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?

The Centre Region has an extensive bikeway network. The major deficiency of the network, and the factor preventing its function as a coherent bicycle transportation system is its failure to connect bikeways coming from the periphery into the downtown Central Business District and the Penn State campus. This deficiency is the most common complaint heard from local cyclists, and is the reason for not riding cited most frequently by would-be bike commuters who are not comfortable cycling on congested downtown streets without on-road bicycle facilities. Centre Region Bicycle Coalition presents this proposal to the Borough of State College for resolving the deficiencies and transforming our disparate bicycle facilities into a true transportation system. The elements of the plan include:

State College Police Chief Thomas King indicated last week that a targeted enforcement effort will be directed at cyclists violating the law requiring lights on bicycles operated at night on streets. This safety measure is being undertaken because of increasing numbers of cyclists riding at night without lights. Ticketing will begin in a few weeks. King indicated that the initial phase of enforcement will likely consist of tickets which will carry no fine if the offender presents proof within a short time that the lighting deficiency has been corrected.

Relevant Section in the bike code:

Section 3507. Lamps or other equipment on pedalcycles.

(a) Lamps and reflectors. — Every pedalcycle when in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped on the front with a lamp which emits a beam of white light intended to illuminate the pedalcycle operator’s path and visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front, a red reflector facing to the rear which shall be visible at least 500 feet to the rear, and an amber reflector on each side . Operators of pedalcycles may supplement the required front lamp with a white flashing lamp, light-emitting diode or similar device to enhance their visibility to other traffic and with a lamp emitting a red flashing lamp, light emitting diode or similar device visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear. A lamp or lamps worn by the operator of a pedalcycle shall comply with the requirements of this subsection if the lamp or lamps can be seen at the distances specified.