From the White House.

Southwest Light Rail Transit
Minneapolis, MN
Coordinating Agency: Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
Target date for completing Federal permit and review decisions: November 2014

The Southwest Light Rail Transitway (LRT) Project will greatly improve access to major employment centers and all area attractions for residents and commuters in greater Minneapolis by building new light rail service running between downtown Minneapolis and the southwestern suburbs out to Eden Prairie. The project, funded in part by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), adds over 15 miles of new track as well as several new stations and park-and-ride lots. The LRT line would improve accessibility and mobility by enhancing transit travel speeds.  The LRT line would link several major activity centers, including Target Field on the corridor’s eastern end and the Eden Prairie Center Mall on the corridor’s western end.  Also, because the project would share track with the Central Corridor LRT line, it would provide a one-seat ride from Minneapolis’ southwestern suburbs via downtown Minneapolis to the State Capitol complex and downtown St. Paul. 

FTA is using an enhanced coordination process with other Federal agencies as well as exploring using the NEPA/Clean Water Act Section 404 Merger process, which is estimated to save several months by aligning multiple permit and review processes to work concurrently instead of sequentially.

Some 1 year figures.

I spent roughly 3% of my Gross income on transportation
You can increase that to 5% if you include my 3 trips out of state.


Housing costs  were  11% of my Gross income


On my bike I  made roughly 1700  miles.  Just under 400 trips going to work. (condensed work week)


I traveld to Milwaukee,  Seattle, Portland, and Denver (twice).


This is by far the lowest milage I have done since I started 7 years ago. Which means everything is really close. Winter tends to bring that out in me.

Smart Growth Connecting urban centers to cities

Connecting urban centers to cities.  Minneapolis to Monticello, Mn. I can currently travel 46 miles on a commuter train to see my family. It still is a lot of work. However I was able to do this. I left at 9:30 and got there at 12:30.

I was dumped off at Big Lake in a corn field. Bringing a bike is the answer to that.

The link is the 46 miles that would take me all day to do. I can now do that in 50 minutes. 

* I divert myself even down town to do this. This adds another 60 mins. Then I need to bike another 5 miles. So 45 mins. Still much better than 240 mins and me cycling 40 miles. 

The Magical Pill

People often find the magical pill tough to sallow. The current violent virus is upon them.. Only after 110 years of domination. We can clearly seen the devastation it has left.

America diverts their food supply to fuel automobiles, with subsides. Pays billions in subsides to allow Americans to buy more cars, and companies even more money to fail. However it is not just the federal governments. We can clearly see from Wiscsion   the civil rights they violated no one is safe.
They will often deny it, in order not to succumb. Yet the evidence never surrenders a different picture.
Study: 10% More Smart Growth = 20% Less Driving

As a person who is car free, and can only get around by bicycle, walking and transit. I can attest anywhere is walkable. However, it is a very defined space which mixes all of your destinations into a small corridor. Hence your smart growth. However smart growth already exists we just need to make it smarter.

We have very small commercial pockets all over this country, we just need denser neighborhoods. The easiest approach requires building nothing at all. Simply allow residents to have multiple families in a dwelling  .
A  three bedroom one bath house. Comfortably holds three households (3 adults). We don't need to build anything just change the zoning laws. I live 3 miles from everything I could want. If we applied this concept just to my block with 20 homes that is an extra 60 people.

Real americans are no longer looking for the next oil change. We are looking for real change.  I don't want to spend 20% my paycheck on a new car. Why should I fill up my tank when I can fill up my belly and pedal off to the store? Its ok to say you want something different,  by boycotting everything they throw down your throat.

The magical pill is eventually swallowed by everyone. Unless you have money to throw down the endless road. The unsustainable virus finds you down on your luck, out of time, unable to perform, and or broke.  Smart growth there for when your born, till the day you die. Never lets you down and always ready to pick you up!

1 Year!

1 Year anniversary commuting to work. (from my current location)

The ride has been fun!

A challenge I never will  fail to reach my destination.

With a little help from my friends.

I survived it all!

3 mile commute to work.

Fairly pleasant on residential streets.
Just long enough to even think about cycling.

I traverse three towns, a Us highway freeway, and train tracks (twice yes the same ones).


Bass Lake Road resembles a freeway (faster & shorter) no train tracks imagine that!
So I take 49th unless I want the express way home

I gave up the car for the bicycle. Rarely do I just ride (around the block).
My commutes to work is a pleasant exchange to the different environments I live in.


I am almost on my year so just a few more months.

Random goodness here.

Bicycle deliver sandwich man, who took my order in between.

Free water fountain via fire hydrant.  I see a future here.

