Week of August 10, 2009 Bike Share Expo explores the possibilities of other kinds of transportation rentalsWhen you were a kid, you may have fought with your sister over who rode the bicycle with the banana seat, but it’s nothing like the bike-sharing programs that are currently spreading around the world.Bike sharing today has hit the streets in several European cities such as Paris, Barcelona, and Brussels, and now has emerged in North American cities like Montreal and Washington, D.C. It offers people the ability to rent bikes from self-serve stations throughout a city and return the bikes at any station. Currently in Paris, there are more than 200,000 bike trips per day on 24,000 rental bikes. There is a lot of interest in bringing similar programs to the West Coast, and several systems are being explored by grass-roots groups in San Francisco, Portland, and now the greater Seattle area. This week, King County and the cities of Seattle and Redmond – along with several private partners – will host two Bike Share Expos so local residents can learn more about the idea.
If you’ve ever wondered how it works, you can find out at the King County Bike Share Expo this week in Seattle and Redmond.
They will be held: - Tuesday, Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Discovery Center in South Lake Union
101 Westlake Ave. N, Seattle
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Wednesday, Aug. 12 from noon to 8 p.m.
Redmond Town Center
164th Avenue Northeast & Northeast 74th Street, Redmond
Three vendors will be on hand to display their newest bike-share systems, including bikes and stations, and allow you to try out one of the hottest trends in personal mobility. The high-tech, utilitarian bikes are intended for short trips. So bring your helmet, try out a bike, and learn more about bike sharing.
Other co-sponsors for the events are Vulcan Real Estate, Redmond Town Center, Cascade Bicycle Club, REI, and Whole Foods.
For more information about the Bike Share Expo, call (206) 263-6230.
Executive Triplett | Last week, King County Executive Kurt Triplett released a nine-point plan to close Metro Transit’s looming financial deficit and balance the agency’s budget. Metro is funded primarily by sales tax collected in King County. Those revenues have declined sharply over the past two years, and it is expected that sales tax collections will be considerably below expectations in 2010 and 2011. This loss in revenue has created a long-term financial deficit that is unlikely to be corrected once the regional economic recovery begins. Within four years, Metro could be facing a $500 million deficit without corrective action. Triplett has proposed a multi-year plan that is intended to preserve as much bus service as possible, while still ensuring financial sustainability. His nine-point plan combines the use of reserves, an fare increases, deferred service expansion, internal staff and program cuts, and a nine percent average reduction in bus service on almost every route in Metro’s system. The plan will be part of the 2010 budget proposal Triplett presents to the Metropolitan King County Council in September. The council is scheduled to finalize the budget in November.
The King County Road Services Division will be improving traffic safety along two road corridors in East and Southeast areas of the county with federal funding from the Rural Safety Innovation Program (RSIP).
The $200,000 grant is providing 80 percent of the funding to complete safety improvements on Southeast Lake Holm Road between Auburn and Enumclaw, and along Northeast Novelty Hill Road east of Redmond.
The improvements include: installing warning flashers that detect the presence of approaching vehicles; driver feedback signs that measure and display the speed of approaching vehicles; and message signs that warn drivers when they are going faster than the advised speed limit.
The federal RSIP program is part of a national effort to help local and state governments reduce crashes on dangerous rural roads.
Last winter, 415th Way/Avenue Southeast was closed 15 times due to localized flooding. | King County is exploring ways to protect roadways during flooding on Clough Creek south of North Bend, and is inviting people to attend one of two community discussions being held this week.Clough Creek crosses 415th Avenue/Way Southeast in several locations south of Interstate 90 near the Uplands neighborhood. During the past winter, the road was closed 15 days due to flooding. Repairs to the roadway over the past three winter seasons have totaled more than $150,000. The King County Road Services Division would like to build a short span bridge on 415th Way to allow more water to flow under the roadway. If funding is found for the project, the earliest it could be built is the summer of 2010.
The division is hosting community discussion meetings on Tuesday and Thursday.
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