Alliance > Media center > People Powered Blog

Entries tagged: Livablestreets

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)

To shine the spotlight on the progress and victories of the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy movement, the Alliance for Biking & Walking is pleased to announce its 2011 Advocacy Award winners. Since 2009, the Alliance has solicited public nominations and recognized the individuals, organizations and business leaders who are propelling our People Powered Movement. This year, we honor the following winners from across North America.

Advocacy Organization of the Year- Bike Pittsburgh

On its face, Pittsburgh is a tough place to ride a bicycle. The streets are steep and twisting, and the winters are long and brutal. But bicycle mode share is up and the Steel City is charged up with new enthusiasm for active transportation. Why? Bike Pittsburgh. The advocates at BikePGH have been working hand-in-hand with government officials to get new infrastructure on the ground, partnered with the local companies to get the business community on board and created innovative programs, like Car Free Fridays, that are getting more people on bicycles. But BikePGH excels at more than the nuts and bolts of basic organizing. The members of their small staff are the best kind of ambassadors for the movement: They’re friendly, energetic and welcoming. The work and attitude of BikePGH are making Pittsburgh a mighty appealing place to ride… despite the tough terrain.

Advocate of the Year: Jackie Douglas, LivableStreets (Boston)

This award goes to an individual who has shown tireless commitment to promoting bicycling and walking in his or her community and serves as a role model for other advocates across North America. In 2010, there was no advocate more tireless or worthy of modeling than Jackie Douglas from LivableStreets in Boston. Having risen from the ranks of intern, Douglas never rests as executive director, working to improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians; increase membership for the organization, bring in grant funding for its programming and act as the face of LivableStreets at near-daily public meetings, volunteer gatherings and public speaking events. For Douglas, working overtime is the norm and that tireless dedication shows in the sophistication and success of LivableStreets campaigns, including a Better Bridges initiative that’s tackling the tough task of getting better provisions for bicyclists and pedestrians on the region’s river crossings. Despite her busy schedule, Douglas is generous with her time, frequently sharing her experiences and insights with other advocacy leaders in Advocacy Advance reports and Alliance Mutual Aid Calls.

Business Advocate of the Year: New Belgium Brewing Company

In 2010 alone, New Belgium Brewing Company raised more than $330,000 for bicycle advocacy organizations with a nationwide event that blew the minds of more than 70,000 residents in 13 different cities. The Tour de Fat festival is an ingenious way to celebrate and elevate bicycle culture - and give back to the bike-ped movement. In each Tour city, New Belgium selected area nonprofits to receive the proceeds from the beer sales, funneling thousands of critical dollars into local advocacy efforts to improve biking and walking. In addition to the Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing promotes biking to the brewery for employees and visitors; provides a free bike to each employee upon their first anniversary; provides funding to many bicycling-related non-profits through its Community Grants program and sponsors dozens of bicycling events around the country.

Winning Campaign of the Year: Michigan Complete Streets

At the start of 2010, Michigan had just one local complete streets ordinance. By the end of the year, there were more than 20 communities with complete streets policies and the Governor had signed a new statewide complete streets law. That incredible and rapid transformation was sparked and spurred by advocates from the League of Michigan Bicyclists, who helped to create a powerful Michigan Complete Streets Coalition with more than 100 diverse member organizations. That powerful, unified voice led to the passage of a statewide complete streets bill, the adoption of policies in a number of communities and a new priority within the state Department of Transportation to plan streets that safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. Thanks in large part to this Winning Campaign, the state that spent the last century focused on all things automotive is now leading the way in the Great Lakes region.

Best Practices Award: Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

The Best Practices Award goes to an organization that serves as a model for other bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. In 2010, countless individuals and a number of advocacy organizations drew information and inspiration from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. The LACBC’s City of Lights initiative elevated the conversation about “invisible cyclists” - men and women who ride bicycles but whose voices aren’t heard and needs aren’t acknowledged because of language or economic barriers. Through thoughtful outreach and, more importantly, true collaboration, the LACBC is changing the dialogue among city officials about urban planning, bringing new cyclists into the movement and, expanding the scope of the bike-ped movement to address critical issues of social and economic justice.

Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award: Stephanie Routh, Willamette Pedestrian Coalition

The Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award commemorates Alliance co-founder, Susie Stephens, commemorating her passion for biking and walking as fun and economical means of transportation and her commitment to creating a safe environment for all street users. This year we honor Stephanie Routh, executive director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. In just two years, Routh has transformed the group from struggling-to-be-noticed to well-networked, in the news, and in demand for participation in regional active transportation forums. Stephanie has embraced this role with great enthusiasm, increasing the membership and volunteer base, building bridges to diverse communities and partnering with other active transportation organizations.

Innovation Award: Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling

The Innovation Award goes to an organization that’s pioneering or inventing new ways to promote biking and walking. In 2010, the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling released a groundbreaking new resource: Guide to Reviewing Public Road Design and Bicycling Accommodations for Virginia Bicycling Advocates. The 28-page booklet simplifies and streamlines the confusing road design process with easy-to-follow flow charts, handy check lists and explanations that make sense to folks who don’t have a masters degree in urban planning. Almost immediately, FABB’s innovative guide was in high demand. Over the past six months, it has been widely distributed, well received by both advocates and transportation officials, and now FABB advocates are working on a template that other organizations can use to tailor the guide for their specific states and transportation jurisdictions.

In my post last week about the new bike-friendly developments with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, I failed to give the Boston Cyclists Union their due. The BCU played a key role in discussions with the MTBA and their work should have been highlighted in the headline. Thanks to BCU founder and director, Pete Stidman, for bringing the omission to my attention!

