by Mary Lauran Hall
on May 16, 2014
 Welcome to the Alliance's weekly roundup of state & local biking & walking advocacy news. Every week, we crawl the blogs of our member organizations and bring you the most interesting tidbits.
Sign up here to get the weekly roundup in your inbox each Friday.
HAPPY BIKE TO WORK DAY!
It's not the same day all around the country — California advocates celebrated last week, while communities in colder climates tend to wait until June — but today marks National Bike to Work Day. It was a rainy morning in Washington, DC, complete with a flash flood warning that sent smartphones buzzing at 7 AM. Fearless commuters nevertheless donned their rain gear and pedaled through the wet. This communications director had a great time selling memberships for WABA all morning. The volunteer who sold the most memberships per capita gets a free registration to the WABA ride of his or her choosing! Fingers crossed.
WABA organized 18 commuter convoys and helped supporters prepare for a rainy commute.
DC got soaked, but Philly advocates postponed BTWD until Monday.
Transportation Alternatives pulled together a handy Bike to Work Day (and Night) Guide for the big day (and night). Notable: TA is organizing the second annual Bike Home From Work party. It looks awesome.
Employees from Connecticut businesses and public offices pledged to bike to work.
The Bicycle Coalition of Maine planned a blow-out event in Portland.
PROGRAMMING
Active Trans has a cool new bike education program: advocates lend a 20-foot trailer, 30 single-speed children’s bicycles, helmets, and bike maintenance tools to a community, free of charge, for a year.
MassBike has partnered with the city of Cambridge to offer urban biking classes to recent immigrants.
The biker won in the Wisconsin Bike Fed's 2014 Commuter Challenge.
Looks like the Houston CycloFemme ride was a lot of fun.
THE BIG PICTURE
New data show that 1 out of 5 of Chicago's bicycle crashes occur when someone opens a car doors in the path of a person biking.
Cascade ED Elizabeth Kiker writes about her motivation to work towards zero deaths from her dad's hospital room. Sending your dad warm wishes for a strong recovery, Elizabeth.
After a 38-year-old Philadelphia man was killed on his bike, advocates are pushing for Vision Zero in Philly.
Bicycling is now the official state sport of Delaware, thanks to this crew of elementary school advocates.
Keep reading after the jump.
by Brighid O'Keane
on May 15, 2014
 Attention advocates: We are now accepting applications for sessions at the 2014 Alliance Leadership Retreat.
The Leadership Retreat is the best and most in-depth networking opportunity for local and state biking and walking advocates – and it only comes around once every two years. Advocates pour in from all over to connect with peers.
The benefits are enormous: advocates have the opportunity to learn others’ best practices, get new ideas, share expertise, and talk through challenges. All with people who understand the work of advocating for better biking and walking in our communities.
Keep reading for more information about the session proposal process. The deadline for submission is Friday, June 6.
Tracks
We are organizing the Leadership Retreat in five sections:
- Organizational development – growing biking and walking advocacy groups to their fullest, most expert potential
Examples: Sharing innovative fundraising tactics; spotlighting essential software tools for advocacy organizations; methods to take your organization to the next level.
- Programs – Creating, growing, and executing organizational activities to maximize biking and walking
Examples: Vanguard practices for engaging volunteers; running innovative education programs; designing a killer communications strategy
- Advocacy – Focusing on the best methods, practices, and innovations to facilitate public policy progress for better active transportation
Examples: Running campaigns for transportation referenda; gathering data to support your case; developing a legislative agenda
- Leadership development – Building professional capacity to foster the next generation of biking and walking advocacy leaders
Examples: Essential practices for working in teams; mastering public speaking; ensuring leadership roles of women, youth, and people of color
- Movement building – Organizing and reaching out to broaden and grow the scope of active transportation advocacy
Examples: Engaging transit advocates; building external partnerships; incorporating walking and biking
There will also be special sessions for organizations based on size and focus area:
- Large city organizations
- Rural organizations
- Statewide organizations
- Pedestrian advocacy organizations
- Community bike shops and collectives
Some sessions will be specifically for people in certain roles in their organization. There will be sessions specifically for:
- Executive Directors
- Advocacy Directors
- Education staff
- Communications staff
- ... And more, depending on attendee composition
Formats
The Leadership Retreat Planning Committee will prioritize sessions with creative and collaborative formats. Applicants are asked to identify which of the following formats they will utilize to make the session interactive, engaging, and creative. Unless otherwise noted, sessions will be 75 minutes. Shorter formats will be grouped with other presenters.
