bay area cycling news

SF StreetsBlog is reporting on the collision between 25-year-old Nancy Ho and a delivery truck in SoMa on Wednesday. Nancy Ho of San Francisco was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital shortly before 11 last night. She is the first bicyclist to die from a collision with a vehicle on San Francisco streets this year. San Francisco police said she was traveling eastbound on Mission Street yesterday around 8:04 a.m. when she was hit by a Berkeley Farms truck while making a left turn onto Fremont Street. Lt. Troy Dangerfield said the left turn is prohibited except for buses and taxis, and blamed Ho for causing the crash. Read the article (and the hundreds of comments) on the SF StreetsBlog website .

An interesting article on the SF StreetsBlog about the San Jose Bike Party . Overall, the Bike Party captured a lot of the magic that Critical Mass does. I found it frustrating and self-defeating to not hold intersections long enough for larger groups of cyclists to pass through, but one of the characteristics of mass bike rides is how they each find their own comfort level and culture. At least a half dozen sound systems were on the ride, pumping funk, hip-hop and other popular tunes.

SF Streetsblog reports on some new street signs pointed at bicyclists that do not comply with any state vehicle codes. What's worse, the city of Sausalito recently installed a number of signs along Bridgeway that contradict California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 21202 and tell cyclists that they "must ride single file in bike lane" and ride "single file on roadway" when passing through the town. In fact, the CVC allows cyclists to ride in the middle of a narrow lane, does not explicitly prohibit riding side by side, and allows cyclists to leave the bike lane under a number of circumstances. ... City Engineer Todd Teachout said the new signs are not anti-cyclist but are part of a strategy to deal with bicycle traffic. Teachout said that over the last three years "the city has been grappling with a large and increasing influx of not-so-skilled cyclists on city roads." He added, "the signs in question are advisory, not regulatory." The signs, ...

Caltrain might need to declare a fiscal emergency for the last half of this year, which will include proposals such as implementing a $1 surcharge on bicycle passengers. A $1 surcharge could generate $700k to $800k annually, and "each bicyclist occupies the amount of train space that two regular riders take up." A good article is over at SF Streetsblog .