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August 21, 2008
Bicycles Banned at
"Greenest Convention in History"

The Democratic National Convention to be held this month in Denver
has been proclaimed the "Greenest Convention in History" by its
organizing committee. A "hybrids only" parking lot has been set up at the site, and the committee has announced plans to buy carbon credits to
offset the convention's carbon footprint. The committee has partnered
with Humana and the Bikes Belong Coalition to provide 1000 free bikes
for use by attendees. Your hybrid will be valet parked, but don't try to
ride one of those free bikes to the convention. For "security reasons"
bicycles will be banned from the Pepsi Center convention venue and
from Invesco Field where Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance
speech, according to a report from the Colorado Independent.
Perhaps this should not be surprising considering the "No Bikes Zone"declared by the New York Police Department
for a large area surrounding Madison Square Garden during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Over 250 cyclists were arrested, and hundreds of legally parked bikes were confiscated by the NYPD, with
some held as "evidence" for over nine months. Hundreds of lawsuits are making their way through the courts resulting from NYPD's violations
of cyclists' rights as well as perjury and falsification of evidence by
police officers. Last month, an NYPD officer was caught on film
slamming a cyclist to the ground without provocation. What is so
threatening about bicycles that they are being banned and confiscated
while riders are assaulted by police? Will we see a repeat of these
violations of basic rights at this year's conventions?

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July 25 , 2008

Borough to Turn Allen Street
Parking Space to Bike Parking Lot

On July 21, the State College Borough Council approved conversion
of one parking space in the 100 block of Allen Street to bicycle
parking. This type of conversion is in use in other urban areas.
For the conversion to succeed, the bike parking must be in a
location where demand for parking is high. It must be
convenient for cyclists to access and use, and must include
structural elements to protect the cyclist and the parked bikes
from passing motor vehicle traffic. Simply placing a bike rack in
an empty parking space is not adequate for bike parking needs.
Demand for bike parking is high on South Allen Street.
Initially, the conversion will be seasonal, running only
from April 1 to November 15. See other examples of
successful parking conversions here.

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