A SkateBoard Commuter Question For Transportation Alternatives:TransAlt.org

After doing a few hours of online research one quickly discovers that Portland, OR is the most progressive city in the country regarding skateboard as transportation.  Recently an exchange of views with New York, Transportation Alternative's led to the exchange below.
__
Hi Enrique,

Thank you for continuing to support Transportation Alternatives. We appreciate your tenacity on the subject of skateboarders in NYC - advocates must be tireless and you certainly are!
As you know, being a member, T.A. fights for more equitable use of street space for everyone - anyone on New York City streets will benefit from saner and better use of our street space. There are many other modes of transportation that we are not able to directly address at T.A. (scooters, unicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, segways, etc.). We are a non-profit with a specific mission statement that we plan our work around. However, we encourage you to start organizing skateboarders and to perhaps start advocating for that option in ways that you find meaningful and have impact.

Good luck! In the meantime, please respect the multiple responses you've received from our staff on this issue; we hope you understand that we do not have unlimited resources here at T.A.

Thank you,

 Elena, (T.A. Representative)

__

Hi Elena,

In Portland, OR they have resources for skateboard as transport awareness initiatives and for public policy on the issue. Portland is a far smaller city. What am I missing here? NYC is much larger? Not only do they have resources but they have the clear sighted vision to see that skateboarding is the third most popular sport in the U.S. It dwarfs cycling in interest and participation. It is more than likely the very first VEHICLE an American will have and operate on the traffic grid. Portland's transportation alternative organizations and local governments consider the skateboard a vehicle. T.A. recently told me at NYC Summer Streets that your organization did not consider a skateboard a vehicle.

The skateboard is so clearly a vehicle, that citizens are using it as ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION by the hundreds in NYC and across the entire country on a daily basis. University students across the land transport themselves to class each and every day on skateboards.  These numbers continue to rise steadily. Yet an organization named Transportation Alternative's is to blind and regressive to take note and makes "budgetary reasons" the excuse to not focus attention no matter how small on this critical issue.

If it were only to protect the mission T.A. serves presently, T.A. should immediately begin to study skateboard + bicycle mixed, traffic flow. This mixed traffic flow will begin to exhibit characteristics with turbulence resulting in safety statistics and your organization does not so much as think to get a few interns on the case to study it.

With all the interest in alternative transport, I find this very hard to believe.  It is extremely hard to believe when this critical vehicular mix is going unchecked and statistics will go completely overlooked while your present members, (Me. I want this studied, I commute by bike) begin to have collisions generated due in some part to no guidance given to the public. With no leadership other than antiquated, regressive (regarding skateboards) New York State, D.O.T. law to serve the citizenry and politicians that could care less about "one less car" progressive policy how else but the school of hard knocks will this go?.

What I believe is, T.A. considers the skateboard a toy and not worthy of even a student level glance at being a possible public policy implement for progressive urban transport change. This is short sighted to the extreme and clearly Portland's "Ture Choice" policy proves this without a shadow of a doubt.

The skateboard is so ingrained in the American public I assure you there are graduate level, transport policy students more then willing to take on this kind of study and TA is to blind to make a simple request, nor put their good name behind the effort? Incredible.

This is because T.A. imagines that politically the fall out shall be to big. Have some courage and at least tell it to me as it is. T.A. fails to have the political courage to stand up and do what is right as they have in Portland OR, plain and simple. I am asking again as a T.A. member in good standing that T.A. begin to examine skateboard traffic flow and help to implement policy for the citizens of this city and the country to follow safely. People need rules to follow for us all to be safe. Skateboard commuting is quickly growing as an alternative transport modality and we shall see many avoidable accidents begin to happen in the absence of safe skateboard commuting safety policy.

I will advocate and I will begin to take these simple facts to the media so the conversation might begin to include more then you and I. The story will be, "Why does T.A. not have the interest to make the right choice, same as Portland, OR has, on supporting safe skateboard as transport traffic policy, when it's own city has hundreds, nearing thousands of skateboarders entering it's traffic grid?" This is the issue here. Portland has proved it is possible and T.A. refutes it blindly on weak political will and completely negates even the study of skateboard+bicycle mixed use lanes, when it is clearly occurring by the hundreds daily.

Elena, you mention (scooters, unicycles, rollerblades, segways, etc.) and compare them to skateboarders as if there was one of these kinds of commuters on every corner every day. This is not the case at all. Yet there is a skateboarder on every corner using their humble vehicle to alternatively transport themselves across town, everyday. All the while an organization devoted to alternative transportation organization will not so much as support the very description of the machine as a "vehicle."

I encourage you to take note of the efforts of Tom Miller, Director of the Transportation Bureau in Portland, OR and his progressive "True Choice" approach to urban commuting. Mr. Miller and his constituents have chosen to implement  skateboarder stick figure traffic signs. People need guidance. Imagine the days when streets had no traffic lights. Spectacular four way crashes on a daily basis occurred. This is the same guidance issue T.A. should be dealing with now.

Tom Miller and the city of Portland very much believe skateboard is transport. They recognize the obvious, that thousands and soon hundreds of thousands of citizens shall reach for a skateboard as their chosen vehicle for urban transportation alternative for short simple commutes. This cannot be stopped now. A ban will simply not be an option. The people will not allow it in New York. A ban would create mayhem and over burden the police. There is critical mass on this issue at this point.

The skateboard is the quintessential transport vehicle for urban distances of quarter mile to 2 miles. Nothing can match it's hyper efficient use as means of transport as well as storage efficiency. Not to mention, there are kids aged 3-7 on every corner riding three wheeled scooters these days. What a massive opportunity they pose as a means of generating a new generation of alternative transport commuters. T.A. is missing this as well.

Elena please, the next time you see more then four unicycles, rollerbladers or segways, throughout the course of  just one week in NYC commuter traffic, let me know. Because I am seeing 10 skateboarders a day every day and often many more. All machines are worthy of some use. When they reach mass appeal and use, some reach noble status, the skateboard has reached this status. With an open and progressive mind T.A. should see this, if not, then Portland will help.

"We support you." Is what I was told as well by T.A. OK, so publicly, what is it T.A. will do to support skateboard as transport? We (all of NYC) are waiting for a formal reply.


Regards,


Enrique Cubillo, T.A. Member

Enrique Cubillo
SkateBoard is Transport, Your Advocate For Safe SkateBoard As Transport
http://skateboardistransport.blogspot.com/
FB : http://on.fb.me/rtaxLc
Twitter: @boardistransalt