- Peer-to-peer coaching session / workshop
- Active / walking meeting
- Panel discussion
- Improv / comedy / theater
- Long-form storytelling (e.g. TED Talks) - up to 20 minutes each
- Short-form storytelling (e.g. Ignite or Pecha Kucha) - 7 minutes each
- Art-based / visioning facilitation
- Popular education techniques (e.g. World Cafe or Fishbowl discussions)
- Other
Submission questions
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by the Leadership Retreat Planning Committee and chosen based on: how the proposal addresses a challenge within the movement; how the proposal aims to build leadership skills; how the proposal addresses issues of equity and inclusion; and the creativity of the session format.
The request for proposals asks the following questions:
- Abstract: Describe your session in 200 words or fewer.
- Learning objectives: List up to 3 learning objectives for session participants.
- Evaluation & spread: How will these learning objectives be measured, evaluated, and shared with the larger group of Retreat participants?
- Diversity: Address how session SPEAKER(S) represent diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, or socioeconomic background. See Question 14 to address how this session addresses the topics of equity and inclusion.
- Content level: We want to make sure that session descriptions are tailored to help participants understand which will benefit them most. Please identify any baseline requirements for participants of this workshop (e.g. board members, advocates from large organizations, leaders from single-staff organizations, advocates with over 5 years of experience).
- Equity considerations: How will your session address issues of inclusion and equity and share examples of work you've done across community lines and in coalitions (e.g. successes working with transit advocates or faith-based groups)?
- Additional considerations: We want to create safe spaces for open discussion at this Retreat. Please note any sensitive issues this session may explore, and if there are any participant considerations (e.g. women only).
Questions
Questions about Leadership Retreat proposals should be directed to
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, Membership Coordinator for the Alliance for Biking & Walking, by
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or at (202) 449-9692 x 8.
by Mary Lauran Hall
on May 14, 2014
 Congratulations to Todd Consentino and Chris Chaney, winners of the Ortlieb Showers & Snow photo contest by the Alliance for Biking & Walking and Streetsblog.
We received over 100 photos of rainy, snowy biking and walking from dozens of photographers. Ten photos made it to the final round; of those, two were chosen by a (somewhat buggy) popular vote. Check them out below!
First prize winner: “Blizzard 2013” by Todd Consentino
Todd snapped this photo in February of 2013, when Boston had just been slammed with 24 inches of snow in 24 hours.
"Most of the roads by us were a mess and there weren't many non-plow type vehicles on the road," said Todd. "My five year old daughter wanted to go sledding. Our favorite sledding hill is only four miles away, so we rode our bike. It was awesome! Boston was peacefully quiet."
Todd can often be found commuting by bike from his home in Boston to his job in Belmont, a 26 mile round trip.
He's excited for a brand new set of Ortlieb bags – his current pair of Back Roller panniers have about 15,000 miles on them. The bags are so durable, though, that the old pair is still good. Once the new sets arrive, Todd says he'll donate his current bags to Boston Bike Party.
Second prize winner: “Got Fenders?” by Chris Chaney
Chris snapped his winning photo as a self-portrait. "I set the camera on a tripod with timer and rode past," he said. "It was on the Ralston Creek Trail in Arvada, CO where I lived for five years and rode my bike as my primary mode of transportation."
Since then, Chris has moved back to Kentucky, where he works as a transportation planner and advocates for biking and walking improvements to major public projects. (Right on, Chris!) These days, he logs lots of miles on rural Kentucky backroads.
On the prospect of a new set of Ortlieb bags, Chris says: "I'm excited about the bags because I want to do more touring and long distance commuting. These will greatly facilitate that!"
Congratulations, Todd and Chris! Look for your brand new Ortlieb bags in the mail soon.
by Mary Lauran Hall
on May 09, 2014
 Welcome to the Alliance's weekly roundup of state & local biking & walking advocacy news. Every week, we crawl the blogs of our member organizations and bring you the most interesting tidbits.
Sign up here to get the weekly roundup in your inbox each Friday.
#BIKETOEVERYWHERE: Maybe you haven't heard, but it's May, so it's Bike Month. Huzzah!
On San Francisco's Bike to Work Day, bikes account for 76% of all trips on Market Street. (!!!) The SF Bicycle Coalition has a great roundup of photos from the morning commute.
Here's what kids love about Bike to School Day in Maine.
Bike to School Day was a windy success in Milwaukee.
At the Walkable Bikeable Delaware Summit, Governor Markell and Lt. Governor Dean declared May bike month – for a host of great reasons.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS
After a city councilor in Lowell, MA introduced a motion to remove a new bike lane, citizens showed up to support more opportunities for biking, not fewer. The motion was tabled.
Atlanta advocates are working to include bike lanes in several restriping projects scheduled for this year.
San Diego has a new buffered bike lane.
Bike Calgary gives a refresher on how to report needed street fixes with 311.
