pretend bikeways are for recreational use only. It's hard to overstate the importance of the trail network: it's easier for new cyclists to get started, more comfortable for everyone, and accommodates all types of bikes and bicyclists. Perhaps most important, when ice and snow are present, I would much rather be on a wet path than with drivers who don't pay attention even in good weather. That's what makes it so casual and peaceful.

In recent years the city has worked to connect the trail network to more neighborhoods and downtown with bike lanes and bike boulevards. Most of these leave a lot to be desired, especially where narrow bike lanes exist on very wide one-way streets, but hopefully the city is learning from its experiments and willing to revisit them.

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Another factor is the personal interaction. Apparently many car drivers also bike at least sometimes, probably on trails. (In fact, I wouldn't be surprised in this region has comparatively high rates of recreational biking.)  That's the only way I can explain the common occurrence of drivers yielding to me when they are supposed to and even when they are not. I wish I could say the same about riding in other cities.

Have you visited or lived in Minneapolis?  Do you share my assessment?  Should I move here?

Transit corridors in Minneapolis

It is late April in Minneapolis and still no sign of spring. The past few days have seen more snow and rain, including enough snow on Thursday to cause the Nice Ride bike sharing system to shut down and Metro Transit bus routes to be significantly delayed. According to locals it is unusually cold for this time of year. Of course.

The snow hasn't stopped me from exploring the transit system and biking the many trails. While there is certainly a long way to go, the Twin Cities and Metro Transit have made great progress in improving the speed, reliability and usefulness of public transportation. Aside from one recently added light rail line, Minneapolis is a bus-only downtown. That means it welcomes more buses than much larger cities like Boston and New York which are served almost exclusively by fast, high-capacity subways.

Metro Transit groups bus routes onto shared corridors, which helps orient passengers, facilitate transfers and justify the cost of service and facility improvements.

The best example of bus priority is the pair of bus lanes for suburban express routes. Buses operate northbound along Marquette Ave and southbound along 2 Ave S in two bus lanes that run in the opposite direction as other traffic. During rush hour there is a constant stream of buses on both streets.

Other corridors are still in need of improvement. Nicollet Mall, a two-lane street intended for buses and bicycles handles several local routes and is hampered by an arbitrary 10 mph speed limit and no passing room. This is a picture from the central library showing Nicollet Mall as well as 4 St which hosts four of the busiest routes in the region: 3, 16, 50, 94.

Hennepin Ave, 7 St and 8 St serve many buses per hour all day but have no dedicated lanes and force buses to be delayed in mixed traffic. No bus lanes exist in St Paul, even though all Metro Transit buses are concentrated on two one-way street pairs. Most of the streets in both downtowns are very wide and entirely devoted to mixed traffic. There is so much opportunity to improve transit speed, reliability and effectiveness by creating dedicated bus running ways; hopefully that's in the future.

Episode 30: Madison B-Cycle bike sharing

In cities of all sizes there is a new public transportation option that is convenient, flexible and inexpensive. Bike sharing allows you to have a bike when you need it and forget about it when you don't, without the hassles of parking and maintenance. Madison B-Cycle City Manager Claire Hurley explains how bike sharing works, who uses it and why it makes the city more livable. We also talk about utility and recreational bicycling in one of the most bike friendly cities in the country.

Madison B-Cycle was one of the first bike share systems in the United States. Bike sharing has been wildly successful in cities of all sizes and is rapidly expanding across the US and Canada. Check it out when you visit one of these places, and advocate for bike share in your own city. Follow the Bike Sharing Blog to read about international systems.

A few days later I completed a Tour de B-Cycle in which I toured the city by visiting all 32 stations in one day. The second half of this episode features a selection of audio from the adventure.

Bike touring in the winter, on a folding bike.

Many people are surprised I am traveling at this time of year (although it's not supposed to be winter anymore).  They see my little folding bike with small wheels and wonder why I didn't just wait for summer and buy a traditional touring bike. This is not a typical bike tour. For most bike tourists, it's about spending time on their bicycle, absorbing the scenery and carrying everything you need under your own power. Their goal is usually to ride only in small towns and rural areas and camp overnight. But as Path Less Pedaled authors Russ & Laura like to say, there is no right way to travel. Do what you enjoy and find what works for you.

I prefer using my bicycle to explore cities. I have little interest in consistently riding long distances in the middle of nowhere, and I love riding and studying public transportation. In most places it's still difficult to bring a full size bike on transit, which means a folding bike is the best tool for my multimodal journey. I can ride when I want to and take a train or bus when that's a better option.

Winter offers special challenges for my Brompton folding bike as it's not really built to handle snow. I have to disassemble and clean the derailleur at least every two weeks. Yet considering that I have no real treads on my tires, the bike is handling quite well, and the snow is just about over.

After living in New England for a long time I am accustomed to biking in the winter. It's often faster and more comfortable than dealing with uncleared snow, ice and slush puddles and then waiting for the bus, since you warm up in five minutes. Here in Minneapolis, the city does an excellent job of clearing snow from streets and the many bike paths, so aside from the cold it's always fun to ride.

Traditional bike touring would have me riding long distances and camping regardless of the weather, so if that's your style I'd suggest not touring in the winter. But for the kind of riding I do, where cities and towns are always nearby and public transit is valued, the weather is just one small inconvenience.

On a smaller bike you can't carry as much gear. I have only the Brompton front bag and a hiking backpack I've attached to the seat post and rear rack. The limited space helps me live more simply by purging unneeded items and figuring out what's important. While so far I have been staying with the many wonderful people along the way who have offered their couch (including CouchSurfing and WarmShowers), eventually I will learn to camp, and I currently have no idea how I will fit that equipment.

