Biking for Bicycle Alliance on Bainbridge Island

Last June Vega and Lula Piper, thirteen year old twins living on Bainbridge Island, still hadn’t completed the community service project assigned by their middle school teacher. Then it occurred to them:  Instead of performing a typical community service assignment like volunteering at a nonprofit organization, “why not do something we love?” 

That realization led them to do a bike-a-thon for a bicycle organization. With assistance from their dad, they browsed the internet and discovered the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.  They thought our organization looked the “coolest” and liked our campaign for Safe Routes to School.  Building bike routes to make travel safer made sense to them. Consequently they chose to contribute to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

 

Lula (l), Vega (r) after their trek in California

They asked for sponsors after school at pick up time. Their goal was to try to ride their bikes, in a school week, the distance that they commuted each day to and from school by car. They recruited 30 contributors and raised nearly a thousand dollars! 

Former Executive Director Barbara Culp praised the girls saying, “Vega and Lula demonstrated that everyone can make a difference, no matter how large or small, in their community. The Bicycle Alliance membership, board, and staff thank them for hosting their own bike-a-thon and finding people to donate to their efforts.”

So what does the sister bicycling team plan to do next? During the months of July and August they accompanied their father on a road trip to California and brought their bikes. “It’s definitely not as bike-friendly in California,” they said. On the brighter side, “it was very flat, a good thing if you’re touring.”

Vega and Lula have been riding bikes since they were three or four. They currently get around on Raleigh mountain bikes. When asked how it feels to ride on a bike rather than in a car, they responded, “It’s more scenic, you get to enjoy the view more than if you’re zipping by in a car.”

The girls agreed they enjoy biking because it’s a fun way to get exercise. They’d also like to extend a big thank you to all their sponsors, because without them “this would not have been possible.”

If you’re dreaming of a fun, creative way to raise awareness and support for bicycling in your community, and benefit the Bicycle Alliance of Washington in the process, we welcome your ideas. Contact Fund Development and Membership Manager Jack Hilovsky with your idea at jackh@BicycleAlliance.org!

OSPI Safe Routes to School Summer Institutes

OSPI Safe Routes to School 

Summer Institutes

Seattle Pre-Institute– August 9th Institute – August 10th

Spokane Pre-Institute – August 16th Institute – August 17th

Come take part in this opportunity to share and learn about creating safe routes to school in Washington State.

The Summer Institutes are offered to participants in the SRTS Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education grant 2010-2012, as well as educators and individuals interested in the Safe Routes to School. The Institute will provide an opportunity for teachers, volunteers, and interested individuals to attend sessions on bike and pedestrian safety education, encouragement and engineering best practices, and many other topics.

Pre-Institute:  Come to this day if you are… 

• New to Safe Routes to School and want an overview of the SRTS Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Education Curriculum so you can implement the program next fall or include it in future SRTS grant proposals 
• Familiar with Safe Routes to School and want to gain hands-on skills on specific topics (such as bike handling skills, walking audits, telling your story about Safe Routes to School, etc).

Institute:  Everyone should come to this day to share experiences, develop new skills, and learn about best practices around the state of Washington.

The Summer Institutes are free to attend but registration is required. Teachers can receive at least 8 clock hours free through OSPI if you register in advance.

 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE 

QUESTIONS: Seth Schromen-Wawrin (Safe Routes to School Project Coordinator, Bicycle Alliance of Washington)

Summer Institutes Supported by:

Bicycle Alliance of Washington

Cascade Bicycle Club – Education Foundation

Feet First

King County Food and Fitness Initiative

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Spokane Regional Health District

Washington Department of Transportation

Safe Routes to School Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education Grant 2010-2012
funded to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction by the Washington State Department of Transportation

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!

Where do the Children Play?

Last summer, Bicycle Alliance staffer Seth Schromen-Wawrin created a digital story that recalls how wonderful it was to explore his neighborhood by bike as a child and asks why he doesn't see kids doing this today.  Seth made this video in a workshop for the Mapping Our Voices for Equality project in King County.  We think it will bring back fond memories for many folks so we'd like to share it.

   

John Vander Sluis Moves On

John displays his CDC award.

This month, our highly successful Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Safe Routes to School project wraps up.  Over 1500 low-income elementary school students received bicycle and pedestrian safety skills training at 17 schools in south King County as a result of this program.  Sadly for us, this also means that project manager John Vander Sluis is moving on.

"John worked tirelessly for eighteen months with school district personnel, teachers, city planners, parents, volunteers and staff. His expertise, his willingness to tackle every detail and to do it with good cheer will be missed by everyone," declared Bicycle Alliance ED Barbara Culp.  "My only regret is lack of funding to keep this stellar project manager."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recognized John’s outstanding efforts by naming him a Safe Routes to School champion.  The commendation praised his strategic thinking and efforts to advance SRTS policies and programming.

“I’m most pleased with the ability of the project to bring people together,” John reflected.  “We used the opportunity to facilitate conversations between parents, school districts, and city agencies that I think will lead to long term benefits for children.”

John had many memorable moments from his tenure with the Bicycle Alliance.  He recalled how the teachers in the first train-the-trainer session learned their parking lot drills in the pouring rain.  That’s dedication!  A Tukwila school displayed their SRTS fleet of bikes at an evening event and kids were dragging their parents over to view the bikes.  Children were proudly telling their parents which bike they rode in class.