So herein lies an old gas station. Swift

The Big Hit & Run Killer

18 JUNE 2012

The Big Hit & Run Killer

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2012/06/big-hit-run-killer.html

As Sergeant Joe Friday puts it:

"How much difference, for example, as far as moral guilt is concerned, is there between the following: #1 the man who plans a killing, takes up a gun, finds his victim and shoots him to death. And #2 the man who thinks he has to look out for no one’s welfare but his own, gets behind the wheel of a car, disregards the ordinary rules of safety and proceeds to commit homicide with a motor vehicle. Often times the crime masquerades under the guise of an accident. Morally, no matter how you spell it, it adds up to murder just as surely as if the person had taken a gun and shot his victim down."

Some 4,834 cyclists and 59,925 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in the United States between 1999 and 2009 (the most recent year for which figures are available), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cyclists killed just 63 pedestrians, or about six a year, during the same time period.


 Source : After Death, Manslaughter Charge for Cyclist By MALIA WOLLAN Published: June 15, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/us/san-francisco-cyclist-charged-with-manslaughter.html?_r=1

Metro Transit in the state of Minnesota is very progressive.

1. An Andriod apps allows me to see the next bus number, keep favorites, and display the next several buss frequencies for that stop.  Metro supplies the data and the open source community takes care of the code.

2. With added options to create a debit card rather than a monthly pass. So that my card can be read (on the bus)  to see how much I have left on it. Plust I get 10% discount if I use it. This speeds up boarding times as well.

3. Using the frequency to stop at a different place, but still serve the bus corridors.  Buses in the Metro county may have a letter after the number say 14G with a final destination on the front (led).
This allows bus service every half hour to have two different destinations but still serve the same line (roadway).
While most buses do go to the Robbinsdale transit center. They have one bus head out to Golden Valley, Yet still serves the same high density corridor of downtown and then destination of course changes as well. This allows service to more areas, but not really affecting service.

4. They increase bus service during rush hour and they charge more. Frequencies of ten minutes is the sweet spot.  I don't think it is not unreasonable to charge more.

5. They use Rapid Bus Service or BRT extensively. They were the first in the nation to place a BRT station on I  35W, so that the bus never leaves the Carpool lane. The buses also are *authorized to use the shoulders on freeways and some MN state roads. ( MN 7 for example has stoplights ) This was another first for the state of transit.

6. State laws give the bus another useful and powerful feature. If they have their blinker on, then all traffic behind them in that lane yields to the bus with their blinker on. ( so the bus never cuts anyone off and their is a sticker with a yield sign stating the law on the back of the bus.)

This makes sitting on the driver side interesting. As all these people with vehicles, will almost cause a collision by foolish driving.



* Authorize means they can use it if they want, so long it's a transit bus. Yet keep in mind #6 if a bus has their blinker on you must yield to them.

The 20 Mph speed limit.


It often baffles me why anyone should be allowed to go drive a tank more than 20 mph on the street. There is the freeway where you can do 55,65,70,75

You can now drive a tank 50,45,40,35,30,25,  Portland took a big step towards 20MPH on a street and not be held accountable when you some once dies. (happens all the time)

We know the end results someone (95)  will die daily, and thousands will be left injured. Some with disabling injures.

Our response drive fast! Over time this has turned a privilege into faster!


Americans should be ashamed, they have been given the answer in how to save lives. If every one went 20 MPH you wouldn't have all the death and desecration simple as that. More importantly people who don't want anything to do with motors, wouldn't have to subject themselves tanks speeding* down the road.

There are solutions, but we fail to implement anything. Black boxes would validate the 20MPH speed limit but we can't do that. Because that would provide the answer.


Opponents will argues that it would take for ever to get anywhere and they should have to be subject to going 20MPH on all the roads. Two that it couldn't be enforced  so let's just stick with what the 85% of people like to go.

If somehow the opponents were not using a privilege I would agree. Yet the very nature of a privilege means you don't get what you want. Here you don't get what you want be cause it kills people. Which for me is a really good option. Why should I have to be subject to your *speeding tank?

Here is proof that 20MPH would SAVE lives !

* Speed to which is  prudent at the time and place considering the environment and road users.  Speeding may very well be 10mph under certain conditions.


See my post on tanks.