Speaking of progress in Boston, several other Alliance member organizations — MassBike, LivableStreets, and the Boston Cyclists Union — have been building on their relationships with the local transit agency to enhance bicyclists’ access to stations and safety on the streets.

Back in April, advocates from MassBike and the Boston Cyclists Union met with officials at the MBTA to discuss how they could work together to better align cyclists and buses as allies, instead of enemies, on city streets. The result: An improved bicyclist safety training for bus drivers that draws on best practices from other areas, like Chicago.

Last month, David Watson, executive director for MassBike attended one of the trainings. “We are happy to report that the new training is a vast improvement over past policies and should go a long way to making bicyclists safer on the roads,” MassBike reported in its newsletter. “During the training, a bus driver will review past incidents, participate in a classroom session with a bicycling advocate present to answer questions, go through a number of bicyclist-driver simulations, and finally be tested through road evaluations. The end result should be a bus driver who is knowledgeable and well-prepared for operating a bus safely around bicyclists.”

The MBTA is also making it easier, and safer, for cyclists to take advantage of public transit themselves. Again, with some urging from Boston advocates, the agency is upping its parking options for folks on two wheels.

“From now through next spring, the MBTA will be installing 50 BikePorts around their stations,” MassBike says. “The BikePorts are canopied bike racks, so you’ll be able to lock up with some protection from the elements… During 2011, the T will also complete six more Pedal & Parks — the T’s secure bike-parking facilities. So far, the three operational Pedal & Parks have been a huge success, and are constantly filled with bicycles. The new facilities… will be able to hold 100-150 bicycles… Lastly, over the next 18 months, 100 percent of the MBTA’s bus fleet will be equipped with bike racks, so you’ll finally be able to rely on the next bus having a rack (and let your bike do some of the riding for a change).”

Learn more and follow Boston’s progress via MassBike’s blog and the Boston Cyclists Union.

In August 2008, the state of Massachusetts embarked on a massive $3 billion effort to shore up more than 100 dilapidated bridges. Advocates at LivableStreets in Boston seized the opportunity to bring the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians to the surface.

It just so happened that the most visible and badly deteriorated bridge was right in their backyard. The Longfellow Bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge was the centerpiece of MassDOT’s Accelerated Bridge Program. But, according to the Boston Globe, transportation planners didn’t have any intention of addressing the on-street design elements. Until they started getting an earful from advocates at Alliance organizations, like LivableStreets.

“Officials had been proceeding with plans to rebuild the Longfellow largely as is, but they put those plans on hold in May, acknowledging a growing chorus calling for something bolder — to make the Longfellow more of a bike-and-pedestrian-friendly extension of the Esplanade,” the newspaper reported last month.

LivableStreets was a key player in growing that chorus for a better, more bike-ped-friendly bridge. Since the start of the Accelerate Bridge Program, they organized supporters to write letters, attend public meetings and add their input. Because of that visible interest, the DOT established a task force to study the issues and make recommendations. Steven Miller, a board member for LivableStreets, was among those invited to the table.

It turned out, the task force wasn’t just for public show. In that same November article, Miller told the Globe that “the Department of Transportation deserves real credit for being open and listening and ending up much more flexible than anyone had anticipated in the beginning.’’ Last month, the task force released a raft of recommendations, many of which recognize the needs of non-motorized users.

Luisa Paiewonsky, the Department of Transportation’s highway administrator, told the Globe that the task force had prodded the DOT to take a more “modern outlook” on the bridge work and “substantially improve” conditions for folks commuting on two wheels and two feet. “There was strong consensus on the task force that the bridge needed to be able to better serve all of the groups and get them across the bridge safely,’’ Paiewonsky told the newspaper.

That’s the kind of language LivableStreets likes to hear. But their campaign is far from over. More details outlining how they’ve come this far and how they plan to move forward are included in the latest Advocacy Advance Report — Bridging the Gaps in Bicycling Networks: An Advocate’s Guide to Getting Bikes on Bridges.

Not to sound like a broken record, but the report is a must-read. And once you’ve put it down, we’re thinking you might want to chat with the report authors and inspiring advocates. So join us tomorrow for the “Learn from the Bridge Access Report” Mutual Aid Call at 3 p.m. EST. Jackie Douglas (pictured), the director of LivableStreets, will join us as a panelist, along with Eric Rogers of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation and Don Sparks from Charleston Moves.

Add your ideas and experiences to the discussion on this critical topic. Click here to register.

Livable Streets, MassBike, and other bicycling and walking advocates claimed a victory when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) agreed to modify its plans to remove a portion of the bike lane on the Longfellow Bridge last week. Removal of the bike lane would have allowed for the installation of sidewalks where none currently exist. After much persistence from advocacy groups MassDOT chose to both build the sidewalks and keep the bike lane by implementing an alternative proposal submitted by MassBike, LivableStreets, WalkBoston, and the Institute for Human Centered Design.

According to MassBike, “MassDOT also agreed to perform further analysis of the traffic patterns on the bridge in order to determine whether the lane configuration currently planned for the long-term reconstruction of the bridge is necessary, or if alternative proposals to provide even more space for bicycles and pedestrians are feasible. Finally, MassDOT agreed to continue the discussion with the advocates about the future configuration of the Longfellow Bridge. “

Livable Streets, MassBike, and their partners will remain active throughout the process continuing to promote biking and walking throughout the state.  For more information and to view the rehabilitation proposal visit www.massbike.org or www.livablestreets.info