One Street News

Spring 2024

Vol. 17, Issue 1

  1. DR Congo Partners Showcased on Their New Website
  2. Australian Bicycle Discoveries
  3. Bosnian Partners’ Video Celebrates Their Six Years of Bicycle Successes
  4. Resources – New Study Shows Asphalt Art Improves Safety
  5. Hot Topics – Cities Are Depaving for Climate Change
  6. Hot Topics – The Dangers of Pedestrian Bridges over Urban Roads and Intersections

DR Congo Partners Showcased on Their New Website

We’ve had the pleasure of working with our partners at the Humanitarian Organization for Education and Development (OHED) in DR Congo since 2017. Over the years these local Congolese activists have continued to inspire us with their persistent initiatives that unite their community in response to violence, especially in the east of their country. This area is renowned for attacks by armed bandits that have caused millions to flee their homes.

Rather than fight, OHED has created a network of trained local responders ready to assist people who have been displaced and welcome them into new homes. This includes agriculture, health, and job training programs, including bicycle repair and donation of bicycles to those most in need. Each of these teams is led by local villagers. Thus, OHED’s motto, Congolese helping Congolese, underscores why OHED’s work has far more positive impact than any outside charities or military forces have managed.

Over the past year, One Street has assisted OHED in building their new website to better showcase their outstanding work. Their beautiful new website was launched recently and we are all thrilled to finally see OHED presented in full to the world. Take a look and see why we are so proud to partner with them: https://ohedong.org/

Next up, our gracious web designer, Chuck Young of Civano Web Design, will train a handful of OHED leaders in WordPress website updating so that they can take charge of their beautiful new website.

If you would like to assist OHED’s impressive efforts, please click Donate in the top menu of their website and contribute what you can. Your donation will go a long way since it will go directly to programs run by Congolese for their neighbors.

Australian Bicycle Discoveries

By Sue Knaup, Executive Director

I enjoyed six stunning weeks in the east of Australia last October and November. I traveled there to compete in two boxing tournaments – one near Brisbane, the other near Melbourne. Of course I also checked out the bicycling situation as I traveled around with the used bike I bought in Brisbane. Below is a brief overview of my discoveries. And my boxing bouts were terrific, against tough opponents – lost each in split decisions, argh. Gotta go back now, right?

Bikeways varied a lot per city. Brisbane had very few, but many quiet streets as options that connected most destinations. Surfers Paradise had a nice path system and many bike lanes even on busy streets. Sydney was terrible! Traffic was horrendous, funneled onto the main connectors and no quiet-street options. Bikeways would spring up for a few blocks then abruptly disappear. Melbourne had the best bikeway network, mostly connected and including high-quality separated bike lanes and even bike traffic signals. And yet, bike share is only 1.7% in Melbourne! I suspect the helmet law…

Helmets - Of course I rode without a helmet even though all the states I went through have all-ages mandatory bicycle helmet laws (so sad!). I found it interesting that no one yelled at me and only one cyclist kindly advised me to wear a helmet. Instead, the comments and warnings I got were about police harassment. Sure enough, at the start of my sixth week (in Melbourne) I was stopped by a very abusive and hostile policeman threatening a $300 fine. He did let me off, but demanded I walk until I bought a helmet, which he said I could easily buy for $10 (not!). Of course I rode again once he was out of sight and then kept to smaller streets for the rest of my visit. To see some disturbing data that backs up my concern that the helmet law has discouraged cycling in the Australian state of Victoria, read this academic paper published in Dec. 2023.

Bikes on public transport – Amazingly I did not see one bus equipped with a bike rack. I did take one long distance bus and the driver was happy to stow my bike with the luggage. The trains varied wildly state to state. Brisbane trains were easy to just roll the bike onto, though I didn’t try any Queensland long distance trains. In New South Wales, the long distance trains required you to put your bike into a box – so stupid. At least they provided the box and even had tools for loosening bars and removing pedals. Then it was so refreshing to step onto a regional train in Victoria that simply had a wide space for two bikes in every car along with straps for securing them.

Social Bike Programs – I found several and managed to connect with most of them.

Sydney has two:
• Revolve Recycling - their space is part of the garbage transfer station. All bikes that arrive in the trash are moved over to them.
• Bicycle Garden has a space donated by the city in a lovely park.

Melbourne also has two:
• Good Cycles is a really high-end social bike business (paid staff and normal business hours) with multiple bike shops around the city.
• Community Bike Hub also pays their staff and has a quaint bike shop in an arts district run by both staff and volunteers.

Bosnian Partners’ Video Celebrates Their Six Years of Bicycle Successes

As we prepare for the next phase of our campaign planning project in 2025 with our partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Center for Environment (CfE), we have to share CfE’s recent and fun video celebrating their six years of bicycle successes. Enjoy!

Resources – New Study Shows Asphalt Art Improves Safety

If you have been fortunate to take part in an asphalt painting project in your community, you likely did it for fun and to brighten up your neighborhood. While you would have noticed that car drivers reduced speeds around the art, you might not know how dramatic the safety improvements of asphalt art can be. We posted a recent study that reveals the numbers on our Fun & Fashion page.

Hot Topics – Cities Are Depaving for Climate Change

Here’s an article to help you remove the asphalt and concrete that isn’t a good candidate for art. By removing pavement, cities are cooling down in response to climate change.

Hot Topics – The Dangers of Pedestrian Bridges over Urban Roads and Intersections

By Sue Knaup, Executive Director

The issue of misguided proposals for pedestrian bridges had so long faded from my thoughts that I was truly shocked to see such a proposal presented here in Prescott, Arizona this spring. The proposal is for a mammoth span from a new parking lot across a large intersection to our hospital. It was proposed because hospital staff have been hit by cars as they try to cross the intersection.

As readers of this newsletter know, if this ridiculous bridge was built, all other non-motorized users of this intersection would still be endangered, not to mention forcing these hospital workers to climb and descend this monstrosity.

Of course I sprang into letter-writing action offering resources showing the harm of such a bridge, plus others to support at-grade intersection redesign to serve all the bicyclists and pedestrians using the intersection.

In case any of you are similarly blindsided by such a backward proposal, here are a few of the resources I offered to guide them toward an at-grade solutions instead:

Article from ITDP this February: Pedestrian Bridges Make Cities Less Walkable

For activists in the U.S., FHWA’s design guide: Improving Intersection for Pedestrians and Bicyclists

I hope you don’t have to spend your time responding to such a ridiculous proposal, but if you do, those should be helpful.