MyWHaT

Happy New Year & enjoy the Chinese Spring Festival! Last Sunday began the Year of the Tiger and it’s being celebrated more ways than one–conservationist and transportation-ist (see below) are grasping the opportunity.

In the NExpress, the Mayor is nicknamed Blunt Bzdok over the current 8th St. debate (some just don’t get it). The needed Change of order is possible, you can Support it Today by writing MDOT and representatives in Lansing. TART Trails also issued an action alert.

To the chatter…

• Biking is safe, let’s sell it, but
• Pot in bike tubes at the border-not safe
• Beyond Transit a practical investment is… bikes
• A warning about more Parking
  
• 3-Foot law active in these states (not MI)
• Monster Dog Pull,(regret missing it)
• “How the City hurts your brain“
• M-Bike puts Toyota recall in perspective
• World Car ownership per 1000 people…guess who leads?
• Do these count? Urban Small Vehicle USV
• Still, not as efficient as the bee “Bee Miles Per Gallon“
• Michelle Obama wants to get people moving
  
• with a focus on child obesity
  
• Will it make the connection to City Planning?
• Apparently not in Oakland, MI.
• The Year of the TIGER roars in & non-motorized transport scores some wins…

Detroit’s Woodward Avenue Light Rail System is the closest winner for Northern Michigan (despite mostly missing out). The TIGER grants (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) were awarded on  merit based criteria for innovative transportation projects. There are some big projects, but there are many small, yet potentially high impact projects aimed at active modes of transportation that fulfill ‘community livability‘ goal. For an explanation and list of winners: US DOT’s press release (PDF).

Photo of the Week: A nice tie-in with the discussion of rails…

"TRAVELING DANGEROUSLY: A rail commuter stood on the front of a moving train in Soweto, South Africa" via WSJ Photos of the Week-always great...(Themba Hadebe/Associated Press)

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It’s not pretty. That’s for certain. But to celebrate MyWHaT’s first Pay Pal donation a cart-wheel along 8th St. was in order–yeh!!!  The form should improve with every new donation.

The editor doing a very humble cart-wheel along 8th St. (Thanks A&J)

Thank you everyone for your support. It has been great!

A big question in the beginning was: “Would anyone read it?“.

In 2 months, MyWHaT has generated more than enough energy to keep it moving forward–mostly through the use of magic… but the over 6000 views, almost 200 comments and many new friends has been a key component.

It’s approaching a time when the scale of the BLOG will either need to scale down or generate some revenue for the combination of daily posting, researching and general mischief.  A plan is developing that should be ready by March, but in the meantime gestures of support— comments, offers of lunch and donations through Pay Pal are really appreciated.

I will continue to do to attempt cart-wheels in appreciation (just off film).

“In creating, the only hard thing’s to begin; A grass-blade’s no easier to make than an oak.” -James Russell Lowell

Pay Pal

One question I have: Do you read MyWHaT daily, occasionally, or wait for a weekly round-up?

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