When you nail a pothole that should have been fixed five years ago and wonder who to complain to (besides your friends and at The Beat Bike Blog) about the rim you just bent, there are now several options.
- The Connecticut Department of Transportation is sponsoring a website which allows users to submit data about both bike accidents/crashes and unsafe biking conditions. The accident form is for any type of bicycle crash, whether or not a motorized vehicle was involved. The latter form allows users to provide the DOT with suggestions for how the situation can be improved.
- SeeClickFix provides its users with the capacity for uploading photos of the issue in question. These concerns are published so that others in the community can view them, thus making a visible record of concerns. If an issue is reported on a particular topic or in a specific area, different entities are automatically notified. For items reported in Hartford, the 311 Call Center for non-emergency city services is contacted. Publicly documenting concerns is a way to cut through bureaucratic bullshit, or at least to prove that something requiring action has been reported on and consequently ignored by the City, State, or private entities responsible for fixing the problem.
- Calling 311 is a third option from Monday-Friday, 8-5. There is a map showing 311 open/closed cases, currently available online. It has been yanked from the City website in the past without explanation. A case number is assigned so that you can follow up.
3 comments:
Both those CT DOT links are awesome. I will post them to the Bike Walk CT website - and tag them as favorites of my own.
Mind if I borrow your article in full and re-post on the Bike Walk web page. Can credit you under nom de guerre or your actual.
This is the next step. There has finally been a realization that things suck for bike / ped. How do the city public works and state DOT identify the worst bits, and subsequently start making them better. Now its up to the bike commuters and recreational riders to do their part to point out the suck - and realize they can make a difference instead of just pushing hot air around.
Nom de Guerre? I don't know what you're talking about. Schleppi Longstocking is my name, and yes, the article can be used with attribution.
This is very useful! Thanks, Schleppi.
dario
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