The impossible road trip dreamCommuter traffic on Newberry Road The logic is simple, if perhaps a trifle simple-minded. If Alachua County commissioners didn’t waste our tax dollars on homeless motels, phony-baloney immigration … Aug 14 26August 14, 2026Article at Ron on authory
Our new unautoAmerican menaceE-bikes are dangerous! Somebody do something! Note: I began to write this post assuming that the Guv would sign this bill. Instead he vetoed it. Good on him. I’m still posting it because the bill w… Jun 28 26June 28, 2026Article at Ron on authory
auto-Floriduh anarchyThat’s right, it’s time for another edition of my ongoing auto-American Anarchy series. Only this time it’s all Floriduh all the time. And guess what? It wasn’t even hard to find enough examples of… Apr 26 26April 26, 2026Article at Ron on authory
Drill Baby Donnie and the promise of Post-Petro AmericaListen, anybody who knows me understands that I’m not one of Spiro’s Nattering Nabobs of Negativism. Not for me the sackcloth and ashes prophet of doom, despair and agony on thee (Whoooo) refrain. … Apr 02 26April 02, 2026Article at Ron on authory
White paint does not a bike lane makeFDOT’s Alert Today Alive Tomorrow is basically a PR gimmick to put the onus for their own survival on pedestrians and cyclists- this in a state that designs “forgiving” roads because it knows that … Mar 07 26March 07, 2026Article at Ron on authory
Land of the car poor and home of the freewayToday’s autoAmerican Anarchy art is dedicated to Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso, the death-defying NYC pedestrian in Midnight Cowboy who shouted the immortal line “I’m walking here!” when a NY cabbie nearl… Sep 22 25September 22, 2025Article at Ron on authory
Fast times in FloriduhSo much competition, so little time. But that’s the problem with launching an official Floriduh Auto Anarchist Hall Of Fame (FAAHF). Picking the first inductee turns out to be a Herculean task. He’… Jul 27 25July 27, 2025Article at Ron on authory
The autoAmerican (anonymous) way of deathNews of little note Gainesville Sun, 4-20-24 Two people are dead and two were injured early Saturday morning after a Florida Highway Patrol vehicle used a PIT maneuver to stop a fleeing vehicle in … Dec 27 24December 27, 2024Article at Ron on authory
auto-American anarchy: So what else is new?So much anarchy in auto-America, so little time. I know, I know, the politicians keep saying there’s a “war on cars’ but it’s mostly the people outside cars that keep getting maimed and killed. So here’s what’s new in auto-American mayhem. The ‘war… Sep 19 24September 19, 2024Article at Ron on authory
Just another day in autoAmerican GNVFunny thing happened to me while I was cycling west on SW 8th Avenue on my way to a movie. Really, everything was fine until I got to the 8th Ave. autoAmerican Demarcation Line (DL). Said DL being NW 34th St. I call it the DL because east of 34th,… Dec 13 23December 13, 2023Article at Ron on authory
Will Waldo finally catch a traffic break?The urbanist Andres Duane once said that the Department of Transportation has “destroyed more American cities than Gen. Sherman.” In that regard, there’s not another city in Alachua County that exemplifies the triumph of traffic engineering at the… Jul 19 23July 19, 2023Article at Ron on authory
Time to lead by example GNV, AC, UF, SFCGainesville and Alachua County have jointly declared a “traffic violence crisis.” And for good reason: It is a rare week indeed that someone – often multiple someones – are not killed or injured by traffic violence in this university city and county.… Apr 21 23April 21, 2023Article at Ron on authory
Still more autoAmerican anarchyIt’s been a while since we’ve taken a stroll through that terrifying territory in the grip of autoAmerican anarchy. And an awful lot of carnage has ensued in the interim. So let’s take a look, shall we? Listen, we like our guns, we like our cars, and… Apr 12 23April 12, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
GNV’s downtown ‘tree’ problem isn’t a tree problem at all. It’s a car problemOn Friday I posted a “guest column” from Meg Niederhofer, who for many years was GNV’s City Arborist. That’s not a position to be taken lightly. Gainesville’s tree canopy has been a point of civic pride since way before any of us were born. And… Feb 17 23February 17, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
GNV’s memories of the fallen are terrible things to loseBy declaring a traffic violence crisis Gainesville and Alachua County got our attention. Now what? Well, among other things, Mayor Harvey Ward says GNV needs to launch a public awareness campaign. “Nobody gets into their car thinking ‘I’m going to… Feb 07 23February 07, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
Big changes coming to University AvenueThe following is a press release from the City of Gainesville announcing an $8 million federal grant to help turn University Avenue into a complete street. GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2023) – The City of Gainesville’s most famous thoroughfare will get… Feb 01 23February 01, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
What we don’t know about GNV’s traffic violence problemIf you think GNV has a violence problem you are right. If you think it’s mainly a gun violence problem, you haven’t been paying attention. Especially in recent years, traffic violence has been every bit as deadly as gun violence, if not more so. We… Jan 23 23January 23, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
Say their namesPrateek Sharma Sophia Lambert Rose “Granny” McDonald Maggie Paxton Sabrina Obando Jarret Young DJ Washington Denise Griffiths Casey Willits and Bryan Eastman said their names last week right after they took the oath of office as newly elected city… Jan 09 23January 09, 2023Article at Ron on Authory
Accomplice to the crimeCorrection: An earlier version of this blog stated that the section of South Main Street where a cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Monday was controlled by the Florida Department of Transportation. That is incorrect: That section of North… Nov 29 22November 29, 2022Article at Ron on Authory
On a crooked roadBrown’s Landing Road is a 35 mph two-lane road that, not surprisingly, leads from Palatka to Brown’s Landing. I’ve cycled it many times because I like its rural feel. Brown’s Landing itself is a place at the end of the road where you can launch your… Aug 27 22August 27, 2022Article at Ron on Authory
