Join us for a gear changing celebration!

October 22, 2011
Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion
Silent auction starts at 5:30pm
Dinner served at 7:00pm

Help the Bicycle Alliance of Washington shift gears for bicycle advocacy statewide by joining us at our annual fundraiser on October 22!  Proceeds from this event support our advocacy and education efforts statewide.  These funds help us deliver Safe Routes to School services to districts around Washington and make it possible for us to bring our Hub & Spoke events to bike advocates in their communities.  They help us shift the gears of government policies and change the minds of legislators.

Fun is a given at the auction.  Besides the silent and live auctions, there is a dessert dash, wine grab bag, and a split-the-pot raffle.  Nearly 300 friends of bicycling attend this gala and there’s ample time to socialize, catch up with old friends and meet new ones!

Donations needed!
We're still accepting auction donations and we need a variety of items that will generate spirited bidding.  We'd welcome any of the following donations and more:  restaurant and retail gift cards, themed gift baskets, massages and spa treatments, yoga and pilates classes, acupuncture treatments, unique experiences, tickets to theater and sporting events, and cash donations.  Use our handy online donation form to submit your information  or contact Louise McGrody if you have questions.

Purchase tickets!
Tickets are $70 each or $700 for a table of ten--if purchased by September 30.  After that date, prices are $85/$850.  Tickets may be purchased online, by check, or by calling Donna Govro at 206.224.9252 x300.  Check our auction page for more details.

Volunteer!
We rely on volunteers to help make this event a success.  We need volunteers to help with event set up, clean up, registration, check out, serving food, and much more.  Contact Matt Lyman if you'd like to help out.

Check our auction page for additional information or call 206.224.9252.  We're looking forward to seeing you on October 22!

Thanks to our auction sponsors:
John Duggan, Cycling Attorney
Seattle Children's Hospital - Research - Foundation
Third Place Books
Pike Brewing Company
REI
H4Consulting
Kat Marriner Graphic Design

Cyclists of Greater Seattle (COGS)       

Why I Joined the BAW Board of Directors

Mary disguised as her alter ego, Sprocket Hero.

About two years ago I got a call from acting executive director Dave Janis. He asked if I might consider applying for the BAW Board of Directors. After giving it some thought I decided to apply. I liked the idea of being on a Board with lots of other bicycle enthusiasts. It sounded fun and the thought that I could help make Washington a better place for bicyclists was alluring. Plus, it's nice to be part of something bigger than oneself, part of something that is making a positive change in the world.



Weather you bike for transportation, recreation, fitness or fun, I'm sure you love it. Some of us love it a little more than others, these are the people we need on the Board. People who are enthusiastic about bicycling and making Washington a better place to bike for everyone. People who want to see more kids biking to school, more adults biking to work and more people trying a century ride.



Each board member has a different story and brings different abilities to the table. Some of us are comfortable talking with our legislators and lobbying for the rights of cyclists in Olympia, some of us aren't. Some of us teach bicycle education to kids, others wouldn't know what to do with a group of kids on bikes. Our interests and abilities are as vast as the citizens of Washington, but we have one thing that unites us: BIKES.

We need a few more outstanding citizens to join our Board of Directors. Could you be one of them?



Current geographical ares we need representation from include: Yakima, Wenatchee and Kitsap/Olympic Peninsula. If you don't live in those areas but are still interested in applying, please do so!



A passion for our work, the ability to lead with a team, and time to devote to board responsibilities are a must. Prior board and business experience is a plus. Ready to apply? Please submit a letter of interest with credentials to Board@bicyclealliance.org by September 30.

Bicycle Alliance Endorses Streets for All Campaign to fund Active Transportation and Transit in Seattle

This post was submitted by Blake Trask, Statewide Policy Director.

 

Join us at the Campaign Kick-Off TOMORROW, Tuesday, September 13!

Today the Bicycle Alliance of Washington Board announced its endorsement of Seattle’s Proposition 1 – a 10-year $204 million package of investments in bicycling, walking, road repair, maintenance, and transit.

These investments are significant because they prioritize family-friendly bike infrastructure, increases in safety for everyone with new sidewalks, better crosswalks, repave and repair local streets to make them work better for everyone. For each year of its 10-year life, Proposition 1 will directly dedicate $1.4 million to bicycle improvements, $3 million for pedestrian and neighborhood improvements, up to $7 million in roadway maintenance improvements that can include Complete Streets elements, and close to $10 million in transit improvements.

