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Entries tagged: Bike Texas

Whether it’s in our Mutual Aid Calls or at our Leadership Retreat, we talk a lot about building an inclusive bike-ped movement that engages and involves all members of our diverse communities.

Advocates in the Lone Star State are putting that goal into action.

At its 75th Annual State Convention, the Texas NAACP honored Bike Texas with a President Award — “For going above and beyond the call of duty to develop interest in biking and green benefits from biking in the African American Community.”

The recognition was well deserved. “BikeTexas has a history of nurturing diversity, and bringing leaders into the bike culture,” the advocates note on their blog. One way they’re connecting with the black community is through organized rides with the NAACP in cities like Kileen and Houston. So it was only fitting that the advocates got folks pedaling at the NAACP Convention, too.

“Leaders from several NAACP chapters participated, including an enthusiastic group of collegiate chapter leaders,” Bike Texas wrote on its blog. “NAACP President Gary Bledsoe and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price also participated in the ride. Brenda Chuleewah, Bike Texas’ Teacher Training and Program manager, was impressed with all of the women on the ride, saying the group was a broad mix of gender and age.”

According to Bike Texas: “This is the first time in the history of the NAACP that a bike advocacy group received an award for helping to create more diversity in the cycling culture. Bike Texas is honored to be a part of this historic moment.”

Keep track of Bike Texas’ efforts on its blog.

Photo: Robin Stallings, Executive Director of Bike Texas, receiving the award from NAACP president Gary Bledsoe.

The actions of the U.S. Congress can sometimes feel distant from your day-to-day advocacy. But the dollars your state receives from critical federal programs play an integral role in building the infrastructure that you and your members use every day. In coming weeks, we expect these critical programs to come under fire in Congress.

So, now more than ever, building and cultivating relationships with your Congressional delegates is critical to protecting and advancing bicycle and pedestrian issues. Are you gearing up for the National Bike Summit in March? Are you mobilizing members in your home community to defend key bike-ped programs, like Transportation Enhancements? Sign up for our “Working with your Congressional Delegates” Mutual Aid call tomorrow Wednesday, February 9, at 2 p.m. EST for insight into successfully engaging your members of Congress and making a difference in Washington, DC.

Our panelists will include:

• Tyler Frisbee, legislative assistant to Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), who has an insider’s perspective on how to engage and influence folks on Capitol Hill
• Lois Moss, executive director of Walk+Roll, who recently swayed a key conservative to become the first Republican cosponsor of the federal Complete Streets bill
• Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, who helped set the foundation for the federal Safe Routes to School program and knows how to talk bike-ped issues with red state politicians
  

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain knowledge about the inner workings of Capitol Hill, hear from successful advocates, ask questions and share your experiences. Register by 3 p.m. EST today to ensure you get the briefing memo and then join us tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST for this engaging, interactive discussion.

It took four attempts, but the advocates at Bicycle Indiana were determined to get their message on car bumpers and tap into a helpful pot of money. This month, they succeeded.

On June 1, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced that it had approved a new “I Share the Road” license plate that will be available in 2011.

“We are more than a little excited for this win and thankful that our supporters hung with us for the journey,” says Nancy Tibbet, executive director of Bicycle Indiana. “We received over 800 signatures and it was largely accomplished with the assistance of the numerous bicycle retailers and advocacy organizations throughout Indiana.”

With the sale of each license plate, a nice chunk of the $40 fee — $25 — will go directly to Bicycle Indiana. That money, Tibbet says, will be key in helping the organization meet the matching fund requirement for its existing Transportation Enhancement grant. But the prospective cash is making Bicycle Indiana think bigger: they’re hoping to use the funds to revitalize a statewide bikeways initiative, too.

It’s not unrealistic. Other Alliance organizations have made significant strides with license plate funds. BikeTexas lassos more than $300,000 per year with its state license plates, including the “Share the Road, Y’all!” That money, flowing in since 2003, is crucial in leveraging other funds.

Like Texas, Indiana is thinking big. “Our goal is 10,000 plates by the end of 2012,” Tibbet says.

Go Hoosiers!

For the first time, Bike Texas co-hosted the Texas Trail and Active Transportation Conference with the Texas Trails Network on February 3-6, 2010.

Attendees included renowned speakers, city and state bike/pedestrian and Safe Routes to School coordinators, trail builders and advocates, elected officials, engineers and planners, and bike shop owners from around the state.

Bike Texas made clear at the conference that many of the improvements they want to see for biking and walking will only come with policy changes, and the vision and leadership of elected officials.  The combined attendance of speakers and attendees made the Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference a great success and is sure to positively influence the state’s future in increasing walking and biking.

For more information visit BikeTexas.org

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!

For more information, click here…

From Bike Texas - “We’re here to pump up bike safety!” was the common refrain at each legislator’s office at the Texas State Capitol on Wednesday, March 4, 2009. BikeTexas volunteers and staff dropped off 181 Planet Bike Pumps (donated to BikeTexas) to “pump up” support for the 2009 Safe Passing Act effort (Senate Bill 488 and companion House Bill 827). Attached to each lightweight plastic pump was a flyer explaining the Safe Passing Bill, showing the bill language on back, listing the authors in both the Senate (Rodney Ellis and John Carona) and House (Linda Harper-Brown), and listing BikeTexas contact information for follow-up questions.

For more information and to see the bill language, click here…