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When you think of New Orleans, what comes to mind? The tragic reminds us of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that followed it and still remains. The celebratory conjures up images of parades, trombones, and music flowing into the streets. Those streets – destroyed, recovering, or flourishing with jazz – are the focus of Bike Easy, and local advocates are working to ensure that bicycles are included in how we use them.

Last week, the Louisiana State Legislature drafted a bill that would create $40 million in new revenue to invest in infrastructure improvements in New Orleans’ “Hospitality Zone” (The French Quarter and Central Business District). The bill would allow a citywide election on tourist tax increases that are estimated to bring in over $12 million per year. The timing is aligned with the 2013 Super Bowl, which will be held in NOLA.

The Department of Public Works has been asked to start designing these projects that include resurfacing projects and on-street bike parking infrastructure in NOLA’s historic district.

“The good news is that several improvements are being considered for pedestrian crossings such as pedestrian heads, new medians, pedestrian sanctuaries and tree plantings to calm traffic,” says Jamie Wine, Executive Director of Bike Easy. “However, only a few will have the minimum in bicycle facilities (shared-lane markings) and minimal way-finding signage, even though there is room on the street for much more progressive treatments such as cycle tracks and bicycle lanes.” Currently, a traffic study is required to eliminate a lane of traffic or parking.

Bike Easy has been awarded a $3,000 Advocacy Advance Rapid Response Grant to support their advocacy efforts to include bicycle infrastructure in these improvements. They will use funds to conduct a grassroots campaign and to lobby elected officials and Department of Public Works planners and engineers to allocate money for traffic studies.

In the long-term, these critical corridors are important to connect the Mississippi River Trail across the downtown core with bike lanes, boulevards and separated facilities.  Using new state funding sources to improve bicycle facilities on these roads will also demonstrate implementation of Louisiana’s Complete Streets Policy, passed last July and encourage a change in agency culture to include bicycles by default in road projects.

Advocacy Advance will be in NOLA in November for an Action 2020 Workshop to further work with advocates, agency staff and elected officials to identify opportunities to increase federal transportation funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects in New Orleans and Louisiana.

In Fall 2010, Advocacy Advance awarded the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation a $30,000 grant to create a local advocacy organization in the Greater Kansas City MO/KS region. A year and a half later, BikeWalkKC has over 200 members, a $90,000 budget, 2.5 FT equivalent staff (including this year’s Alliance Advocacy Awards Advocate of the Year winner, Eric Rogers), a strong education program, and many campaign successes.

Kansas City is dedicating $500,000 per year for five years for its share of the regional Katy Trail, a corridor that is part of the Jackson County Commuter Rail-with-Trail plan. In 2011, Kansas City achieved Bronze status from the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Communities program and its City Council adopted a Complete Streets Resolution, along with nine other communities covering 48% of the metro population. BikeWalkKC launched a Regional Funding Cooperation campaign and is working with a coalition of regional Parks and Recs directors on enabling state legislation to fund regional trails and bike routes. Additionally, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield-sponsored bike share program will start in Kansas City this summer and the organization’s CMAQ-funded Education program has served over 2,000 people in eight monthly classes with LCI instruction, school programs in low income and minority neighborhoods, and corporate lunch-and-learns.

BikeWalkKC certainly hit the ground running. Ongoing support from a statewide organization, working off of a clear, collaborative vision, addressing the technical steps for starting a new advocacy organization, and building local partnerships are the recipe for success in Kansas City – one that many Alliance member organizations have and can continue to learn from.

The East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC) is meeting the funding opportunity of a generation with the assistance of an Advocacy Advance Rapid Response Grant.

EBBC’s “One Billion for Bikes: Yes on the Alameda County Transportation Sales Tax Reauthorization” campaign targets a 30-year, $7.8 billion regional transportation plan. As part of the Citizens Advisory Working Group, EBBC helped develop the Expenditure Plan for the Reauthorization, galvanize the Community Vision Platform stakeholder group, and influence elected officials to include $883 million dollars – 11.34% of all funds – for bike/ped projects in the plan.

