[*BCM*] Opinions on move by MassBike

[turtle]

Thank you Tom for letting us know why MassBike is so kick ass!

That police training program is world class.  There is nothing like it
anywhere, as far as I know.  And the US government is actually going to
give police officers training credits for completing the class.  (Just
like public school teachers, police have to take classes to keep their
jobs.)  A lot of work went into the project, and MassBike should be
very proud of it!  (Acknowledgement: I worked on it, though most of my
work did not make it into the final version.)

Also, to address Anne's comments about sidepaths, I would like to let
everyone know that MassBike's official policy is to promote SAFE biking
as the number one goal.  And, because of the many studies that have done
on sidepaths (aka, the Dutch type segregated bike facilities) showing
them to be far more dangerous than shared vehicle facilities (like, you
know, normal roads), MassBike, as well as the US highway designers,
cannot in good faith promote them.  

I know it seems contrary to most people's thinking, but it's true,
segregated facilities are more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians
for a number of reasons!  The biggest reason there is often a lot of
support for them on a government level is that it gets bicyclists "out
of the way" of car drivers.  (Cars are the only SERIOUS form of
transportation, you know!)  The fact is, these segregated facilties
turn bicyclists into second class citizens.  And I, for one, don't want
to let that happen.  We already are treated badly enough - most people
expect cyclists to hug the gutter like some disgusting rodent - let's
not actively work to degregate ouselves more.  

For more info on the dangers of sidepaths, go here:

http://www.bicycledriving.com/sidepaths.htm

And, for a facility that might acually be really great, go here:

http://www.bicycledriving.com/bfz/


Peace, love, and bicycles,

-Turtle
Seperate is not equal.