The Urban Transportation Commission (UTC) voiced opposition to a City Council-backed proposal to consolidate several of Austin’s boards and commissions, including a plan to merge the Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) and Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC) into the UTC. The proposal, aimed at streamlining city operations and reducing administrative burdens, could come back to Council for […]
City of Austin Bicycle Advisory Commission
Posted inBicycles
Bike Advisory Council urges city to protect ghost bikes
The Bicycle Advisory Council is calling on the city to protect ghost bike installations after a cycling safety group reported four bikes they put up in the last few months were removed. Volunteers with the Austin Ghost Bike Project have placed at least 10 ghost bikes – painted white and attached to a nearby sign […]
Posted inAustin
Cyclists split on sharing bike lanes with pizza delivery robots
A small fleet of robots delivering pizza in Central Austin has set off a debate about whether the semi-autonomous machines’ use of bike lanes will squeeze cyclists off the road or launch a technological revolution to reduce motor vehicle deliveries and boost demand for bicycle infrastructure. “My personal view is that I don’t believe these belong in […]
Posted inRoads
TxDOT wants to add four lanes to I-35, but a citizen work group is pushing ‘BAC’
At the April 5 joint meeting of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory councils (BAC and PAC), members reviewed a Google doc detailing their recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation regarding the I-35 Capital Express Project. The massive highway project proposes adding two managed lanes, in an attempt to relieve congestion, to each side of Interstate 35, […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Council members consider merits of separate safe mobility bond
Responding to a concerted push from local mobility advocates, City Council has opened up the discussion about placing active mobility funds on the November ballot alongside the $7 billion-$10 billion public transit system Project Connect. Five weeks ago, a coalition of 36 organizations called Austin Outside launched a petition calling for a $750 million bond […]
Posted inBicycles
Bicycle Advisory Council examines race and active transportation
In response to the confluence of Covid-19 mobility projects and renewed efforts for racial justice, the Bicycle Advisory Council has opened a conversation over its role as an advocacy group in city-led efforts that impact communities of color. “A lot of the discussions we tend to have are dictated by the public processes of the […]
Posted inTransportation
Advisory council urges city not to give up on safety at intersections
The Austin Transportation Department is combining 2016 mobility bond dollars with other funding sources to build out a citywide bike network, while the city’s Bicycle Advisory Council wants the department to rethink its approach to bicycle safety at intersections. Last week, the advocacy board passed a recommendation asking street design engineers to consult intersection safety […]
Posted inBicycles
Red River realignment adds to concerns for campus bike safety
Since Jan. 28, the night Tony Diaz was killed while cycling through the University of Texas campus, university management has listened to and considered calls for safer bicycle facilities on San Jacinto Boulevard, a popular cycling route both for students and non-students. Still, nearly eight months later, the university remains uncommitted to any such action, […]
Posted inTransportation
The Netherlands offers critique and solution to Austin street design
Cutting traffic fatalities and getting people out of single-occupancy vehicles may seem like impossible tasks here in Austin, but it’s actually rather simple, says Billy Fields, associate professor of political science at Texas State University. The solution, according to Fields, is to systemize street design to manage vehicle speed and separate vulnerable users like bicyclists […]
Posted inBicycles
Bicycle Advisory Council says UT plan should not preclude safety now
In light of a preventable tragedy resulting in 39-year-old Anthony John Diaz losing his life from being run over by a Capital Metro bus while riding a bicycle on Monday, Jan. 28, the Bicycle Advisory Council is recommending that the University of Texas at Austin assume immediate action to make sure that it will not […]
Posted inBicycles
City tentatively talks about dockless bike-sharing
The Austin Transportation Department is taking a studious approach to the dockless bike-sharing companies that have swooped into cities throughout the world in 2017. Active Transportation Program Manager Laura Dierenfield brought the Bicycle Advisory Council into the conversation on Wednesday night with a discussion that Dierenfield framed as part of an evaluation process aimed at […]
Posted inBicycles
B-cycle is expanding. So why are all the new stations near downtown?
B-cycle, Austin’s bike-share system, recently added three new stations as part of an 18-station build up over the next 18 months. All of these new stations will be close to or in downtown, adding to the company’s existing 51 docks. An expansion might seem like an opportunity to finally build a station outside of B-cycle’s […]