Based on a report by the enforcement subcommittee of the Tucson Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee, the TPCBAC unanimously approved a motion opposing mandatory bicycle licensing and registration.

The enforcement subcommittee laid out 17 points against bike licensing and registration, which included issues of registration fees not supporting the program and the cost of enforcement.

The enforcement subcommittee chair Eric Post said of mandatory licensing and registration, “There is very little pro to it and there seems to be a lot of con to it.”

See the list of reasons why the TPCBAC is against mandatory registration and licensing.

TPCBAC urges street car planners to move tracks

The TPCBAC also passed a motion supporting the downtown subcommittee in requesting that the planners involved in the street car development move the street car tracks toward the center of Fourth Avenue from 8th Street to 9th Street.

David Bachman-Williams said that the rest of the tracks would be moved to the center, but that particular portion had not been moved in the plans.

The motion said:

“The Downtown Subcommittee moved that the T-PCBAC recommend the tracks on the north side of the
4th Ave. underpass be moved inward toward the center of the street to avoid the car-door zone and
be in support of an alternative solution whereby parking be prohibited on 4th Ave. from 9th St. to
nearly 8th St.

“It is a horrible situation,” Bachman-Williams said. “As you are riding along and somebody opens the door you’ve got a choice of going down in the door or going down in the track.”

Committee wants to add bicycle donation box to Tucson water bill

The TPCBAC passed a motion asking the city to investigate the option of donating to bicycle infrastructure and maintenance on the Tucson Water bill.

Currently Tucson Water customers are given the option to donate money for green spaces.

The TPCBAC requested that Tucson Water customers also be given the opportunity to donate to bicycle programs.

Planning for platinum begins

Pima Association of Governements planner Ann Chanecka released a plan to help Tucson gain platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists.

Chanecka is requesting that the TPCBAC work with the platinum subcommittees to develop action items to address the 17 areas the LAB  said Tucson needed to improve.

I want to stress action items,” Chanecka said. “I feel like we need to show to the LAB that we are actively working on making our bicycling community better and actively working on the 17 points. When you take a look at the points, a lot of them are pretty valid.”

I am working on a more in-depth story about the plan. Look for that next week.

Tucson Mountain Park enforcement

I wrote a while back about likely increased enforcement coming to Tucson Mountain Park. The TPCBAC encouraged law enforcement to also be aware of automobile violations.

According to Eric Post four cyclists were cited for various infractions, while two dozen motorists were cited.

We are very pleased to hear that it was fair,” Post said.

Letter requesting elimination of TPCBAC term limits removed from consent agenda

A letter on the consent agenda requesting the Tucson City Council eliminate term limits — which are currently set at eight years — was removed when TPCBAC members wanted to discuss the item.

The TPCBAC’s newest member, Kylie Walzak, was concerned that people who wanted to participate wouldn’t get the opportunity if the term limits were eliminated.

Currently the term limits are set at 8 years and a committee member must take at least one year off before reapplying to return to the committee.

TPCBAC member Josefina Ahumada said it was a difficult situation.

There is a need for a reasonable turnover, but at the same time you don’t want to lose experienced people,” Ahumada said.

The committee decided that would investigate additional options like increasing the number of meetings TPCBAC members are required to attend.

The committee stressed that anyone can participate in the TPCBAC subcommittee meetings and hoped that interested cyclists would join them.

Currently, Pima County members are appointed every two years, but do not have term limits. City of Tucson members are appointed by their district’s council person or the mayor.