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Entries tagged: Atlanta Bicycle Coalition

This past weekend, 15 advocates gathered at the Alliance’s Winning Campaigns Training in Tucson, Ariz., to launch five new campaigns that will improve walking and biking in their communities.

The event was hosted by local advocacy organization Living Streets Alliance, who set a high mark by bringing 11 members to the training.  The training also served as a follow-up to the Action 2020 Workshop put on by Advocacy Advance in Tucson last September.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the campaigns created at the training will be carried out in Arizona. Living Streets Alliance launched three campaigns for Tucson, including:

• Expanding the city’s open streets initiative, Cyclovia
• Launching a Pedestrian Safety Campaign aimed at securing new funding and
• Creating a new regional master plan for biking and walking

A coalition of advocates from Phoenix launched a campaign to create a Ciclovia in their community, while the one out-of-state campaign came from the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, who created a complete streets campaign in DeKalb County, Georgia. Energy was high throughout the weekend, as participants were able to step back from the grind of day-to-day advocacy to plan out their campaigns.

The Alliance is hosting three more Winning Campaigns Trainings this year, in Boston, Houston and Kansas City. Learn more about these exciting weekends here.

Click here to check out photos from the training.

In line with a goal to double federal funding for biking and walking, Advocacy Advance is awarding more than $100,000 in direct grants to four organizations.

Using the grants to tap into federal funding streams and build their political influence, recipients will work to triple bicycle mode share in Atlanta, Ga., dramatically improve infrastructure in Pittsburgh, Pa., empower Latino cyclists in Los Angeles, Calif., and create a new model to win state dollars in Delaware.

Since 2009, Advocacy Advance—a partnership of the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists—has awarded more than $500,000 in direct grants to 25 state and local advocacy organizations. This year, more than 60 applications with proposals totaling more than $1.3 million were received in the two grant categories: Model Grants and Capacity Building Grants.

Model Grants provide multi-year support for efforts that significantly increase federal investment for biking and walking. Capacity Building Grants catalyze the growth of advocacy organizations. Based on the organizations’ successful track records and innovative strategies, 2011 grants will be awarded to Bike Delaware, Bike Pittsburgh, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

“We are excited to support these grantees, as they help lead the way towards a more equitable and rational use of limited federal transportation funds, especially as the lessons we learn will be applicable to accessing state and local funds,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists.

“Receiving this Model Grant is a testament to the decade of work we’ve poured into building strong relationships with key city, county, regional, and state transportation officials - and winning the cultural battle that bikes belong in the transportation mix,” Scott Bricker, Executive Director of Bike Pittsburgh, said. “Now it’s time to identify and fund specific projects that will keep bike riders safer and result in more people bicycling.”

Advocacy Advance Grants are made possible thanks to generous funding from SRAM and Planet Bike.

2011 Model Grants

Bike Pittsburgh
Receiving the largest grant ever awarded through the Advocacy Advance program, Bike Pittsburgh will use $40,000 per year, for three years, to leverage partnerships, identify key bicycle and pedestrian projects and get them funded. Advocates will work closely with the City of Pittsburgh on MOVEPGH - Pittsburgh’s first comprehensive transportation plan - to ensure the plan includes recommendations for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects that are eligible for federal funding. Advocates will also work with county officials to get projects in surrounding municipalities in the queue for federal funding.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition
The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) will receive $35,000 per year, for three years, to double federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs in the Atlanta region, and triple the bicycle mode share from 1 to 3 percent. To meet these ambitious goals, ABC will hire additional staff and work with the local metropolitan planning organizations, and the Georgia Department of Transportation, to tap into two federal funding streams currently underutilized for bicycle and pedestrian projects - the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program and the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

2011 Capacity Building Grants

Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) will receive a $15,000 matching grant to hire a dedicated bilingual education/outreach staff member to empower Spanish-speaking residents who lack access to bike safety and advocacy tools, and build political power for improved bicycling in L.A. by better including populations of color.

Bike Delaware
Bike Delaware advocates recently won $5 million in new dedicated funding for bicycling in Delaware in 2012 - more money than the state has ever allocated in the past. A $10,000 matching grant will help Bike Delaware create a national model to increase state bicycle and pedestrian funding by creating an action plan for state bicyclists, advocating legislation, monitoring and communicating with DelDOT, and tracking progress.

In addition, Advocacy Advance will grant $25,000 in Rapid Response Grants throughout the year to help state and local organizations take advantage of unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Learn more about Advocacy Advance at AdvocacyAdvance.org.

There’s quite a bustle with bicycling laws in the Georgia State Capitol this legislative season.

A lot is at stake for bicyclists in Georgia, and our members at Georgia Bikes! and the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, along with other local and state advocates, are keeping a close eye on the proceedings. Three bills are currently in the works.

First is HB101, otherwise known as the “Better Bicycling” bill, which passed the Georgia House of Representatives just last week.  This bill contains a number of provisions, and most notably defines bike lanes for the first time in Georgia. It also gives cyclists the right of way when biking in bike lanes and makes it illegal for cars to park within the boundaries of the bike lane. The bill also addresses helmet use. Currently, all bicyclists ages 15 and younger are required by law to wear a helmet. However, because helmets are not specifically made for infants (those under one year of age), this bill makes it illegal to transport children under the age of one by bicycle.

Second, Georgia is trying to follow suit of 16 states by passing a 3-foot passing law. HB180, which requires a minimum safe passing distance of 3 feet, was not enacted last year because it hindered cyclists’ rights to ride two abreast. This year, the bill has been refilled without the restrictive language that required cyclists to ride single file.  As of February 17th, this bill was in the Public Safety Committee and has not been considered.

