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The Bicycle Coalition of Maine, a recipient of a Fall 2010 Advocacy Advance Innovation Grant, completed its “Community Spokes Grassroots Advocacy” proposal this past month.  BCM used the $18,000 award to launch a series of one-day advocacy trainings. Modeled after the Alliance’s Winning Campaign Training approach, these workshops train Community Spokes to carry our successful campaigns in their local communities.

BCM has already seen its new Community Spokes in action. Craig Saddlemire, a participant of the November training, created a joint bike/ped committee for the twin cities of Lewiston-Auburn and met with the newly elected mayors of the cities to advocate for better biking. When BCM organized for the successful Cardin-Cochran Amendment campaign in March, Craig created a local delegation, including a local bike shop owner, transportation planner and public health advocate, to make in-district meetings.

The Advocacy Advance grant, and the additional $33,000 in matching funds leveraged by BCM, gave the resources and focus to develop a strategic program the Coalition has dreamed of for years. The first Community Spokes training was followed by multiple Mutual Aid Calls on topics such as “What does the MDOT do and how can it help you?” and a second training is planned for June 19.

Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s Community Spokes curriculum and Toolkit can be used by other Alliance members interested in facilitating advocacy campaign trainings in their communities.

Updated and improved, the second edition of “Explore Maine by Bike” was released this month by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the Maine Department of Transportation.

The full-color booklet details 33 bicycle routes across the state, from 10-mile jaunts to 100-mile adventures. Each route includes, not only a cue sheet and map, but also descriptions and photos of the scenery, notes on the terrain and insight into the road conditions.

The BCM was contracted by the Maine DOT to develop the substance of the book and the first edition debuted in 2003. While the Maine DOT designs, publishes and prints the resource, BCM distributes it free of charge.

And the second edition is even better than the first. According to Allison Vogt, executive director of the BCM, the cue sheets have been improved and more options have been added for cyclists seeking shorter routes. “We’ve also made huge strides in the multi-use path and trail infrastructure in the state, including the 85-mile Downeast Sunrise Trail that was opened last week,” Vogt says.

The roads are safer now, too. Since the initial publication of “Explore Maine by Bicycle,” the state passed a three-foot passing law and the BCM has engaged in a consistent media campaign to publicize the statute.

“Regardless of whether you prefer to ride 10 miles or 50, live in Maine or just visit, the Explore Maine by Bike book is an amazing resource,” Vogt says. “You can conveniently and easily access Maine’s roads and trails with the help of cue sheets and background information that helps you get the most our of your ride.”

Read more about the Bicycle Coalition of Maine here.

With $103,000 in direct funding, the Alliance for Biking & Walking is galvanizing state and local bicycle and pedestrian organizations with its latest award of Advocacy Advance Grants. After a highly competitive selection process, the Alliance has chosen four organizations that are strategically poised to increase biking and walking in their regions and advance innovative campaigns that can be replicated in communities across the country.

“This round of Advocacy Advance Grant recipients spans the spectrum,” Jeffrey Miller, Alliance President / CEO, says. “From rural to urban communities, from the coast to the Heartland, the organizations will leverage these dollars to propel dramatic progress in their communities. The insight these advocates gain will not only enhance their individual organizational capacity, but build a stronger, more effective national movement.”

In the Startup/Capacity category, a $30,000 matching grant will build and re-energize the California Bicycle Coalition, providing a vital push for biking and walking in a state that not only boasts the largest population but also acts as a bellwether for the rest of the country. The Missouri Foundation for Bicycling and Walking will also use a $30,000 Startup/Capacity matching grant to establish a new Kansas City-based advocacy organization that will, among other campaigns, work to link the nation’s longest rail-trail to Missouri’s largest urban center.

In the Innovation category, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine will receive an $18,000 grant for a rural outreach effort and the Livable Memphis initiative will utilize a $25,000 grant for a creative trail campaign that incorporates local art and connects underserved communities.

Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Foundation for Bicycling and Walking, said his organization is excited to utilize the Advocacy Advance Grant to organize and energize the Kansas City region. “It’s going to help us move Kansas City and Missouri light years forward in our bicycle and pedestrian advocacy,” Hugh says. “We’ll be able to create a new organization dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian advocacy in the Kansas City region and work on key projects like extending the Katy Trail to the heart of the metro area and helping area communities become Bicycle Friendly Communities.”

Since the program’s inception in 2009, the Alliance has infused state and local advocacy organizations with more than $500,000 in direct funding, scholarships and technical assistance. With the aid of the Advocacy Advance Grants, 24 local and state organizations have hired key staff, drastically grown their membership, and won critical campaigns that advance biking and walking in their communities.

The latest round of funding includes the following recipients and projects:

California Bicycle Coalition Education Fund

The California Bicycle Coalition Education Fund will receive a $30,000 matching Startup/Capacity Grant to reenergize CBCEF and aid in the hiring of a new Executive Director. The new Executive Director will work to create and lead a traffic justice campaign; advocate for a high-speed rail system with on-board bicycle accommodations and secure bike parking; and develop a statewide recreational bicycle route to promote bicycle tourism.

Missouri Foundation for Bicycling and Walking

The Missouri Foundation for Bicycling and Walking will receive a $30,000 matching Startup/Capacity Grant to create a Kansas City metro area bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization. The new subsidiary will work to extend the Katy Trail; secure the designation of five Bicycle Friendly Communities in the Kansas City metro region; and achieve a coordinated regional funding system for trails and bike routes.

