Minneapolis is alt-transit awesomesauce

On my commute in to school today, there was a green-vested City of Minneapolis employee handing out survey cards to bicyclists on 15th Ave. SE.

Bicycling (and other alternative transit), while amazing and lots of fun, isn’t all roses. Last April, a bicyclist was killed by a semi truck at 15th Ave. SE and 4th St., an intersection I ride through every day.

But shortly thereafter (in response?), the city did some major work on 15th Ave. through Dinkytown, adding additional signage, painting the bike lanes bright green when they go through intersections, and other paintwork to increase bicycle path visibility (including a nice big box for bicyclists waiting to cross University). With the exception of the bike lane-bus interaction as southbound buses approach the on-campus bus stop, I think that these improvements have greatly improved bicycle visibility and navigability of this street.

And today’s survey? Now that the new signage and paint has been in place for a year, they’re surveying bicyclists to see whether they have noticed the new features, and whether they feel safe on the street.

It’s great to live in a city that is investing serious effort into making bicycle and other non-automotive transit safe and pleasant. And one that not only works on it, but follows up and surveys the users of said transit to see if their efforts are working. Minneapolis, I tip my hat to you.