E-Bike Share Pilot on Mercer Island?

On Tuesday night at a City Council study session we heard a city planner from Bellevue discuss Bellevue's upcoming year long pilot program to test dockless E-Bike sharing with LimeBike.  Afterwards a LimeBike representative outlined a proposal for a similar but smaller E-bike pilot on Mercer Island.  The City Council expressed interest in learning more detail as well as thinking through the traffic and safety issues involved.

We will keep you posted.

Here is an article that describes how E-bike share works with a focus on Seattle and San Francisco.

Join Us at Mercer Island's Leap for Green on April 14

Neighbors in Motion will be exhibiting at Mercer Island's annual sustainability fair, Leap for Green, to be held at the MI Community Center on Saturday, April 14.  Drop by our booth and discuss how Mercer Island is improving or can improve the safety and enjoyment of bicycling on the island. 

See you there.

Planning a bicycle ride for this summer?

Here's a list of Cascade Bicycle Club's rides planned for this year.  Many rides are local while others cover hundreds of miles from Seattle to Vancouver or Portland.  Take a look.

When and where are bicyclists allowed on sidewalks in Seattle?

Link to helpful information for cyclists in Seattle, Bellevue, Bellingham and elsewhere in Washington from Traffic Lab.  Also discusses the new Washington State E-bike law.

Study: Sharrows Don’t Make Streets Safer for Cycling

"Sharrows are the dregs of bike infrastructure — the scraps cities hand out when they can’t muster the will to implement exclusive space for bicycling. They may help with wayfinding, but do sharrows improve the safety of cycling at all? New research presented at the Transportation Review Board Annual Meeting suggests they don’t."

State's New Distracted Driving Law Goes Into Effect on July 23

The Legislature passed the new distracted driving law this session, with a provision that delayed enforcement until January 1, 2019.  Governor Inslee vetoed the delayed enforcement so it now will be enforced starting next month on July 23. 

The new law aims to eliminate “driving under the influence of electronics” as well as other distractions. The new law prohibits not just using a cell phone handset and texting (already illegal) but expands the definition to include shooting or watching video and taking photos with a cell phone. Expect a $136 fine if ticketed for these activities.  The fine doubles for second and later offenses. The law also prohibits other driving distractions, such as eating, putting on make-up and “any activity not related to the actual operation of a motor vehicle” that creates a danger.  This is considered a secondary offense – in other words the police will not stop a motorist solely for that reason.  Expect a fine of about $100 for this.  The law contains exceptions for contacting emergency services, hands-free phones in dashboard cradles, auto Bluetooth operations, and CB radios, among others.  

Seattle Tries New Approach to Bike Share

Seattle (SDOT) has released a draft of its new bike share program and 10 companies have expressed an interest in participating, including some of the largest bike share operators.   Would bike share work on Mercer Island?