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According to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC), a record number of people came out for the ciclovia-style Sunday Streets in San Francisco’s Mission district in early June. The party stretched nearly a dozen blocks and the festivities included walking, biking and dancing. Sunday Streets was initiated in 2008 by SFBC, Livable City, and other local partners. See photos of the event here. The overwhelming turnout illustrates a yearning for more car-free recreational areas.

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More than 1,600 cyclists participated in Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s 9th Annual L.A. River Ride, making it the largest River Ride ever! The event is LACBC’s largest fundraiser and raises awareness of the need for bike path connectivity along the LA River.

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Livable City was awarded a $10,000 Bikes Belong grant to help return Sunday Streets, a program that creates a fun, car-free place for people to be active, to San Francisco this summer. Last year’s two events drew over 15,000 people each; this year, there will be six events in four different neighborhoods. Sunday Streets is supported by a broad range of city agencies, advocacy organizations, local businesses, corporate sponsors, and local bike shops that provide funding and free rentals for participants.

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Lebanon Valley Bicycle Club was restructured in June, 2008, as an advocacy organization due to the urgent need to have bicycling understood as more than recreation on the local railtrail. The 2009 Proclamation demonstrates “progress underway”.

http://www.lebanonvalleybicycleclub.net

Lebanon Valley Bicycle Club sponsored a PA Senatorial Bike Ride to show off the quality of cycling tourism in Lebanon County, demonstrate the need for wider shoulders on the new PA Scenic Byway and promote our new Lebanon County Scenic Bike Rides Map which is a cooperative effort between LVBC and Lebanon’s Tourism Promotion Agency.  Also, this was one of our Bike Month Promotions.  An article appeared in Lebanon Daily News, 5/10/2009

http://www.ldnews.com/circare/html/sca_template.jsp?sortBy=mngi&similarTo=&similarType=find&type=any&aff=3&query=local+bikers+taken+for+a+ride&view=entiresitesppublished&searchbutton.x=52&searchbutton.y=10

Montreal’s Bixi bike rental program, modeled on the Vélib network in Paris, with 3000 gps enbled bikes and 300 stations was launched on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/05/12/montreal-bixi.html

Bicycling history was made in Wisconsin on April 27th and 28th as more than 450 bicycling enthusiasts from across the state attended the 2009 Wisconsin Bike Summit in Madison. The two-day event featured talks on advocacy, legislative training, and a “Ride on the Capitol” media event, where more than 200 bicyclists pedaled from Monona Terrace to the State Capitol to speak to their Legislators about the importance of bicycling in our communities.

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On April 17th, Nancy Schulz, Executive Director of the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition, had the chance to present to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at the Vermont State House. In her presentation, she highlighted the pent up demand for funding needs for biking and walking infrastructure and education, and how his help is needed to get increased funding in the transportation bill. Sec. LaHood responded to Nancy by saying he will incorporate a “Livable Communities” program into the next bill so that people who want to bike, walk, jog, and “get out of cars” will be able do so.

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This month the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) will honor Sunday Streets at their annual awards ceremony, the Golden Wheel Awards. Each year, this event honors those individuals or organizations that have dedicated all of their resources to advance biking and other avenues of sustainable transportation in San Francisco. SFBC is proud to have initiated the idea of Sunday Streets, a temporary car-free event that encourages San Franciscans to “get out and get active” on selected Sunday mornings. Sunday Streets was championed by a broad coalition of organizations and has been expanded for 2009.

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Vermont’s Local Motion is encouraging local residents to leave their car at home and join the fun! Local Motion is helping to coordinate the Way to Go Commuter Challenge. Individuals who pledge to get to work or school by walking, biking, taking the bus, telecommuting, or carpooling at least one day in May are entered into a drawing for prizes including iPods, cordless electric mowers, overnight stays, golf and ski passes, and more. In 2008, 2,950 Way to Go! participants saved 212,000 pounds of CO2 and $49,000 in transportation expenses. Their goal for 2009 is for 3,500 commuters to save at least 250,000 pounds of CO2. Way to Go Local Motion!

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On April 23, 2009, Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii (PATH) and the Kealakehe community celebrated a 10-year goal of building a complete street for Kona. The new Keanalehu and Manawalea streets includes sidewalks, bike lanes, and a median that connects the Kealakehe house lots, La’I Opua Villages, and the local high school. PATH will be providing pedestrian safety education, awareness building, and support for the community to help make this transition a safe one. Congratulations PATH! 

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According to Bike Texas, the 2009 Safe Passing Bill, Senate Bill 488, was passed April 21 by the Texas State Senate by a vote of 28-2. Bike Texas says the strong showing of 75 cyclists at their annual bike lobby day, “Cyclists in Suits”, was a, “powerful factor in the sudden movement on Safe Passing in the Senate.” This was also a success for BikeDFW who rallies more than 40 people for a bus trip to Austin for the lobby day. Congrats!

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The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition celebrated the opening of the new “Western Salt” bike path with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, April 18th. There was music, tacos, elected officials, and giant scissors! Congrats SDCBC!

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According to the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition, “We’re excited to report that the City of San Luis Obispo has installed Sharrows on Monterey Street. In fact, we saw them put down paint right in front of our office. Sharrows, or shared lane markings, are designed for streets that aren’t wide enough for a bike lane but need some kind of treatment so that bicyclists stay out of the door zone and motorists share the road. Watch our new video and get up to speed on everything sharrows. We’re already noticing a more friendly Monterey Street.” Congrats SLOCBC!

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Colorado’s much needed and hard fought bicycle safety bill, SB09-148, passed the state legislature last week - a huge victory for cyclists in Colorado and Alliance member Bicycle Colorado. Among other provisions, the new law has a 3-foot passing rule, allows cars to cross the centerline to pass bicyclists when safe to do so, allows bicyclists to ride on the left or right of multi-lane one-way streets, clarifies the legality of riding two-abreast, and makes it illegal to throw something at a cyclist.

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