Advocacy & Safety - City Planning/ Bicycle Advocacy

I'm interested in finding anyone that has experience with city planning in terms of Bicycle Advocacy. I'm looking for ways to get involved. I hear great stories about places like Portland and "the bay area," and wold like to know what can be done on a local level to increase awareness, work towards proper allocation of money, ect. Anyone that has suggestions on this topic, please chime in and share your experience. thanks

I'm interested in finding anyone that has experience with city planning in terms of Bicycle Advocacy. I'm looking for ways to get involved. I hear great stories about places like Portland and "the bay area," and wold like to know what can be done on a local level to increase awareness, work towards proper allocation of money, ect. Anyone that has suggestions on this topic, please chime in and share your experience. thanks

Check out http://www.bicyclinglife.com and follow the advocacy links there.

A member of our local bike advocacy group ran successfully for city council in her district this last go-round. She also serves, along with other alt-trans advocates, on the city's Bicycle, Pedestrian, Motor Vehicle Commission. If you want any first-hand knowledge about their experiences, visit the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin at http://www.bfw.org ; feel free to Email them asking for information about what they've accomplished and how.

Go to www.thunderheadalliance.org. They exist to support and nurture new and existing LOCAL advocacy organizations. Congrats on getting involved and what part of the country are you representing?

If you are looking for a good place to start you can attend MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) meetings. They discuss stuff like sidewalks, bike paths and roads. Also, attend city and county government meetings to observe how they function.

If you are looking for a good place to start you can attend MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) meetings. They discuss stuff like sidewalks, bike paths and roads. Also, attend city and county government meetings to observe how they function.

This is an excellent point. MPOs are the organizations that direct the Federal Transportation monies (such as TEA-21 and its new legislation). Each MPO typically can get some money from the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program). Naturally, the different entities represented by the MPO advocate for the TIP monies to go to their cause. Since most county and cities are broke, most of your bike projects are going to have to come from MPO money, so that's where you have to lobby (or have someone lobby for you). Here in Albany we're getting money through MPO to rehab our bikepath. What typically can happen is a biking group can become part of a bike task force subcommittee of the MPO. You're not going to normally find MPO in the phone book though; ours is called the Capital District Transportation Committee. If you can find a clearinghouse that lists the MPOs for each reason, I'd love to find that link.

Also, lean on your local reps. And I mean really local. Not state or congressman, but more like alderman, county legislator, councilperson, board member, etc. You are more likely to get progress that way, with them filtering it up to the higher levels of government.

I make it a point to get to know, in person or on the Internet, the relevant decision-makers in planning and engineering, at the state, county, and city levels. Whenever I see a temporary or permanent hazard or undue inconvenience for bicyclists, I report it and enlist the aid of my fellow members of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. If you are polite, sensible, and persistent, you can make activism work for you.

A member of our local bike advocacy group ran successfully for city council in her district this last go-round.

Go Robbie!

Check out the Oregon DOT's webpage for some good info. Also, i've attached the Bicycle Transportation Alliance webpage and the City of Portland's bicycle page. Finally, Portland's MPO, Metro, is the only regionally elected government in the US. One of Metro's councilors, Rex Burkholder, is the founder of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleID=189

http://www.odot.state.or.us/techserv/bikewalk/
http://www.bta4bikes.org
http://www.trans.ci.portland.or.us/bicycles/default.htm

Click this link, then click each item & read the information carefully and follow the instructions it gives. It basically tell you how to form & start a advocacy organization.

http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/basics.htm

just build a massive elevated bike route system.