In tandem with a forthcoming survey, C4C provides the below background that corresponds to items that will appear in the survey to come. Questions? Comments? Contact Matt at matt@c4community.org and thanks!
*This document is a working draft and may be updated*
Comprehensive Signage Recommendation to Boulder County. Many have observed that either individual road signs or road signs as a whole can be confusing to bicyclists and motorists. Is it “advisory,” a yellow and black sign? Or is it law, a black and white sign? What does ‘Cyclists Single File’ or ‘3 feet to pass’ really mean? One idea is that C4C’s staff person should first inventory signage on a stretch like the one on Lefthand and James Canyons between the Greenbriar and Jamestown. Then organize that inventory into a report. And, finally, present that report to Boulder County with recommendations not just from the community but from a growing standard of best practices like fewer words and more symbols on signs and more use of black and white signs denoting the law versus yellow and black advisory signs.
Earn More Industry Support. Folks, even within C4C, have pointed out that C4C should earn more support from local industry, like bike shops. If C4C can learn how to represent this segment and unify shared interests, then that is good for everyone.
C4C Brochures. A no-brainer here, C4C would create basic literature to leave at bike shops in order to inform the public of what C4C does for the community.
Identification of Dangerous Areas. The City of Boulder, County, and State maintain data to differing extents on incidents and complaints. The problem is that it is so called “backward looking data,” that is, one has to wait for an incident to occur before it shows up in the data. The proposal here is that C4C, in some way, listen to the bicycling public and relay information to governments about where it feels dangerous to ride.
Injured Cyclist Support. For a while now, C4C’s board and staff have appointed a volunteer based on their qualifications to introduce themselves to bicyclists injured in crashes. Especially if the bicyclist is in the hospital, there are legal privacy rules that apply. Yet, there are ways to introduce C4C and for C4C to offer help. C4C does this politely and according to the rules. The support is not specifically defined. Rather, if the bicyclist has questions, C4C has a community full of expert answers. Also, former victims tell C4C that it was helpful to them just to know that fellow bicyclists supported them and that they were not alone.
Digitized Bicycle Friendly Driver (And Auto Friendly Cyclist) Content. In 2019, a grant obtained with $20,000 of C4C funds helped fund about 45 classroom based Bicycle Friendly Driver courses that will reach about 900 participants in Boulder County, mostly commercial drivers. During that time, C4C and Bicycle Colorado have been engaged in good and cooperative conversations about creating online content that could be widely scaled to reach thousands and broadly adapted for varied purposes. Should C4C continue partnering on this? A big question is, if so, how can C4C help? Can C4C bring more funding support? Can some content be tailored to Boulder County and its unique bicycling pressure?
A Signature Ride Event. People have suggested that C4C organize a ride event. It could be a fundraiser or not. It could be an existing event or a new one.
A Ban on Hand Held Devices While Driving. For the fourth time, legislators will introduce updated language in a bill proposing the prohibition of the use of hand held devices while driving. It would be similar to what exists in other states and nations and would include specific exceptions and considerations. C4C is already communicating with organizers and supporting this legislation. From experts to common observers, there is agreement that distracted driving has reached epidemic levels. It is often compared with intoxicated driving in the severity and seriousness of its repercussions. Action from C4C would probably amount to political support.
Adopting A Road. Should C4C adopt a section of road in Boulder County and deploy its volunteers to clean it up as required?
Get Curriculum into The Top Cops Driving School Or Similar. If you’ve been around a 15 year-old lately, you know that part of the drivers education process has been shifted into a program know as Top Cops. Top Cops employs off-duty police officers to ride along with young drivers on their permits for a specified number of hours as part of the education process. Should C4C explore partnering with Top Cops or similar in order to place specified Bicycle Friendly Driver curriculum into these programs so that new drivers know the law as it applies to bicyclists and sharing the road?
Research Funding for An “Extra Duty Officer” in Boulder County. Currently, there is no significant budget for traffic enforcement in Boulder County by either the Colorado State Patrol or The Boulder County Sheriff’s Department. Conversely, there is evidence that enforcement makes a big difference in terms of improving behaviors on public roadways. Should C4C explore seeking funds to fund part or all of the salary of a traffic enforcement officer? This is not without precedent. And, if realized, the officer would enforce the law for all users, not just in favor of cyclists.
A Boulder – Lyons Bikeway. C4C has had initial conversations with major granting instituition(s) around funding, for starters, a feasibility study for a bikeway between Boulder and Lyons. Such a corridor exists in theoretical form in the Boulder County Transportation Master Plan. Virtually everyone points out that such a facility would have to be sufficient to handle the region’s significant user population and groups of or individual bicyclists traveling at high rates of speed on some sections. Also, the problem of right-of-way on public and private lands won’t be easy to solve. But, should C4C keep working on this?
Funding The Boulder County Transportation Master Plan. The TMP is a good plan for everyone, not just bicyclists. It’s an investment in how we want to live and what we want to be. It’s also massively underfunded. Correcting this would take, most likely, a County sales tax or similar. Such a tax could last for years or even decades. Currently, C4C may spend fruitless hours, months, or years advocating for changing, for instance, one road sign that might get pinned on the back of a maintenance backlog that goes on forever. Funding the TMP would, alternatively, be comprehensive, structural change.