East Bay advocates have until November to work with their broad coalition of supporters to gain two-thirds voter approval for this ballot measure. They will leverage the $3,000 Rapid Response grant and use funds for voter outreach, publicity, and strengthening collaboration opportunities.

This campaign win would transform transportation in Alameda County and be a major win for the movement. This measure represents 75% of ALL transportation funding in the County over the next 30 years and for the first time in history, a transportation sales tax in California would allocate more money for bike/ped than for highway projects. It would also require all projects in the measure to comply with the County’s new Complete Streets Policy.

Advocacy Advance is a partnership between the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists with the goal to double federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs and projects by supporting advocacy efforts and agency collaboration at the state and local levels. Our Rapid Response grants can be used to fund campaigns that involve all types of public funding: federal, state, regional and city.

Thanks to the support of SRAM Cycling Fund, Advocacy Advance has $29,000 remaining to fund organizations met with urgent and unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking. There is no application deadline for these rolling grants and accepted proposals will be funded within one month.

Rapid Response grants have funded the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin’s successful campaign to restore $2 million of the state’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program, the BTA’s bike sharing success in Portland, and Active Living LaCrescent’s bridge accommodations campaign.

The past six months has seen significant progress in the campaign to include bicycle and pedestrian accommodations on the Interstate 90 Dresbach Bridge. This bridge connects LaCrescent, MN and LaCrosse, WI over the Mississippi River.  Until January, the 100-year design plans to replace this bridge did not include bike-ped accommodations, even though both states have Complete Streets policies.

Local advocacy group Active Living La Crescent worked in partnership with the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota on this campaign with support from an Advocacy Advance Rapid Response Grant. With only six weeks to convince the MnDOT to include bicycle and pedestrian accommodations on the Interstate Bridge, Active Living La Crescent used its grant funds to travel through the region to meet face-to-face with key decision makers and obtain legal consultation that provided contacts to critical individuals, regulatory review and important letters at crucial junctures in the process.

MnDOT’s reassessment of the bridge design was required by the Federal Highway Administration after initial advocacy efforts led by national, state and local bicycle advocacy groups and support from elected officials and staff and leadership of state and federal agencies. “Seldom is a reassessment and a design change achieved so late in the design process,” says Sue Howe, Project Manager at Active Living La Crescent. “It is therefore up to the local elected officials and staff, representing our communities, to insist on sufficient process to ensure that our vision is incorporated into the plans of State and Federal Agencies.”

Local advocates still have work to do to ensure these plans are carried out, but the results of their hard work will serve six generations in creating “a bridge, not a barrier.”

Rapid Response grants have funded the successful campaigns of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin to restore $2 million in state Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance to bring bike sharing to Portland.

Thanks to the support of SRAM Cycling Fund, Advocacy Advance has $35,000 remaining to fund organizations met with urgent and unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking. Visit our grants page or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information on our grant program.

Inquiry proposals for Advocacy Advance’s Capacity Building Grants are due this Friday, March 9.

This year, $25,000 in grants will be awarded to support the development and professionalization of state and local advocacy organizations to increase rates of biking and walking. These matching grants, funded by Planet Bike, can be used for campaigns that will support organizational development, hire staff, increase membership, and other tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization.

Refer to the Advocacy Advance Grants FAQs document for a summary of the common questions, as well as additional information on the grants and application process.

Advocacy Advance is pleased to offer an additional $35,000 in Rapid Response Grants in 2012 to help state and local organizations take advantage of unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Advocacy Advance — a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking & Walking, funded by SRAM — has awarded more than $600,000 in grants and scholarships to member organizations since 2009. In addition to grants, the Advocacy Advance team provides resources, technical assistance, coaching, and training to bike/ped advocacy organizations around the country.

If you have any questions, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call her at 202-621-5442.

The Advocacy Advance team took a trip down to Atlanta for an Action 2020 Workshop this month and met with more than 50 advocates, agency staff, and elected officials from across the region.

The free, one-day training empowered attendees with a wealth of information about federal, state, and local funding sources and practices, and how to make bicycles and pedestrians a local priority. It also provided a unique and productive chance for professionals from different sectors to network and share ideas.

