Bicycles have but the tiniest impact on most urbanites’ lives. But judging by the way some people spew the bile (google “slog” and “bikes”), you’d think bikes were holding the entire city hostage.

The impact that bikes have on traffic flow is negligible. The damage that bicycles do to people and property is negligible. The objective reality is that pretty much the worst bicycles do is that they annoy people.[...]

I mean really people, are bicycles riding on sidewalks really that big of a source of anxiety in your lives? Does my riding up to the front of a line of cars stopped at a red light have any significant consequence, other than annoyance?

Meanwhile cars kill something like 40,000 people per year in the U.S. And maim who knows how many times more. And destroy a few bazillion dollars of property. [...]

I am baffled by those who express the same level of contempt for cyclists that break the rules of the road as they do for drivers that break the rules of the road. In the latter instance, someone might end up crushed on the pavement, while in the former, perhaps someone might get, well, really annoyed. It’s awfully curious how these folks (including many cyclists) suddenly become sticklers for the letter of the law when it comes to bikes. But you can be sure that all but the purest saints among them have either jaywalked, or smoked pot, or committed some other trivial victimless crime.

Which brings us to the “we’ll only earn their respect if we set a good example” argument. Yes, there is some truth in that, but here again I find it remarkable how so many cyclists seem to believe it’s so important for all cyclists to strictly adhere to this saintly standard. Did cyclists in Europe have to prove they were all perfectly behaved at all times before their governments invested in serious cycling infrastructure? No, I think not. That’s because the Europeans are smart enough to focus on what matters: the support of cycling for the overall health of their cities — not trivialities such as a bike rolling through a stop sign.

And what also repels me from the “respect” argument is that it is based on — and therefore helps to propagate — the twisted attitude that drivers are doing cyclists a huge favor by merely putting up with their presence on the roads. In other words, you cyclists best be kissing our asses, and maybe we’ll be good enough not to mow you down. First of all, as I already pointed out, bikes have a miniscule impact on cars and people in the city. But more importantly, the truth is that every person who opts to travel by bike instead of by car is doing a favor for everyone in the city, including drivers. Cue up the indignant cries that I am claiming cyclists are superior moral beings. Whatever. The fact that travel by bike is good for the planet is objective, verifiable, quantifiable truth.

First, Rosenberg argues that eliminating one-third of all bus routes would be a smart way for Metro to save money. Because on-time performance is low on routes, like his, that are heavily traveled, Rosenberg believes the obvious solution would be to eliminate routes that have fewer passengers.

Cut the lowest-ridership routes, let's say the lowest one-third, and re-deploy the buses and drivers to the busiest runs, where riders are most often bypassed. Where regulations require that regional sub-areas be apportioned a certain percentage of total Metro bus service, the King County Council should confront those mandates head-on. We could let politics undermine a common-sense re-deployment of limited resources. But let's not.

First of all, I'm not sure where riders are getting "bypassed"--my experience, in eight years of riding the Metro system all over the city, is that a more common problem is buses that arrive late or, in some cases, early. (Number 9 driver, scheduled departure from Rainier and Graham at 9:07, I'm talking to you!) Although I certainly agree that Metro doesn't always use its resources efficiently, cutting routes at a time when transit ridership is spiking (and gaining riders who've never taken transit before!) nationwide is asinine.

On a less market-driven note, let's not forget that Metro is part of a government agency. Its mission is to provide transit service throughout King County, including to elderly, low-income, and handicapped riders who have no other way to get around. Eliminating routes in places like Blue Ridge, where ridership is sparse, would leave people without a way to get around--as the recent controversy over Metro's Route 17 made abundantly clear. Rosenberg may not think those people matter--because they're preventing him from getting service every five minutes from downtown to West Seattle on his route, Route 21, which already runs every ten minutes at rush hour--but transportation agencies exist to provide a service to everyone, not just selfish Republicans. Moreover, Metro already deploys fewer buses on routes that don't get as much traffic; ever try catching the bus on Alki?

Second, Rosenberg argues that Metro fares should go up—way up—to reflect the true cost of riding the bus.

