Avidor- I've heard that bicyclists have recently been getting $80 tickets for biking down Nicollet Mall....not a good way of encouraging city-friendly transit and reducing air pollution and car congestion....until they get better bikeways, bicyclists should be able to use the bus lanes.
********* ...from the article by Laurie Blake at: http://startribune.com/stories/781/3316460.html Stay out of bus lanes Displaying ignorance or impatience, drivers routinely travel in the bus-only lanes in downtown Minneapolis. So the city is preparing an ordinance to crack down on the violators Bus lanes have been marked on Hennepin Avenue, Marquette Avenue, 2nd Avenue, 4th Street and the Nicollet Mall. The lanes are there to allow buses to cut through traffic and stay on schedule -- and they keep buses out of the way of other vehicles. But the lanes are a tempting way to get around traffic congestion and to travel in the opposite direction on one-way streets -- so violations abound. Vehicles using the lanes illegally pose safety problems and slow the buses. To keep the lanes clear, the city is proposing a $150 fine for violations. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposed ordinance in October and enforcement would be phased in by the end of the year, said Jon Wertjes, city transportation engineer. The proposal would reserve the lanes for buses, emergency vehicles and people doing maintenance work in the lanes. Taxis would be permitted to use the lanes at night and on weekends. But couriers, limousines and unmarked police cars would be out. Whether bikes should be permitted to use the lanes is still under consideration. ******* Ken Avidor Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