The workshop was hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Atlanta Regional Commission. To provide some insight on the impact and take-aways from the workshop, Advocacy Advance staffer Matt Wempe spoke with Brent Buice, Executive Director of Georgia Bikes! and Fred Boykin, Decatur City Commission, District 1.

Advocacy Advance:  What did you know about federal funding coming into the workshop?

Brent Buice: I knew a lot about Transportation Enhancements (TE) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS), and an emerging awareness of the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). I had heard a little bit about Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), but didn’t know anything else about the other programs.

Fred Boykin: I had some knowledge about TE and the local Livable Cities and Centers initiatives from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Outside of that, I wasn’t too familiar with the other sources that were presented. It was really beneficial for me to see the statistics and comparisons between Georgia and other states.

Read the full story on the Advocacy Advance blog.

Is the federal transportation reauthorization process getting you down? Take a page from the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota’s book and innovate state funding for your bicycle and pedestrian programs. Let Advocacy Advance help with a Rapid Response Grant.

BikeMN started a campaign last month to include a $3 million appropriation in the 2012 Minnesota Bonding Bill to launch a statewide Safe Routes to School grant program. Advocacy Advance has awarded BikeMN a $3,000 Rapid Response grant to support their efforts.

Their idea has spurred the interest and involvement of the Minnesota Safe Kids Coalition, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Minnesota Childhood Obesity Legislative Working Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, and this grant will help them carry out their lead role. The $3,000 will be used to hire a lobbyist and have a professional presence at the state capitol during the process.

This campaign meets the grant’s urgency requirement. The Minnesota Legislature convened on January 24 for a 10-week session. Without the financial support of their efforts, BikeMN would need to wait until 2014. This precedent-setting allocation of general state revenue to SRTS would have lasting implications on how the state uses spends its transportation funds and could serve as a model for Alliance organizations.

Advocacy Advance is a partnership between the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists with the goal to double federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs and projects by supporting advocacy efforts and agency collaboration at the state and local levels. Our Rapid Response grants can be used to fund campaigns that involve all types of public funding: federal, state, regional and city.

Thanks to the support of SRAM Cycling Fund, Advocacy Advance has $35,000 remaining to fund organizations met with urgent and unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking. There is no application deadline for these rolling grants and accepted proposals will be funded within one month. Visit the Advocacy Advance website or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information on our grant program.

Rapid Response grants have funded the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin’s successful campaign to restore $2 million of the state’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program, the BTA’s bike sharing success in Portland, and Active Living LaCrescent’s bridge accommodations campaign.

Last week, the Alliance hosted two question-and-answer calls for advocates interested in applying for 2012 Advocacy Advance Capacity Building Grants.

Refer to the Advocacy Advance Grants FAQs document for a summary of the questions asked during both sessions, as well as additional information on the grants and application process.

Advocacy Advance is a partnership between the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists. This year, a total of $60,000 in awards will go to organizations applying for Rapid Response and Capacity Building Grants. Learn more about our two types of grants and download Inquiry Proposal Forms on the Advocacy Advance website.

Do you have additional questions about what makes a campaign vs. a program? Visit the Alliance Resource Library to review our Campaign Checklist. What have other grantee organizations accomplished with their awards? Read more here. Do you still have questions? Contact Brighid O’Keane by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 202-621-5442.

Inquiry proposals for Capacity Building Grants are due Friday, March 9. Rapid Response proposals are accepted on a rolling basis.

Applications to host Action 2020 Workshops are due next Friday, February 24 at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern). Advocates, agency staff, and/or elected officials are required to work on and submit a workshop application together.

These workshops bring together advocates, agency staff, and elected officials and are designed to ensure that participants have the knowledge, skills and resources to access un- or under-utilized federal funding sources at the state, regional and local level to build bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs.

During the workshops, participants will:

• Learn about under-utilized funding sources that exist for biking and walking projects and programs, which the region has not yet tapped into;
• Learn the key characteristics, requirements, and opportunities of those sources and best practices from around the country;
• Discuss favorable factors for bicycling and walking investments;
• Understand the important role of advocates, agency staff, and elected officials in securing this funding
• Share knowledge and experiences in the local context, working together to develop a list of local priorities and strategies for funding bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs.