Currently, Metro fares pay for between a fifth and a quarter of the cost of running the system. Rosenberg would address this "problem" by raising one-zone fares (the fare you pay, for example, to ride from South Seattle to downtown) to $3.50 or higher, and raising the cost of bus passes by a third. (Rosenberg's own bus pass, he mentions elsewhere, is provided for free by his employer.) This is foolish not only because it's a sure recipe for depressing bus ridership, and thus reducing revenues (who's going to pay $7 to commute to and from work when driving their car costs less?) but because it ignores the fact that fares (or tolls, or gas taxes) never pay for the true cost of any transportation mode. Hidden subsidies for driving are estimated to run between $3 and $7 per gallon of gas; yet raising gas prices to reflect the true cost of all those free roads, sprawling subdivisions, emergency service, highway patrol, and free parking spaces--or charging tolls, or congestion pricing, or any number of fees and taxes to end subsidies for cars--is anathema to conservatives like Rosenberg. They want transit to pay for itself; but they want roads for free.

And those hidden subsidies I listed don't even begin to get into externalities. For example, carbon emissions from cars in the US cost an estimated $20 billion a year; wasted fuel and lost productivity because of congestion cost an estimated $78 billion a year; and car accidents cost an estimated $220 billion a year, for a whopping total of more than $300 billion. To pay for those externalities, which drivers currently create for free, drivers would have to be taxed at least an additional 10 cents a mile.

Taking transit instead of driving also creates a societal benefit that should be factored against its cost. Riding the bus instead of driving reduces the need for roads, highway patrol officers, and emergency service providers, and all the other subsidies and externalities I listed above. (Conversely, congestion pricing like the congestion charge implemented in London five years ago actually reduces driving.) Rosenberg's premise that a trip is a trip is a trip (Hummer, bus, Blue Angels jet) simply sweeps all that aside.

Finally, Rosenberg argues that Metro's bus service should be turned over to more "efficient" private companies—a standard Republican canard that one look at our "efficient" private health-care system should put to rest.

I do agree with Rosenberg that the 40-40-20 split (which allocates just 20 percent of all new bus service to Seattle) has got to be revamped, although probably not in the way he wants. Seattle has the highest transit ridership; it should get the largest share of new bus service. And I agree with him that pre-paid fares are a good idea--although, like everything government does, fare kiosks cost money, something conservatives like Rosenberg are hesitant to admit except when they're advocating for spending cuts.

Ultimately, unpredictable bus service is an argument for more government funding, not less. Improve the system, and riders will come; make it prohibitively expensive, and they'll stay in their (far more heavily subsidized) cars. It's also an argument for fixed rail like Sound Transit's proposed light-rail expansion, which has the advantage of predictability—something buses can never achieve as long as they're stuck on same roads as all those heavily subsidized cars

Tonight brings two good options for open-air revelry.

Option #1: Foxy Brown, the seminal '70s blaxploitation flick starring an ass-kicking, awesomely outfitted Pam Grier, which will be projected onto that huge white wall in the parking lot of Havana as part of their ongoing Movie Night series. There will be lounge chairs, drink service, free popcorn, and pre- and post-show DJing by DV One. Gates at 8pm, admission is $3 (or free with a stamp from the Saint). Last summer I attended Havana's parking lot screening of GoodFellas. It was glorious.

Option #2: The Belltown 'Night Out' Block Party, described thusly:

VINE STREET'S BELLTOWN ‘NIGHT OUT’ BLOCK PARTY

Please come! Join your neighbors on Tuesday, August 5th from 7-10PM for FREE food, fun, and friendship! A neighborhood gathering to foster community and build safety awareness will be held in front of the Beckoning Cistern at 81 Vine Street. Vine Street will be closed off from Post Alley to Western for the festivities. Part of the Seattle Police Department’s “Night Out” crime prevention event, public safety officials will be there welcoming attendees. Please come and join your neighbors there for an evening of fun, food, gifts, and friendship. This event is free and open to all.

So, yes, go to Belltown....if you dare.

It began with a simple query on West Seattle Blog:

Anyone see the Republican propoganda bus sponsored by Salty's owner? It quotes Hitler as a positive thinker.

