Campaign encourages bikes and buses to safely share the road

If you’re a regular commuter/biker/walker/general patron of downtown Seattle, you may have seen the green and white banners on the sides of buses encouraging you to “be predictable” in order to safely share the road. The ads, which have been running on the sides of 30 buses running throughout the central business district since May, are part of a larger Share the Road campaign created by a new Bicycle/Bus Education & Safety Team and sponsored by King County Metro, Cascade Bicycle Club, and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

The goal is obvious: to enhance road safety and to depict bikers and Metro drivers as equal inhabitants of the same city streets. Through a Share the Road philosophy, King County Metro hopes to encourage patience, cooperation, and safe sharing of the roadway – and looking out for each other as a matter of course.

The campaign also features updated videos and web content on the Metro website, quarterly safety events at the bus bases, and increased instructional bus bike rack displays throughout King County – including an instructional bike rack at our office in Pioneer Square.

The Bicycle/Bus Education and Safety Team members include Eileen Kadesh and Ref Lindmark of Metro Market Development, Chief of Central Base Margo Minnix, Transit Safety Officer Dan Nuner, Dan Porter of Metro Training, John Mauro from Cascade Bicycle Club, and our very own Barbara Culp. They are hoping to start another round of ads next spring, possibly featuring a revamped message.

Thanks to Scott Chilberg for submitting this post.

Washington retains top ranking as most Bicycle Friendly State

For the fifth year in a row, Washington leads the nation as the most Bicycle Friendly State.  The 2012 ranking of Bicycle Friendly States was announced by the League of American Bicyclists in honor of National Bike Month.

“We’re encouraged to see significant progress in top states like Washington, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League.  “But, as the scores clearly highlight, there’s much work to be done in critical areas like infrastructure and funding.  Overall, we see states—and especially state Departments of Transportation and state legislatures—lagging behind cities and the expectations of local cyclists, despite the many well-documented benefits of a more active lifestyle.”

The 2012 Bicycle Friendly States Ranking marks the launch of an updated and improved evaluation process.  Throughout 2011, the League held Bicycle Friendly America listening sessions across the country to understand the successes and shortcomings of the program.  Based on public input, the Bicycle Friendly State survey was revised to give a clearer picture of a state’s accomplishments and next steps towards becoming more bike-friendly.

Even with a revised survey, Washington once again set a high bar in 2012.  The state scored 4’s and 5’s (5 is the highest score) on the League’s report card, receiving top scores for Education and Encouragement, and Evaluation and Planning.  The report also makes recommendations for improvement.  One recommendation for Washington includes developing a comprehensive strategy for working with law enforcement on bicycling issues, including training for officers and targeted enforcement of bike safety laws.  Other recommendations are to continue to increase bicycle ridership and to fully fund and implement the state bicycle plan, which was adopted in 2006.

Strong and active bicycle advocacy at the state and local levels contribute to Washington’s top ranking.  An improved distracted driving law and a vulnerable user law were passed due largely to the efforts of Bicycle Alliance of Washington, Cascade Bicycle Club, and other bike groups. The Bicycle Alliance has also been instrumental in expanding bicycle skills training in schools around the state with its Safe Routes to School program. 

“Thanks to the League of American Bicyclists for this award. This honor comes with much responsibility for the state, bicycle advocates and others to continue to strive for complete streets ordinances in every community and Safe Routes to every school,” stated Barbara Culp, Executive Director for Bicycle Alliance of Washington.  “This is a call to anyone who rides a bike to hold your city, county and state officials accountable to an even more bike-friendly state.” 

The Bicycle Friendly State announcement was preceded last week by the League’s announcement of its latest Bicycle Friendly Community designations.  Tacoma and Snohomish are the newest Washington communities to receive this designation.  In all, ten Washington communities have earned a Bicycle Friendly Community designation.

Click here to see how Washington scored in the five evaluation categories.  Learn more about the League’s Bicycle Friendly State program at www.bikeleague.org/states.