Download the application form on the Advocacy Advance website and contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) as soon as possible if you have any questions. These one-day workshops are offered for free, thanks to the generous support of SRAM.

PHOTO: Tucson Action 2020 Workshop

Join us this Thursday and Friday, February 16 and 17 at 1 p.m. Eastern for question-and-answer sessions for prospective applicants for Advocacy Advance Capacity Building Grants. Click here to register for one of the calls.

Capacity Building Grants support the development and professionalization of state and local advocacy organizations to increase rates of biking and walking. These matching grants, funded by Planet Bike, can be used for organizational development, hiring staff, building membership and for other organizational tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization.

Visit the Advocacy Advance website for a detailed outline, including guidelines, criteria and other requirements. Inquiry applications are available online and are due by March 9.

If you have any questions, contact Brighid .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you are interested but unable to attend one of the calls, a recording will be posted on the Advocacy Advance website early next week.

Advocacy Advance is offering $25,000 in Capacity Building Grants this year to member organizations of the Alliance for Biking & Walking and League of American Bicyclists.

Capacity Building Grants support the development and professionalization of state and local advocacy organizations to increase rates of biking and walking. These matching grants, funded by Planet Bike, can be used for organizational development, hiring staff, building membership, and for other organizational tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization. Inquiry applications are available online and are due by March 9.

In addition, Advocacy Advance is pleased to offer $35,000 of Rapid Response Grants in 2012 to help state and local organizations take advantage of unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Read more on the Advocacy Advance website.

Last Saturday, the Green Mobility Network held a ride to celebrate the completion of the M-Path Bridge in Miami-Dade County. The bridge, a part of the M-Path Extension, is the final 1.2 miles of a multi-use path that was begun in the 1980s, and stretches from downtown Miami to the county’s southern border.

Discussions about a plan to complete this path have been happening since before the Green Mobility Network was founded in 2007. Since the organization’s beginning, it has monitored and publicized these discussions. Using funds from the stimulus bill, the Metropolitan Planning Organization moved forward in the plans to complete the path.

The Green Mobility Network has worked to increase the use of this trail, and to designate it as a part of the East Coast Greenway. Thanks in part to a 2009 Advocacy Advance Grant, Green Mobility Network was able to advance their ‘Complete the M-Path’ campaign, and increase the ease of biking and walking in Miami-Dade County.

“Until now, anyone needing to walk or ride from one path to the other had to pass through the big Dadeland shopping center parking lot and a warehouse district,” John Hopkins, executive director of the Green Mobility Network, says. “It was discouraging to cyclists or walkers; the timid just stayed away.”

Now the path spans about 30 miles, passing through university campuses, neighborhoods, shopping centers, flea markets, and local shops. It’s an easy, safe, fun way to get around areas of the community. Now it is “a really practical facility for recreation and daily commuting,” Hopkins says.

The past weekend’s celebratory ride was another way to bring publicity and excitement to the newly completed trail. The 125 cyclists who participated in the ride showed their excitement as they cheered the completion. Even the construction foreman came out to see the celebratory ride down the trail, smiling as the riders went by. Click here to see a video of the event from the Miami Bike Scene.

Photo: M-Path celebration ride (credit: Green Mobility Network)

Advocacy Advance – a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking and Walking – is now accepting applications for its Action 2020 Workshops.

The goal of Advocacy Advance is to double federal funding for biking and walking through increased spending at the state, MPO and local level where many funding decisions are ultimately made. The partnership plans to meet this goal by producing best practice reports, providing technical assistance, awarding grants and facilitating Action 2020 Workshops.

These workshops bring together advocates, agency staff, and elected officials and are designed to ensure that participants have the knowledge, skills and resources to access untapped or under-utilized federal funding sources at the state, regional and local level to build bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs. Applications to host a workshop are due Friday, February 24.

Read more about Action 2020 Workshops and how to apply on the Advocacy Advance blog.

Photo: Action 2020 Workshop in Tucson, Arizona

This summer, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Oregon’s statewide advocacy organization, received a $3,000 Advocacy Advance Rapid Response grant to assist in its advocacy efforts to bring bike share to Portland.