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Probably what I notice the most with a folding bike is the curiosity of others. Many have never seen or even heard of a folding bike. Depending on how I'm feeling at the moment, they may get a demonstration, and the people I trust usually get a chance to ride it. In fact, maybe that should be my new pitch: host me for a few nights and you can ride my folding bike!

Security and possible reactions to the Boston marathon explosion

It's very sad to hear of today's Boston marathon explosions.  It's unusual that nobody has claimed responsibility yet, so while we don't know much, it's important to take a deep breath and not react irrationally. Just a few friendly requests: Let's not use this as an excuse to start more wars for oil, like we did 12 years ago.

Let's not pretend that militarizing our cities will keep us safe or secure. It's already been reported that police with machine guns are patrolling buses in Baltimore and probably happening elsewhere. How exactly does that help anything?

If this turns out to be a foreign terrorist attack, before we react, let's remember the violence that is being committed in our name. We have killed and maimed thousands around the world in the past decade, and we continue to shoot random people in Yemen, Pakistan and elsewhere. We even purposely kill first responders in follow-up strikes. Either way, can we please stop?!

If it turns out to be a domestic terrorist attack, let's think about what would cause someone to take such drastic action, and fix those things.

Perhaps it was just gas leak or something.

Rail lines are not inherently better than bus lines

In my last post I celebrated the nearing opening of the Twin Cities' second light rail line. The project improved a heavily used transit corridor in two ways: it will increase capacity, and it will provide faster and more reliable service between Minneapolis, a major university and St Paul by operating in a dedicated right-of-way.  However, as sleek as trains may be, it's not solely the conversion from bus to rail that matters. Let's first dispense with the myth that trains are inherently better than buses. As a passenger I don't care how the vehicle propels itself; I just want to reach my destination.  What really matters for passengers is the service quality: a high quality transit line is fast, frequent, reliable and runs all day. At any time you can just show up at an easy-to-find station and count on completing your trip without extra effort or delays. Long waits, indirect routing, traffic and other delays are major disincentives to transit use and can happen regardless of the vehicle type.

The reason we believe that trains are inherently better than buses is that in most places we arbitrarily treat them better by giving them priority on the street, paying fares in advance and running frequent and well marketed service. Bus riders are subjected to long and uncomfortable waits, lines at the front door, traffic congestion and unpredictable delays, even though there is nothing stopping us from running high quality bus service.

In places that don't need the capacity that rail provides, let's build dedicated infrastructure for buses and implement all the other things we do without question for rail but never do for buses. For example, proof-of-payment fare collection (before boarding) can be implemented system-wide and would cut running times by 20 to 30 percent. The money saved in operating costs could be used to make other improvements like increasing frequency to address crowding, installing bus priority measures in congested areas and upgrading bus stops.

The question then is, if you really make an effort to improve bus service, will ridership grow so much that you will need rail vehicles for capacity reasons?  If so, great!

Minneapolis Light Rail expands to Central Corridor

When I spent a few days in the twin cities a few years ago, I was excited to ride the city's first light rail line.  The Hiawatha (Blue) Line replaced bus 55 in 2004, and even though its alignment outside of downtown is generally not pedestrian friendly, ridership grew so fast that platforms had to be lengthened only five years later to permit longer train sets.  That experience established the case for high quality, high capacity transit in the Twin Cities.      

Ten years later, Metro Transit is nearing completion of the Central Corridor (Green) Line which will replace overcrowded bus routes. Currently buses 16 (local, all times) and 50 (peak-only limited-stop) carry many thousands of riders between downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and downtown St Paul, and have no priority aside from a bus lane in downtown Minneapolis.

The Central Corridor LRT project, now about 90% complete, is a good example of how and when transit infrastructure should be built.  Too many cities build rail lines on empty corridors hoping for economic development while failing to understand actual transit ridership patterns and improve existing bus routes that people are using now.

As transit becomes more crowded it is important that we address areas of high demand. Trains should not be viewed as magical toys that will attract business, but rather as a tool for increasing capacity. When you have enough ridership, one train set can replace a few buses, which will save you a lot in operating costs. Since we will always have many needs and limited funding, I suggest gradually making capital improvements to speed bus lines all over the city, rather than waiting until you can build a rail line. When ridership is so high that you have major bus bunching, then it's time for light rail or sometimes even heavy rail.

Whenever possible, these things should be done for the entire system. Payment of fares before boarding and bypassing localized traffic congestion are two good places to start. Next year Metro Transit will be operating two high quality lines which should provide examples of ways to improve other lines.

My new favorite bridge: with an enclosed walkway

I have arrived in Minneapolis and am busy documenting transit and bike facility improvements. Look for this site to be very active over the next few weeks. Today I discovered my new favorite bridge: the Washington Ave Bridge linking the University of Minnesota campus on either side of the river. This is a two-level bridge featuring an enclosed walkway in the center of the upper level to provide shelter for the long walk.

An enclosed walkway seems so simple yet so incredibly useful. It's common in private spaces like shopping malls and should be built everywhere a bridge is needed. At least build a canopy.

The entire upper level of this bridge is for bikes and pedestrians only, so you can still walk outside if it's a nice day. The lower level was just reconstructed to add tracks for the new Central Corridor light rail line (the topic of several upcoming posts). It's a critical link for transit as thousands of bus passengers are carried across every day. Next I would like to see the vehicle lanes become exclusive bus lanes, and we'll have a truly sustainable bridge.