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Ray’s New E-Bike Fits On Bus Bike Rack

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Greetings from Memphis! I wanted to publish a post when I moved to Memphis during Labor Day weekend. I felt the need to postpone blogging because I have been busy with moving, unpacking, organizing, meeting neighbors, and preparing for my new job, which starts on Monday, September 11th.

Podcasts About Ray’s New Job

In case you are curious to learn more about my job, I recommend listening to the below podcasts where my predecessors and other people were interviewed about their active transportation work and the future work that I will be managing. Due to the history that is shared in each podcast, I recommend listening to Episode 3 first before proceeding to the next podcast. I copied the episode descriptions, so the descriptions were not created by me. As you will hear in the podcasts, my predecessors and other passionate champions did impressive work to help Memphis become known as a national active transportation leader!

Making bikes affordable to more people by founding Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop led Anthony Siracusa to bike advocacy work on the local, state, and national levels. In time, he saw the bike as only one lever to affect change among many. Anthony’s doctoral studies at Vanderbilt deepened that knowledge by showing him the many Champions and their causes within the Civil Rights Movement. That led him to his current work at Colorado College, where he helps students better champion their own causes.
Kyle Wagenschutz was a critical figure in growing and sustaining Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop in Memphis, alongside founder Anthony Siracusa. Together, the two shared a love for bikes and punk rock, and they found that each subculture played a role in helping them build a community around bikes. Kyle advocated for bike lanes in Memphis, first from his perch at Revolutions, but then as the City of Memphis’ first bicycle/pedestrian coordinator. Anthony and Kyle’s effective “inside-outside” game showed what can happen when government and grassroots work together. The two friends’ partnership helped move Memphis from a “worst city for biking” to “most improved” and on to being a national leader in just six years. Now the Director of Local Innovation at PeopleForBikes in Boulder, CO, what Kyle learned through trial and error in Memphis is benefiting people in other cities.

Episode 30: Nick Oyler is not on the Champions of the Lost Causes’ website, so you will need to access it through this Google Podcasts link. The episode 30 description is below:

Nick Oyler is the Bikeway & Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Memphis. When the push for bike lanes in Memphis resulted in early victories for the bike/ped movement and then gave way to the city’s initial buildout, Nick was away at college, grad school, and then working in Germany. Following all that news from afar, Nick thought that he might have missed his moment to get involved. But as many multifaceted causes require, there was plenty of work left to be done when he got back to his hometown. Nick’s experience of riding a bike when he was young helped pave the way for his interest in city planning and to his current role, and helped him see the many benefits to cities and people of having a well-designed system of bike lanes and walkways. Memphis has come a long way, but it still has a lot of work ahead of it.

Champions of the Lost Causes
John Paul Shaffer from PeopleForBikes and Nick Oyler from the City of Memphis join us to talk about how Memphis has gone from 2 to 300 miles of off- and on-road bicycle facilities over a decade; which projects have been truly transformative, such as Shelby Farms Greenway and the Harahan Bridge Crossing; and how an intentional focus on equity and neighborhood-based programming has helped more Memphians get on bikes for recreation and transportation.

Later in the program, regular commentator Charlie Santo reflects on moving from transportation mecca Portland, OR to Memphis and trying to navigate the local system. Charlie and Emily also talk about how bike infrastructure and related improvements like traffic calming can potentially help increase access to public spaces such as Tom Lee Park and Riverside Park.
Nick Oyler, bikeway and pedestrian program manager for the City of Memphis, makes a return visit to Memphis Metropolis to talk about pedestrian safety. This past week, Smart Growth America issued its Dangerous by Design 2021 study, which found that pedestrian deaths due to traffic accidents continue to increase nationally. Moreover, the study found that Memphis was the third most dangerous city for pedestrians, with pedestrian deaths up around 75 percent since 2019. In the show, Nick explains the connection between street design and pedestrian safety, why COVID and driver distraction have contributed to the rise in fatalities, and how dedicated funding for pedestrian infrastructure could help change the trajectory. And, why his team created a special map to help memorialize the lives of Memphis pedestrians that have been lost.
Pedestrian deaths in Memphis are at an all-time high and the city is one of the most dangerous in the U.S. for people who get around on foot. But while driver behavior and poor street design are the primary contributors to the problem, pedestrians themselves – the victims – are often blamed. Nick Oyler, Bikeway and Pedestrian Program Manager in the city’s engineering department, pays a return visit to Memphis Metropolis to discuss what the law actually says about where pedestrians can and cannot cross the street, why pedestrian behavior that seems illogical often is quite rational, and how “windshield bias” – seeing the problem exclusively from the driver perspective – is inhibiting the development of solutions.
Nick Oyler has spent the last several years working in and with the community to improve the city’s active transportation systems, first with the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and most recently as bike and pedestrian program manager for the City of Memphis. Nick is leaving Memphis to pursue new professional opportunities in Denver, and we asked him to return to Memphis Metropolis one last time to reflect on the successes, frustrations, and opportunities he has experienced during his tenure here.
A city’s ParkScore is a measure of how it compares to other places, using criteria such as access, acreage, equity, and investments. The ParkScore Index is prepared annually by the Trust for Public Land, a people-focused parks and public land advocacy organization. In this show, Noel Durant of the TPL’s Tennessee office visits Memphis Metropolis to talk about why ParkScores are so important and how Memphis ranked in their recent study. Memphis park advocates JoAnn Street also joins the conversation to provide a local perspective. JoAnn is the founder of HUG Park Friends, a support organization for three North Memphis parks, Hollywood, University, and Gooch.
Jackson McNeil, a longtime friend of Memphis Metropolis, recently joined Innovate Memphis as Director of Transportation and Mobility, overseeing the Commute Options program. In this show, we discuss the hard work of (and many obstacles to) getting Memphians out of their cars and onto alternate modes of transportation. Jackson and Emily also discuss the recently published Safe Speed Index, which ranks cities on the average vehicle speeds on streets used by pedestrians.

