An Argument for Increasing Bicycle Lane Infrastructure

I am super proud of my Navy husband’s fitness and the amount he cycles to work, but I am also sad to say that he has been in three bicycle accidents.  He once avoided a jaywalking pedestrian and skidded under a car.  He also managed to hit a deer and break his collarbone right before a major deployment (deer culling has now become his top priority for local politics.)  But the accident that affected him the most was on a local road that had no bicycle lanes.  He was cycling on Ocean Boulevard adjacent to the velodrome and a car drove around the bend and displaced him right onto the curb.  Luckily a fence stopped him from catapulting into the blackberry bushes and down a steep hill, but it smashed his helmet and he suffered a concussion and two severe skin abrasions.

Bicycle lane infrastructure is important to me.  I believe that we need to continue to build and establish bicycle lane infrastructure so that we can create more safe space for people who choose not to engage in automobile transportation.  There’s a lot of pushback, however, from pro-auto groups and the general public on restricting road space for bicycle lanes.  However, a study of Boston’s bike lane expansion programs found that enhanced bike lanes resulted in bike ridership increases while simultaneously improving the safety of those riders.

Safety of movement is not a special circumstance; it is a right that humans should have when they travel.  Some people choose to cycle (like my husband) yet many people rely on bicycles as their only transportation.  There exists enough evidence that cycling significantly benefits our health and the environment so it is inane to argue that we should depreciate the significance of bicycle culture.

We have the capacity to the share the road with cyclists.  The bike lane expansion projects in Victoria came to $7 million aggregate which is like a fraction of the cost invested in roadway projects for motorists.  The accessibility for motor vehicles is always studied and improved so losing red light right turn privileges and having to adhere to bicycle signals is akin to an only child having to share the house with a newborn sibling.  Yes, some adjustments need to be made and perhaps we cannot drive around as unaware as we once did, but we open a space for other people to move more freely around us.

We must engage the political system and make bicycle lane restructuring a reality.  I continue to encourage the local government to repair damaged public relations surrounding the bicycle lane controversies.  Then, ensure that the lane restructuring considers people with mobility issues and disabilities (i.e. blind folks) so that they can also stay safe in and around the lanes.  Finally, once restructuring has been done, make sure to invest in public education surrounding bicycle safety/awareness and provide cost-reducing programs to open up cycling culture and make it affordable.  We can all move together on this.

Sources:

Cleverley, B. (2018, September 14). Despite critics, Victoria's new bike lanes win award. Times Colonist. Retrieved January 30, 2019, from https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/despite-critics-victoria-s-new-bike-lanes-win-award-1.23430723

Pedroso, F. E., MD, Angriman, F., MD, Bellows, A. L., BS, & Taylor, K., PhD. (2016). Bicycle Use and Cyclist Safety Following Boston’s Bicycle Infrastructure Expansion, 2009–2012. AJPH Research, 106(12). doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303454

Tweeting Exercise

This is an assignment on using Twitter for news releases.

Gregor Craigie, president of the National Widget Company, connects to employees via video to explain necessity for nation-wide lay offs.  50 people in the Victoria area will be affected.  Gregor promises a full return to work once turmoil in the widget industry is resolved. The National Widget Company is the oldest widget company in Canada and one of the oldest family-owned businesses remaining in our country. To learn more about our fight for the Canadian worker, click here - <<Link>>

#layoffs #family #business #widgets #market #rehire #announcement #YYJ #Canada #business

The National Widget Company is pleased to announce the rehiring of all its 200 laid off employees.  A market downturn forced the hand of the company leading to layoffs last year but now market forces have turned for good and we can get everyone back to business!  For our full story, click here - <<link>>

#rehire #market #upturn #widget #company #announcement #YYJ #Canada #business

The National Widget Company is driving success…all the way to the prairies!  We are proud to announce the opening of a brand-new manufacturing facility in Regina, Saskatchewan which will mean the creation of 100 new jobs!  For more information on hiring and investment options, click here - <<link.>>

#announcement #manufacturing #facility #creation #market #stability #widget #company #YQR #Canada #business

Analyzing a Blog Post

Jeff Atwood, in his article “Because Reading is Fundamental,” immediately presents us a visual element in his blog post to draw our attention to user statistics.  He does this to start the conversation about how much more people talk online rather than “listen” (read.) Commenters often engage one another in immediacy with their opinions and information related to the entry or article to boost their contribution ratings.  But are these the followers we need for our work? Jeff Atwood offers some insight on this issue.

This blog post is likely targeted to an audience of Internet-using adults, ages 18-50 years old.  These people are of average or above average intelligence and are likely educated. They contribute to the online community through blogging, journaling, and/or reviewing relevant topics of interest.

Jeff included two pieces of research in his post.  First, the ARS Banana experiment was conducted to see if people commenting on a posted article caught the instruction to put “banana” in their comments.  The instruction was embedded in the seventh paragraph out of eleven and “banana” was not mentioned until the 93rd comment. This provides a possible look at how often people either skip an article to make immediate comments or do not fully read the article before making a comment.  Then the “Slate Experiment” analysed the scroll length of visitors to Slate articles and found that a statistically significant portion of people only read about half of a given article (with many others not even scrolling down.) These initial experiments indicate that there may be a lot of people who engage online information sites who do not actually read entire articles.  These experiments are incredibly revealing yet there still exists some questions. Are other online readers as non-committal as these readers? Jeff only featured two experiments from two different online information outlets. Maybe these article readers have less time to invest as, say, a New York Times reader does.

Regardless, though, the main point of the blog post is that many readers simply do not “listen” online enough.  Readers tend to spend their time exchanging comments about a particular subject when they barely even read the featured piece in the first place.  Jeff’s solution? Incentivize the reading.

Jeff proposes four main strategies to help bloggers get people to read more.  First of all, he recommends removing any boundaries to reading (i.e. pagination.)  The less a person has to do to continue reading, the more likely they are to continue reading.  Secondly, he recommends that bloggers measure the read time of their visitors. This gives the authors an idea of what kinds of posts are being read and can help focus content (and it also helps the site owners learn who is worthy of their time.)  Next, he emphasizes using “gamification” to reward readers for doing what they do best - reading. Last of all, update your article’s traffic live as it comes in. Make it dynamic instead of a lifeless back and forth debate so people can engage in all aspects of the material.

The research may be limited yet the message is still useful.  There is everything to gain from creating incentives for folks to read more about what they comment on.  This creates a wider more informed audience and the effort of the writer is rewarded in full.

"Because Reading is Fundamental" - Jeff Atwood