Area cyclists have long been aware of the risks with riding over certain sewer grates due their design that can allow for tires to get caught, thus causing an accident for the person riding the bike. With track work nearly complete, the same is true for cyclists navigating streets with train tracks on them.
While the risks posed by such an arrangement are minimal and easily avoided, local transportation officials are working to make sure that there are no problems. As a result, SORTA and Queen City Bike have put together some recommendations for people riding bikes on streets where the streetcar operates.
They suggest to look and listen for trains, and to never cross in front of a moving train as it is approaching; be aware that rails can be slippery when wet; cross tracks at a 90-degree angle; and to just generally practice safe riding techniques and maintain awareness.
“Cincinnati is becoming increasingly bike-friendly and we want to ensure that riders are aware of these simple safety tips that can help them avoid potential falls or damage to their bikes when riding along the streetcar route,” said Metro’s System Safety Director T.J. Thorn.
Queen City Bike is also working with Cincy Red Bike to offer free streetcar safety clinics every second Saturday of the month at 10am in Washington Park. Organizers say that the free clinics will run through October, which is just after the scheduled arrival of Cincinnati’s first streetcar vehicles. At these clinics bicyclists will learn how to safely ride adjacent to the streetcar tracks, and how to properly cross over the tracks.
Ohio has maintained its ranking as the 16th best state for bicycling in 2015, according to the League of American Bicyclists. The Buckeye state was previously ranked 16th in 2014, after a big jump from 32nd the previous year. This position places the state as the fourth best in the Midwest, behind just Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
The ranking is issued after compiling the results of a Bicycle Friendly State questionnaire that is answered by a coordinator in each state, and is based on five criteria: Legislation and Enforcement, Policies and Programs, Infrastructure and Funding, Education and Encouragement, and Evaluation and Planning.
The state scored a total of 45.3 points out of a possible 100, and fared best in terms of its Education and Outreach, but scored lowest in its Evaluation and Planning.
“I’m excited about where Ohio is,” Frank Henson, President of Queen City Bike, told UrbanCincy. He said that he felt that even though Ohio gained in its scoring of points, the reason it did not move higher in the ranking is due to the investments being made elsewhere around the country.
“While Ohio continued to do a lot of great things, especially here in Cincinnati and neighboring communities, other states were ramping up,” Henson said.
Leadership at Queen City Bike believes that Ohio has the potential to move up in next year’s ranking with the possible passage of House Bill 154.
Chuck Smith, Chairman of the Ohio Bicycle Federation, agreed and said that the top two suggestions from the League of American Bicyclists to improve the state’s ranking are both addressed in the bill. The first is a statewide requirement for vehicles to provide three feet of clearance when passing bikes, which is already an ordinance in Cincinnati. The second is a “dead red” law, which would allow all vehicles, including bicycles, to proceed through an intersection if they are not detected by traffic control devices.
“It’s important for cyclists to be legal, but bikes are sometimes outside of the system” Smith said in reference to many traffic control devices that are unable to detect the presence of people riding bikes.
One of the other major items recommended by the League of American Bicyclists is the adoption of a statewide Complete Streets policy – something both state and local officials continue to struggle with all over Ohio.
Julie Walcoff, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager of the Ohio Department of Transportation, said there are several other actions being taken at the state level that could further bolster the state’s national ranking.
“We’re putting together a safety coalition that will encompass advocates, communities around the state, and other organizations that are interested in bicycle and pedestrian safety,” Walcoff told UrbanCincy. “We’ll be using that group to help develop a statewide educational campaign that focuses on road users of all types and on law enforcement.”
Central Parkway Protected Bike Lane [Eric Anspach]
In addition, ODOT recently kicked off an initiative to designate proposed US and state bike routes throughout the Ohio, connecting the 17 largest cities in the state. ODOT officials say that these routes will use roads that already have an acceptable level of safety, along with existing paths.
While many have described ODOT as an agency almost entirely focused on highway building, Walcoff says they pride themselves on their working relationships with bicycle advocacy organizations throughout the state. This, she says, can help not only maintain Ohio’s current ranking but help it get even better in the future.
In Columbus, advocacy group Yay Bikes! is working with the city to increase the focus on design and engineering of the street infrastructure. Executive Director Catherine Girves says that to help improve the current situation, they are having engineers budget time each week to ride the streets with their group in order to better understand the needs of those people riding bikes.
Back in Cincinnati, Henson noted the addition of Cincy Red Bike and the Central Parkway protected bike lane – the first of its kind in Ohio – as two key developments over the past year that have helped state’s ranking. Following the Cincinnati’s lead, both Cleveland and Columbus are now planning protected bike lanes of their own.
While much of the focus has been on core cities, Queen City Bike is also working with the Connecting Active Communities Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from nine communities in Cincinnati’s northern suburbs: Blue Ash, Evendale, Glendale, Lockland, Montgomery, Reading, Sharonville, Woodlawn and Wyoming. As of now, this group is working to develop a coordinated network for bicycling and other non-motorized modes of transportation on a multi-jurisdictional level.
Kentucky, meanwhile, ranked as the second worst state in the nation with just 18.3 points. This represented a 0.8 point drop from the previous year.
