Bicycle patrols: an underutilized resource

Foundational research on police use of bicycles for patrol. A participant/observation research design was used. A five-city, 32-shift study on the output of police bicycle patrols was conducted. Same and similar ride-alongs were conducted with bicycle and automobile patrols. All contacts (n1/4 1,105) with the public were recorded and coded. These data included: number of people, tenor, seriousness and origination for each contact

WHO PAYS FOR ROAD VIOLENCE? RETHINKING ROADS, CYCLING, AND TORT LAW

Road violence is now commonplace in North American cities. However, it has not always been like this. During the advent of the automobile, every road death was a source of outrage. It was concerted action from the motor industry, organized into the self-named “motordom,” that managed to shift the blame of the deaths. With the new perception that cars had the right to the roads, victims of road violence would start sharing that blame with drivers in the popular opinion. This shift affected law, including tort law. Before the advent of the motor vehicle, cycling law was an area of legal studies, called the “law of wheelmen.” It was put aside after the automobile, with the creation of road traffic laws clearly centred on motorized vehicles. Common law courts, facing tort claims arising from road violence, remained loyal to the negligence principle. This thesis explores alternatives to the classical car-centred understanding of tort law in Ontario. With an advocacy-oriented approach, it focuses on collisions involving bicycles and motor vehicles, with the intent of providing solutions that result in better distribution of the burden caused by automobiles on road safety. A comparative lens was used in order to find and analyze better options in other jurisdictions

The Rebirth of Bicycling Law?

This article sketches the “law of wheelmen” as it developed in the late 19th century and suggests that, with the renaissance of cycling in North America, it is time to renew focus on the legal issues of cyclists. A comprehensive analysis of cycling’s legal needs across a range of issues – from legislation to enforcement and infrastructure – is in order and this article suggests an agenda for undertaking this analysis. For health, environmental and cultural issues, cycling is growing and the law and legal actors need to grapple with this means of active transit in a way that has not been done since before the automobile era

Strict Liability in Cycling Laws to Ready the Roads for Environmentally Friendly Commuting

Because automobiles cause harmful effects on the environment, the United States should encourage bicycling as an alternative means of transportation to automobiles. Many Americans elect not to cycle as a means of transportation out of fear of a collision with an automobile. Such collisions can be devastating physically and financially, and yet, after a bicycle-automobile collision, cyclists often bear the burden of proving negligence in a suit against the driver, and are often left without a remedy for their injuries. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, use a form of strict liability in lawsuits concerning bicycle-automobile collisions, which shifts the cost of such accidents to automobile drivers. U.S. courts should apply strict liability—as currently used in U.S. tort law—to collisions between cyclists and automobiles. Shifting the cost of bicycle-automobile accidents to automobile drivers will even out the consequences between cyclists and drivers, encouraging drivers to drive more safely, creating safer roads, and encouraging cycling—an environmentally friendly method of transportation—in place of driving a carbon emitting automobile

Living City: community mobilization to build active transport policies and programs in Santiago, Chile

