NACTO! NACTO! NACTO!

A few years ago, my older kid was still riding on training wheels and looking for a nudge to learn to ride her bicycle more independently. One of her friend's mom recommended a one-day class through REI. We went up to an empty parking lot on the Richmond waterfront, and within about an hour, my daughter had learned to get moving forward, to balance, and to — only as the final addition — pedal.

I sat on the sidelines, watching, and occasionally cheering her on, while another dad next to me got increasingly agitated and involved in his own kid's instruction. PEDAL! PEDAL! he shouted. Jacob, PEDAL! PEDAL! PEDAL! His son was on the younger side and maybe just wasn't ready for the class. However, this dad figured he knew more than the actual teachers, and so there he was, hopping up and getting into the middle of the class to push his kid physically and psychologically forward on the bike.

Fortunately the interjections weren't disturbing my daughter — she had successfully learned what she came for and was enjoying cycling around the parking lot independently.

PEDAL! PEDAL! PEDAL! As the dad next to me continued his loud "instruction," I was relaxed — it was a pleasant breezy day near the bay — but also imagined myself in that dad's shoes. Not with my kids — I don't think his overbearing approach was that kind or let alone effective. Rather, in terms of creating more places like this parking lot that was temporarily sheltered by cones. My daughter and a number of the other kids were so much enjoying puttering around on their bikes. They didn't have to worry about the threat of adults in motor vehicles, and they could just practice their new-found balancing and pedaling skills. But unfortunately these types of safe places to cycle for beginners are the exception, rather than the norm, in most of today's American suburbs and cities — Alameda included.

NACTO! NACTO! NACTO! Yes, that's it. Somewhat like the dad shouting from the sidelines, this blog shouts out NACTO! NACTO! NACTO, Alameda! as a call to action for the elected leaders and staff of the City of Alameda — a request to put into practice and concrete form the design guidelines of the National Association of City Transportation Officials — a vision of making as much of Alameda as possible accessible by bike and foot for all ages and for all ability levels.

That little story is a lead in to mention that in an attempt to give Books Inc on Park Street some more business, I recently special ordered the 3rd edition of NACTO's Urban Bikeway Design Guide. Now that it's arrived, I have a 2nd edition to pass on to someone else.

The entire 3rd edition is now, after some initial delay, available to read online — so a print copy isn’t essential — but my kids occasionally enjoy flipping through the candy-colored guidebooks, and the physical reference makes it easier to think about detailed feedback to offer on local projects that city staff, City Council, or Caltrans can’t as easily dismiss.

NACTO! NACTO! NACTO!

If you'd like this copy of the 2nd edition for informing your own street-improvement advocacy and promise to pass it on to someone else when you're done, drop me a line and it's yours.