Ray’s New E-Bike Made His Car-Free Life Easier

Since my blog is focused on my car-free lifestyle, I wanted to share the most significant improvement to making my car-free lifestyle easier. As I shared in this 2022 post, my first e-bike did not fit on the bus bike rack because it was too heavy (58.4 pounds) and long (47″) to fit on the standard bike rack. Thank you to Brandie Macdonald for making me aware of the Wing Freedom ST.2 e-bike, which is light (39 pounds) and short (42.9″) enough to fit on the standard bike rack. I frequently had to leave my old e-bike at home in California because I knew it would not fit on the bus bike rack. I was excited to put my new e-bike on the bus bike rack when I went shopping in East Memphis last week!

I had to rush to get on and off the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) bus, so I did not have time to take a photo of my e-bike on the bus bike rack. Taking selfies with my bike was possible on the Big River Crossing, which is an impressive and wide active transportation bridge between Tennessee and Arkansas. The views are fantastic! My new Memphis friends, who were also born and raised in the Charlotte region (all three of us went to high school in Cabarrus County!) and graduated from UNC Charlotte around the same time as me, invited me to join them on a walk across the Big River Crossing. I am not an early bird, especially when I prefer to sleep in during the weekend, so I felt accomplished with waking up in time for the 8am walk today!

Biking on the Big River Crossing. Photo: Ray Atkinson
View of downtown Memphis from the Big River Crossing. Photo: Ray Atkinson

My new church, The Church of the River (First Unitarian Church of Memphis), is near the trailhead to the Big River Crossing. I honestly had difficulty focusing on the sermon because the church has such an impressive natural view! I felt like I was forest bathing during church!

View from The Church of the River (First Unitarian Church of Memphis). Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I am trying to keep this post short, so I will share more about Memphis in a future post. Since I have never seen a bike ride combined with cooking and feeding low-income people living on the street, I am excited to experience the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry’s weekly bike rides on Wednesday night and Saturday morning!

Car-Free Redwood National Park Vacation Barriers

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I was hoping that planning my June 24 – July 2 car-free Redwood National Park vacation would be as easy as renting an e-bike in Eureka and then biking to Redwood National Park. I normally have Fridays off work, so I wanted to clarify that my vacation starts on Saturday and not Friday because I will be attending the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in the US Conference in San Francisco on June 22-23. I enjoy catching up with colleagues and meeting new people at conferences. Will you be attending this conference, or do you live in San Francisco?

Since I do not feel safe or comfortable enough to bike on Highway 101, which only has “bike share the road” signs, I am not willing to bike on Highway 101. I briefly wrote about bike signage in this 2015 post. I was excited when I found Hammond Truck Road, which is shown in the below Google Maps screenshot, because I thought I found a route to avoid biking on Highway 101. Redwood National Park is the dark green area in the top right corner. Eureka is located south of Crannell. Due to Google Maps showing “This route has restricted usage or private roads,” I contacted Humboldt County staff to clarify whether I could bike on Hammond Tuck Road. As Bob’s reply shows, I would be trespassing if I biked on this road.

The route that you are considering is through private property. These roads have locked gates and are posted with signs indicating no trespassing.

Bob Bronkall, Humboldt County Surveyor

I do not want to embarrass Humboldt County too much. They are at least trying to plan for people who do not drive by providing the Hammond Trail, which I plan to bike on during my vacation. I just wish this trail went all the way to Redwood National Park. Hopefully, this trail will be extended further north someday!

Ray’s Backup Plan

It appears I will be biking less than I wanted during my June vacation. Thankfully, transit services exist between Eureka and Redwood National Park. Redwood Coast Transit operates Route 20 along the below route. While Route 20 does not provide frequent service and only operates on Monday-Saturday, I do not have any safe alternatives to consider. Due to Route 20 ending in Arcata, I may stay in Arcata to avoid having to transfer to another bus to reach Eureka. I wish there was one regional transit provider in this rural area so I could avoid having to transfer!

As this 2022 post shows, I am also concerned about whether the e-bike that I plan to rent will fit on Redwood Coast Transit’s buses. I have not found a transit system in the US that has an entire fleet that can fit e-bikes. While I am waiting for Redwood Coast Transit to confirm that my e-bike rental will not fit on their buses, I assume that I will have no e-bike when I reach Redwood National Park. Despite being used to riding an e-bike, I may rent a non-electric bike so I can take a bike on the bus to Redwood National Park.

Source: http://redwoodcoasttransit.org/routes-schedules/route-20/

Difficulty Finding Redwood National Park Tour

My next barrier after reaching Redwood National Park is finding a group tour. Redwood National Park has limited or no cell and internet services, which is great for disconnecting from social media and emails. I will be traveling alone, so I would prefer to find a group tour to prevent anything bad from happening when traveling alone in an isolated place. While I was excited to find Redwood Adventures, they only offer private tours to groups of at least two people. I emailed them to ask if I can join a larger group or schedule my tour on a less busy weekday. I realize they make more money by preventing single people from scheduling a private tour. I wish I had a girlfriend to go on the tour with me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZzJ6C5ujSw&t

Future Blog Post

I may not blog much during my June vacation because I want to enjoy exploring Eureka, Arcata, and Redwood National Park. I also may not have reliable internet access, which I think will be great to help me disconnect from social media and emails. I hope to have time in July to publish posts on how my vacation went. What do you want to read about?