Livable Memphis

The Community Development Council of Greater Memphis’ Livable Memphis Program will receive a $25,000 Innovation Grant to create a 1.7 mile bike-walk artway - a combination of on-road bicycle facilities and in-park greenway that completes the trail connection between two key areas of the City of Memphis. The project will increase advocacy for public investments in bicycle infrastructure, unite isolated, low-income neighborhoods with public amenities, and exemplify how street re-programming increases pedestrian traffic.

Bicycle Coalition of Maine

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine will receive an $18,000 Innovation Grant for its Community Spokes Program, which leverages the expertise of BCM staff, board members and local relationships of rural citizen advocates to generate improvements in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and policy statewide. This project will serve as a model for rural communities that face challenges with advocacy capacity, bicycle funding and infrastructure.

The Advocacy Advance program is made possible by leadership funding from SRAM and generous support from Bikes Belong and Planet Bike. Read more at http://www.AdvocacyAdvance.org

One ad educates motorists about the Maine law requiring them to give at least three feet of clearance when passing cyclists. The other ad stresses the importance of cyclists wearing bicycle helmets.

The PSAs will appear on WCSH6 throughout the month of May. In addition to the purchased airtime, the station donated airtime valued at $4,200 for additional spots on WCSH6 and WLBZ2 in Bangor later in the summer.

The ads also will be shown on public access stations in Maine. They are posted on the coalition’s Web site (http://www.BikeMaine.org) and social networking sites such as Youtube and Facebook.

“Part of making Maine a better place to bicycle is creating an environment where drivers know that bikes belong on our roads and that extra care should be used when driving around bicyclists,” said Allison Vogt, the coalition’s executive director. “We also want to ensure that cyclists follow basic safety rules such as wearing helmets to protect against head injuries.”

The coalition partnered with a service learning class at the University of Southern Maine to produce the PSA about Maine’s three-foot law. The ad opens with lyrical footage showing how many cue balls, dock planks and fishing bobbers equate to three feet.

The scene switches to bicyclists navigating in traffic, and the ad notes that “three feet could make the difference between life and death” for a cyclist. USM students Malcolm Tevanian and Israel Jasmin produced the ad using a script written by the coalition.

Oliver Chase, a Portland five-year-old, and his mother, Ellie Chase, appear in the bicycle helmet PSA. Callie Banks, a Portland fourth grader, narrates the ad. Shoshana Hoose, the coalition’s communications coordinator, wrote the script and edited it. The PSA notes that Maine law requires children under 16 to wear helmets, and that all cyclists should do so.

Both ads may be viewed at http://www.bikemaine.org/news-room/share-the-road-media-campaign.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been working since 1992 to make Maine a better place to bicycle. The coalition advocates for Maine cyclists at the Legislature and in Washington, D.C., teaches bicycle safety to thousands of Maine schoolchildren each year, partners with state agencies on a Share the Road media campaign and serves as a resource on local bicycling issues."

Augusta – Shoshana Hoose, communications coordinator for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, received a Golden Arrow award from the Maine Public Relations Council for publicity for the coalition’s 2009 Great Maine Bike Swap.  The award was presented at the council’s recent annual conference in South Portland.

The swap, held each spring in Portland and Orono, provides an opportunity for the public to buy and/or sell used bicycles in good, working condition. Hoose created public service announcements, a Youtube video and a variety of written and Web-based materials to publicize the swap. The Orono and Portland events both broke attendance records, with 55 percent more bikes sold than the previous year.

To find out more about the Great Maine Bike Swap and dates of the 2010 events, please visit http://www.BikeMaine.org.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been working since 1992 to make Maine a better place to bicycle.  The coalition advocates for Maine cyclists at the Legislature and in Washington, D.C., teaches bicycle safety to thousands of Maine schoolchildren each year, partners with state agencies on a Share the Road media campaign and serves as a resource on local bicycling issues.

According to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, students in at least 27 Maine schools, from Aroostook to York counties, will commute by foot or bicycle this week.  While most schools have activities planned for October 7 (International Walk & Bike to School Day), some have organized walking and/or bicycling events on other days.

Parents, teachers and volunteers at each school have organized the events, including “walking school buses” (children walking under adult supervision) and “bike trains” (groups bicycling under adult supervision). Maine’s Safe Routes to School program, managed by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine under contract to MaineDOT, provides support and encourages more schools to participate.

“The Safe Routes to School program seeks to change the habits of a generation,” said Allison Vogt, the coalition’s executive director. “The events taking place this week will help make that happen by showing students, parents and teachers the value of commuting by bicycle and by foot.”

Since the Maine Safe Routes to School program began in 2001, more than 150 schools have become involved.  The program has provided funding to more than 30 communities for infrastructure improvements to make walking and biking safer.

The program has two regional coordinators: Sarah Cushman (sarah@sarahcushman.com ) in southern Maine and Darcy Whittemore (saferoutes@BikeMaine.org ) in the central part of the state. For more information or details about the October 7 events, please e-mail them or call 207-623-4511.

According to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, “Allison Vogt, a former aide to Congressman Tom Allen who now directs an Alabama conservation agency organization in the Southeastern U.S., has been named as the new executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.  ‘An outstanding field of more than 30 candidates applied for the position, and we are thrilled that Allison has accepted,’ said John Balicki, president of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s board of directors.  ‘She brings management experience, fresh ideas and enthusiasm.’”

Read the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s Press Release…