Thank you to our Safety Education Trainers!

This blog post was submitted by our SRTS Training Coordinator Seth Schromen-Wawrin.

In mid April, our Safe Routes to School Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education Program finished the last training for our current grant. In the last 14 months, we conducted 25 trainings all over Washington State. This was possible due to the amazing talent and dedication of Eileen Hyatt and Katie Ferguson.

Eileen Hyatt

Eileen Hyatt has been a member of the Bike Alliance since the 1990s and is currently a board member. She lives in Spokane where she has pioneered teaching bicycle safety skills in schools in Washington State. Katie is a former Americorp intern for the Bike Alliance. She has an unfaltering enthusiasm for teaching bicycling skills. 

Together, this duo faired snowy mountain passes, long lonely drives to remote sections of the state, teaching outside in sleet and the blistering sun, and came back smiling. Teachers unanimously raved about their high quality teaching and knowledge. As one teacher said, “it is so great to have this training taught by someone experienced working with students.”

Katie Ferguson

The training is a two-day training on how to teach the Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education curriculum to middle school students. The training “opened up my eyes and will keep kids safe and having fun,” one participant commented.

Most of the participants in the trainings were physical education instructors, yet the proficiency with riding was very varied. Often participants would come back from a road ride stating that this was the first time they felt safe riding with traffic. Through the skill and dedication of Eileen and Katie, we are growing safe, confident, and comfortable bike riders all over the state.

They trained 141 physical education teachers at 27 districts in 18 counties. This first statewide class of Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education teachers will continue teaching the curriculum in the years to come. About 15,000 students will go through the curriculum every year. Fifteen thousand students from two trainers. That is an impact!

Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101 Class in Spokane

Develop the confidence to bike safely and legally for Bike to Work month, the National Bike Challenge, and beyond!

The Spokane Bicycle Club is offering a Smart Cycling class that will teach bicyclists how to ride safely in traffic, avoid motorist errors and more.  The course includes a mix of class and actual time on the bike, and is geared for individuals ages 15 and older.  The class begins on April 25 and there are some scholarships, thanks to the City of Spokane, that reduce the registration fee to $10.  Reserve your spot now!

These April rides support a bicycle friendly Washington

Photo by Carla Gramlich

Spring has sprung and flowers are emerging from the earth in showy colors.  Why not enjoy the arrival of spring flowers with a couple of bike rides that celebrate daffodils and lilacs?

The 37^th Annual Daffodil Classic, organized by the Tacoma Wheelmen Bicycle Club, is on April 15 and over 200 riders are registered so far.  This ride winds its way through the beautiful Orting valley and surrounding hills.  There are four routes to choose from—enough to please families, recreational riders, and serious roadies.  And there’s strawberry shortcake waiting for you at the finish line!

Inland Northwest cyclists welcome spring with the Lilac Century & Family Fun Ride on April 29.  Organized by the Spokane Aurora Northwest Rotary Club, this 19-year ride offers a variety of fun, scenic and challenging tours for every level of rider.  There is also a tri-athlete’s bike/run “brick” option.  All participants can partake in the baked-potato feed at the finish.

The Daffodil and Lilac rides are not only great early season biking opportunities, they also support statewide bicycle safety education, Safe Routes to School programming, and complete streets efforts with a contribution to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.  We all benefit when you sign up for these rides!

Over twenty event rides support our mission to grow bicycling statewide.  Check our Ride Calendar for other upcoming rides.

Hub & Spoke Revamped: First Stop Wenatchee

pedbikeimages.org/T.Robins

This marks the third year that the Bicycle Alliance of Washington has conducted its Hub & Spoke outreach tour, so we decided to revamp the format a bit.  In addition to the popular bicycle meet up format, we added a half-day workshop – Growing Biking and Walking in Your Community.

