Memphis at Eye Level: Part 1

“Memphis at Eye Level: Part 1” is a reference to “The City at Eye Level”. I want to highlight my favorite Memphis bike route so far. I realize that I have not explored every Memphis neighborhood yet, so I may find a new favorite route. As I stated during my interview with Tulio from the Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club, I have been pleasantly surprised by Memphis’ bike infrastructure across the Mississippi River at the Big River Crossing and between Downtown and Shelby Farms Park.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Memphis Hightailers Bicycle (@memphis_hightailers)

Instagram recording is https://www.instagram.com/p/Cywr50UgYrR/
Facebook recording is https://www.facebook.com/MemphisHightailersBicycleClub/videos/6620980434622801
Zoom recording (passcode !!S0H!R^) is https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/TWI8YeuVcb3CaZh7qVLMJ2qIk-f1DMuqUCBAk8HSezAKddvGfq4YQYchVPlmdBA.wP19ToM8Q4j7Xj6F

---

I am thankful to work with coworkers who value my passion for active transportation. I treasured receiving this handwritten letter from Matthew more than receiving an email.

Handwritten letter from Ray’s coworker

Ray’s Favorite Memphis Bike Route

I wish that I had stopped to take more photos while biking because my usual “The City at Eye Level” post is not going to be as visual as I prefer. At least I can share a map of my favorite Memphis bike route. Yes, it takes about 90 minutes. I usually stop on the way for a meal and to do errands. I enjoy the variety of bike infrastructure, which starts with speed bumps on Front St, protected bike lanes on MLK Ave, bike lanes on Peabody Ave and McLean Blvd, low-volume side streets on Jefferson Ave and Tucker St to more easily access Overton Park, wooded car-free roads in Overton Park, multi-use trails called the Hampline and Greenline, and ends with wooded trails in Shelby Farms Park.

Ray’s favorite Memphis bike route. Source: Google Maps

Yes, I wish Peabody Ave connected directly to the Greenline when I am in a rush. However, I do not mind the extra distance through Overton Park too much because I enjoy forest bathing in Overton Park. As this map shows, there are plans to extend the Greenline closer to Peabody Ave. The Shelby Farms Greenline Western Extension should be connected to the South Memphis Greenline Phase 1 someday. An on-street connection will likely be needed to safely connect these future extensions to Peabody Ave. I should clarify that this is my personal opinion and not the opinion of the City of Memphis’ Bikeway and Pedestrian Program, which I manage. Do you see the South Memphis Greenline Phase 1 in the bottom left corner and how it could someday connect to the Shelby Farms Greenline?

In addition to improving the active transportation networks in Memphis, I am also looking forward to improving the City’s bike map to make it more user-friendly. For example, I want to make it easier for people to find safe routes and bike shops that will work on e-bikes. As an e-bike owner, I recommend All About Bikes. In case the bike shop is located too far, I also recommend Velotooler, which is a mobile bicycle service. I am located far from All About Bikes, so I have been trying to improve my bike repair skills. Since it is tough to change an inner tube without help, I was thankful to have a Memphis friend help me when I got a flat tire. I now carry everything on my bike that I need to change an inner tube without needing to stop at a bike shop. I still support bike shops, especially local shops, but they are not always nearby when I get a flat tire.

Map source: https://bikepedmemphis.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/facilities-map_mar_2023_36x48.png

I also want to spotlight the importance of signals in creating safe active transportation networks. While the above map does not show bike-specific signals, I have found these signals helpful. The below bike signal is in Memphis on the Hampline at Tillman St as it crosses Sam Cooper Blvd. I would love to take this signal to the Dutch standard by adding a wacht signal (wacht is Dutch for “wait”). As I showed in this 2015 post from when I studied abroad in the Netherlands, the wacht signal allows people biking to see how long the wait time is for the signal to turn green. Since the Dutch standard is usually not legally allowed in the US, I was excited to see Portland (OR) install a wacht signal in 2015. I was actually in Portland when this signal was installed. I got to experience using it when I biked in Portland. I realize that Memphis has a unique culture and may not want to copy what Portland does. I look forward to collaborating with Memphians to create a unique approach that accomplishes the same goal of improving bike signals in Memphis.