San Jose at Eye Level

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I am riding transit on my way back to Petaluma from my first trip to San Jose, which is actually the largest city in the Bay Area. I carpooled with James Rojas to Oakland to reduce the trip time for my return trip. I rode transit for the full four-hour distance yesterday. I still cannot believe that San Jose is the largest city in the Bay Area. I honestly think of San Francisco and Oakland before I think of San Jose. Since I surprised myself by seeing and hearing more of “The City at Eye Level” while walking and riding transit than biking, I wanted to focus on this aspect as I continue to share my perspective on the power of slowing down.

As Stephan remembers from our bike adventure in Minneapolis, using a bikeshare system is not always easy. Since I wanted to avoid the stress of constantly looking for the next bikeshare station to dock my bike, I decided to walk and ride transit in San Jose. My frugal approach to spending also pushed me to walk because the Bay Wheels system gets expensive very quickly. Unlike the Capital Bikeshare’s Day Pass that I worked on in the DC region, Bay Wheels does not offer a Day Pass option. I was unwilling to pay for each bikeshare trip separately!

Thankfully, I saw and heard more of “The City at Eye Level” by walking and riding transit. Since I am usually focused on not getting hit by cars when biking, I was able to focus on the below colorful art in San Jose while walking.

Photo: Ray Atkinson
Photo: Ray Atkinson

Viva CalleSJ

The main reason why I traveled to San Jose was to participate in Viva CalleSJ, which was an open-streets event. I appreciate James Rojas making me aware of this event. While I wish every day looked like the photo below, I enjoyed the rare open-streets event by watching how people interacted with streets that were almost absent of cars. I wrote “almost” because the intersections allowed cars to cross the route. As many American cities that have organized an open-streets event know, the car dependency of most Americans prevents Americans from experiencing a truly open-streets event. Do you think Americans will ever have the opportunity to experience a truly car-free open-streets event?

Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I have to use about 40 hours of PTO before it expires at the end of June. While I do not like how some of my PTO hours do not roll over to the next fiscal year, the silver lining is that it forces me to take a vacation. Yes, I can be a workaholic. Since I have so much to explore in California, I am planning a car-free vacation through the Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, and possibly the Central Valley. While I depend on the Central Valley for food, I am more attracted to the scenery of the Central Coast. Hopefully, the rural areas in the Central Coast will have connected transit services to the Bay Area and Los Angeles. You will find out in a future blog post!

History Is Important When Thinking About The Future

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I want to write a quick follow-up post about this Windsor post because I remembered some fascinating historic maps that are in the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum. I visited this museum with a friend today. As the below 1912 map shows, West Windsor used to be served by an agricultural railroad. I need to research whether people were allowed to ride the agricultural train or if the train was only for commercial shipping. Either way, the train no longer exists. I assume car dependency and the shift from railroad shipping to truck shipping caused the trains to no longer exist. I need to research this further to avoid making bad assumptions. I know for certain that Petaluma’s history as being the “Egg Basket of the World” resulted in the need for shipping the eggs. Since this industry is no longer as large in Petaluma, there is no longer much need for shipping eggs.

Regarding how this history relates to the future, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is working to bring back train service to serve people in Windsor. I am often surprised by how many locals do not know their own local area or state’s history. Since I enjoy studying history, I frequently end up educating them about their own local and state history even though I am not from California. How many locals in Windsor do you think know that West Windsor used to be served by an agricultural railroad?

Photo: Ray Atkinson

While the below 1923 map is not related to Windsor unless you want to count that the train service went to Windsor, it surprised my Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma friend who has lived in California most of his life that Petaluma used to be served by so much train service! Look at all the train routes that used to serve Petaluma! The only remaining train route, which was operated by a different company in 1923, is the route served by SMART. I actually need to research whether the train tracks that SMART currently uses through Petaluma were continuously operated since 1923. I have a feeling that SMART may have restarted service in 2017 on a disused rail line.

Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

Since no one has replied to the questions in my last post, I copied the questions below. While I would enjoy having people comment on my posts, I am mostly writing this blog for my autobiography and for my future wife and kids to read. Assuming I ever get married and have kids, which feels less likely to happen as I am getting older and my future wife is unable to have kids when she reaches menopause, I am looking forward to telling them stories as I reflect on my car-free life. I hope I am not sharing too much. I have been thinking about how I prefer to develop romantic relationships slowly. This likely means that being at the point in my future relationship with my future wife to have kids will take years.

Do you understand the connection between The City at Eye Level and my recent posts about the power of slowing down and its impact on creating robust outdoor in-person social networks? If not, I will keep thinking about how to more clearly write about and show this connection in future blog posts. If so, what other topics do you want me to write about?

Windsor at Eye Level

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I was surprised to see that I have not published a “The City at Eye Level” post recently. The link to The City at Eye Level keeps changing, so you can longer download the free book in my previous posts. I will need to update the links. For laypeople reading my blog, I am hoping this post helps you to understand the connection between The City at Eye Level and my recent posts about the power of slowing down and its impact on creating robust in-person social networks. Does this connection make sense after reading this post?