In short, Proposition 1 represents a new way of funding transportation – one that prioritizes safer streets, more Complete Streets, and better transit, too.

To ensure investments in biking are effectively implemented, the Bicycle Alliance endorsement includes our commitment to carefully follow and monitor implementation activities.

Help us support the campaign! Please join us at 6pm, tomorrow, Tuesday, September 13th at Moe Bar (1425 10th Ave E) as we officially kick off the Streets For All Seattle campaign to keep Seattle moving.

For additional information and volunteer opportunities, visit www.streetsforallseattle.org.

Thanks and see you tomorrow!

2012 Legislative Agenda Set

The Bicycle Alliance board approved a set of 2012 legislative priorities as recommended by the Legislative & Statewide Issues Committee.  Our agenda will include:

•  Continued support of HB1700, which carries over from 2011 and would encourage higher-quality bike and pedestrian facilities by allowing greater flexibility in design standards.
•  Continued support of HB1217, which would give cities and counties the authority to establish 20 mph zones on some non-arterial streets to lower accident rates and protect vulnerable users.
• Work with other non-profits to support a transportation funding package called Transportation for Washington.
• Work with WSDOT and others to support funding for the Complete Streets bill passed in 2011.
• Use 2012-2013 to see if there is support for a 3-5’ safe passing bill and, if so, build a coalition of support.

Please check the Legislative Page at bicyclealliance.org or read our blog for more information and updates.  And mark your calendars now for 2012 Transportation Advocacy Day in Olympia on January 31!

SPD Says Call 911 When a Motor Vehicle Driver Acts Aggressively Towards You as a Bicycle Driver

One morning this week while riding to work at about 7:00 AM I was aggressively cut off by a car driver. I was travelling south on 5^th Avenue at about 17 MPH in the right curb lane approaching the Pine Street intersection (at the south end of the monorail in Seattle) and the driver of a late model white Subaru Impreza (WA ABW 3335) aggressively merged into my travel lane forcing me to brake and move towards the curb. I slowed and honked my air horn. After she passed through the intersection she turned her head back to look and flew me the bird. The driver was a brown-haired middle-aged woman.

I moved out of the roadway onto the sidewalk and looked for paper and pen to write down the plate number and vehicle description. Somehow I didn’t have anything to write with so I memorized the plate number. I didn’t think that I should call 911, and that was my mistake.  

Later after getting to work and navigating the Seattle Police Department directory and automated phone system I talked to a human on a non-emergency line. She was very helpful and told me that I should have called 911 even though there was no physical harm or explicit verbal threat. She said if I had called immediately they would have put out a call to officers in the area and looked for the driver and vehicle, come and talked to me etc.

I am not a vindictive person, nor overly oriented towards crime and punishment but I did want to seek some recourse after being run off the road. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, go right ahead and call 911 immediately and make a report.

Keep the situational awareness up and the rubber side down. Happy urban biking!

Summer Rides

I shot and edited this video at the final everybodyBIKE Summer Ride - #17, the Woods to Woods Spruce Social, on Sunday, August 21, 2011. It's my first attempt at a helmet camera and editing, so please be forgiving.

New Bike Box in Seattle's Fremont Neighborhood

Photo by David McLean.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has installed a bike box at the intersection of Fremont Ave N and N. 34th St. in Fremont. This photograph is courtesy of David McLean and illustrates the view east down 34th street from the crosswalk on Fremont Ave. The Fremont bridge is 90 degrees to the viewer's right from this vantage point.

SDOT has a page on bike boxes that can be found here: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikeboxes.htm. This new bike box is the latest addition to SDOT's bike box program. The initial round last summer created three bike boxes and now we have four in Seattle. Some European cities have used bike boxes for years and Portland, OR has also applied bike box treatments to some of their intersections.

Bike boxes require some re-learning on the part of bicycle riders and motorists alike. The SDOT bike box page linked above explains how different road users should treat bike boxes. The intention of bike boxes is to help with the visibility of cyclists by other road users by putting them at the front of the queue for a traffic light. Not only do bike boxes help separate left and right-turning traffic from through traffic--they also make bicycle riders more visible to oncoming traffic, which helps reduce the likelihood of oncoming traffic making a left turn into a bicyclist at an intersection (the often injurious or fatal 'left hook'). 

Keep an eye out for our changing bicycle and roadway infrastructures and don't be surprised if you see more bike boxes or other new facilities types in Seattle. According to one source, Seattle is the only city in the State of Washington to apply bike box treatments to intersections, although that may be changing when we see great successes here with the bike box program.