Do you see the “bicycle detected when illuminated” signal on the Hampline at Tillman St as it crosses Sam Cooper Blvd? Photo: Ray Atkinson

The “bicycle detected when illuminated” signal coordinates with the bike signal on the Hampline to cross Sam Cooper Blvd in Memphis. Photo: Ray Atkinson

My favorite artistic part of the Hampline is the upcycled tires that are found on Broad Ave, which is just north of Sam Cooper Blvd. The photo below does not show the upcycled tires well, so I need to take a zoomed in photo when I bike on Broad Ave again. The upcycled tires are produced by locals at the Binghampton Development Corporation, which has an inspiring process of hiring at-risk locals. I got to tour their process during the Binghampton Tour. I tweeted (does X still call them tweets?) from the Bike Ped Memphis account during the TAPA Conference.

Welcome to day 3 of 3 of #TAPA2023! I enjoyed meeting more #community partners during the #Binghampton tour. Due to the critical connections between #housing, jobs, and #transportation, I enjoyed talking with partners about how to continue working on these critical connections. pic.twitter.com/mDDFmB9851

— Bike Ped Memphis (@BikePedMemphis) October 27, 2023

Photo of upcycled tires on the Hampline during the Binghampton Tour. Photo: Ray Atkinson

Improving How Ray Navigates While Biking

Even though I majored in Geography at UNC Charlotte and love studying maps, I will admit that I sometimes struggle to navigate Memphis without looking at a map. Due to this issue, I decided to back this $700 Kickstarter for Minimis’ augmented reality (AR) glasses. Assuming the glasses are shipped on time, I should receive them by next summer. I am looking forward to publishing a blog post about my experience using the expensive glasses!

Minimis Glass Prototype video. Source: Minimis

Since I prefer to socialize when biking, I am thankful that I have been invited to participate in several slow group rides in Memphis. The below ride along the Greenline was unique because it was the first large group ride organized by City of Memphis employees. While I did not feel comfortable taking photos of kids during the Carpenter Art Garden’s kid-friendly group bike ride, I also had an amazing experience helping to lead this weekly group bike ride along the Hampline and Greenline. One of the kids actually hugged me after the ride to thank me for helping!

Hopefully, someone took a high-quality photo!

Biking the Greenline in Memphis. Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I was originally planning to write about my experience volunteering on the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry’s weekly bike rides. Since I have not participated in the Wednesday evening or Saturday morning ride yet, I will need to postpone blogging about this experience.

Preparing for Oregon’s Stop As Yield for Cyclists Law

Oregon’s Stop As Yield for cyclists law (aka Idaho Stop Law) goes into effect this Wednesday, January 1. Since many people, including cyclists, appear to be confused about what Oregon Senate Bill 998 changes, I recommend this Bike Law post and please watch this video.

Even though the new law has safety benefits, most comments I have read on mainstream Oregon news have been from frustrated motorists. Many of these motorists shared how they believe that cyclists already do not follow the laws. Despite the safety benefits from Idaho’s use of the Stop As Yield Law, many of these motorists shared how they supported the Oregon SB 998 because they believe it will kill cyclists for rolling through intersections. While I try to always follow the laws, I frequently do a rolling stop when biking because coming to a complete stop at every stop sign would be exhausting.

I actually had a motorist yell and argue with me when I accidentally did a rolling stop while biking through a stop sign on the Trolley Trail north of the Clackamas River in Gladstone, Oregon. Even though mainstream Oregon news is helping to educate everyone about what the new law allows and prohibits, I expect many motorists to harass me about legally doing a rolling stop while biking.

While I took the below photo about another bike issue in Virginia, I am curious whether a similar sign could reduce how many motorists harass me about legally doing a rolling stop. I could put “Bike (symbol) Rolling Stop Is Legal SB 998”. What do you think?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ray Atkinson (@rayplans)

As someone who studied transportation planning and engineering abroad in the Netherlands, I feel the need to share that stop signs are rare in the Netherlands. Yielding (shown with shark’s teeth painted on and built into the street) is the default on streets where there would be stop signs in the US. Since the Netherlands tries to avoid sign clutter, yield signs are often not used with the shark’s teeth. The US has too much sign clutter, so I wish the US would also try to reduce sign clutter.

A clear indication of the priority, also in the road surface. The shark’s teeth indicate you must yield. The so-called piano teeth markings indicate a speed bump. Note the continuous surface of red asphalt of the cycleway, interrupting the roadway.
Source: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/a-common-urban-intersection-in-the-netherlands/

While my focus through May will be on studying for the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Exam, I may take a break to write a follow-up post about how biking changed for me after SB 998 goes into effect on January 1. Hopefully, motorists will harass me less when I legally do a rolling stop while biking and I will not need to create a sign for my bike to educate motorists about SB 998.

