Ciclovia: alternative to Critical Mass

[Sal Atticum]

I don't know if this is of interest to anyone, but I had not heard about it before.  Essentially it's getting the city to voluntarily shut down a connected route of streets for a day so people can go out and ride or run or walk or whatever.  Here's the actual summary for the one they are hoping to start in LA:

http://ciclavia.wordpress.com/about/summary/

What is CicLAvía?
Inspired by Ciclovía, the original, weekly street closure event in Bogotá, Colombia, CicLAvía will work to address five core pressing issues present throughout all of Los Angeles: Public Space, Public Health, Community and Economic Development, and Pedestrian and Bicycle Advocacy.  As a recurring free event, set for the same day/time every week or month, CicLAvía will allow for the temporary closure of interconnected routes throughout the region, creating a web of public space on which residents of Los Angeles will be able to walk, bike, socialize, celebrate, and learn about new cultures and neighborhoods.  Similar events have successfully occurred in other US cities, such as Portland, New York, and San Francisco. Bogotá’s Ciclovía has also inspired copycat programs in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Quito, Ecuador, and Melbourne.

Who makes it happen?
In every city where Ciclovía-like events have been a success, the city governments have supported those efforts.  In Bogotá, mayors Antonas Mokus and Enrique Peñalosa were instrumental in starting Ciclovía.  In San Francisco, “Sunday Streets” is presented by the Municipal Transportation Agency and a local transportation nonprofit.  In New York City, “Summer Streets” is lead by the New York City Department of Transportation.  In Los Angeles, CicLAvía will require the support of the City, its agencies, and other municipalities to make this event a reality.

For those who are against the anger represented by Critical Mass, this might be an alternative.  I don't know how well it would work in Grand Forks because there are very few thoroughfares, i.e., people park in front of their houses on almost every street, so doing a crosstown (E-W) street closure (perhaps linked to a Greenway access point) would be difficult.

[Plantains]

I'm just generally baffled by stuff like this and even to an extent... critical mass.

Cyclists have a great number of rights including that of being able to operate the same way as a motor vehicle. A right in which a majority of cyclists choose not to exercise.

Many cities etc. provide extensive public funding for bike lanes, maintenance, paths, etc. While I realize that some of these may "miss the point" for "real" cyclists, they do appeal to a vast majority of users.

That said, critical mass while having certain intentions initially, has now become NOTHING more than a popularity contest and a general gathering of a group of people that most cyclists wish would read a book or grow up or something. They hurt the situation FAR FAR FAAAARRRR more than they help it.

Similarly, we find oursleves with yet another movement intending to be non-violent that has hopes of getting their municipality to volunteer to close down streets (obviously, they've never tried hosting a USAC race). But why? What purpose does this serve? There are plenty of "closed off streets in the form of bike lanes, bike paths, etc.

The problem isn't that motorists "hog" the roads, or even that they dislike cyclists, the problem is the lack of education applied to motorists in how the entire structure of transportation works. So closing down a street so that cyclists can "use it safely" or whatever other BS they come up with is pointless. Similarly pointless is flipping a car off that has done something if they have no idea what they've done. They just think you're a jerk, and thus cycling is further frowned upon.

The best methods IMHO to solve ANY of this problem even remotely would simply be to look for ways to FORMALLY educate the motorists (which requires actual WORK instead of just riding ur bike with ur buddies when no cars are around   ) or simply keep cycling in ways that are "cool" as was so well illustrated by the "10-speed" movement of the eighties, the "BMX" movement of the 90's, and the "fixie" movement of the naughties.

Perhaps instead of devoting all of their resources to such nonsense as closing down a road for a day, to educating in a drivers ed course. The reason that a program like ciclovia might be supported is because it gets rid of those stupid idiots riding in critical mass. It's as simple as anarchy vs. government supervision. Bottom line... eh... I'd just be repeating myself.

[Sal Atticum]

I think the idea is to get people out who are normally afraid of riding, in order to make them consider riding more after the street opens back up.  Not to short change your answer.

[Plantains]

Yeah I think it is as well... but I think it creates more of a problem than it solves.