Blog
This year at the National Forum on Women & Bicycling we’re digging deeper into a critical topic — leadership development. And we’re honored to announce a closing keynote speaker who has been a true trailblazer and thought leader: Rue Mapp, CEO and Founder of Outdoor Afro.
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Fionnuala Quinn has been to plenty of public meetings. Really, she spoke up at one just last night. The northern Virginia-based civil engineer and bike advocate has seen enough to know there is a lot of room for improvement. She’s bringing her experience and expertise to the 2015 National Bike Summit, where she’ll talk about how the public participation process is “both vital and problematic for bicycling” — and how it can be improved. We caught up with Quinn this week to talk more about her Big Idea.
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Things didn’t go exactly as planned in BikeWalkKC’s campaign to include complete streets treatments in plans for a new streetcar expansion. But no one can say it wasn’t a terrific success. Knowing that a proposed streetcar expansion wouldn’t be of much use if people couldn’t walk or bike safely to it, BikeWalkKC mobilized neighborhood advocates to lobby the city to include complete streets in the final streetcar expansion plan. They hoped to eventually secure up to $2 million for biking/walking infrastructure improvements along the streetcar route. They envisioned fully protected bike lanes connecting to the rest of the city’s bike network, racks, and bike-share stations. They wanted curb extensions, automatic pedestrian signals, and traffic calming.
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In our Winter 2015 American Bicyclist magazine, we spoke with Harriet Tregoning, the Director of the Office of Economic Resilience at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a daily bike commuter, about the intersection of active transportation and affordable housing. This is our full interview, which was condensed for length in the magazine. It’s Harriet Tregoning’s job to create opportunity. A bike commuter, Tregoning is the new Director of the Office of Economic Resilience at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She comes to HUD after most recently serving as the director of the District of Columbia’s Office of Planning, spearheading several projects, including the implementation of the city’s bikeshare system. In her new role, Tregoning said her boss, HUD Secretary Julian Castro, likes to say HUD is the “department of opportunity.”
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Across the country, a growing number of established and start-up companies — run by women — are gearing up creative products, services and solutions for bicyclists. Back for it’s third year, the Women Bike Pop-up Shop will help showcase those efforts and ingenuity, and connect business leaders and bike advocates at the 2015 National Forum on Women & Bicycling. We’re excited to showcase these innovative brands! Stay tuned as we confirm additional vendors.
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Riding and reading already have a lot in common. Laura Silver, a media project associate from Transportation Alternatives in New York City, puts it perfectly: “Bikes and books both offer adventure, self-sufficiency and a chance to explore new horizons.” So what happens when you combine the two activities? Big ideas emerge.
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Calling all advocates! It’s legislative season. If your organization is working under a tight timeframe to unlock public dollars to plan, build, maintain, or promote safe walking and biking facilities, we can help. We’re delighted to announced that REI just contributed another $20,000 for Advocacy Advance Rapid Response grants, and that money is available as fast as you need it.
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Last fall we asked League members and others on social media for their thoughts about electric bicycles. We received over 700 responses and learned a lot in the process. In our new report, “Electric Bicycles: Public Perceptions & Policy,” we examine your responses and what they might mean for the League’s position on electric bicycles and the ways in which electric bicycles might impact our mission to create a bicycle friendly America for everyone. Electric bicycles offer an option that allows more people to use bicycles in more situations. Previous research from Portland State University found that 60% of electric bicycle riders surveyed bought an electric bicycle to enable trips in hilly areas and 73% rode to different destinations than with a standard bicycle. 65% of respondents in that survey said replacing car trips was a main reason to get an electric bicycle.
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Did you hear the one about the squirrels that brought every transit system in America to a grinding halt? Or the Tennessee squirrel sanctuary that stopped every sidewalk, crosswalk and bike lane from being built, anywhere in the country? That’s right, my fellow cyclists — we are now on the same level as squirrels in the eyes of 50 influential “think tanks” and lobbying organizations here in Washington DC.
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Kicking bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users out of federal transportation programs is the solution to an insolvent Highway Trust Fund — according to a coalition of 50 traditionally conservative think-tanks and policy groups. In a sign-on letter issued yesterday, this influential and well-connected group proposed eliminating funding for all non-motorized and transit projects and programs rather than raising the gas tax to bail out the chronically insolvent Highway Trust Fund.
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