Bend at Eye Level

“Bend at Eye Level” is a reference to “The City at Eye Level”. Since people outside Oregon may not know where Bend is, below is a map that shows the location of Bend in Oregon. Bend, OR (91,122 people in 2016) reminds me of Asheville, NC (89,121 people in 2016) because they have similar populations and are hip and expensive mountain cities with strong art, brewery and mountain biking scenes. As someone who has biked in both cities, Asheville is not as bike friendly as Bend. Since it rains more in Asheville, I would rather live in Bend.

Source: City-Data.com

I am writing about Bend because I was shocked by many things that I saw while biking throughout Bend for my first time during the Oregon Trails Summit. I will admit that I did not plan to write about Bend before arriving in Bend. My thought process quickly changed when I biked through my first roundabout in Bend. It felt similar to a Dutch protected bike intersection, which I wrote about in this post. As you can see in the below photo, cyclists have the option to act like a pedestrian through the roundabout by taking the bike off-ramp to access the sidewalk then using the crosswalks.

Looking west on NW Galveston Ave at NW 14th St. Photo: Ray Atkinson.

Even though I could not find any signs with instructions at any of the roundabouts in Bend, I found the below tips on the City of Bend’s website. Thankfully, the tips are just suggestions and do not appear to be laws because I biked on the sidewalks and across the crosswalks to avoid biking with cars through the roundabout. According to the City of Bend’s tips, I was supposed to walk my bike on the sidewalks and across the crosswalks. While there likely is not enough space to separate cyclists and pedestrians on the sidewalks and crosswalks in Bend, this is how the protected bike intersections and bike lanes function in the Netherlands.

Source: City of Bend, OR

I asked several cyclists in Bend whether they act like a pedestrian or a car when they bike through the roundabout. All of them said they act like a car by taking the lane through the roundabout because acting like a pedestrian takes too long and motorists do not expect to see cyclists using the sidewalk or crosswalk. While the City of Bend recommends for cyclists to walk their bike on the sidewalk and crosswalk through the roundabout, I doubt cyclists will do this unless there is someone walking. I rarely saw anyone walking outside of Downtown Bend, so most of the roundabouts had no one walking through them.

I have only shown you a bike off-ramp, so below is a bike on-ramp at another Bend roundabout. While most of the bike on-ramps did not have tree limbs blocking the ramp, I wanted to show this photo so urban designers can see an example of what not to do. I was unable to use this on-ramp because tree limbs were blocking the ramp. I emailed the City of Bend to ask them to trim the tree so this issue can be resolved.

Looking south on SW Colorado Ave and SW Simpson Ave. Photo: Ray Atkinson.

The below roundabout issue is harder to fix. While most of the bike off-ramps were installed to make it easy to exit the road and enter the sidewalk, the below bike off-ramp was not installed correctly. It is also missing the painted white dashes on the road, which indicate that cyclists can move into the travel lane. While the City of Bend has installed infrastructure to allow cyclists to act like a pedestrian through roundabouts, cyclists are not required to do this.

Looking west on SW Simpson Ave at SW Colorado Ave. Photo: Ray Atkinson.

Since I enjoyed biking throughout Bend and know people are not perfect, I wanted to share a photo of art installed at a roundabout. All of the roundabouts that I biked through had art installed in them. Here is a map that shows all 24 roundabouts that have art in them. The art produced great placemaking!

Looking northwest at the SW Simpson Ave at SW Colorado Ave roundabout. Photo: Ray Atkinson.

I want to write more and have other photos to share, but believe this is a good stopping point for tonight. I plan to write more and add more photos another day. Thanks for reading my blog!

Ray’s Crash Course in Respectability Politics

The power of social media, especially Facebook, helped me learn about respectability politics. I had never heard of respectability politics before today. As my below Facebook post shows, I thought I was helping to improve bike advocacy efforts by policing badly behaved cyclists.

For example, I saw a cyclist go through every stoplight on Fairfax Drive in Arlington, VA last Wednesday during afternoon rush hour. Since I’m tired of hearing well behaved cyclists and motorists tell me how badly behaved cyclists are ruining the image of all cyclists, I tried to chase down the badly behaved cyclist and tell him to stop breaking the law.