Bikeways for Everyone had a big kickoff event in Minneapolis. Citizen cyclists gave feedback on where the city should prioritize low-stress bikeways.
20 mile bike loop: $30,000. 96th Street road widening: $4,500,000. Mode Shift Omaha compares the cost of various transportation projects.
Here's how to use the new protected bike lane on Polk Street in San Francisco.
Keep reading after the jump.
by Mary Lauran Hall
on May 08, 2014
 The weather is getting springy, but showers keep coming. And it wasn’t long ago that folks in colder climates were tackling snowy commutes.
To celebrate a drizzly, wet spring, dozens of photographers sent us photos of people biking and walking in the snow and rain. The photos were submitted as a part of our Showers & Snow photo contest, sponsored by Ortlieb and presented by Streetsblog and the Alliance for Biking & Walking. We want to know which shots you like best!
We couldn’t pick just two winners, so please help us out by voting for your favorite picture. The top two vote-getters will win sets of waterproof Ortlieb panniers and bike bags!
Polls close at 5:00 p.m. next Monday, May 12 and our winners will be announced the next day.
Update (5/13/14, 10:00 AM): we've been hacked! The Google form we were using to collect responses was hacked on Saturday, May 10, so we made a more secure form and are keeping voting open for a while longer. The final winners will be decided by combining the pre-hacking votes with votes cast between now and 5:00 PM on Wednesday, May 14.
The new deadline for voting will be 5:00 PM on Wednesday, May 14, and our winners will be announced the next day.
UPDATE (5/13/14, 1:57 PM): Well, this is embarrassing and a little maddening. We have been hacked through our hack-proof captcha coding. So, we're shutting this sucker down and calling the winners based on voting as of May 10, when the hacking started. We will steer clear of Google polls in the future, and we sincerely apologize to everyone who voted and most especially to everyone who submitted photos. Look for the final winners tomorrow!
1. “Blizzard 2013” by Todd Consentino
2. “Got Fenders?” by Chris Chaney
3. “Walking toward the Capitol in a snowstorm” by Joe Flood
4. “Viking Biking” by Liz Patek
5. “Two Scarves are Better Than One” by Lily Monster
6. “Upper East Side, New York City” by Joanna Smith
7. “Ciclovia in Bogota, Columbia” by Risa Sibbitt
8. “Blizzard Walker” by Corey Templeton
9. “Snow cyclist on Madison Av” by Joe Flood
10. “Starting off 2014 with a Blizzard morning commute, January 3, Brooklyn" by Taylor Reiss Gouge
Vote for your favorite photo here:
by Christy Kwan
on May 05, 2014
 Building a better world for active transportation doesn’t just mean making bicycling safe and comfortable – it also means making our neighborhoods better for walking and for getting around with mobility assistance devices. In the active transportation advocacy world, it’s hard to not solely focus on bicycling. Walking, and for some, rolling, is an integral part of our everyday lives.
Image: NYC DOT
With an upcoming call to action from the U.S. Surgeon General on walking and walkability as a potential solution to solve the public health problem of physical inactivity, walking and rolling will only become more important in the active transportation advocacy world.
On a recent Mutual Aid Call, a facilitated discussion among biking and walking advocates identified the needs, opportunities, and barriers on how to best include walking and rolling into an world more attuned to bicycling advocacy. While some bicycling organizations are at a crossroads and considering how to meaningfully include walking into its mission and programs, others are looking for tips and information on how to convince bicyclists about walking and walkability or potential new partners gained through the inclusion of walking.
Image: NYC DOT
Thinking about how to include walking more into your organization? See the Mutual Aid Call tipsheet to read some of the requested information and resources on walking.
If you missed the call and have thoughts to contribute, feel free to
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to keep the discussion going.
by Brighid O'Keane
on May 05, 2014
 Cross-posted from the Advocacy Advance blog
As the federal funding landscape changes, more states, regions and cities are looking for local sources of critical transportation dollars. As a result, there has been a recent surge of transportation ballot measures across the United States. In November, over $90M was won for bicycling and walking at the ballot box.
For some communities, pairing transit with pedestrian and bicycle projects or roadways are the best way to achieve success at the ballot box. Other cities are required to go with a multimodal ballot measure by a government body. Either way, the rising trend in the United States show that successful ballot meaures include bicycle and pedestrian projects -- and there is great potential to build partnerships between transit and active transportation advocates at the state and local level.
On April 15, Advocacy Advance partnered with the Center for Transportation Excellence (CFTE) and the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates on a webinar designed to provide advocates with the necessary tools to take a transportation ballot measure from an idea to a winning measure.
We have been partnering with CFTE since last year's Transit Initiatives and Communities Conference. Advocacy Advance awarded scholarships to 9 advocates working on ballot measures in their community and further supported some of the campaigns with Rapid Response Grants, including Alameda County, Atlanta, Boulder, Greenville, St. Louis and Tucson.