We launched the 2012 tour with a visit to Wenatchee in March.  Community planners, school representatives, PTA members and citizen advocates joined us for the workshop.  We reviewed the characteristics of a livable community, then honed in on what makes a place inviting to bicyclists and pedestrians.  We examined challenges and how different solutions might be applied.

Photo by Andy Goulding

Patrick Walker, transportation planner for the Wenatchee Valley Transportation Council, led us on a walking tour of the business district.  He showed us an awkward trail connection and we discussed ways to improve it.  We looked at some challenging intersections and shared ideas on how to make them safer.  Patrick also showed us the spot in downtown where Wenatchee’s first on street bike corral will be installed.

We returned to our meeting room and shared ideas for encouraging people to bike and walk more.  These included Bike to Work Day, walking school buses for children, and open streets events.  We wrapped up the workshop with a discussion of tools and resources that communities can use to grow biking and walking.

After the workshop, we gathered at the Saddle Rock Pub for a bicycle social hour.  We were joined by members of the local bike club and bike advisory board, bike advocates, and members of the Transportation Improvement Board—who were holding a meeting nearby. Special thanks to Patrick Walker who helped us with logistics and planning for both events.

The Hub & Spoke tour continues with a visit to Vancouver in June.  Stay tuned to our blog, website or social media channels for details.

Bike Summit in the Other Washington!

This week hundreds of advocates, interested citizens, business representatives, and local and state government staff from across the country will arrive in Washington DC for the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit. The Bicycle Alliance of Washington’s Blake Trask and Josh Miller will be joining the Washington state delegation that includes our friends from REI, Raleigh, the University of Washington, Cascade Bicycle Club, as well as representatives from the Bicycle Alliance’s Legislative and Statewide Issues Committee.

http://www.bikeleague.org 

This year’s theme is simple: Save Cycling.

That’s a little dramatic, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, no. Over the past few months investments in biking and walking have been in the crosshairs of many representatives and senators. For some in the U.S. House of Representatives, biking and walking is the new “Bridge to nowhere” and the Speaker of the House has referred to bicycle trails as non-economic waste.

If you’ve received our action alerts (if not, sign up here!), or have been checking our blog over the past year, you have seen the numerous calls to let your federal elected officials know how important bicycling is for job creation, getting around your neighborhood, connecting safe routes to school, creating complete streets, recreation, and for tourism statewide.

What’s at stake is the end of over two decades of growing investments in walkable and bikeable communities throughout the U.S.

As we and our advocacy and business friends meet with members and staff from the Washington state's congressional delegation, we look forward to the opportunity to speak to the policymakers about a forward-thinking transportation bill that affirms the importance of bicycle investments for Washington state.

The Summit is a chance for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington to convey our positive statewide vision to grow bicycling. This vision includes the over 30,000 school-age children who receive our Safe Routes to School trainings, the safety improvements that federal monies provide through federal TransportationEnhancements (TE) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) programs, and the bicycle and pedestrian awareness education that motor vehicle drivers now receive in traffic safety schools statewide. It’s also a chance to talk about growing bicycling and enhancing partnerships across the state with health and safety organizations, PTAs, advocates for the elderly, and representatives from automobile organizations.

The Summit is a great opportunity for everyone to participate. Next year, consider attending to represent Washington state. Now more than ever we need your voice in the other Washington!

Interested in following the action at this week’s Summit? Be sure to monitor our Twitter feed at @BikeWA and check-in with the always-excellent D.C Streetsblog for news and insights as the Summit proceeds.

John Vander Sluis Recognized as a Safe Routes to School Champion

John preps folks for a walking audit at Cedarhurst Elementary.

John Vander Sluis of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington received national recognition from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for his strategic thinking and efforts to advance Safe Routes to School policies and programming in South King County. 

John is the manager of the Bicycle Alliance’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Safe Routes to School project, which is funded by a grant from Public Health of Seattle and King County.  This project established Safe Routes to School programs at 17 schools in 6 school districts and provided safe biking and walking training to 1500 low-income kids in South King County.  The participating school districts were Auburn, Kent, Renton, Highline, Tukwila and Seattle.