While I wasn’t able to catch up with the badly behaved cyclist, I’m thankful I posted this experience on social media. My friends were able to educate me about respectability politics and why it doesn’t work. Even though I was convinced I was doing the right thing by policing badly behaved cyclists, I’m thankful my friends stuck to their reasoning and waited patiently for me to show them that I understood their viewpoint. It took a few days for me to stop arguing my viewpoint and finally understand their viewpoint. Now I can share their reasoning with others that may not fully understand respectability politics.

In case you haven’t heard of it before, respectability politics “refers to attempts by marginalized groups to police their own members and show their social values as being continuous, and compatible, with mainstream values rather than challenging the mainstream for what they see as its failure to accept difference.” Instead of policing cyclists, my friends suggested I encourage people to do the right thing. As Zvi Leve, who is an experienced cyclist living in Montreal, wrote, “I find that positive reinforcement is a far more effective strategy to encourage people to ‘do the right thing’.” Zvi also shared the following CityLab article, which discusses Sweden’s Vision Zero approach to education and enforcement.

Source: CityLab

Speaking of Vision Zero, I’m currently working with GGWash‘s staff to publish my next blog post about why Sustainable Safety, which is the Dutch alternative to Vision Zero, is more effective than Vision Zero.

Cheapest Way to Bring Dutch Bike Infrastructure to the US

I usually write factual posts and not opinion posts so I want to add a disclaimer that this post is an opinion post. I’m open to criticism so feel free to share your criticism. I’d especially enjoy reading criticism if you feel there is a cheaper way to bring Dutch bike infrastructure to the US.

The idea for this post came about when I got my new 2017 Breezer Uptown 8 LS (LS stands for low step) on April 1. Before getting my new bike, I was riding Capital Bikeshare for all bike trips except shopping and bike touring (long-distance) trips. As the below photo shows, I was riding my road bike to shop and for bike touring. While I always find it stressful to mount and dismount my road bike, the two stuff panniers made it even more challenging to swing my leg around the back of my seat when mounting and dismounting my bike.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ray Atkinson (@rayplans)

Due to this mounting and dismounting challenge, I’m loving the step thru design of my new bike. I no longer have to stress about swinging my leg around the back of the seat so I feel much more relaxed when biking!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ray Atkinson (@rayplans)

The relaxed feeling is why I think my step thru bike, which is similar to a Dutch bike, is the cheapest way to bring Dutch bike infrastructure to the US. My step thru bike feels like I’m riding in the Netherlands, which I have done through two study abroad trips, without spending millions on building protected bike lanes. I still support protected bike lanes, but realize they are expensive to build. I wanted to share a cheap way to feel relaxed when biking without waiting for protected bike lanes to be built. I never felt comfortable on my road bike so I’m thankful I decided to buy my step thru bike. While Capital Bikeshare feels comfortable, it doesn’t go everyone I want to go yet. I wanted a new bike that felt as comfortable as a Capital Bikeshare bike so I got my new step thru bike.

As an added bonus, several women, who I have never met before, told me that my step thru bike looks cute and they wanted to find a similar bike. I’m not sure whether this is because they think step thru bikes are supposed to be only for women or because they think my bike is actually cute. I believe few Americans know that Dutch bikes are unisex and step thru so I want to point out that I see my step thru bike as a unisex bike and not as a women’s bike. Yes, the American manufacturer labels my bike as a women’s bike, but the bike would likely be labeled as unisex in the Netherlands.

Since I’m single, have been dating, and would love to go on a bike ride with my girlfriend, it would be cool if I can use my step thru bike to attract women who find my bike cute. The only men that have said anything about my bike are the bike shop mechanics that built my bike. I want to clarify that the main reason why I purchased my new step thru bike is because I can easily step thru the bike. I wasn’t thinking about attracting women with my bike before I purchased it, so this is an added bonus. Since American women bike less than American men, I’d love if my bike can encourage more women to bike because they find my bike cute and they end up buying a similar bike.

Tim Kelley shared this video with me and it relates to the road bike mounting challenges I have experience. I found the video to be useful and funny.

Neighborhood Greenways Are Cool, But Oasis Greenways Are Awesome!

I submitted my contributor form to Greater Greater Washington (GGWash) today and GGWash’s staff gave me the green light, so my first blog post should be published on GGWash sometime next week. Since GGWash’s staff asked me to write differently than I write on my personal blog, I wanted to share the version I wrote before GGWash’s staff asked me to shorten my blog post and make it less technical. As I wrote in this post, I knew I would have less control over my writing when I started posting on other blogs. I’ll share my GGWash post after it is published, but as a teaser I’m sharing my longer and more technical version below.