"Going Multimodal at the Ballot Box" was the fifth webinar in CFTE's Six Stops to Success ballot measure webinar series and featured Brighid O'Keane, Advocacy & Programs Director for the Alliance for Biking & Walking and Advocacy Advance providing a historical overview of multimodal ballot measures and Dave Campbell, Advocacy Director at the East Bay Bicycle Coalition sharing EBBC's campaign in Alameda County, CA and tips for finding what's right for your city.
- Download a recording of the webinar here.
- Download Brighid's slides here.
- Download Dave's slides here.
Is your community proposing a ballot measure for transportation this year? Learn how other bicycle and pedestrian advocates have been successful in their campaigns, and talk to the Advocacy Advance team about how a Rapid Response Grant can support your efforts.
by Megan Odett
on May 05, 2014
 When it comes to teaching kids how to ride bikes, nearly every advocacy organization offers programming like bike rodeos, skills classes or helmet fittings. But there are more innovative other ways to engage children—and their parents—in cycling safely and confidently even before kids reach school age.
On a recent Mutual Aid webinar, advocates discussed options for engaging the whole family in cycling. We learned about three different but equally exciting approaches to engaging parents and kids in bicycling:
- Kit Hodge, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, discussed her organization’s extensive programming to support family biking. SFBC publishes a guide to family biking and even has "loaner bikes" for parents to try out for biking with their families. Download the guide (in multiple languages!) here.
- Shane MacRhodes -- Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Eugene, OR; board member at GEARs; and co-founder of Kidical Mass -- shared tips on organizing family bike rides that double as adorable advocacy. Shane recommends starting rides in parks, incorporating at least some on-street routes, and ending with yummy food. Where do we sign up?
- Brenda Chuleewah, Safe Routes to School Teacher Training Program Manager at BikeTexas, described her organization's innovative SafeCyclist Curriculum. This “teach the teacher” program trains teachers, coaches and other youth leaders in leading cycling curriculums for 4th and 5th graders. Our favorite teaching tool: a “virtual bicycle” made of PVC pipe and rubber grips. Brenda uses it to demonstrate safe biking skills without the bike!
Missed the webinar? No worries -- watch the video below.
You can also view Kit and Brenda’s presentation slides below. There are also additional resources on family and youth biking in our Resource Library. (We especially love Local Motion's WalkSmart/BikeSmart curriculum!)
by Megan Odett
on May 02, 2014
 Susie Stephens, the first director of the Alliance for Biking & Walking, was known throughout the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy world for her joy and enthusiasm. In 2002, while preparing to lead a pedestrian safety training, Susie was killed by a bus in a crosswalk.
To honor her legacy, Susie's family now supports scholarships to help bicycle & pedestrian advocates attend Alliance trainings.
This year, the Alliance is offering two full Susie Stephens scholarships and ten partial scholarships to the Leadership Retreat. In addition, the two leaders who receive full Susie Stephens scholarships to the Retreat will also receive full scholarships to registration at the Pro Walk Pro Bike Pro Place Conference.
A limited amount of funding will also be awarded on a rolling basis to eligible applicants from regions served by Kaiser Permanente.
Apply for a Susie Stephens scholarship here.
In your application, be prepared to answer the following questions:
- How would you benefit from receiving this scholarship assistance?
- What measurable outcomes will you and your organization receive from attending?
Scholarship applicants must be staff or board members at a current Alliance for Biking & Walking member organization. Scholarship applications are due by midnight on Friday, May 16. All applicants will be notified of their award status by Friday, May 30.
If you have any questions about scholarships or need to check your organization's membership status, email Megan.
by Mary Lauran Hall
on May 02, 2014
 Welcome to the Alliance's weekly roundup of state & local biking & walking advocacy news. Every week, we crawl the blogs of our member organizations and bring you the most interesting tidbits.
Sign up here to get the weekly roundup in your inbox each Friday.
IT'S BIKE MONTH!
Iowa advocates are disappointed that the state has dropped considerably in the League's new Bicycle Friendly State rankings.
Not to brag or anything, but Washington state is proud to still be #1.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS
Kudos to Tucson for installing their first protected bike lanes!
Calgary's city council has approved pilot projects for three protected bike lanes downtown.
Wauwatosa, WI approved plans for green bike lanes and bike boxes.
San Francisco has installed a green (really, really green!) contraflow protected bike lane on Polk Street near City Hall. With succulents!
Keep reading after the jump.
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More and more cities are seeing the benefits of Open Streets. In 2007, there were less than 10 Open Streets initiatives around the United States. Now, there are over 100. 