Last month, the bike share program won its final stages of approval — a unanimous vote of the Metropolitan Planning Organization followed by a final allocation decision by the Metro Council — thanks, in large part, to the BTA.

The bike share program will have 740 bikes located at 74 bike stations throughout downtown Portland, encouraging thousands of new riders in the central business district and enhancing safety associated with increased ridership. The $2 million capital investment in bike share is on the list of regional transportation projects approved for federal “flexible funds” by the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT).

This decision reflects earlier campaign success, when the Portland City council voted in support of the $2 million in Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) money for a capital investment in bike sharing.

Concerns raised at the JPACT meeting will bolster BTA’s equity commitment in the region and emphasized the importance of ensuring that the program will meet the needs of all users equitably and affordably.

Advocacy Advance is a partnership of the Alliance and League of American Bicyclists aimed at boosting federal funding for biking and walking projects and programs on the state and local level. Thanks to the support of the SRAM Cycling Fund, Advocacy Advance has $13,000 remaining to fund organizations met with urgent and unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking. Visit the Advocacy Advance Grants page or e-mail Brighid O’Keane for more information on our grant program.

Last month, Livable Memphis, a recipient of a Fall 2010 Advocacy Advance Grant, completed its “Overton-Broad Connector” Innovation Grant proposal. The advocates used their $25,000 award to introduce two model innovations to the Memphis community.

The New Face for an Old Broad event in November 2010 took the Better Blocks concept to a new level by temporarily reprogramming a street to show how bicycle and pedestrian facilities can encourage economic development. Three blocks of the Broad Avenue commercial district were turned into a DIY weekend festival. Local schools painted crosswalks, vacant storefronts were cleaned out and turned into pop-up shops and cafes, local artists created murals. The temporary redesign of the streetscape, including painted protected bike lines, have remained untouched for more than a year because they follow code standards and the local community has been pleased with the increase of business.

The grant also supported Livable Memphis’s advocacy efforts to complete the Overton-Broad Connector. The park trail segment will serve as the only pedestrian entrance to Overton Park from the east and increase access to mixed-income communities. Livable Memphis completed the design concept and is working to raise additional funds needed to complete the cycle track.

Going above and beyond the matching grant requirement, Livable Memphis raised more than $100,000 in sponsorships, donations, grants, event proceeds, and membership dues for its efforts. The advocates’ work has received additional financial support from Bikes Belong, Tennessee Recreational Trails Program, and HUS Sustainable Communities grant program.

In addition, Livable Memphis introduced updates to Memphis pedestrian ordinances regarding ADA access and crosswalk right-of-ways, which passed City Council, and developed a new “fines and fees” ordinance that will bring violation charges regarding bicycles and pedestrians up to the standard of their peer cities.

We’ve added added materials to our Online Resource Library that Livable Memphis used in its advocacy and feel would be useful for other Alliance member organizations:

• Sample Request for Proposal for Professional Design Services and instructions for submitting a Letter of Interest
• Traffic Volume Count Study Methods

Livable Memphis joins the more than two dozen other organizations that have used Advocacy Advance grant funding to spur development and carry out successful bicycle and pedestrian campaigns. Check back in coming weeks for information about next year’s funding cycle.

Undaunted by the massive storm that forced a last-minute rescheduling in November, more than 50 Connecticut advocates and officials from every single county in the state turned out for a successful Action 2020 Workshop in Hartford, Conn., last week.

Hosted by Bike Walk Connecticut and the Capitol Region Council of Governments, the workshop gave both advocates and agency staff the tools and strategies to harness underutilized federal funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian programs and projects.

“The workshop provided excellent resources, and most importantly, empowered the attendees to take action to improve the funding picture,” Sandy Fry, CRCOG Principal Transportation Planner, said. “There will be new efforts and initiatives as a result of this workshop and with the broad cross section of attendees, the efforts have a very good chance for success.”

Action 2020 Workshops are facilitated by Advocacy Advance – a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and Alliance for Biking & Walking.

Read the full recap on the Advocacy Advance blog.

This morning the daily commute for many Boston bicyclists became a whole lot safer and more comfortable — thanks in large part to advocates at the LivableStreets Alliance.

