[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/33954621 w=620&h=349] The most baffling thing about Marin is how unbikeable its thoroughfares are. Sir Francis Drake, Second & Third Streets, Miller Avenue, Redwood Boulevard - they're all sorely lacking in bicycle amenities. We shunt our cyclists onto side roads or put down sharrows but it's honestly not enough. The video above highlights the progress made in New York City, and they've done absolutely spectacular things in the past five years. But why should they have all the fun? Marin County invented the mountain bike and Safe Routes to School. Our cafes are hangouts for spandex-clad biker gangs. We have the culture, we have the towns, but we just need the will.

We've done the flashy projects - CalPark Tunnel, the Novato north-south path - but they're out of the way. Instead, I want to bike down Miracle Mile and Third Street. I want to lock my bike to something other than a tree in San Rafael. I want to feel safe biking in Tam Valley and on Delong Avenue. Marin is still one of the best places to live, but New York is showing us up. In 2012, let's show New York what we're made of.

SMART

SMART featured prominently in the news this week. Rohnert Park officially (wait, no, unofficially) moved its station north to be closer to housing and commercial development, which allowed SMART to reintroduce the Atherton Avenue station [Patch] to the IOS. SMART had cut Atherton because it relies on MTC funding, which requires that an average of 2,200 housing units to be zoned for within a half-mile of the system's stations. Atherton has very few housing units nearby, as it is located to bring workers to the Fireman's Fund office park, and so lowered SMART below the minimum TOD threshold. Rohnert Park's move added enough housing units to the system that Atherton could be added back in, and that's good news for everyone. (Patch, IJ, Press Democrat)

In other news, SMART has rehired their old CFO to replace her own replacement. Erin McGrath is taking over once David Heath, who was fired for undisclosed reasons, leaves on Friday. As well, the District wants to run shuttle buses on the deferred parts of its line, from Santa Rosa to Cloverdale and San Rafael to Larkspur. This would duplicate current Sonoma County and Golden Gate bus service, but the District is in talks with GGT about coordination, raising hopes that they won't waste money creating a sixth bus service in two counties. (IJ)

Marin County

Ross Valley's Flood Control District has been awarded $7.66 million to retrofit Phoenix Lake into a water detention facility, decreasing the odds of flooding downstream. (IJ)
San Rafael will spend $213k to repair a bump in Anderson Drive that slows down cars, although I think the bump is more of a feature than a bug. (IJ)
Marin County supervisors have discretionary funds, and they're giving away $38,650 at the end of the year. Prince William County, Maryland, has something similar but is considering ending the practice. (IJ, Washington Post)
Marin has pumped another $1 million into litigation against SAP and Deloitte Consulting for the wretched accounting system they installed for the County. (IJ)
The County needle-exchange program will not expand as planned. Congressional Republicans reinstated a ban on federal funding for needle exchanges, meaning AIDS testing and prevention money from the CDC will not be forthcoming. (IJ)
A four-car collision on the Golden Gate Bridge resulted in no serious injuries, but shut down all northbound lanes for 30 minutes. (IJ)
More bizarrely, a driver ran a car through a Sausalito living room. No injuries were reported. (IJ)
A third crash this week came from Novato, where a driver crashed into a telephone pole along Highway 101. (Patch)
The Ross Valley Sanitary District will borrow up to $1.5 million to fund repairs and upgrades to the valley's waste water systems. The District plans to replace 200 miles of pipe at the glacial rate of 2 miles per year. (IJ)
Caltrans shut part of the Manzanita Park and Ride lot due to high tides, but reopened it on Monday. It's unclear why the tides would be a problem last week, but not this week. (IJ)
Doyle Drive's Phase I is almost complete, and it will include a temporary signalized intersection. It will be interesting to see if the traffic gets as bad as people think it will. (Spotswood)

The Greater Marin

What does it take to make good downtown retail? A bit of rule-bending. (PlaceShakers)
Transit agencies should sell personal mobility if they want to compete with the car, the ultimate mobility machine. (Human Transit)
Mode share: Apparently, teens rely on cars if they live in spread-out, rural environments. But the town in question, Owens Sound, ON, has room to improve, as it seems to have little bike infrastructure and only a roundabout bus system. (Owen Sound Sun Times)
Environmental considerations have been cut from the federal TIFIA transportation loan program, part of a deal cut by Sen. Barbara Boxer to get Republican support for the transportation funding extension. The considerations may still be amended into the bill, as it has not yet passed the Senate. (Huffington Post)
Eliminating California state funding of school transportation funding is made at the expense of broadly-spread rural school districts that need busing but can't afford it on their own. (Sacramento Bee)
The City of Sonoma wants to ban "formula [i.e., chain] stores" after a Staples moved into town, but the town doesn't seem to be addressing the zoning codes that encourage the blandness they want to ban. The Council is deeply divided on the issue, which will be taken up at the next council meeting. (Sonoma News)
Work to widen Highway 101 in Sonoma has sucked up $720 million so far and needs another $250 million to get through the Novato Narrows, all for more developments like Deer Park and Hanna Ranch. SMART will cost $280 million less at full build-out. (Press Democrat)