Minnesota Bike Blog to Check Out-Velo Traffic

Minnesota is known as the "Bike Friendly State" and there are quite a few good blogs about biking in this great state to keep you informed.  They cover everything from road cycling, mountain biking, fat tire bikes, bike advocacy, traffic and bicycle infrastructure, cyclist's personal experiences and even the weather as it relates to biking.  I will post a series highlighting some of the blogs that I follow regularly that you may want to check out or subscribe to.

Credit: Velotraffic.com

Velo Traffic is a blog written by cyclist Reuben Collins who is a practicing traffic engineer with a local consulting company.  His specialty is bicycle and pedestrian projects and he has helped many agencies across the state with planning, design and implementation of pedestrian and bicycle improvements.   

Velo Traffic posts deal with "engineering, planning, and public policy side of cycling".  Because he resides in Minneapolis, Reuben's posts tend to be locally oriented, but he writes them in a way that those unfamiliar with the local cycling scene can still participate in the discussion.

Reuben told me "I am very aware that there is often a lot of tension between bike advocates and traffic engineers, and I hope Velo Traffic helps bridge this gap.  I am passionate about bicycle and pedestrian safety, and I often use the blog as a place to think out loud as I explore the many studies about potential safety improvement measures."

I asked Reuben what inspired him to start Velo Traffic and he stated "I was inspired to start Velo Traffic because I felt like there was a need for a blog that talked about bicycling from an engineering, planning, and policy point of view.  There are a lot of really great bike blogs out there that talk about advocacy, racing, bicycling events, or other bike-related topics, but I wasn't aware of any that really tried to dive into engineering details or think critically about bicycle infrastructure, policy, or especially bicycle safety.  I hope that Velo Traffic helps fill this void."

Reuben welcomes cyclists questions and answers them publicly on his Ask Me a Question page.  He will try to answer questions about anything that is bike-related whether they be about engineering and infrastructure or you are new to biking just looking for a few tips or tricks.

Keep up to date on all of Reuben's Velo Traffic posts by subscribing via RSS feed, e-mail or visit Velotraffic.com.  Follow Velo Traffic on Twitter @VeloTrafficNews and to interact with Reuben follow him @reubencollins.

I found the easiest way to keep up on all of the latest content for the blogs I read is to use a RSS reader client such as Google Reader or Flipboard.  These allow you to put together all of the blogs you read into one convenient place.  There are a lot of RSS readers that work with desktop computers and smartphones so pick the one that best suits your needs.  Soon I will bring to you another Minnesota bike blog worth reading.