Light Rain Cancels Bike Rental

I was planning to rent bikes from a Windsor bike shop to ride with a new friend who was raised in Windsor, which is an unincorporated town on the northern edge of the North Bay Area. This was my first time visiting Windsor. I have so many new places to explore just in Sonoma County let alone the rest of the Bay Area and California!

While my friend and I were prepared to bike in the light rain, the other renters canceled their rentals and bike tours due to the light rain. The bike shop ended up canceling all the rentals and closing for the day. I have never experienced a bike shop cancel rentals due to light rain. I guess this is a weird welcome to California!

Walk Through Windsor

My friend and I did not want the canceled bike rental to ruin our day. We decided to walk several miles through Windsor instead. Walking instead of driving allowed us to more easily see Windsor at eye level. As the below “MORE BIKES, LESS CARS” banner shows, Windsor is trying to reduce car usage and promote biking. I would include walking in with “MORE BIKES” because there is only so much space on the banner. Unfortunately, my friend and I had to walk single-file through downtown and many other parts of Windsor because the sidewalks are too narrow. Even when the sidewalk is wider, street trees and awning posts prevented us from walking side by side. I saw many people walk directly from their parked cars to their destinations. This does not encourage robust in-person outdoor social networking!

Source: Ray Atkinson

I should clarify that I do not want the street trees to be removed. As this Trees in the Curb Zone Pilot Project from the City of Portland shows, it is possible to replace on-street car parking spaces with trees. BikePortland also published this post about the City of Portland’s project. As my 2015 post from Rijswijk, Netherlands shows, I have been thinking about how to replace on-street car parking spaces with trees for several years. Since my Windsor friend said she does not want to lose car parking for her car and actually feels downtown needs more car parking, do you think rural towns like Windsor will ever have the public and political support to create a project like what Portland created?

Rembrandtkade in Rijswijk, Netherlands in August 2014. Source: Google

I wanted to share the below Spanish version of the above banner because I have never seen a banner with different languages on each side of the banner. I am still using Duolingo to improve my Spanish skills. I even bought a used Spanish textbook from the Windsor Public Library.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Another element that could improve Windsor’s eye-level walking experience and encourage the creation of robust outdoor in-person social networks is the planned SMART regional trail, which will someday connect all the way to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal that provides ferries to San Francisco. I would love to bike from Windsor to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal someday. The first signs of the planned trail and the associated Windsor SMART Station are in the below photo. The SMART Train does not currently serve Windsor, so I rode a Sonoma County bus from Santa Rosa to Windsor. I am excited to see the future of transit-oriented development (TOD) and trail-oriented development! Since trail-oriented development could also be shortened to TOD, I am curious to see what the acronym for trail-oriented development will be.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

Do you understand the connection between The City at Eye Level and my recent posts about the power of slowing down and its impact on creating robust outdoor in-person social networks? If not, I will keep thinking about how to more clearly write about and show this connection in future blog posts. If so, what other topics do you want me to write about?

Ray’s E-Bike Does Not Fit On Normal Bus Bike Rack

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I attended the 2022 CALACT Autumn Conference & Bus Show in Santa Rosa, CA this week (last week by the time you read this). Since the conference had several sessions on electric buses and the bus show displayed electric buses, I was hoping to talk with a vendor about what bus bike racks fit e-bikes. As the below list shows, bus bike rack companies like Sportworks were not a vendor. I asked the bus vendors whether their bike racks could fit an e-bike. While they agreed that e-bikes are growing in popularity and we need to plan for e-bikes, they were unable to answer my questions. At least many of the bus vendors had bike racks on their buses.

CALACT vendor list. Source: https://calact.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/BUS-EXPO-Show-Map3-10.20.22.pdf

Does Ray’s E-Bike Fit On Any Bus Bike Rack?

Petaluma Transit

I am not sure if any buses that I ride in the Bay Area have bike racks that fit my e-bike. While my Heybike Cityscape e-bike may appear to fit on the below bike rack, which is attached to a parked Petaluma Transit bus, the front wheel is not fully in the wheel tray. In case you are wondering where the battery is, I removed it to reduce the weight of my e-bike when loading it on the rack. Since I am nervous about my e-bike not fitting in the front tray correctly and I do not want to risk my e-bike falling out of the rack and getting run over by the bus, I have not put my e-bike on a moving bus yet.

Photo of Ray’s e-bike on a parked Petaluma Transit bus bike rack. Source: Ray Atkinson

Sportworks has this webpage titled Transporting E-bikes On Transit Vehicles. It appears the above Petaluma Transit bus has Sportworks’ DL2 transit bike rack, which has a 44″ wheelbase. Thankfully, I do not need to wait for a longer bike rack to be created. Sportworks’ Apex transit bike rack has a 48″ wheelbase, which should fit my e-bike. While I have not checked the wheelbase on all of Petaluma Transit’s bike racks, many of the racks appear to be the short DL2 transit bike rack. Since my team is preparing to purchase electric buses to replace the existing bus fleet, I hope there will be enough funding to purchase Apex transit bike racks that have a 48″ wheelbase.

Longer wheelbases are another characteristic of E-bikes that require consideration. Apex racks support wheelbases up to 48″ with DL2 and Trilogy models accommodating wheelbases up to 44″.

Sportworks

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART)

I am actually more concerned about buses that leave Petaluma than buses that stay in Petaluma. Petaluma is a small city with few hills, so I have been able to easily bike almost everywhere in Petaluma. Due to no frequent service lines, which is something that I hope will receive funding in the future, I have biked more than ridden Petaluma Transit so far. As a City of Petaluma employee, I can ride Petaluma Transit for free but more frequent service is needed for me to switch more of my trips to transit.