In December 2010, LivableStreets executive director, Jackie Douglas, was a panelist on an Alliance Mutual Aid Call, sharing insight and progress from the organization’s Better Bridges Campaign. Three years ago, the advocates launched the initiative to ensure that a $3 billion investment from the state to shore up dilapidated bridges didn’t bypass accommodations for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users. Today, LivableStreets celebrated the completion of bike lanes and pedestrian crossing improvements to the BU Bridge over the Charles River.

“This is a major victory,” Douglas said in the announcement this morning — a victory built on wide participation from LivableStreets members and a strong and diverse campaign coalition. “Improvements to the BU Bridge have created a new vital link, providing more transportation options and new opportunities to integrate physical activity into our daily lives. We are witnessing a growing wave of interest in walking, bicycling, public transit and livable communities.”

One commuter who will make use of that new, vital link is LivableStreets member Emily Blood: ““The BU Bridge used to be the major obstacle in my commute to the Longwood Medical Area,” she said. “Now I’ll bike more often, and it will be so much safer to cross.”

The savvy advocates at LivableStreets aren’t letting the victory pass silently. To highlight the improvements, engage potential members and leverage the victory into a stronger relationship with decisionmakers, they’ll be out on the bridge today and tomorrow giving out goodie bags and getting excited users to sign thank-you postcards to transportation officials.

Learn more about the Better Bridges campaign and other bridge initiatives in last year’s Advocacy Advance report — Bridging the Gaps in Bicycling Networks: An Advocate’s Guide to Getting Bikes on Bridges.

And don’t forget: LivableStreets is the host of our Winning Campaigns Training in Boston this April. Register now to secure your spot and take advantage of these winning advocates’ insight.

Photo: BU Bridge with new bike lanes and pedestrian crossings. (LivableStreets)

When I was 16 years old, my family moved from Bern, Switzerland to Houston, Texas. Talk about culture shock. While there’s a lot to celebrate about the Lone Star State, active transportation ain’t exactly on the short list.

But that’s changing fast — thanks to the efforts of a growing number of bike-ped advocates and supportive policymakers.

Last week, an Action 2020 Workshop in my previous hometown of Houston captured and built on that progressive energy. Presented by Advocacy Advance, a partnership of the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists, the workshop attracted nearly 60 stakeholders from 41 different organizations to discuss how to increase funding for biking and walking across the Houston region.

Read a recap from Darren Flusche, policy analyst at the League of American Bicyclists, on the Advocacy Advance blog. Or check out the review from BikeHouston, one of the event hosts.

With more Action 2020 Workshops planned in the New Year, click here to see if Advocacy Advance is coming to your region.

Advocacy Advance is a dynamic partnership of the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists aimed at dramatically increasing funding for biking and walking projects and programs.

In 2009, Wisconsin enacted a statewide Complete Streets policy, ensuring all roadways are designed and constructed with all users in mind. In 2010, its neighbor, Minnesota, passed a Complete Streets bill, too. But in 2011, when transportation officials started work on a bridge connecting the two states, they failed to include accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN), Active Living LaCrescent (ALL) and the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin worked hard for the passage of Complete Streets in their respective states. Now they’re fighting to make sure transportation officials implement those policies on the Drebach Bridge.

To aid their urgent and immediate efforts, Advocacy Advance has awarded a $3,000 Rapid Response Grant to BikeMN and ALL for their Dresbach Bridge proposal.

Read more on the Advocacy Advance blog.

Advocacy Advance is a dynamic partnership of the Alliance and League of American Bicyclists to dramatically increase funding for biking and walking projects and programs.

Last week, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance won the first phase of its campaign to bring a bike share system to Portland, when the Portland City Council voted in support of $2 million in Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) money for a capital investment in bike sharing.

The BTA also received a $3,000 Advocacy Advance Rapid Response Grant to build on this success and prepare for the next phase of the campaign: Secure full funding at the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the City of Portland to build and operate a new $11.5 million bike sharing program.

Thanks to the support of SRAM Cycling Fund, Advocacy Advance has $16,000 remaining to fund organizations met with urgent and unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Read more about the BTA grant on the Advocacy Advance blog. Visit the Advocacy Advance Grants page or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information on our grant program.

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