Why the buzz about bike sharing ?
GUEST SPEAKER: Martin Zimmerman, CABA Executive Director.
What are the lessons of the Capital Bikeshare program ? Martin will show a Power Point of his fact-finding trip to Washington D.C. – 1400 bikes at 140 locations. It’s spreading like wildfire in Europe, Asia and now the USA.
NOTE NEW LOCATION: Kickstand Burgers + Bar (includes vegetarian choices!) – 1101 Central Avenue at Heath Court. We have a relaxed, quiet meeting room to the right of the front entry. Bike parking available ! CLICK: Mapquest.
TIME: 6:30 – 8 pm. Meet kindred spirits. You don’t have to be a CABA member to participate. Meetings start and end on time.
Monthly forums have been permanently changed to Tuesdays
Do you have a speaker or topic you wish to hear about? Click the comment bubble below and let us know.
Martin in Washington D.C. - "Pay by credit card and off you go ! First 1/2 hour is totally FREE!"
Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance (CABA) 
I would urge you to encourage your biker members to remember that they are a “wheeled vehicle” on the road, and therefore subject to the same rules as those of us in cars. You don’t know how many times I see bikers ease up alongside a car and then go around the corner, go through the intersection (on a red light), or weave in and out among the cars to get ahead of the line. As a “vehicle” they should keep their place in traffic when there is no bike lane just the same as everyone else has too. They endanger themselves and other drivers when they “play” in traffic. Parents also need to teach children old enough to be on a 2-wheel bike the rules of the road, and see that they are mindful of cars on their street. Many of us coming home from work in the late afternoon encounter children riding their bikes and they just continue to weave around on the street while we are trying to get on home. If they are just pleasure riding why can’t they pull over and let the car go through? I hope your spring activities will include a safety blitz for your members. Thanks.
Jeanne
Thanks for your comments. You are spot on. Without going into detail, the issues you raise have been a constant problem and concern for me and other leaders within the bike community. I can be argued that it is the #1 issue facing the credibility of the bicycling movement in Charlotte.
It is taking a lot of hard work and persuasion to overcome these behavior problems and it will not be done overnight. But we will persevere.
MARTIN ZIMMERMAN, Executive Director
CABA – Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance
martinzimmerman@charlottebikes.org
celebrating twelve years
of bicycle advocacy
Just like there are drivers who don’t feel personally
responsbile behind the wheel, there are cyclists
and pedestrians who are equally disprecful of laws, etc.
Unfairly or not, automobile handlers carry the brundt of the burden since they take the most space, and have the cause the highest number of injuries to humans in the 30-45 category. Higher than cancer and heart disease.