Provisions of the long-sought Bicycle Commuter Act are included in the $700 billion financial bailout bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday night.

The bicycle commuter measure provides a tax benefit to employers who offer cash reimbursements to employees who ride their bicycles to work. It was pigeonholed after it was first introduced in 2005, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Portland and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced it in 2007.

It appeared dead in the water again this fall, until it suddenly appeared in the Senate version of the bailout bill along with other tax breaks worth $108 billion for businesses and families.

The bicycle commuter act is small in comparison to the other "sweeteners" as it's estimated to cost $10 million. It was probably added to the new version to make the bailout more palatable to Blumenauer, who voted against the original bailout on Monday ....   more »

The 18-year-old woman who slammed into a 67-year-old bicyclist one morning last winter, dragged her to the side of the road, and drove home has been has been sentenced to one week in jail and 83 days of home detention.

The judge's sentence for the Fircrest, Washington, teen is stricter than the one sought by the Pierce County deputy prosecutor in the case.

The bicyclist, Sandy Johnston, survived the collision with a compound leg fracture. She's been rehabing at home after spending 12 days in the hospital ...   more »

There's a suburban legend out there that rail-to-trail conversions drive down property values.

Propose a trail on an abandoned railway and you'll hear fear and loathing from neighbors about loss of privacy, increased crime, traffic and noise, all which will affect property values.

A University of Cincinnati master's degree candidate in urban planning decided put those fears to the test by checking data from a populated section of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in southeast Ohio. Her research concluded that the opposite is true.

Duygu Karadeniz discovered that single family home sale prices increase by $7.05 for every foot closer a property is located to the trail. ...   more »