Update: here is my first GGWash post!

A bike boulevard (DC region refers to neighborhood greenway as bike boulevard) is an outdated idea currently being used by many US cities to improve safety for all street users. An oasis greenway is a new approach that represents the future of safe street design. An oasis greenway is a long series of interconnected low-speed, low-volume, shared-space, vegetated linear parks created from an assembly of residential streets. As the below video shows, an oasis greenway is based on the Dutch woonerf.

According to Tom Bertulis’ 167-page thesis, Oasis Greenways: A New Model of Urban Park and Bikeway within Constrained Street Rights-of-Way, the nine elements that any given facility must include to be called an oasis greenway are the following:

1. Extremely low traffic volumes, including traffic diversion as needed. While many cities in the US are focused on traffic diversion on a street by street basis, several cities in the Netherlands are focused on traffic diversion on a neighborhood or citywide basis. Houten, Netherlands, which is a suburb of Utrecht, has implemented a citywide traffic diversion plan.
   

   Houten’s traffic diversion map. Source: ITDP

   As the below map shows, motorists are routed from their neighborhood road (green) onto a connector road (brown) that directs them to the outer ring road (yellow). Motorists must drive all the way around Houten until they reach another connector road that connects them to their destination. Since cyclists and pedestrians can travel through the traffic diverters, they can travel quicker than motorists through Houten.

   

   Neighborhood level of Houten’s traffic diversion map

   Watch this video to learn more about Houten.

   Since Houten was originally designed with traffic diversion, it is a unique city because it didn’t need to be retrofitted. Most, if not all, US cities will have to retrofitted with traffic diversion so here is a neighborhood retrofit example from Utrecht, Netherlands. US cities should be able to relate to this retrofit example much easier than the approach that Houten took with its citywide traffic diversion plan.

   

   Source: Bicycle Dutch

   While no US city has implemented a citywide nor neighborhood network of traffic diverters, Portland, OR has several traffic diverters. Here is a diagonal traffic diverter in northeast Portland.

   

   Diagonal traffic diverter at NE Tillamook St and 16th Ave. Photo: Ray Atkinson

   

   Diagonal traffic diverter at NE Tillamook St and 16th Ave

2. Extremely low traffic speeds, including traffic calming as needed. Below is a bayonet traffic calmer in Delftweg, Netherlands. While the street is two-way, the bayonet forces motorists to take turns going through the bayonet. Cyclists have a two-way trail so they can avoid the bayonet.
   

   Delftweg’s bayonet traffic calmer. Photo: Ray Atkinson

3. Shared space, without sidewalks, with motorists sharing the space with pedestrians and cyclists, like a woonerf.
   

   Shared space on Bell Street in Seattle, WA

4. Oasis greenways must be continuous for at least several blocks and have connectivity through busy intersections.
   

   Portland neighborhood greenway crossing. Photo: Steven Vance

5. Terminal vista. They must make use of the “terminal vista effect,” where the line of sight straight down the street is partially obscured, usually by trees or an on-street parking chicane. The below woonerf in Delft, Netherlands shows the terminal vista effect.
   

   Woonerf in Delft, NL. Photo: Ray Atkinson

6. Parklike, which refers to using grasscrete as the default in areas that aren’t travel-ways for cyclists and pedestrians. The below photo from Haarlem, Netherlands shows a grasscrete street.
   

   Grasscrete street in Haarlem, NL. Photo: Dan Burden

7. Park and parking strip. They must have a wide area where on-street parking, parklets, trees, vegetation, and play areas are located.
   

   Rendering of park and parking strip. Rendering: Tom Bertulis’ thesis

8. Minimal parking footprint. They must minimize the parking footprint based on a parking needs analysis. Use the below illustration to compare parking footprint of a traditional street with parking footprint of an oasis greenway.
   

   Source: Tom Bertulis’ thesis

9. Small and large play areas. They must have both small and large play areas, with the small play areas referring to the Park & Parking Strip and the large play areas referring to Oasis Greenway sections with “ultra-low volumes” where the play area temporarily becomes the entire cross-section of the street, not too different from when hockey is played in the street.
   

   Street hockey. Photo: Jonathan Tavares

While no street in the US has been designed with all nine elements of an oasis greenway, a few cities have experimented with several elements of an oasis greenway so please don’t think that an oasis greenway can only be designed by the Dutch or Europeans. Would you like to see an oasis greenway constructed in your neighborhood? If yes, where? If no, why not?