Earlier this month, we were excited to share the news that Julie Harris had gotten her dream job, as the first executive director of the Nebraska Bicycling Alliance.
A longtime leader in active transportation advocacy as the Program Manager of Live Well Omaha, Harris chatted with me this week about some of her lessons learned, her vision for bicycling in both urban and rural areas of the Cornhusker State and a uniquely Nebraskan value that she hopes can propel bicycling as a point of pride among policymakers.
So, first of all, how did you get interested and involved in this work? What path led you to the Nebraska Bicycling Alliance?
Well, this job [with the Nebraska Bicycling Alliance] is like the very center of the Venn diagram for me. I was a political science major in college, so policy and advocacy have always been near and dear to my heart. Then, at Live Well Omaha, which is a health-focused organization, I focused on the active transportation piece. And the more I learned about Safe Routes to School and other issues, it just seemed to click. This was something that I was very passionate about.
What are some of the issues or campaigns you worked on at Live Well Omaha that really stand out, either in terms of lasting community impact or your own evolution as a leader?
Safe Routes to School, for sure. That was what I did for a long time. Walking and biking to school was something I did growing up and I aspired for my family to have that sort of experience. And I’ve learned so much! I was at the very first Safe Routes to School conference in Detroit and have been to all of them except one since. I’ve also been fortunate to be able to go to the [National] Bike Summit and that always provided so much inspiration and networking and spurred a lot of ideas. And we’ve done a summer bike challenge for years at Live Well Omaha — even before there was a National Bike Challenge — and connecting with those folks from all over town, learning about where they ride and why they ride and how we could help them make it better for them was great.
What are some of your biggest lessons learned thus far?
I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that [bike/ped advocacy] is a delicate dance. It's a very emotional issue on one side and a very technical issue on the other. I learned very quickly that, for upset parents whose child isn’t safe, they feel very emotionally charged about the situation. They want a speed bump or a stop sign. And then you talk to the engineers and they come to it from a very scientific perspective, trying to solve a problem. You’re left in the middle to span the scientific versus emotional. So learning to surf those waters is a lesson that I think has served me well all along. Whether it’s bike advocacy or Safe Routes to School, talking to the legislature or city council, it’s finding that middle way through the emotional and the technical.
How has Omaha and Nebraska changed during your tenure at Live Well Omaha? Are you seeing more momentum or interest in bicycling?
We’ve definitely seen a lot of change in Omaha and Lincoln, but now we’re hearing about smaller cities in Nebraska coming on board, too. A couple smaller cities with Complete Streets policies, a new bike club formed in a town on the Wyoming border. So we know that it’s coming along out there and we just need to find those people and connect with them to start to build their capacity — as we build our capacity. But it’s certainly starting to spread beyond the major metro areas.
What are some of the primary campaigns or levers of change that you see for the Nebrask Bicycling Alliance in the near term?
Well, I think that we have two really great organizations to help us: obviously the Alliance to help with capacity building and also the model the League [of American Bicyclists] has used in its Bicycle Friendly America program. I think scaling that [BFA programs] down to the state level is what I see as an early roadmap we can follow in terms of helping some of the other Nebraska communities become more bike-friendly. Another statewide issue is the untapped resources we have in terms of tourism and travel. We have a great rails-to-trails trail across northern part of state, which is really an untapped resource right now. There are some great lessons to be learned from other states and groups around the country that promote places like that as travel destinations.
What does success look like — how is Nebraska different five or 10 years from now thanks to the work of the Nebraska Bicycling Alliance?
I think we’re like 45th in terms of our Bicycle Friendly State ranking [from the League], so we have a lot of capacity for growth! I would say that some of those national ranking are a great indicator. We also have three Bicycle Friendly Communities now and there’s no reason we can’t grow that number — especially with the low-hanging fruit in our college towns where we can really get in there and make some change. Those sort of benchmark numbers are great things to watch. And, like I said, the tourism aspect, seeing that grow and seeing some bigger events happening and more awareness of that is key. Our state is vast and beautiful and more people riding bikes here would be great.
What about state legislation? Especially with that background in political science, do you envision working with policymakers in Lincoln?
Definitely. That’s a big part of our advocacy and, even though we were all-volunteer this past legislative session, we did get some bills introduced. We weren’t successful, but we learned a lot about who we’re dealing with and how to play the game, so to speak. We have a lot of laws that are contradictory to cycling or not bike-friendly that even our law enforcement isn’t sure how to enforce. So we’ve got a lot of work to do there. We do have a 3-foot passing law, though, so we can build on that.
Having worked with policymakers at different levels, what seems to resonate in terms of making the case for biking and walking?
Health and safety are definitely universal but one thing I’ve really been trying to focus on lately is a key Nebraska value: self reliance. In Nebraska, we pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, we work really hard and we pride ourselves on that. Being able to get around by bicycle is a very self-reliant value, so to use that concept and tie it back to common themes like health and safety, we know those messages resonate across our whole state, both urban and rural.
What about working with folks in the health sector — is that something, given your background, that you see evolving in terms of advancing bicycling statewide?
We’ve been very successful in Omaha and have been known for our public private partnerships bringing those types of folks to the table. I can see building on that across the state, definitely leveraging relationships with some of the larger insurance companies in the Omaha area that have customers in rural parts of the state, too. I definitely see opportunity there and tying [bicycling] back to health is just a slam dunk for me because I’ve done it for so long and it’s such an important message.
What about the rural areas? So often we talk about bicycling in an urban context — how do you foresee making biking better in non-urban areas, which is much of Nebraska!
I think Complete Streets is one of those things that you can have a conversation at any level. And, when it comes to infrastructure, I can see it as a way for us to get into the Nebraska Department of Roads and say every bridge needs to make sure, when it’s rebuilt, that it has access for bike/ped. Little things like that on the infrastructure side let us say, Hey, you can’t forget about this if it’s not in Lincoln or Omaha. Educating citizens in smaller towns and cities is key, as well. To that end, I just worked with a small town the other day that’s trying to get a side path to school. It’s a tiny town with very little traffic but it’s a safety concern. I want to make sure that the roads built there we’re having the same discussion we would if it were in Omaha — we need to make sure everyone is having that conversation.
So what's it like coming into this job as the *first* staff for the organization?
Thrilling! And scary! But mostly thrilling. The hard part right now is to balance the need to set us up on a firm organizational and financial foundation (the not so fun stuff) with the excitement and all of the great ideas that we have. I'm trying to be very intentional; I have to keep the Masters in Public Administration side of my brain from being overruled by the "Let's do cool stuff" side of my brain right now, for the sake of the long term viability of our organization.