Mayor Nan Whaley was the first to buy a Link membership. The first 100 members will get $10 off of the $65 dollar membership. Otherwise, renting a bike for 24 hours will cost $5, but will need to be ‘checked-in’ every 30 minutes at any kiosk. Link will be the 31st bike share program system in the country when it launches in May.
Walnut Hills and Northside have long been two of the region’s busiest transit hubs, and now it appears that they will finally get their due as part of an ongoing effort by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) to broaden its services beyond its traditional hub-and-spoke model.
Two action items before today’s meeting of SORTA’s Planning & Operations Committee call for the award of funds to two companies to design transit hubs in both neighborhoods.
Northside Transit Center Location [SORTA]
The first item is a $126,000 award to Woolpert. This contract would fund the final design and construction contract services for what is being called the Walnut Hills Transit District, which would include new passenger shelters, lighting, route information, sidewalk improvements and other amenities at seven bus stops throughout the Peeble’s Corner District.
The second item on the agenda would provide $319,000 to Michael Schuster Associates Architects (MSA), who also designed Government Square and the Uptown Transit District, to provide the preliminary and final design and construction contract administration services for an off-street transit center in the heart of Northside’s business district at the intersection of Spring Grove, Hamilton and Blue Rock.
According to official documents, the new transit center will include new passenger shelters, pedestrian-scale lighting, next bus information, sidewalk and waiting area improvements, and other amenities. Further adding to the firm’s strength, MSA had completed a conceptual layout for the Northside Transit Center in 2012.
According to SORTA officials, the funds for both of these allocations will come from the agency’s annual capital budget funding.
For Northside it comes at a particularly good time, as the first Cincy Red Bike station outside of Uptown or Downtown is currently being installed.
Cincy Red Bike has been in operation for nearly six months. So far, city leaders and system operators are encouraged by the more than 600 members and roughly 18,000 trips that have been made during that time. As a result, many are now calling for the system’s expansion as it heads into the best six weather months of the year.
As of now, Cincy Red Bike’s system includes 30 stations throughout Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Clifton Heights, Clifton, Corryville, University Heights and Avondale. While 263 bikes were originally purchased, the bike share system’s executive director, Jason Barron, says that there are normally around 220 bikes deployed, and that the number has dropped to as low as 140 during recent heavy snow events.
Barron told UrbanCincy that the goal was to reach 52,000 rides in the first year of operations. While Cincy Red Bike has so far provided approximately one-third of that, they say they are undeterred.
“We are obviously under that projection so far, but that assumes linear ride rates,” he explained. “Because of the weather, we do not expect to be above the pace so far. What we do know is that we had huge numbers in our first month, which was decent weather, and we have seen a great spike on decent weather days in the winter.”
When comparing Cincinnati’s performance to other cold weather peers, Barron’s optimism appears to be justified. In January, for example, Cincy Red Bike logged around 1,800 rides, while the system in Indianapolis had just 1,200.
While opening up to cold weather months may seem like a rough way to start a system, Barron says that it was, in part, intentional to have a slow start period in order to have time to learn how to make modifications to the system and its operations.
One of those lessons learned is that stations like the one at Main/Orchard are far more popular than what was originally anticipated. This falls in line with national research that shows stations located in densely populated residential clusters are more heavily used than those located by landmarks. As a result, the next round of expansion will most likely include stations situated in those types of locations.
“The three busiest stations, by a factor of a third, are Fountain Square, 12th/Vine and Main/Orchard,” noted Barron. “We will start to look at areas in the West End like Linn Street, Bank Street, City West and maybe Brighton. We have to look and see where there are opportunities to connect people and make a difference in their lives.”
Washington Park [Tony Savicki]
Aronoff Center [Beth Bailey]
Beyond the West End, most additional stations, which cost approximately $50,000 each, will most likely be placed near the existing service area, but much has recently been made about an expansion across the river into Northern Kentucky. Since political discussions, permitting and fundraising are still underway, Barron was naturally hesitant to discuss specific details about the number or location of new stations.
“Public space is at a premium. The trick is finding a place where people want to be, but that is also available.”
A recent partnership between Cincy Red Bike and The Enquirer yielded over 1,000 location suggestions for new stations. In addition to Northern Kentucky, Barron says that Northside and Walnut Hills were also top choices.
What is confirmed is that four new stations will be installed in Cincinnati in March, and Barron says the goal is to roll out the initial expansion into Northern Kentucky later this summer. Like Uptown and Downtown, bike share operators clearly see Kentucky’s densely populated river cities as a major opportunity.
“It’s not enough to just launch in Northern Kentucky. We need to launch successfully,” Barron said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to raise all the funds we need to roll this out right.”
Fundraising continues to be a significant matter for Cincy Red Bike, which was launched, with much acclaim, under the auspice that it would primarily be funded with private contributions. While financial data has not yet been released, Barron says that they have been hitting their targets and plan to unveil on-bike sponsorship opportunities in the coming months.
“We going to be building out a bit here or there, but we really want to go where we think we can activate new ridership bases,” said Barron. “Really, though, I can’t wait for spring.”