The bus has been spotted all over West Seattle, and eventually WSB Key Master lowmanbeach provided photos, including the one above and this one highlighting the positive-thinking Hitler quote.

lowmanbeach also provides some eyewitness details:

The door of the truck says "The Kingen Family" followed by Wolfi's and Patriots. Salty's owner's name is Gerry Kingen.

..and some valuable history:

[Kingen] apparently does have a track record of [controversial] political involvement. This story came up from 2004.

So, apparently, the owner of Salty's (who's also owner of the Red Robin chain) is a Native American-baiting, Hitler-quoting loon. Who knew? (Besides the entire P-I editorial board, I mean...)

Thanks, West Seattle Blog! (And Slog tipper Explorer.)

Conner Homes wants to use less than half of the alley for one year while it constructs two buildings that would share a parking garage underneath. During that year, drivers entering the alley would have to drive around the block, and deliveries for some businesses—gasp—would have to enter through the front door.

Although the city is encouraging residents to submit comments, that’s not enough for the NIMBAs of West Seattle. They are discussing the alley, blogging about the alley, drafting a petition against blocking the alley, and gathering signatures to protect their alley! According to the petition, being circulated by the West Seattle Junction Association:

The project will impact our ability to do business and will have severe negative economic effects on the businesses in the Junction area…. During this time we will not be able to access parking freely at the rear of the business along the alley way. There will be the impact of not having the ability for customers to load and unload in the alley way and access the businesses. This also will make it very difficult for deliveries to take place during the construction….

The businesses in peril include Liberty Bell Printing, Curious Kidstuff, Elliott Bay Brewery, and Petco. Liz Schroeder, chair of the Junction Association's beautification committee, is the manager of the Elliott Bay Brewery, where signature gatherers drop off petitions. She says they are campaigning to save the alley "so the merchants can survive." She attributes the lethal threat to a loss of parking spaces, the potential for alley traffic jams, and a turnaround space offered by the developer that would be too small for 35-foot delivery trucks. But that defense is the same tired “If you do anything to inconvenience businesses then the entire industry will fail” argument. However, as of this morning, all of the businesses had front doors to accept deliveries. As of this morning, thousands of businesses in Seattle managed to get by without any alley at all. And as of this morning, businesses on MLK Way continued to survive despite the inconvenience of light-rail construction.

"Everyone knows that when it is done, it will look a lot better," says Schroeder. "That’s great, but what about all the businesses in meantime?"

Lest you think Schroeder and others circulating the petition are a bunch of anti-development reactionaries, West Seattle Blog reports: “The group stressed they are not opposed to this development in general. They believe it could be built in phases, one tower at a time, without alley closure required at any point.” Talk about crippling businesses.

Organizing to stop something inevitable and beneficial, simply because they dislike the inconvenience, is ridiculous. The city should accept those petitions with a smile, and insert them directly into the shredder. Losing part of an alley for a year is the sort of thing we have to put up with—we live in a growing city—in every neighborhood. West Seattle NIMBAs need to suck it up like everyone else.

When I last heard it, for the first time, I thought the ground was breaking under me. I cannot remember ever being so physically scared, so confused, so reduced to instinct before in my life. I felt inhuman. I felt naked. I panicked. I was waiting for the bus, on the way to work, and this gripped me, in public, in the world where I am confident and intentional, and made me less than I am in my worst nightmare, in the darkness of night, tucked weeping under the covers of my bed. And I still did not know what had happened.

I was telling my co-worker Stephan about the morning. How I had felt. How no one had reacted. They boarded the bus silently, listening to their ipods. What was it, this gripping, growling noise?

It's the Blue Angels. It's the air show. Sea Fair. Happens every summer. He paused. Its the sound you hear right before you die.

And I felt it was true. Part of me had died. I felt a force of anger as deep and startling as the jets' roar. We thought it our right to have and use instruments of death and more than that, to celebrate them as if that was not their purpose at all.