As the project draws to a close, John has focused recent efforts on helping schools make sustainable, long-term plans for their programs and organizing a Safe Routes to School policy workshop for school officials, transportation planners, and community partners.

“It’s a nice acknowledgment of the work that the Bicycle Alliance and our partners have accomplished over a very short period of time,” commented John on the CDC recognition.  “I’ve been really impressed with the commitment of the school and city staff, not to mention of the parents and families, to creating healthier communities for their students.  I think there’s some good momentum for continuing to improve the opportunities for safe biking and walking in these neighborhoods.”

CPPW is a national initiative to prevent chronic disease and promote health through policy, systems and environment changes.  King County was one of 55 sites around the US awarded grant funding through the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.  Eighteen local individuals and organizations were recognized for their work to address health inequities and improve community health.


Thanks to Feet First for the photo.

Go By Bike Program Gets Geared Up for 2012

The Go By Bike program is picking up speed and gathering momentum in 2012. We have acquired bicycles, helmets and tools for the program and are gearing up to teach bicycle safety and encourage bicycling. With grant support from WSDOT, the Bicycle Alliance is able to supply loaner bikes to participants in the Go By Bike program. The bikes are 2012 KHS Urban Xcape in both diamond and step through frame configurations. While we expect some students to have their own bikes, we did not want prospective students to be turned away for lack of a bike.

The program also supplies helmets and tools. As I wrote in an earlier post, the tools for the program were donated by Quality Bicycle Products. 

We are working with two elementary schools and four colleges to conduct safe bicycling courses in the spring, summer and fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. The elementary program engages parents of elementary students and the college program works with health and PE programs to offer a one-credit course to college students and community members.

As the Go By Bike Program Manager, I am excited and eager to get the program up to full speed. I have been working with college instructors and administrators to get the program institutionalized and to train the instructors. Participating colleges include Pierce, Olympic and Bellevue. The program for parents of elementary students is offered at Pioneer Elementary in Auburn and Suquamish Elementary in North Kitsap.

Please direct any inquiries regarding Go By Bike to joshm@bicyclealliance.org.

Put a Share the Road mini license plate on your bike

Remember the mini license plate you could put on your bike when you were a kid?  Now you can get one that looks just like our Washington Share the Road license plate!

The Share the Road mini plate can adorn your bike, trike, or unicycle.  Hang it on your backpack or shoulder bag.  Frame it and put it on your desk.  Attach it to your snowboard or skateboard.  Give one to your child or favorite bicyclist as a gift!

The text on your Share the Road mini license plate is personalized.  You can display your name, nickname or other message with up to 10 characters.  Buy a set of them proclaiming the name of your bike club, racing team or Bike to Work team!

Purchasing a Share the Road mini plate is an investment in yourself as a bicyclist.  Not only are you conveying an important message, but proceeds from the mini plate--just like the Share the Road vehicle license plate--is used by the Bicycle Alliance for bicycle safety and education.

Check our merchandise page for details on purchasing a Share the Road mini plate. 

Own a car, truck or motorcycle?  You can show your support for bicycling with a Share the Road license plate!

Year in Review: 2011 Highlights

What a productive year it has been at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington!  Bicycle advocates and active transportation partners helped us earn some legislative victories.  We’ve grown Safe Routes to School programs in communities across the state.  We refined our vision, mission and goals through an inclusive strategic planning process.

Legislative Victories

The Bicycle Alliance and our legislative partners passed a bill that incorporates teaching motorists how to safely drive around bicyclists and pedestrians in Traffic School curriculum.  The vulnerable user bill was finally passed this session, strengthening penalties under the negligent driving laws.  We also passed a bill that established (but didn’t fund) a Complete Streets grant program that encourages local jurisdictions to adopt complete streets ordinances.  Read the 2011 Legislative Wrap Up.