Although the usefulness of walking and cycling to promote health is increasingly recognized, the importance of civil society leadership in developing new policies and activities is often overlooked. This case study, of Living City (Ciudad Viva) a community-based organization in Santiago, Chile, examines how several communities used knowledge about transport’s impact on the environment and health, gained through opposition to a major highway project, to build effective sustainable urban transport initiatives.Inspired by urban reforms in Bogot´a, Living City now focuses mainly on “active transport” (formerly nonmotorized), building the policies, attitudes and infrastructure necessary to encourage walking and cycling, and the inclusion of the differently abled. It has won two major awards for innovation and now partners with NGOs in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Chile and Latin America.Moreover, Living City now organizes cycling-inclusive training programs, design charrettes and participatory processes in cooperation with Santiago’s regional and national authorities. Its publication, La Voz de La Chimba, distributed free throughout the city by volunteers, has helped to open people’s eyes to the implications of active transport for social equality and health, and provided support to other citizens’ initiatives, struggling to get off the ground.This experience illustrates how citizens’ and community organizations acquire important knowledge and practical experience in learning by doing situations, and how they can learn to reach out to ordinary people and key policymakers, building bridges across the citizen-policy divide to produce innovative, win-win programs that simultaneously bring change at micro- and macro-levels.<br>Bien que la nécessité de marcher et de faire du vélo pour rester en bonne santé soit de plus en plus reconnue, l’importance du rôle prépondérant de la société civile dans le développement de nouvelles politiques et actions est souvent négligée. Cette étude sur Living City (Ciudad Viva), organisation communautaire basée à Santiago du Chili, examine la manière dont plusieurs communautés ont mis à profit les connaissances sur l’impact des transports sur l’environnement et la santé qu’elles ont acquises au cours de leur lutte contre un grand projet d’autoroute, pour élaborer des initiatives efficaces de transport urbain durable.S’étant inspiré des réformes urbaines mises en œuvre à Bogota, Living City axe à présent son action principalement sur le « transport actif » (anciennement non motorisé), élaborant les politiques, attitudes et infrastructures nécessaires pour encourager la pratique de la marche et du vélo, incluant également les handicapés. L’organisation s’est vu décerner deux récompenses majeures pour ses initiatives innovantes et collabore à présent avec des ONG aux Pays-Bas, en Amérique Latine et dans l’ensemble du Chili.Living City organise en outre des programmes de formation incluant la pratique du vélo, des ateliers de conception et des réunions participatives en coopération avec les autorités régionales de Santiago et avec les autorités nationales. Sa publication, La Voz de La Chimba, distribuée gratuitement dans la ville par des bénévoles, a aidé les gens à comprendre l’importance du « transport actif » pour l’égalité sociale et la santé, et a permis de soutenir d’autres initiatives de citoyens qui avaient du mal à se faire entendre.Cette expérience illustre la manière dont les organisations de citoyens et communautaires acquièrent des connaissances indispensables et une expérience pratique en agissant sur le terrain. Elle montre comment elles peuvent établir le dialogue avec les citoyens ordinaires et les responsables politiques clés, en rapprochant les citoyens des politiques afin de générer des programmes novateurs et bénéfiques pour tous, qui permettent d’apporter des changements aussi bien au niveau micro que macro économique.<br>Aunque la utilidad de andar e ir en bicicleta para promover la salud es cada vez más reconocida, la importancia del liderazgo de la sociedad civil para desarrollar nuevas políticas y actividades se pasa a menudo por alto. Este estudio de caso, de Ciudad Viva una organización comunitaria en Santiago, Chile, examina cómo varias comunidades utilizaron el conocimiento sobre el impacto del transporte en el ambiente y la salud, logrado por oposición a un  proyecto de una autovía, para crear iniciativas de transporte urbano sostenibles y efectivas. Inspirada en reformas urbanas en Bogotá, Ciudad Viva se centra ahora principalmente en el &#34;transporte activo&#34; (antes no motorizado), creando las políticas, actitudes e infraestructuras necesarias para favorecer andar e ir en bicicleta, y la inclusión de la diversidad funcional. Ha ganado dos importantes premios de innovación y ahora colabora con ONG en los Países Bajos y en otros lugares de Chile y América Latina. Además, Ciudad Viva ahora organiza programas de formación que incluyen el ciclismo, charrettes de diseño y procesos participativos en cooperación con las autoridades regionales y nacionales de Santiago. Su publicación, La Voz de La Chimba, distribuida gratuitamente en toda la ciudad por voluntarios, ha ayudado a abrir los ojos de las personas ante las implicaciones del transporte activo para la igualdad social y la salud, y ha apoyado iniciativas de otros ciudadanos, que luchan por ponerse en marcha. Esta experiencia ilustra cómo organizaciones comunitarias y de ciudadanos adquieren un importante conocimiento y experiencia práctica en aprendizaje creando situaciones, y cómo pueden aprender a llegar a personas de a pie y a las autoridades responsables clave, construyendo puentes entre la línea divisoria que existe entre ciudadanos y política para crear programas innovadores, en los que todos salgan ganando que proporcionan simultáneamente cambios a nivel macro y micro

Biofilms formed on humic substances : response to flow conditions and carbon concentrations

Stream biofilms are exposed to dynamic conditions of flow velocity and organic carbon availability. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the response of biofilms formed with and without humic substances (HSs) to an increase in flow velocity (0.04–0.10 m s-1) and HSs concentration (9.7 ± 1.0 to 19.8 ± 0.4 mg L-1 C). The highest amount of biofilm, measured as volatile suspended solids and total countable cells, was observed at 0.10 m s-1 without HSs. The bacterial community composition of the biofilm with HSs was characterized by sequences with high similarities (≥97%) to the genus Dokdonella and to the genera Comamonas, Cupriavidus and, Ralstonia. Sequences retrieved from the biofilm without HSs presented high similarities (≥97%) to the genus Sphingomonas and the genus Nitrosospira. Experimental results suggested that the presence of HSs under different concentrations and flow velocities did not significantly enhance the cell density of biofilms but influenced its microbial composition.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - bolsa de doutoramento SFRH/BD/18565/2004

Windsor\u27s Cycling History

There are several themes which recur in this account. The first is that Windsor has had a lengthy and ongoing cycling presence. Repeatedly there have been efforts to marginalize cycling -and indeed write cycling out of the transportation history of Canada’s “motor city”- but Windsor’s engagement with cycling has been significant and unbroken. Engagement with cycling racing has come close to falling off at times but cycling for utilitarian and recreational reasons never has. Another (near) constant in Windsor’s cycling history is unique to the City’s co-location with Detroit; Windsor’s cycling history has often been a cross-border cycling history. Excitingly, with the provision for active transportation on the new Gordie Howe Bridge which will link the two cities, cross-border cycling is on the verge of a renaissance. As the environmental, health, equity and city-building benefits of cycling come into sharp focus in the twenty-first century, it is an opportune time to highlight Windsor’s cycling past and present. In short, Windsor has been and is a cycling city, even if we have never fully realised the potential of our flat topography, mild winters, the good bones of our urban core, and proximity to rich natural and built heritag