| How the New Secretary of Transportation Stacks Up on Biking and Walking | There's big news in the transportation world: President Obama has chosen a nominee for Secretary of Transportation. The new leader at the helm of the Department of Transportation will be Mayor Anthony Foxx, of Charlotte, NC. To find out about Mayor Foxx's support for biking and walking issues in Charlotte, we spoke with Tobe Holmes, a board member at the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance. Tobe reported that Mayor Foxx supported innovations at the city Department of Transportation that helped give Charlotte residents plenty of choices about how to get around - including walking and biking. "All in all, he's been a very positive force in the past few years in terms of bicycling and walking," said Tobe. "The DOT here really gets it, and they're allowed to do some things that are a little more out of the box." |
| League and Alliance Collaborate on Benchmarking & Bicycle Friendly State Survey | This week, the League of American Bicyclists released the 2013 Bicycle Friendly State rankings - an annual list that rates U.S. states' programs and policies for bicycling. Behind the new rankings lie some background changes that signal more cooperation between the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking & Walking. This year, the Alliance and the League combined the state surveys for the Alliance's Benchmarking Report and the League's Bicycle Friendly States into a single, streamlined process. In the past, we collected data from state transportation departments and advocacy organizations about bicycle and pedestrian policies and practices in separate, uncoordinated processes. Because the surveys featured significant overlap, streamlining was a natural opportunity for collaboration. |
| 2014 Benchmarking Report to Include Small and Midsized Cities | The Alliance is excited to announce that 15 new small and midsized cities will be included in the 2014 Benchmarking Report. The 15 new cities are an important addition to our biennial report. Biking and walking professionals use the Benchmarking Report as a reference to further their work, and including new cities expands our understanding of local progress and challenges for biking and walking outside of our nation's largest urban areas.  Want to help make the inclusion of small and midsized cities a reality? Because this new pilot project goes outside of our current scope of the report - requiring more research, analysis and design time - we are seeking help to fund this effort. Email Andrea if you would like to help make this project happen. |
| Support the Alliance on the Climate Ride | Want to take a massive bicycle adventure while supporting safer neighborhood streets? Join the Climate Ride and fundraise for active transportation organizations, including the Alliance! The Climate Ride is an amazing multi-day bike trip with two route options - from the soaring Redwoods to San Francisco May 19 - 23 or from the heart of New York City to the Capitol steps in Washington, DC September 21 - 25. Each rider gets to choose which organizations their contributions support, so you can designate the Alliance and several Alliance member organizations as beneficiaries. Learn more and register today! |
| More Winning Campaigns in Georgia | | Despite recent gains for biking and walking in Georgia, advocates in the Peach State are not resting on their laurels. In April, the Alliance traveled to Athens, Georgia to train advocates from the Southeast on crafting and winning campaigns for better biking and walking. With facilitation by consultant Ron Milam and Alliance Member Services & Open Streets Coordinator Mike Samuelson, advocates learned how to strategically choose, refine, design and budget campaigns to improve biking and walking in their communities. |
| Lessons from a Mutual Aid Call: Marketing the Economic Benefits of Bike Tourism Bicycle tourism has significant impacts on economies of all scales, and advocates can take advantage of bike tourism's impact on local economies to strengthen advocacy campaigns.  This past month, the Alliance convened four experts to discuss tapping the economic benefits of bike tourism to advance advocacy and build relationships. Check out our blog for a call recording and tip sheet with takeaway points. |
| #Winning Advocacy Campaigns with Social Media | Social media can be a powerful tool for effective advocacy. From using Facebook to drive event registration to demonstrating support to elected officials on Twitter, biking and walking advocates are increasingly taking advantage of social networking to boost visibility for more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods. To help more advocates take advantage of social media tools to boost advocacy efforts, we teamed up with the League of American Bicyclists for a webinar on social media as an advocacy tool. Expert panelists Mathilde Piard and Austen Levihn-Coon gave advocates a primer on the most impactful social networks and provided bundles of tips for effectively incorporating social media into campaigns. Missed it? No need to Facebook stalk us - check out the webinar recording, notes, and livetweet coverage on our blog. |
| Upcoming Mutual Aid Calls and Advocacy Advance Webinars
| Our Mutual Aid conference calls are a great forum to gain insight from your Alliance peers on the specific issues and topics that are important to your organization. Additionally, Advocacy Advance has been hosting a series of calls to help you direct funding sources toward investments in biking and walking.
All calls begin at 2 PM eastern time. This month: -
- Walking is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Regular physical activity, like walking, has been shown to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis and osteoporosis. It is more essential than ever that advocates and coalitions work together to implement policy- and infrastructure-based solutions to improve walkability in our neighborhoods. Join this call to hear the latest convincing research on how walkable neighborhoods affect public health, learn how advocates are using health arguments to win better walking, and get inspired to team up with health groups in your area to make a difference.
Panelists will include: - Dr. Brian E. Saelins, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Seattle Children's Hospital
- Dr. David Sabgir, PhD, Cardiologist and Founder of Walk With a Doc
- Hillary Borcherding, Communications Manager, WalkBoston
- May 14, 2:00 - 3:30 eastern: Understanding and Shaping Transportation Performance Measures, Part II: Current Data Collection Methods and Exploring What's Possible
- This webinar series from Advocacy Advance will explore the implications of the new performance measure requirements in MAP-21. How will performance measures impact bicycling and walking investments? Can they work in favor for active transportation? What should (and what can) be measured? Join the discussion with national experts on the topic.
