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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 24, 2014 at 9:53am

So your answer is 5.   The ATA is irrelevant and it would have happened in the same way whether or not they existed?    It is important to analyze these kind of questions and not merely look at end results.    Just because a team wins a game does not mean that the individual players on the team were positive parts of winning the game.  If Seattle wins the Super Bowl 49 - 42 and Richard Sherman gets burned by Manning for 6 TD passes, it does not mean that Sherman helped his team to win.   It means his team overcame his errors.   That's why is a legitimate question and go beyond the results to judge whether the ATA, as a multi-mode organization is more effective at moving forward the goals of bicycling than a single purpose organization such as the CBF.  Again, I am not arguing that the ATA does not serve a necessary purpose, I just wonder whether the CBF also served an important purpose and this purpose is no longer being served (at least as well) because of the attempt to reconcile groups that are never going to be in full agreement. 

Peter Taylor said:

I'd have to say the answer to all 4 questions is irrelevant. It didnt happen that way.
ActiveTrans is the preeminent organization that has the track record and is pressing these issues
forward. Chicago has made great strides recently in terms of cycling facilites but that has been
primarily because of a supportive administration. IMHO The effect of having Gabe Klein as
commissioner was what pushed Chicago into a different reality. We need to be more conerned about
gauging where his successor's head is at and getting her on board. At this point this is not
clear to me.

Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

The claim that "cycling has moved forward" in recent years and thus the "proof is in the pudding" about the ATA being a better advocate than the CBF is a false conclusion.    Has cycling moved forward?  Yes.    But the question is not whether cycling has moved forward, it is whether Cycling would have moved forward:

1.   Faster without the ATA and the CBF

2.   Faster with just the CBF

3.   Faster with the ATA and not the CBF or

4    Faster with both an ATA and a CBF.

This is, in many ways, a repeat of the Viet Nam War protest fallacy... that protests brought about a faster end to the Viet Nam War.   The argument -- protests and then the war ended.  The problem is that the country's views about the war were already swinging toward an end to U.S. involvement, and a strong case can be made that the protests actually slowed down the swing and thus prolonged the war.   In the same fashion, Bicycles have been making progress everywhere.   Have the ATA's activities in focusing on a few "big" or "showy" projects actually brought about faster change or not. 

Again, I agree that their is a place for an organization like the ATA.   But I think that such an organization will, necessarily not do as nearly a good job for its various constituents as a single purpose organization.   And thus the single purpose organizations are needed.

The Ashland BRT, as conceived, is going to make bicycling much harder in that corridor.  And the Dearborn and other PBL's are, frankly, something that were coming anyway.   This is a movement in cities all around the country and many of these are superior to the Dearborn PBL..  

Consider:

http://www.streetfilms.org/the-indianapolis-cultural-trail/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/22/AR2...

(the DC lanes run down the MIDDLE of the street to limit conflicts with doors, right turns and the like.    Wouldn't a PBL Bike Lane down middle of Ashland, Irving, Western and the like in lieu of the planters looked great? )

Or the Hudson River Greenway (which even limits Pedestrians...)

Reboot Oxnard said:

If the only thing you care about is cycling - and let everyone else be damned - then an organization like ATA that 'works to improve conditions for bicycling, walking and transit' might just not have sufficient focus for you. If, on the other hand, you believe that 'a transportation culture that values safety, health, sustainability and choice' is in yours (and societies) best interests, you might understand and support their decision to expand their mission.

Clearly, the BRT project will make Ashland (and some of the nearby parellel throughfares) less cycling friendly. On the other hand, mass transit is an important component of a car-less (or less car) community and the BRT is intended to provide some much needed relief. I think, however, that ATA is able to be more effective for cycling issues because expanding it's mission has expanded it's user (and power) base. For every Ashland BRT there is also a Dearborn PBL, something that no one would have dared dream of not long ago.

Overall, the proof is in the pudding: cycling has moved forward a lot in recent years. That's only partially attributable to ATA but they have become better at getting a bigger slice for cyclists because they have started to advocate less for cyclists and more for better transportation choices. That's what alliances do for you.

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on January 24, 2014 at 1:06pm

Active Trans has put in a huge amount of effort laying the groundwork for the new protected bike lanes. The Dearborn lane, the Milwaukee lane and others might not have been built without our support and advocacy efforts.

Yes, CDOT wanted to install the lanes and did push for them, but there was public, business community and aldermanic resistance.

Driving the public to sign petitions and attend public meetings, our meetings with the business community and aldermen, and securing letters to the editor in support of the lanes MADE the difference in ensuring that the protected bike lanes were built fairly easily and did not get delayed or derailed as a result of a protracted public fight.

When Mayor Emanuel was elected to office, Active Trans asked him to build these lanes. It was through our efforts that the mayor agreed to make the commitment to build them.

Former CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein publicly said that the city amped up its bike plans and that the construction of the new protected bike lanes wouldn’t have happened without Active Trans’ efforts.  

Ted Villaire, Active Trans

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