Back to why I am more concerned about buses that leave Petaluma than buses that stay in Petaluma. I would have to bike all the way back to Petaluma if the longer-distance buses do not have bike racks with a 48″ wheelbase. Since the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) train has on-board bike parking, which is shown in the below 2017 video, I can bring my e-bike on the SMART train without being concerned about whether the bike length will fit. I still have to be careful about how wide my bike load is because SMART has a policy that “Bicycles wider than 16 inches, excluding handlebars, will only be allowed as space permits.” While I am thankful that I can bring my e-bike on the SMART train, the train does not run late at night or frequently.

Golden Gate Transit

I learned during the Sonoma County Transportation Authority’s Transit-Technical Advisory Committee meeting on January 11, 2023, that many transit agencies in the Bay Area are trying to accommodate e-bikes on their systems. Since this meeting was open to the public and recorded, I can share what was discussed. Golden Gate Transit staff shared their “Bike Racks on Buses” webpage, which has the below statement about e-bikes being allowed only on buses with front-mounted bike racks. Unfortunately, figuring out which buses have front-mounted bike racks is not easy. Staff said there is an app that tracks specific bus numbers for each route. While staff shared which bus numbers allow e-bikes, this information is not easily accessible to the public. Staff also said that these buses rotate with buses that do not allow e-bikes.

Even if I get lucky with the bus that allows e-bikes, the e-bike battery must remain on the bike and cannot be brought on board the bus. This is important because Golden Gate Transit does not allow e-bikes that weigh more than 55 pounds. My e-bike weighs 58.4 pounds with the battery. Since my battery weighs 7.67 pounds, my e-bike would weigh less than 55 pounds without the battery. Golden Gate Transit staff said the battery cannot be brought on board the bus because e-bike batteries have a history of exploding.

Electric bikes (e-bikes) are only allowed on buses with front-mounted bike racks. E-bike batteries must remain on the bike and cannot be brought on board the bus. E-bikes cannot weigh more than 55 lbs.

Golden Gate Transit
Source: https://www.goldengate.org/bus/riding-the-bus/bringing-your-bike/bike-racks-on-buses/

Amtrak

Yes, Petaluma has an Amtrak “stop”. I put “stop” in quotes because it is more of a bus stop than an Amtrak station. As the below video shows, Amtrak provides bus service between Petaluma and Napa. While I am thankful that Amtrak provides service at all from Petaluma to Napa because there is no other direct transit service, it feels weird that Amtrak provides a bus instead of a train. I have been researching how to reach Napa because it is a famous place to visit. I also want to explore more places to the east of Petaluma. I have focused mostly on places to the north and south of Petaluma so far.

Unfortunately, my e-bike is too heavy to be brought on Amtrak because it is over 50 pounds. Since my bike keeps being too heavy for every transit agency’s e-bike policy, I may need to buy a lighter e-bike. Hopefully, the lighter e-bike will have all the features that I am used to having. Do you think such an e-bike exists?

Electric bicycles under 50 lbs. are allowed in checked baggage and on trains with walk-on bicycle service. Gas-powered motorized bicycles are prohibited.

Amtrak

Swytch

Another option is to use Swytch’s electric bike conversion kit to convert my pedal-only bike into an e-bike. Due to some transit agencies not allowing e-bike batteries on board, I would need to confirm that Swytch’s battery can be brought on board. I am not sure whether Swytch’s battery is tough enough to be kept on the bike while on the bus’ bike rack.

Future Blog Post

I originally wrote that the above post is short. I added more to the post after learning more about e-bike policies in the Bay Area. I still want to blog more about my car-free adventures throughout the Bay Area. Since I have days off during the upcoming holiday season, I should have more time to explore the region. I have been texting with Solomon Haile, who lives in the East Bay and is a UC Berkeley student, about going on a bike ride together. Surprisingly, I have not met Solomon in person yet. We met online through our mutual passion to achieve Vision Zero or Sustainable Safety, which is another topic that I could write more about.

Ray’s Petaluma Apartment Complex Has Strict Bike Parking Policy

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My roommate and I received a patio notice from our Petaluma, CA apartment complex yesterday (Friday) that requires me to park my two bikes in a bike cage or inside my bedroom. The patio notice also requires us to bring our small trash and recycle cans inside. While I was tempted to share the notice publicly, it has our address on it. Since our lease states that only furniture can be on our patio, I should have read our lease closer. Thankfully, we did not get fined and the property manager is helping us to be compliant. We learned that many residents have bikes on their patios, so we were not the only residents who receive the notice. While I may find similar restrictions in a homeowner association (HOA) if my first home ends up being in an HOA, I have enough savings to buy my first home after my one-year work probation period is over next July. Due to how many Californians cannot afford to buy a home, I am fortunate to be able to afford an expensive home in California.

Where Can Ray Park His Two Bikes?

I wish the answer was as simple as inside a bike cage. While the below photo is hard to see inside the bike cage, there is only space for one more bike. The property manager said more bike cages are planned. Unfortunately, they do not have a timeline for when the bike cages will be built. At least they recognize the need for more bike cages.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Due to the potential for bike theft, I would prefer my bikes to be parked in a secure bike cage. Since I do not want to hang my bikes on the wall in my bedroom because they are heavy, I am hoping the property manager will allow me to lock my bikes to the non-secure bike racks outside the bike cages. I wrote “allow” because my apartment complex has a bike registration system. This is separate from the City of Petaluma. The property manager will remove my bikes if they are not registered and parked in the correct location. I have never lived in an apartment complex that has a bike registration system!