Panelists will include: - Charles Denney, Alta Planning + Design
- Jean-Francois Rheault, Director, Eco-Counter
- Tony Hull, Senior Planner, Toole Design Group
- David Patton, Bicycle & Pedestrian Planner, Arlington County Division of Transportation
- May 17, 2:00 - 3:00 eastern: Walk and Work: Innovative Ways to Integrate Walking into Workplace and Business Practices
- Join America Walks and the Alliance for a free interactive forum on integrating walking into the everyday workplace. During the discussion, participants will learn about a university's plans to integrate walking into employees' workstyles, a major health plan's regional activities to get employees fit, and innovative strategies to employ at your workplace.
Panelists will include: - Loretta DiPietro, Chair of the Department of Exercise Science, George Washington University
- Sheila Pudiists, Community Director, Pierce County Health Worksite Program
June calls:- June 5: Spearheading Your Online Fundraising Initiative
- June 19: Lobbying and Elections for Biking and Walking Advocacy
- June 26: Managing Volunteers for Open Streets Events
This past month: | What would you like to discuss on a Mutual Aid Call? Does your organization have expertise to share with peer organizations and other advocates? Email Mary Lauran with your ideas! |
| Welcome, Kristin! | The Alliance for Biking & Walking is pleased to welcome Kristin Purdy as our new National Campaigns Manager.  Kristin comes to the Alliance with significant field organizing experience at both the national and local level on transportation and political campaigns. As a regional organizer with Transportation for America, she managed field operations for federal transportation reform efforts in 15 states. As a grassroots organizer with the Coalition for Smarter Growth in Washington, DC, she built support for local smart growth and active transportation policies through traditional community and online organizing.
Kristin also worked in Toledo, Ohio as a Regional Field Director for the 2012 Obama campaign. On the campaign, she managed a team of 25 organizers and activated a network of 500 volunteers to implement voter registration, support and turnout. "We are very excited to have Kristin on board," said Jeffrey Miller, President and CEO of the Alliance for Biking & Walking. "Kristin's considerable skill and experience in grassroots and national organizing and her expertise with transportation issues will help build the Alliance's capacity to coordinate national campaigns to boost biking and walking." Learn more about Kristin on our blog. |
| | In the East Bay, a Short-Term Loss Becomes a Long-Term Win Last fall, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition spearheaded a campaign to pass Measure B1, a county-wide penny sales tax to raise $7.8 billion for local transportation improvements -- including $1 billion for biking and walking. While the measure fell shy of passing, the organization boosted membership and donations, raising enough additional funding to increase staff from 4 to 6.5 employees and support a full-time advocacy staff member. See how they did it » Georgia Bikes! Wins Bike Lanes on Bridge Last year, Georgia advocates successfully spearheaded a campaign for a statewide Complete Streets policy. Now, the policy change is paying off - Georgia Bikes! recently received confirmation that a new bridge in the northern Atlanta suburbs will include bike lanes in both directions. Learn about the grassroots campaign that made it happen » Performance Grants Lead to 3 New Open Streets Initiatives Thanks to recent grants from Performance Bicycle awarded through the Alliance, three new communities have launched successful Open Strees initiatives. Of the 10 organizations that received grants, three groups - in Carrboro, NC; Charlottesville, VA and Salt Lake City, UT - chose to use the funding to launch new Open Streets initiatives. The groups used resources from the Alliance's Open Streets Project to kick-start their initiatives. Read more »
Pennsylvania Moves Towards Dedicated Biking & Walking Funding Thanks to great grassroots advocacy, Pennsylvania has moved closer to recognizing walking and biking as truly integral components of the state's transportation system. Advocates in the state have been steadily working on a campaign to fund walking and biking under Pennsylvania's new transportation budget. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia received a Rapid Response Grant from Advocacy Advance to educate legislators across the state on the issue, and their efforts are now paying off. Learn more about this big campaign win » Pittsburgh and Cleveland Square Off in National Bike Challenge The Rust Belt's two biggest cities are facing off in the National Bike Challenge to see who can log more miles traveled by bicycle between May and September. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are both vying for the title of Rust Belt Champion - and a custom-made Rust Belt Crown to mark the victory. Check out Cleveland's challenge and Pittsburgh's response to learn more. |
T4 Webinar: State Transportation Revenue Proposals Since the start of 2013, new proposals from governors, state legislatures and blue ribbon commissions in more than a third of U.S. states are seeking new ways to fund transportation. Join this webinar to compare states' plans and learn what new opportunities they represent. Learn more and sign up »
Green Lane Projects to Hold Equity Summit Bikes Belong's Green Lane Project will host a leadership summit to discuss green lanes and equity in Austin, Texas May 15-16. The meeting will bring together transportation professionals, policymakers and community leaders from the six cities involved in the Green Lane Project (Austin, TX, Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC) that are working to transform their streets. Read the news release » League of American Bicyclists and Kimberly-Clark Kick Off National Bike Challenge May 1 marks the start of the seccond National Bike Challenge, an online contest to inspire people and workplaces to pick up their bikes and ride this summer. The second challenge will run until September 30 and aims to unite 50,000 bicyclists to ride 20 million miles in communities across America. Learn more » 10 Best Complete Streets Policies Announced The Complete Streets Coalition ranked the top 10 Complete Streets policies of 2012 based on vision; access for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit passengers, trucks, buses and automobiles; street connectivity; design, and measurable performance standards. The resulting list shows that smaller communities are making big inroads when it comes to completing neighborhood streets. See who made the top ten » |
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