Bike the Strike!

Bikescape talks to New Yorker Naomi Renek and Jym Dyer about biking during the great holiday transit strike of '05. Then we look at domestic spying and the infiltration of New York's police provocateurs into political events including a fifteen rider memorial ride.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

While Transportation Alternatives counted a five-fold increase in cyclists at the bridges entering Manhattan, Times up! organized bike pools to help novices with their commute. Bike blog has pictures and accounts.

The New York Time's Jim Dwyer (not our Jym Dyer!) ran an exposé (subscription) about the situation. Video here. (click on the video link)

Listen to the Democracy Now! Piece about undercover police infiltration of Critical Mass and other events.

I-witness video uses video cameras to document police conduct at demonstrations and to deter police violence. They work with legal defense teams to support people arrested at demonstrations, and to support civil suits which may be filed against the police.

A trip down market street in 1905

This week Bikescape dabbles in found video. The 'scape is still primarily an audio show because I love radio and the challenge of conjuring up a world in your mind while you cook dinner or ride the bus.

But this time I couldn't resist sharing this old film shot from a cable car on Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare back in 1905, just a year before most of what you see here is destroyed in the great earthquake and fire. There is a bit of bike content here but this podcast concentrates on the history of the street most San Francisco cyclistst use every day.

You can listen to my commentary or just turn off the sound and let yourself be transported to a time just before the rule of the automobile.

Best if viewed using itunes or quicktime. (I used imovie to assemble this and optimized it for viewing in itunes and on the ipod)

Watch the video

or to bikescape in itunes.

You can download a higher resolution version of the film in three parts and in various formats from the Library of Congress.

The very first Critical Mass style ride on Market Street took place in 1896, nine years before this film was shot.

The non-profit Market St. Railway collects and preserves old streetcars that you can ride down Market St. and beyond.

This article in the San Francisco Chronicle talks about Melinda Stone's 2005 remake of the movie to commemorate the original film's centennial. (All of the other sites I've visited had credited the film to "unknown" but this article attributes it to one Jack Kuttner.)

Here is a history of the ferry building with a nice sequence of pictures showing the it evolution over the years.

The music came from a treasure trove of old Edison cylindars from his old lab in New Jersey.

Transportation for a livable city

A balanced and sustainable transportation system, along with land use that will support it can turn cities into places where people actually talk to each other and community can flourish.

Bikescape visits Tom Radulovich at Transportation for a Livable City to talk about how to make it happen.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

Here's a link to the song from last weeks show.

Times Up! wants you to complain about the proposed NY helmet law. (Scroll down a bit)

Check out the Geary Blvd. Bus Rapid Transit Study. and take part in the e-workshop. Be sure to encourage them to consider bike lanes as a part of the plan!

Sebastien, the guy that performed the closing song is selling his cd's here.