Stephan, who was usually quiet, continued. I remember a number of years ago, I was walking down E. John, on the steep part of the hill. An older woman was walking slowly in front of me. Old in the old-fashioned, old-world sense. She had a scarf over her head, tied neatly under her chin. I could see her going to market, on a cobblestone street, and coming home again with neat packages from the butcher and greengrocer. Her face was as wrinkled as a wet lunch bag and her thick hands curled around the small grocery sack she carried. And then the sound. Before the earth could fully split, this woman dropped with an instinct so urgent she didn't brace herself, she didn't clutch her bag, but she covered her head under her arm and laid on the sidewalk while the three blue planes looped in formation and the oranges in her sack tumbled down the hill and into the traffic at the intersection below.

Stephan went to her, helped her up. She was bleeding in several places, she had dirt on her face and runs in her stockings and the only thing she said was "I remember."

"About a dozen or so dismembered chicken feet strewn about the sidewalk and gutter," says Jackie. "These are going to smell fantastic by lunchtime."

This problem isn't going away. Even if sales tax revenues get back on track, fuel prices aren't going down--certainly nowhere near the sub-$3 level the county assumed in its budget projections. And buses, unlike light rail, run on gas. (That includes Metro's hybrid buses, which have proved much less efficient in practice--stopping and starting on Seattle's crowded city streets--than in the county's projections.) Buses also take more drivers to operate than fixed-rail systems--say, 20 drivers for 1,000 passengers, instead of one or two. It's ironic, then, that at a time when Metro can't keep the buses it has in operation (and can't afford to buy any new ones) the solution King County Executive Ron Sims is proposing for our region's transportation problems is... more buses. That's not even short-sighted. It's blind.

Says Bike Hugger...

RideCivil™ is a Bike Hugger gift to the cycling community—our response to recent Critical Mass violence in Seattle, NYC, and elsewhere. You are free to remix, re-use, and share the RideCivil artwork as a flyer, shirt, jerseys, socks, thong bikini, tattoo, or whatever works. Please blog and link love it. We hope other cyclists RideCivil in their communities. Watch for a related website and ride plans to follow.

As the Seattle Times reports:

To get people out of their cars and onto their feet, Seattle will close down major thoroughfares on Capitol Hill, in Rainier Valley and Alki for several weekend hours this summer....The streets will be closed to cars, motorcycles and scooters but open to pedestrians, bicycles, skateboarders and Segways.

Today the plan was attacked by right-wing blow-up doll Michelle Malkin:

Welcome to Seattle’s enviro-nitwit checklist: Bullying residents into buying Gorebulbs and terrorizing pants off children as part of the mayor’s green brainwashing? Check. Anti-plastic bag policing and tax hikes? Check. And now…closing off streets to cars and pushing residents to jump rope and draw chalk art? Check. Yep, who needs drilling? Seattleites will just jump up and down on the streets until they find new energy sources—or draw them with chalk and imagine they’re real!

In other stupid news I'll report anyway, one stretch of road that will be closed on the Car-Free Sunday scheduled for August 24 is "the western loop of Volunteer Park," aka Boner Row, where unhappily married men from Kent sit in their Civics and rub their crotches while making horny-sad puppy-dog eyes at the non-closeted queers strolling/rollerblading/cruising by. It'll be nice to see these guys out and about.

Last Friday, police were called to deal with a clash between cyclists and a motorist. This time, the scrap appears to be between two Sound Mental Health patients in a dispute over money.

The fight, described by SPD Spokeswoman Renee Witt as "fairly violent," appears to be over, but it can only be a matter of time until something else goes terribly wrong on 14th and Aloha.

...brought up in the comments to this post, by the enticingly named crk on bellevue ave:

Until Pike Place Market is open until at least 8pm, it is nothing more then a quaint tourist trap. I love the produce vendors there... but 6pm? Too early for me.

I asked mom, who appeared to be a Capitol Hill liberal, if she helped her kids with their sign. Nope, she said, she didn't even know what they were up to until they marched out of their house with it.

Ah, the children. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty that they hold inside, etc.

...now in attractive poll form.

What's the most offensive component of the Blue Angels' annual sky-rape?

Madison Park beach, 1930

More more more at the hours-devouring Seattle Municipal Archives photostream of Flickr.