Ray Purchased His First E-Bike

I try to include something positive in my posts. While I was not planning to buy an e-bike when I moved to Petaluma and I still prefer pedaling, my new boss felt comfortable enough with me to share that I had bad hygiene issues. He actually told me this on my birthday, which is likely the most helpful birthday gift I have ever received. Yes, it was an awkward meeting but I am thankful that my boss felt comfortable enough with me to share such an important issue. The below photo shows my Class 2 e-bike and pedal-only bike. As a full-time City of Petaluma employee, I receive a $500 (before taxes) annual wellness benefit. I used this benefit to help me pay for the e-bike. I have never had this benefit before. I love how it is an annual benefit!

I am keeping my pedal-only bike as a backup bike. I also have it posted on Spinlister, which is like Airbnb but for bikes. Since I purchased this bike when I still lived in Arlington, VA in 2017 and I rode it daily through rough western Oregon rainy seasons, I doubt it will be rideable much longer.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Due to my e-bike having a longer wheelbase than my pedal-only bike, I have been concerned about whether my e-bike will fit on the bike rack when riding the bus. As the below photo of a parked Petaluma Transit bus shows, the back wheel of my bike is in the wheel well. Since the front wheel is only partly in the wheel well, I am nervous about whether the wheel is far enough into the wheel well to keep my bike from moving. I plan to ask a bike shop for advice before doing a real-world test on a moving bus. While I am not asking for professional advice from my readers, do you think my bike is far enough into the wheel well to keep it from moving on a moving bus?

Source: Ray Atkinson

I wanted to end this blog post with an enjoyable Instagram post. You can read the description to understand what is happening in my Instagram post. Yes, I rode my e-bike through Petaluma River Park. While the severe drought has caused the park to be brown, I hope to see it lush and green someday soon. Since I did not enjoy the long rainy season in western Oregon, the lush and green park better happen without a long rainy season!

Next Blog Post

I may write a follow-up post about the above post. Another option is to continue writing about what I started in my last post. Do you have a preference?

Ray’s Birthday Wish

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Tomorrow, September 19, is my birthday. September 19 also happens to be the start of Disability Rights Washington’s Week Without Driving. While Ian Davidson is in Oregon, it appears Week Without Driving is only organized in Washington. World Car Free Day also happens to be this week on September 22. As someone who lives a car-free lifestyle, these challenges feel weird to me. However, I hope they convince other people to temporarily experience car-free living. Will you be participating in Week Without Driving or World Car Free Day?

Ray’s Birthday Wish Is To Feel Safe and Comfortable When Biking, Walking, Hiking, and Riding Transit

As I was biking, walking, and riding the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) train from Petaluma yesterday to attend the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, I was thinking about my birthday wish. While birthday wishes are probably supposed to be cheap like when I was excited to get a bike as a child, I now desperately want to see the world be improved by creating expensive 8-80 Cities. I should clarify that constructing these 8-80 places will be costly, but humans are already planning to construct expensive places. Behavior change to human-scale transportation planning will be key to successfully constructing 8-80 places.

Since my post includes suburban and rural areas, I wish 8-80 Cities included suburban and rural areas. I believe they are focused on large urban areas. Yes, I realize the 8-80 Cities non-profit organization has limited bandwidth. I am thankful that this organization exists at all to help places with their transformations. While 8-80 Cities may not be involved in the following efforts, I got excited and hopeful as I researched more about all of the regional efforts to create safe and comfortable routes to bike, walk, hike, and ride transit in the Bay Area and Northern California. Since you may not understand the significance of these efforts if you have not experienced the unsafe and uncomfortable existing routes, I want to show you one of these routes that I took yesterday.

Even though I am sharing the below experience from my perspective, 8-80 Cities is focused on making places usable by people from 8 to 80 years old. Due to this, please think about whether an 8-year-old or 80-year-old would feel safe and comfortable biking the route. I have noticed that many experienced adult cyclists say “I” statements when discussing whether a route is safe and comfortable. Yes, the route feels safe and comfortable to an experienced adult cyclist. I want to encourage these cyclists to think about the route from the indicator species’ perspective, which is discussed in the below video. Even better, I would love for these cyclists to invite an 8-year-old or an 80-year-old to ride along the route with them. How much do you want to bet that they will not feel safe and comfortable enough to even accept the ride-along invite?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ni32qPrGmM

Biking From Petaluma To SMART’s Novato San Marin Station

The below section of Petaluma Blvd S made me feel so uncomfortable that I ended up getting off my bike and walking. Yes, I have an extreme fear of heights but I may have been able to stay on my bike if there was a trail here. Due to how uncomfortable biking next to automobiles is, I prefer to stay closer to the grass when biking. As the below photo shows, the bike lane was narrowed to provide space for the guardrail and concrete barrier. I decided to cross the road and walk my bike against traffic next to the grass.

I was surprised by how many road cyclists wearing lycra and having no rack for panniers were riding the same route. They kept passing me because I prefer to ride slowly on a hybrid bike that has a rack and panniers. Since they had no bike lock and were only carrying a water bottle, I do not understand their approach to bike touring. I guess they were just biking fast and not planning to lock their bike somewhere to stop for a meal. While I frequently see this approach to biking, it is hard for me to imagine not carrying a lock and planning where to stop for a meal. As I walked my bike down the steep hill (yes, it’s not a very steep hill), two road cyclists asked if I was doing okay. At least they were friendly even when they were biking fast!

