- I asked for pop-up tactical urbanism one week into COVID lockdown in March 2020. I was told no by my local mayor. Specifically, “no time, no money, no staff” (even after I volunteered to lead the project).
2. I asked for pop-up tactical urbanism when where I survived a hit-and-run had “bike lanes” added recently that don’t meet NACTO guidelines. I was told no.
The local Sustainability Commission asked as well and was told by the Public Works Director (the same one who sent me four paragraphs a few years ago about why Pointy the Bike Lane works, despite clear lived evidence to the contrary) that it would be “too much liability.”
Note: I know that no one from city hall or their contractors rode those lanes before, during, or after the ribbon-cutting because there was glass in them for weeks — I even got a flat from it and the REI folks had to dig glass shards out of my tire (all at a cost to me). Here is the media release I would have preferred to have seen.
Following my mayor’s shared daily habit months ago, I check the Georgia Coordinating Center website every morning to see how full my area hospitals are, and I decide where to travel to do my work as the first Metro Atlanta Bicycle Mayor and the publisher of this blog, with regards to emergency room availability in case I experience another road violence assault (here are 11 tips following an assault while riding a bike, if helpful to you).
Fun fact: This practice is no different than how the Peace Corps decides if and where to send us as volunteers, in relation to the availability of medical evacuation facilities in neighboring countries, wihich is one of the reasons my departure to Uganda keeps getting delayed, now pushed back until mid-2022.
With the recent surge in the Delta variant of COVID, the daily hospital news is increasingly dire. The video below shows this morning’s status. The need to reduce avoidable impacts on the hospitals is urgent. And so, I ask again, not just my local municipality but all cities in Metro Atlanta and beyond.
3. Is it now time for pop-up tactical urbanism to reduce illegal motor vehicle driver speeds and other known and present dangers in order to provide safer access for all?
I’ll answer it for you. Yes. Yes, it is. AARP has a terrific free toolkit, if you don’t know where to start.
No more excuses, please.
And, as always, let me know what I can do to help. My pro bono dance card is full, but my hourly rates are reasonable. In addition to communications services, I offer UX insight by road-testing your infrastructure, which is something I can tell you with 100% certainty our current local city staff and contractors are not doing. (UPDATE: I am no longer available. I’ve been hired to work full-time with the CDC Foundation and the State of Alaska’s Department of Health starting in January 2022.)
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 