Tag: bicycling
Posted inDavid Pendered
Transportation update: GRTA’s acting director, MARTA reorg on hold, Atlanta’s transportation planning
Some degree of clarity is emerging in metro Atlanta’s cauldron of transportation planners, managers, and planning.
GRTA Executive Director Jannine Miller visited the Capitol Thursday to say her goodbyes to lawmakers and introduce them to Kirk Fjelstul, her deputy director who was named by GRTA’s board as acting director. Down Mitchell Street from the Capitol, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed remains without a transportation planning director as the city tries to figure out how to realign Martin Luther King Jr. Drive around the future Falcons stadium and implement its bike share program.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Rent a bike just like a Zipcar: Atlanta to close deal on bike-share program
The centerpiece of Atlanta’s plan to start its first bike-share program is slated to be approved Monday by the Atlanta City Council. Bikes are to be rolling within a year.
The plan is for a private vendor to provide at least 500 rental bikes for use during a five-year contract. The two start-up areas are in Buckhead and Midtown/Downtown Atlanta, according to the legislation. Rental prices have not been released.
Atlanta is requiring each bike to be equipped with an array of comfort and safety features: At least seven gears, fenders, chain guards, luggage basket or rack, and a self-generating headlight. Bikes reservations will be handled via the Internet.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta’s new cycle track is short, but a milestone in city’s mobility options
Atlanta is poised to complete in August a significant component of its overall plan to provide safer routes for bicyclists.
On its face, the new cycle track seems too short to be notable. It will stretch along 10th Street only the width Henry W. Grady High School, from Monroe Drive to Charles Allen Drive.
This short segment will provide a separate cycle track that will connect tip of the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail at Piedmont Park to Charles Allen Drive. Because a bike lane already exists on Charles Allen Drive, the cycle track will provide one of the last links of connectivity for cycling and walking along a route from Inman Park neighborhoods through Midtown and across the Downtown Connector to Tech.
Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith
A brain injury, a bike and the Ryan Boyle comeback story
After Ryan Boyle, 9, got hit by a speeding pickup truck driver hit while riding a Big Wheel, his brain was so severely injured that he wasn’t supposed to stand or talk or walk, much less ride a bike — his favorite thing. He had to re-learn how to breathe, swallow and eat.
On a recent evening, Boyle showed up at the Emory University Barnes & Noble bookstore recently to sign copies of his autobiography, “When the Lights Go Out: A Boy Given a Second Chance” (Westbow Press). Today he is a graduate of Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell, a freshman at Berry College, a motivational speaker, cyclist and aspiring Paralympian.
His long struggle to climb back on a bicycle led him to the Shepherd Center and ultimately saved him.
Posted inLatest News
Cycling in the city celebrated at Atlanta Bicycle Coalition event
By Maria Saporta
The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition knows how to throw a party.
On Friday night, the bicycle advocacy group held its annual “Blinkie Awards” program at the Ponce City Market event space on North Avenue where it honored people, organizations and businesses from all over the community for being bicycle-friendly.
The highlight of the night came when Rebecca Serna, ABC’s executive director, gave the first award to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed for his efforts to improve cycling on Atlanta’s streets. Just a few days ago, the city approved $2.47 million for “high-quality Complete Streets-style bike projects” in 2013.
Posted inMichelle Hiskey
Barbecue boss leaves blueprint for leadership
Paul H. Taylor was one of those people who spark the best in a community, and kept that spirit lit. With the Oak Grove United Methodist Barbecue, the Taylor fire is real and smokin’.
For a half-century, this big church in northeast Atlanta has roasted three tons of pork to feed 5,000 people, which takes between 400 and 600 volunteers.
An event so large and significant needs a strong volunteer leader. For the past decade, Taylor served as “Boss Hog.”
Taylor will be missed at Saturday’s 51st barbecue, which takes place from 11 am to 6 pm. He died at age 53 in an April bicycle accident on North Decatur Road. His untimely death highlighted all that Taylor contributed to the barbecue, which serves as a template for anyone in management.