The final bill under consideration is controversial. HB71, which has passed House Public Safety Committee and was in the Rules Committee as of February 17th, permits riders of any age to operate bicycles on sidewalks. As the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition warns, sidewalk riding leads to higher incidences of car-bike crashes and injuries of cyclists. This law would also lead to an inconsistency of biking laws across the nation, making it difficult for out-of-town bicyclists to adhere to local law.

Because many newbie bicyclists are wary of riding in traffic, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition offers Confident City Cycling classes to expose new riders to the benefits of vehicular cycling and to advocate “sharing the road.”

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and Georgia Bikes! are closely monitoring the status of these bills on their websites.

Advocates who attended the Alliance Leadership Retreat already know that Ali Mangkang can sing a mean rendition of “Proud Mary.” Well, the outreach manager for the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition has a great radio voice, too.

Earlier this month, the Georgia advocates wrapped production on a series of new public service announcements that emphasize motorists’ shared responsibility to keep streets safe for bicyclists.

“The concept of the PSAs really grew out of a desire to educate a broader audience with simple, non-confrontational messages about operating bikes and vehicles on shared roadways,” Mangkang says. “We were very fortunate to enlist the pro-bono services of a professional studio who helped us fine tune the messages, record, edit and find the talent. They were amazing and kept putting resources in front of us. (It probably helped that the producer and audio engineer are both avid cyclists!)”

The short spots, produced by Soapbox Studios, cover the safety basics for bikes and automobiles, including not texting while driving, giving three feet when passing, and preventing right-hook collisions.

But ABC didn’t want to confine their message to one segment of the Atlanta community. Mangkang says ABC found several translators within their own network and got hooked up with prime voice talent from Soapbox Studios.

“We wanted to produce the messages in Spanish because we just wanted to get the word out to a large part of our metropolitan population we aren’t reaching on a daily basis,” she says. “We want to continue to reach out to organizations, stations and community groups who can help us widen our reach to Hispanic populations throughout Atlanta.”

“We absolutely would love to share these clips and make them available for anyone’s use,” Mangkang adds. “We only ask that members contact us should they wish to edit the content in any way.” (Click here to find the PSAs in the Alliance Resource Library.)

Learn more about the campaign on the ABC website.

Attending the National Bike Summit gave the folks from the Peach State a juicy idea.

In March, a group of bicycle advocates from Georgia traveled to Washington, DC for the 10th annual networking and lobbying event hosted by the League of American Bicyclists. They didn’t just meet their bike-ped peers from across the country; they also recognized a need within their own state borders.

“When the dust settled after a hectic schedule of running the halls of both the Senate and the House, there was a general consensus among the Georgia delegates that once a year just ‘ain’t enough,’” Ali Mangkang of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition wrote last month. “From there, an idea took shape, though mentioned casually at first, that Georgia should aim for its own statewide summit — a meeting of enthusiasts, retailers, advocates and policymakers representing Georgia’s many bicycling communities.”

Well, the folks at Savannah Bicycle Campaign found a venue in their fair city and Georgia Bikes took the lead in organizing the agenda. Joe Seconder, a board member for Georgia Bikes, had the wind at his back from the start. “Here in Georgia there has been an up swelling of grassroots efforts through individuals and organizations to encourage greater bicycle accommodations in a holistic and systemic fashion,” he says.

The summit on October 9th isn’t exclusive the grassroots organizers, though. In addition to the advocacy track, the event has workshops targeted to government officials and trail riders. “Advocates, elected and public officials, business leaders and concerned bicyclists will come together in a forum; setting the stage for statewide bicycling gains,” Seconder says. “We’ll network, collaborate, educate and empower advocates and attendees, identifying common issues in our local communities and setting priorities for the statewide efforts of Georgia Bikes in 2011.”

If other events are any indication, the gathering could mean big gains for the southern state.

“Georgia joins a growing list of states that are holding their own statewide bike summits, in addition to participating in the national summit,” Mangkang wrote. “Most notably, Oregon and Wisconsin have produced highly successful models for state bike summits. Both states also rank among the most bicycle-friendly states in the country. States with far lower rankings have seen the benefits of holding a statewide summit, too. In 2008, West Virginia ranked last in the LAB annual survey of bicycle friendly states. After holding a statewide symposium their ranking increased by eight spots in the 2009 survey.”

Read more or register for the event here.

In 2008, some students at Georgia Tech discovered a stash of abandoned bicycles collected by the university’s housing department. Eager to put those wheels back on the road, the Students Organizing for Sustainability got in touch with the folks at the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, for help fixing up the run-down rides.

With that inventory and partnership, ABC created its Starter Bikes initiative, aimed at providing low-cost, entry-level bikes for students and others in need of inexpensive but reliable transportation. There was just one hitch: Where to store the donated bikes?

Well, problem solved.

Earlier this week, the ABC hosted a party at its new office. Not only will the expanded digs accommodate — and hopefully grow — the Starter Bike program, it will create an inviting space for the diverse bicycle communities of Atlanta to gather, plan and learn.

“The expanded space, in downtown Atlanta, provides an accessible central location on the ground floor,” says ABC’s Ali Mangkang. “ABC will use the new space to bring greater visibility to the group’s advocacy efforts, offer additional classes and continue their mission to make bicycling safer and easier throughout Atlanta.”

Click here to see the new office and some “fierce” photos form the ABC party.

According to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the city of Roswell is now home to the first bike box in Georgia. Bike boxes are common in bike friendly cities such as Portland. Cyclists stop at the traffic light in a busy intersection and wait in the green box ahead of all the cars, thus being more visible to drivers. They are then able to make turns safely. Bike boxes are a cost-effective way to make cycling safer.

For more information, click here…

To learn more about Roswell’s new bike box check out the full story here…