You are hereKVUE runs smear piece about "fake bike lanes", which aren't anything of the sort...
KVUE runs smear piece about "fake bike lanes", which aren't anything of the sort...
Update: Turns out it was the 2009 Austin Marathon! Amelia sparked my memory of running into the marathon 5 times while I was out riding on a breezy Sunday morning last February, trying to find a place to sit down and drink a few beers before noon. KVUE, please let us know if these "fake bike lanes" follow this route (pdf) perchance. Seriously, do you guys do any fact checking before running your late night stories? I'd expect this kind of bullshit out of Fox, but c'mon now, this is kinda ridiculous. Is the marathon route really our fault?
"Rogue bicyclists have added lanes to some streets right here in Austin" is how KVUE opens their latest smear campaign story about the local cycling community. Can anybody guess which way they take this story? Yep, that's right. What makes the piece AWESOME is the fact that their entire anti-angle is based on FALSE INFORMATION. Read on for the actual facts, but watch the video for the really good bullshit, and as always the comments section is a goldmine of intolerance.
Now for the truth: Those markings on Arroyo Seco, including the messages, were put there shortly before one of Austin's big running events that wound its' way through the neighborhood. I believe it was the Turkey Trot, but I'm not 100% on that. (SEE UPDATE) Another message a few streets over on Woodrow (also part of the event's course) tells "Frank" to "Run", and that he's "almost there!", so it seems to be more of an admonition to a walker/runner/jogger than a message to a biker. If you keep going you can follow the line, which oddly followed the race/event path, where it turns onto a street that has both an official bike lane and the slightly blued "fake bike lane", which in reality is nothing of the sort. Nice try on stirring up a bit of shoddy, sensationalist journalism, KVUE. I'm not impressed.
Thankfully, and rather unlike their typical story relating to cyclists, they actually interview someone who has some educated input into the issue, specifially Annick Beaudet of Austin's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program. She requests that people don't paint fake bike lanes because the city program is doing everything in their power to roll out their bike lane plan quickly, and don't want to be deterred by having to deal with fake lanes.
Hell of a way to break a non-story, y'all. Was it really that slow of a news night that you had to come up with this?
I did a post over at Austin Post on this, and one of the commenters sent an e-mail to Sheldon Green at KVUE who responded with this e-mail:
"Shelton Green here. Here’s the problem. We’ve talked to several families and people who live on that street and in that area all of whom say those lanes were NOT there a year and a half ago and had nothing to do with any Marathon or race. Each of them told us during the race/run the runners took up the entire street. Because I’ve received several names of several races I’m currently trying to reach organizers of those said races to determine who is right. I know where you’re coming from on the rift between cyclists/drivers and I pride myself on trying to do stories to bridge the gap. I too am a cyclist. The photographer with whom I worked with on that story is a much more avid cyclist than am I who by they way makes that area part of his route. My goal is to always do the right thing and if you hear before I do of any way of proving where those lanes came from, when and by whom I’d be most appreciative."
Elliott from Austin On Two Wheels
I think they were from a marathon/half marathon in March or February. Most of the markings on Woodrow, Arroyo Seco and Guadalupe are my route to work, and I remember seeing people both spraying the stuff on and then later using black spray paint to cover some of the stuff up. People like to get riled up about stuff these days because it's a lazy no news no rain summer.
You nailed it! I remember running into this event almost half a dozen times in an early-mid Sunday morning ride last February, while I was questing for a spot to grab a beer. I eventually stopped at Flightpath on Duval and killed 2 beers while watching the marathon. Those lines did show up shortly before that, as well as the "Frank" messages. I wish I could find out who Frank was, maybe he'd speak to KVUE on our behalf. ;)
...not just here in Austin. "News reporting" will pander to any popular prejudice (wow, that's very alliterative!) in order to improve the newscast's ratings, which in turn affect how much can be charged for commercial time. This is particularly true in the current economic climate, in which ad dollars have dried up dramatically.
By the way, don't blame the reporters. These "news stories" are "shaped" and "given direction" by producers who would kiss the warts on a toad's ass to keep their jobs. The reporters are just blow-up dolls lookin' for enough face time to get noticed by another sleazy producer farther up the food chain (like CNN or Fox).
No kidding. With the amount of incorrect bullshit I spew on a daily basis, I should try to get a job as a reporter! At least I'd get paid for it that way...