Over 100 active transportation, transit and rail advocates gathered in Olympia in February for Transportation Advocacy Day.  We are one of the organizers for this annual event and our constituents were well represented by 8 Bicycle Alliance board members and 6 staff.  Read more about the 2011 TAD.

Safe Routes to School

We’ve been busy this year helping participating school districts in south King County implement a comprehensive Safe Routes program in their schools.  The Bicycle Alliance taught teachers in 31 school districts across Washington State how to instruct students on safe biking and walking skills.  We now have a second staff person who is nationally certified to teach Safe Routes to School.

Go by Bike, a pilot program designed to bring bicycle safety education to college students, was launched this year with outreach to partnering schools in the Puget Sound region.  Learn more about Go by Bike.

Strategic Plan

The Bicycle Alliance hosted a two-day strategic planning summit that included the participation of 40 stakeholders representing bike clubs, elected officials, health organizations, advocacy partners, transportation agencies, planners, urban and rural interests.  This inclusive process resulted in a revised vision, mission and goals for the organization.  Read the details here.

Other Highlights

We took our Hub & Spoke outreach tour to Olympia, Mount Vernon and Spokane to network with community advocates and discuss issues big and small.  We met with stakeholders in the Methow Valley to begin coordinating our work on the US Bicycle Route System.  We were in Vancouver to participate in the annual policy makers’ ride.  We worked with the Peninsula Trails Coalition to weigh in on the alternatives proposed by Olympic National Park for the Olympic Discovery Trail.  We worked with WSDOT and regional bike advocates to find acceptable solutions to improve bicycle safety on the Hood Canal Bridge.  We coordinated efforts with Futurewise and community activists to rally support for and pass a Complete Streets ordinance in Spokane.

To date, over 4600 Share the Road license plates have been sold in Washington State.  Funds from the purchase of these plates have supported our education activities, including the development and distribution of curriculum that teaches motorists how to safely share the road with bicyclists and pedestrians.

Internet outreach highlights:

Over 195,000 unique visitors to our website in 2011

Over 17,000 unique viewers of the blog

Bike Bites e-newsletter was distributed to over 3000 advocates each month

Facebook – 700+ followers – an 85% increase over 2010

We started to Twitter late this year and have over 250 followers

Safe Routes to School National Course Training in Yakima

Photos by the author except where noted otherwise.

Earlier this Fall I had the opportunity to participate in a Safe Routes to School National Course Training put on by the National Center for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) and co-sponsored by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Feet First and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. The course was conducted October 24th-27th in Yakima, Washington and drew trainees from around the country, from northern and southern California, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Washington. This intensive three day training, prepared me and my co-trainees to teach the one-day SRTS National Course. The training was sponsored by the Safe Routes to School

During this training we observed the one-day course being taught in collaboration with Union Gap Elementary School, learned the curriculum, did research on local conditions, met the community, practiced teaching and then taught the course. Trainee instructors split into two groups to teach their course at two different elementary schools (Summitview Elementary and Adams Elementary). Over the three day course, the one-day course was delivered to three audiences regarding three elementary schools.

Day One: Observing the course being taught for Union Gap Elementary

The day began with a lecture and slide show, followed by a field exercise to observe existing conditions around the school. The following few photos are from our walk around the school.

Improvements to an intersection near Union Gap Elementary

Walking along the north perimeter of the school grounds

One lonely bicycle at the bike rack

Back in the office, participants in the Union Gap Elementary course look at the aerial photo and discuss potential design interventions

Participants in the Union Gap Elementary course discuss potential design interventions

The first day of the course involved observing two seasoned SRTS National Course instructors teach the course to a live audience, consisting primarily of WSDOT employees. The one-day course includes lectures, fieldwork, small group activities and a meeting with the school principal.


Day Two: Preparing to teach the Summitview class

The second day involved preparing to teach the course by practicing the course material and getting familiar with the school that the class would work with. As I mentioned earlier, the trainees split into two groups to teach the course at two different elementary schools.