Source: Google Maps

I felt much more comfortable at the bottom of the hill when I saw the bike trail, which is the green line south of Mickelson Pumpkin Patch to cross Highway 101. As you compare the zoomed-in map to the overview map, pay attention to the green line south of Mickelson Pumpkin Patch. Since Fire Road is a dead-end road, I would have had to bike back to Petaluma to use a different route to continue south. I Street, which goes by Tara Firma Farms, is a much hillier route than biking on Petaluma Blvd S. The 14.5 miles goes to SMART’s Novato San Marin Station. Since I was out of shape, I took a break from biking and rode the SMART train to the San Rafael Station.

Source: Google Maps
Source: Google Maps

Disappointing Park(ing) Day Weekend in San Rafael

Due to this weekend being Park(ing) Day weekend, I was hoping to see a Park(ing) Day event in Downtown San Rafael’s unused parking spaces. According to the Park(ing) Day website, Hope Housing Of Marin previously participated in Park(ing) Day. It appears there is no Park(ing) Day event in San Rafael this weekend.

Yes, I was excited to see parklets! I just wish there was more bike parking. The only nearby bike rack, which is on the sidewalk, is hidden and blocked by the clothing display. Should I have moved the clothing display and used the bike rack?

Regional Trail Planning Efforts

The rest of my journey to almost Mill Valley was much better than the beginning of my journey. I wrote “almost” because I actually did not make it all the way to the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival. Since the festival closed at 5pm and I started my journey too late in the morning, I ended up turning around in Corte Madera. While the SMART Pathway does not reach Corte Madera, I biked along it from San Rafael to Larkspur. As the below photo shows, there are plans to extend the SMART Pathway and make it part of the 320-mile, world-class, multi-use rail-to-trail Great Redwood Trail. Yes, Kathy Fitzpatrick, this trail effort appears to be similar to the Columbia River Gorge’s Towns to Trails effort, which I wrote about in this 2021 post.

Source: https://twitter.com/grtredwoodtrail/status/1451318036674146318/photo/1

Future Blog Post

The Great Redwood Trail, which includes the SMART Pathway, is not the only regional trail planning effort in the Bay Area and Northern California. The planned 550-mile (400 miles are already complete) Bay Area Ridge Trail covers some of the route used for the Great Redwood Trail. The Bay Trail is a planned 500-mile walking and cycling path around the entire San Francisco Bay, running through all nine Bay Area counties, 47 cities, and safely across seven toll bridges. Stephan, we should take a future canoe or kayak trip on the San Francisco Bay Water Trail. I still want to explore Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with you!

Last and in this case least impressive, Sonoma County Regional Parks created the North Coast Access Trails. I wanted to share this trail system because I want to bike from Petaluma to and along the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, this trail system is short and not well connected. Despite this less impressive regional trail system, I am excited to experience and write more about all of these efforts in future posts! Since I want to make my blog interesting to read, is there anything in particular that you want to read about?

Remembering Grandma Atkinson and Moved to Petaluma, CA to Start New Job

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The surprise I have been patiently waiting to publicly share is that I accepted a new job as the Senior Transit Planner at the City of Petaluma, CA. The below map shows where Petaluma is located in California. Yes, I had to research where Petaluma is located when I applied for the job. I had never even visited Petaluma before applying for the job. Coincidentally, my Portland friend, Linn Davis, is working on this project in Petaluma for Healthy Democracy. He got me excited about accepting the job and moving to Petaluma.

Source: https://whereismap.net/where-is-petaluma-california-what-county-is-petaluma-in-petaluma-map/

My last day working at Clackamas Community College (CCC) was July 18. Even though I struggled with being asked to represent CCC and Clackamas County on regional transportation committees because I have never owned a car (most students and residents own a car), I frequently advocated for these regional committees to add more voices from Clackamas County. I enjoyed working with many on- and off-campus partners during my four years at CCC. I actually worked more time in the COVID restrictions than before these restrictions. These restrictions drastically changed my work environment and likely permanently changed the future of CCC’s transportation services. I hope CCC finds someone who enjoys working in this new work environment.

While getting COVID during my move to Petaluma forced me to work from home with my new roommate for over a week, I started working for the City of Petaluma on July 25. I plan to share more about my new job and Petaluma after I share my other surprise.

Remembering Grandma Atkinson

I actually have two surprises. Unfortunately, the second surprise is not exciting. While I knew my paternal 96-year-old Grandma Atkinson was at the age to die soon, I am still struggling with her July 16 death in a Concord, NC hospital. Thankfully, I was able to be with her during the last week of her life. My twin sister and I visited her daily in the hospital or assisted-living facility during my North Carolina vacation. Our dad frequently joined us for the daily visit. My mom and brother also visited. These visits helped me feel more at peace when my grandma died. Despite my minimal cooking skills, I want to preserve the time with my grandma by making zucchini bread, which she frequently made.

Visiting Grandma Atkinson in Concord, NC hospital with my dad and twin sister

More pleasant memory in Erie, PA

Due to how much pain my grandma felt in the hospital and my desire to focus on how active and connected she was in Erie, I wanted to share a more pleasant memory from this 2017 post. I cannot believe this post was published over five years ago! My grandma knew everyone by name at her Erie retirement complex. I have difficulty remembering new names, so I wish that I had her skill to remember names. She was excited to introduce me to everyone during chair yoga. She would stop to talk with everyone in the hallways. While I am trying to focus on positive thoughts, the COVID restrictions negatively impacted her ability to socialize with everyone in her retirement complex. Even though she did not have COVID, the restrictions forced her to be isolated in her room, which made her very lonely. I was very concerned that she would die during this isolation, so I called her more frequently to give her someone to talk to.