“I’ve appreciated the spirit and energy people bring to the Bicycle Alliance, and how much they are willing to do to make it safer for kids to walk and bike,” John added.

What’s next for John now that the project has wrapped up?

“I get to spend time with my wife,” he said.  “She works nights and weekends so this will be the first time in a long time that we get to spend some real time together.”

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.

Federal Transportation Update: Votes delayed, action still needed

Two weeks ago, the Bicycle Alliance and other biking and walking organizations asked our members to contact their Congressional representatives in an effort to save biking and walking programs in the federal transportation bills. Specifically, we asked you to tell your House members to kill HR-7 (the House version) and ask your Senator to support the Cardin-Cochran Amendment to the Senate bill. Read the alert.

You responded! According to the League of American Bicyclists, members of Congress received 50,000 messages asking them to support biking and walking programs in the transportation bill. You made it clear that many Americans care about safe streets, Safe Routes to School, transit and trails.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, who is no friend to folks who bike, walk or use public transit, reacted to the outcry by delaying the vote on HR-7 until the week of February 27. The Senate will likely vote on the Cardin-Cochran amendment that same week.

If you were one of the thousands who responded to the call for action already, thank you! If you have not, there is still time to weigh in. Use this link to the LAB’s Action Center to weigh in.

Washington bicyclists & pedestrians are disproportionately at risk of being killed and receive less than their fair share of transportation dollar investments

For Immediate Release

Seattle, WA – Jan. 23, 2012 – Washington ranks tenth as a safe place to bike and fourteenth for pedestrian safety ranking behind North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, according to a new report, Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, released today by the Alliance for Biking & Walking.“

This report comes at a critical moment as Governor Gregoire has just proposed a state transportation package of $3.6 billion that dedicates 72 percent to roads, only 4 percent to transit, and lacks funding for the popular Safe Routes to Schools Program or locally-requested state bicycle and pedestrian safety projects.

The Benchmarking Report highlights that while 4.5% of work trips in Washington state are by bicycle or foot, bicyclists and pedestrians account for 13.6% of traffic fatalities in Washington state. Much of the Washington state and Seattle data for the report was provided by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, a state partner to the national coalition of over 200 organizations.

Lack of investment in bicycling and walking could be to blame as state and federal monies fall short of the choices that Washington residents make in how they get around. For biking and walking, the state currently allocates 2.7% of what it receives in federal monies and the state itself assigns less than 0.5% of its transportation budget to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety and Safe Routes to School Programs.

“The 2012 Benchmarking report points to the growing need for improved safety and mobility for the many residents who walk and bike. We are optimistic that the proposed transportation package can be improved to include investments in Safe Routes to Schools and other popular safety programs that residents across the state want,” says Blake Trask, Bicycle Alliance state policy director.

Since the Safe Routes to School Program’s inception in 2005, the Bicycle Alliance has worked with several partners, as well as the Washington State Department of Transportation and Office of the Superintendant of Public Instruction to increase the number of children safely walking and biking to 168 schools across the state. Program delivery at these schools has, and continues to improve walking and biking conditions for approximately 67,000 children. This represents almost $29 million being awarded to 90 projects from over $137 million in requests. Currently four out of every five requests for schools are not funded.

As a part of its advocacy for safer streets for everyone, the Bicycle Alliance is promoting state legislation to remove red tape and provide cities and towns the freedom to set speed limits to 20 miles per hour on non-arterial streets without a costly engineering and traffic study.  This legislation, SHB 1217 – the Neighborhood Safe Speeds Bill, does not mandate any change, it simply provides cities and towns the local control to do so.

The report compiles persuasive evidence that bicycle and pedestrian projects create more jobs than highway projects, and provide at least three dollars of benefit for every dollar invested. The report also highlights the health benefits of active transportation, showing that states with the highest rates of bicycling and walking are also among those with the lowest rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. “The data points to one conclusion—investing in biking and walking projects create jobs, leads to more people biking and walking, and improves safety and public health,” says Jeffrey Miller, Alliance President/CEO.

Despite the ongoing need, the Benchmarking Report also calls out the progress that Washington state has made in growing bicycling and walking.  “Washingtonians have responded to the improvements in safety and infrastructure that state and local government have made over the past 20 years by biking and walking more,” Trask notes. In 1990, 13,170 Washingtonians identified themselves as bike commuters.  That number grew to 28,395 in 2009—a 116% increase.  The number of people who walk to work in our state grew by 14% during that same time period.  In the same period nationally, biking experienced a 64% increase while walking declined by 12%.

The Benchmarking Report includes data on the 51 largest US cities, which included Seattle. Highlights from the report include

• Seattle ranked fourth among the large cities nationwide with a commuter mode split of 11.5% who bike and walk to work. Boston was tops with a combined 15.4% biking and walking mode share.

• Despite its high ranking for walking and biking mode share, Seattle ranked sixth as a safe place to walk and twelfth among 51 large cities as a safe place to bike. According to the report, safer cities to bike include San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Sacramento, and Milwaukee.

“Bicycling and Walking in the U.S.: 2012 Benchmarking Report” was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and made possible through additional support from AARP and Planet Bike. For more information and to download the report visit www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/benchmarking.

Contact: 

Blake Trask

Statewide Policy Director

Bicycle Alliance of Washington

206.310.4762

blake@bicyclealliance.org

Jeffrey Miller

President/CEO

Alliance for Biking & Walking

202.445.4415

jeff@PeoplePoweredMovement.org