Summitview Elementary School

My group worked with Summitview Elementary in the West Valley School District in Yakima, WA. In the morning we visited the school to observe student arrival and meet with the Principal of Summitview, Crystal McDonald. During our school visit we learned that there is a strong encouragement program at Summitview, working to keep students interested in active transportation.

The Golden Shoe Award at Summitview Elementary 

Looking west from the bus loading area, note recently painted crosswalk accross parking lot 

Students on their way to scool at Summitview Elementary (note student safety patrol)

In the afternoon we studied the curriculum and practiced teaching the modules of the class that we would teach the next day. 

Day Three: Teaching the Summitview class

On the third day of the training we delivered the course to an audience including folks from the school, Yakima city government, WSDOT as well as consultants and public sector employees from the Yakima area and from western Washington. We began with a series of lectures in the morning punctuated by breaks. At lunch time we had the special guests pictured below come and talk to the course participants.

Me with co-trainees and members of the student safety patrol from Summitview Elementary (Mike Cynecki Photo)

After lunch we had an interactive session on problems and solutions, two brief lectures and then we went to observe the student dismissal. After observing the dismissal time we returned to the classroom and discussed the field observations using maps and aerial photos to discuss possible design and enforcement interventions to improve safety around the school.

Aerial photo and map of the school zone facilitate discussion among participants 

Deep in thought

Conversing around the aerial photo of the school zone

Participants present back to the larger group after small group work based on the field exercise

Moving Forward

Folks that are interested in hosting the one-day Safe Routes to School National Course in their Washington community should direct their inquiries to joshm@bicyclealliance.org.  There is a fee for the course, which will vary depending on location and logistics and we will require a local coordinator to collaborate on logistics. The course is highly educational and also has the potential to galvanize a community around a Safe Rouetes to School program or campaign.

Updates From the Statewide Safe Routes to School Program: Safety Skills Education at Middle Schools

this post was contributed by Seth Schromen-Wawrin

Fall is in the air, schools have started up again, and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington is helping teach bike and pedestrian safety skills. We are starting the second year of training for the Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education Program. This program trains physical education (PE) instructors in about 25 school districts across the state to teach a curriculum to 5^th-8^th graders about biking and walking safely in traffic.

This fall, Omak, Quincy, and Tekoa are already signed up to be trained and teach the course before the winter sets in. Last spring, our trainers traversed the state to train instructors in nine school districts (Bridgeport, Eatonville, Lynden, Pomeroy, Reardan, Sedro-Woolley, Wahluke, Waitsburg, and Zillah). If you live in any of these districts, your schools may need volunteers to help teach the curriculum.

Look for a flock of middle schoolers practicing bike handling skills and riding through mock intersections. As these youth become more comfortable and safer on bikes and on foot, we expect to also see more youth biking and walking to school, parks, and around their neighborhood. By next spring, about 20,000 students will go through this curriculum and be better equipped to make safe biking and walking a routine mode of transportation.

Calling all artists and bicyclists: Share the Road t-shirt design contest

Now more than ever, we need to promote the message of “Share the Road” to increase safety for all roadway users.  The Bicycle Alliance of Washington invites you to put your creativity to work by entering our Share the Road t-shirt design contest.  Deadline is October 14, 2011.

Share the Road is more than a public campaign to increase awareness and safety.  It’s the law.  RCW 46.61.755 states:

Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter, except as to special regulations in RCW 46.61.750 through 46.61.780 and except as to those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application.

In 2006 the Department of Licensing created the special “Share the Road” license plate which reminds motorists and bicyclists to share the road. Proceeds from the sale of this special plate support the advocacy and education programs of the Bicycle Alliance.

In communities throughout Washington, transportation departments post signs to remind road users to share the road with each other.

You can help us take this message another step further by submitting a design for our Share the Road t-shirt design contest.  The winner will receive a $100 REI gift card.  Contest details are here.