I also enjoyed playing cards with Grandma Atkinson and the rest of my family.

Moved to Petaluma, CA to Start New Job

Since my grandma died two days before I flew to Oakland, I am still amazed that I was able to focus enough to finish moving to Petaluma. I have been debating about what to share first about my new job and Petaluma. As a planner who enjoys reading history, I think sharing Petaluma’s planning history is a good starting point. I took a similar approach when I started blogging about Kannapolis in 2014. I can cover other topics about Petaluma in future posts.

Construction Industry Association of Sonoma County v. City of Petaluma

While I did not know where Petaluma is located when I studied the 1976 US Supreme Court case Construction Industry Association of Sonoma County v. City of Petaluma for the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam, I believe this case is the most important case to impact Petaluma’s planning history. As this post from Petaluma historian John Patrick Sheehy shows, I can thank former Petaluma mayor Helen Putnam for taking the case all the way to the US Supreme Court in order to limit Petaluma’s sprawl in the 1970s. In addition to preventing sprawl in Petaluma, the court’s decision helped cities across the country prevent sprawl. Surprisingly, former Mayor Putnam did not envision herself as a torchbearer of the urban slow-growth movement (aka smart growth).

Another important piece in Petaluma’s planning history occurred when the city council approved the Environmental Design Plan in 1972. This plan limited new development to 500 units per year for the next five years; 250 on the east side and 250 on the west side. It also included an urban growth boundary around the city. Yes, Petaluma created an urban growth boundary before Portland created its boundary in 1979. The below map shows Petaluma’s current urban growth boundary. Since I thought this boundary would not expire, I was surprised to learn Petaluma’s urban growth boundary will expire in 2025, unless extended by the voters. I believe urban growth boundaries in Oregon do not expire.

Source: https://www.planpetaluma.org/maps-1

The reason why I am focused on how former Mayor Putnam limited Petaluma’s sprawl in the 1970s is because my new job involves doing transit planning for Petaluma. Sprawling land uses are not conducive to providing good transit service. Petalumans would likely drive more than they currently do if Petaluma had not limited its growth in the 70s. While the below 2016 map does not show the current transit system, the current transit map does not have a basemap to provide context for the transit routes. As you can see from the changes that were made to the transit system, planners are still struggling to provide good transit service in Petaluma even with the urban growth boundary.

Source: https://transit.cityofpetaluma.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BE_PetalumaTransit_SystemMap1.png

Future Blog Post

I could write more but this post is getting long. I am debating what to write about next. I could write about my new commute in Petaluma and how it could impact my goal to settle down. Since I am new to Petaluma and the Bay Area, I could write about my car-free trips in Petaluma and the Bay Area. I am open to suggestions. What do you want to read?

Retiming Traffic Signals Can Produce High Return On Investment

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I have been thinking about ways to change traffic signal timing in order to improve safety. While I see the value in making changes to traffic signal timing, I would need to work with a traffic engineer to actually implement my ideas. Due to how retiming traffic signals can produce a high return on investment, I am surprised that I have not blogged about this topic before. Since motorists almost hit me daily when I am walking through a Highway 213 intersection near my home, I should contact the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) about programming Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) within the signal timing of this intersection.

What is a Leading Pedestrian Interval?

The below graphics from this page in the Urban Street Design Guide, which is produced by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), show what an LPI is and how it improves safety. Yes, I realize that motorists would be forced to wait for pedestrians to cross the intersection. Legally, motorists are already supposed to yield to pedestrians. While motorists may not support adding an LPI because many motorists are impatient, I hope they see the value of improving intersection safety.

LPIs have been shown to reduce pedestrian-vehicle collisions as much as 60% at treated intersections.

NACTO
Source: NACTO

What is Transit Signal Priority?

Due to how Transit Signal Priority (TSP) has been proven to reduce traffic congestion, I believe this is beneficial to all road users. The below graphic, which can be found here, from the Chicago region’s Regional Transportation Authority shows what TSP is and its benefits. While the Portland region does not have a cool infographic like the Chicago region, I am still excited about Portland’s Rose Lane Project. As someone who works in Clackamas County, which is south of the main area of Portland (a small section of Portland extends into Clackamas County), I wish the Rose Lane Project did not end at Portland’s city boundary. My main concern is how the jurisdictional transfer of 82nd Avenue from ODOT only includes Portland’s section of 82nd Avenue. Clackamas County’s section of 82nd Avenue is still owned by ODOT, which means that ODOT has to agree to any changes.

Source: https://www.rtachicago.org/plans-programs/programs-and-projects/transit-signal-priority

One element missing from the RTA graphic is a bus-only lane. Thankfully, NACTO includes bus-only lanes on this page about Active Transit Signal Priority within the Transit Street Design Guide. In case you are wondering, painted bus-only lanes are not good enough to create world-class Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). I refer to painted bus-only lanes as BRT-lite mostly because single-occupancy vehicles often end up in painted bus-only lanes. World-class BRT requires physical separation from single-occupancy vehicles. I recommend reading about world-class BRT in other countries.

Source: NACTO

Bike Signal Countdown Timer

While few people bike where I live, I still want to include my wish for bike signal countdown timers in Oregon City. As I wrote in this 2015 post, Portland has one wacht signal (wacht is Dutch for “wait”).

Next Blog Post

The topic of my next blog post is a surprise. Since I usually go on a vacation during the summer, could the surprise be about a future vacation?