tased and arrested for cycling at MSP
via KM
Stephan Orsak returned to Minneapolis from a trip to California last fall, he retrieved his folding bike, set it up and proceeded to ride his bike home. While winding his way along the exit road, he was harassed by airport police, and in a rapidly escalating scene was immediately and repeatedly threatened with mace and a taser. There were no signs prohibiting bicycles from the roadway, and he was riding according to all traffic laws.
Mr. Orsak has a full accounting of it on his blog, and it’s a pretty convincing case. This is only one side of the case, but it’s indisputable that there was no existing prohibition on him riding his cycle there. There’s also no excuse for the aggressive and abusive behavior of the airport police officer. The whole situation could have been resolved by simply escorting Mr. Orsak to a safe route and informing him if the MAC road policy prohibited bicycle use (though it doesn’t). Commentors in his weblog have suggested that he would have been fine if he had simply submitted completely to the airport police. It doesn’t seem that this would have made much difference, as the office in question apparently wasn’t in a mood for disobedience rational discussion.
A cynical person might argue that by requiring only motorized traffic, the airport commission is ensuring that every single passenger or visitor to the airport is contributing to the pot through parking fees or taxes. But i’m not a cynical person, right?
Another argument is security, and that motorized traffic can be controlled more easily than can pedestrian or bicycle traffic. It’s a bullshit argument. The security measures that keep travel on the airplane inconvenient safe are separate from any security for the parking area. Allowing bicycle access doesn’t mean they have to let people ride right up to the ticket counter or anything. Bicycle traffic would be just as secure if the airport provided a safe bike passage and parking. The area is so bike-hostile right now that any bike lane would instantly become the only way bicycles go to and from the terminal, and that’s just as controlled and secure as car traffic. And with the mess that auto traffic can be there, why not provide another alternative?
My feeling is that the truth is more like nobody at the MAC considers bicycles a reasonable way to access the airport. Nobody does it, goes the argument, so why accommodate them? Well, other international airports have this access, and arguably airports with much bigger security concerns than our little landing strip. It’s another part of a culture that excludes bicycles by assumption, then by enforcement when someone questions the assumption. Again, this is only one side of the case, but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.