Living with out a grocery store? I knew that was possible. I lived three months on my bicycle in mostly non-grocery lands! Yet how long could oneself go was my scientific experiment? When food choices come to anything other than the food palace? I have Arby's to Walgreens. I have about 20 places for food including a mini grocery (aldi) and a department store that has food items. All within 2112 feet. My nearest grocery store is 1.8 miles. So, Going to a grocery store I am overwhelmed by my choices. Miles and miles of food. I have a trailer so going there is not the problem. The problem is why bother with that hassle. Going to this magical place I pass all the shops I would have gone to. So while living with out a grocery store is possible. I need to change my take outs about every 4 months. Traffic. The two grocery stores offer an interesting view into the world of motorists. In my neighborhood, I traverse down a road diet 4 lanes to 3 lanes. Center, two lanes in each direction., and two bike shoulders. (not lanes) Yet very usable at this point. There are hills but it is less than three miles. The choices are adequate and price seem fine. The grocery store has been there for fifty plus years. Crystal would be considered 1st ring suburbs of Minneapolis. West side. This grocery store is served by the cardinal cross metro 7 county bus routes. North/south West/east Moving on to a township that was incorporated in the early 1900s as a farming community. The city has its own bus system, (which doesn't sync with the metro transit). So no transit for me. I have to cross a freeway, and then the motorists become maddening. I am not sure why but demographics sure has something to do with it. I fell my life is in danger just to go get food. Part of the issue lies in sidepaths. Glorified sidewalks usually on one side of the road to cut costs. To which if motorists don't want you on the road shown through their choice in speed in relation to a street setting, lawlessness, and or harassment. Then sending you to some other place and forgetting about you is what they are going to do. Only problem is every intersection no matter how small and every drive way no matter how small. Suddenly becomes a tank crossing and you get dead if you don't stop. If motorists can't see me in fornt of them. Then they can't see me off to the side. I don't feel I should have to traverse America stopping at every possible tank crossing, when the road allows me to legally sail on by at my own pace. Organic healthy grocery store is 6 miles away. I have to cross two freeways rife with motorists who don't understand the right lane is the slow lane. Or that the bridge lane is not wide enough share. Flashes of me lying on the pavement ensues. US 169 and 63rd street feels like a death spot for me. I 694/94 and county 61 is more fast suburban 7 lanes. In between these periods of stress I ride down empty residential streets and around a lake. I don't go here too often mainly because I don't feel safe getting there. 2 Bakeries A mexican place and a surplus store. I go here every so often. One is on the way to work and the other is near me. You know understand how to pick a place in relation to your house. You will need to pick. I have a bit of experience in getting this task done. So the choice was based on frequency and enough choices close by too get the job done. Whatever I was going to goto less I would live farther away from . Makes sense provided I had a trailer. The department store is a huge help with out it I would not live here. This provided enough choice for a healthy diet.

I am always searching to get rid of stuff so when I can it goes. The invention of the smartphone has seen me tossing left and right. I recently purchased the razor maxx and the battery life is what its all about. I go a whole day in using my computer. home internet connection, Laptop, mp3, gps, are on the endangered list. Already Gone land line phone MP3 player in sleep mode, no problem wake it up and then the controls are right there. But this is the 21st century. I get streaming stations from around the world in every genre imaginable Video player with a screen I don't wince at all the time. 21st century Screen resolution is perfect and usable to view movies. Portable computer Needs a TV, mouse, keyboard 21st century web, dlna player (access home file server), Bluetooth, and micro hdmi to have array of options to achieve this. Web browser loads the whole page and allows for zooming with two finger motion (perfect) 21st century 4GLTE /sim worldwide Camera sucks and I carry a camera Functional 21st century instant Web crap pictures / video Love my Gps so probably keep that. ( I will get rid of old one and upgrade) I also have a mini mac (love the design) computer. So a laptop is not necessary. So In The end ( yes here is a hobby or two) Gadgets are small though. All of that would fit in my bicycle trailer. GPS Smartphone Desktop computer LED monitor Bluetooth keyboard and mouse NAS Router Switch Scanner tape backup zip drive 6 X cameras

Living with out a car is not hard. You just have everything in reach. In Arizona that reach was 10 miles + In Minnesota its more like 5 miles. The difference is winter. Yet even here at 5 miles everything is close. In AZ everything was so spread out you needed 10 miles to get anywhere with out just houses. Here is a list of places I normally go. 3 miles to the transit center. .5 mile to bus. The transit center has a certain bus which is very efficient in getting you downtown. Minneapolis at all times of the day. 3 miles to work .2 and .7 miles to food,clothing,dollar store,department,post office,Doctors Office,drug store,my bank,shoe store, police, record store,surplus store, College is a bit of a bitch. (always has been) 7 miles and 10 miles Mom and sisters are 40 miles Don't see them much.

I just rode 3.0 miles! Check it out on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/7112237

At the airport waiting to go fast.
The plane ride will take 2hours.
Getting to the. Airport 2 hours
Plane late 3 hours.

The journey. Would take a whole day on the bus. Plus  the two hour commute to the bus. That's why we put up with the TSA

This is starting to get ridiculous. I was suppose to be several hours early now I will be late.

The bicycle is a wonderful machine.

Folding it up and store it in the car.

Roll it out and shop till you drop.

Seriously the bicycle is a wonderful machine.


Just because your car free doesn't mean you never use a car.
That would be silly considering 90 percent of households use a car.

When I visit my family I utilize a car (ride/drive) since the onslaught of winter in November.
So now is time to get back in shape.