MassBike Update (14 February 2003)

MassBike Update (14 February 2003)

Greetings MassBikers, 2003 has already been a most interesting year for Massachusetts bicycle advocacy. Here are some late breaking items. And if you're not a member, please consider joining us (at www.massbike.org). 2003 can be an incredible year for bicycling, with your help. Ride on! - Tim Baldwin Executive Director In this update: MassBike's plan for 2003 New MassBike officers elected Earn-A-Bike Director Hired Romney's call for Context Sensitive Design MassBike recommendations to the new administration Massachusetts bicycle legislation National Bicycle Summit is March 5-7 Bike Lights are available for organizations Join us for a fun filled night of bowling in Jamaica Plain MassBike Plan for 2003 At our first Board meeting in early February, the pace was fast and furious. We finalized our committee structure, and set priorities for 2003. These priorities are in addition to our ongoing activities, such as police officer education. Our specifics goals for 2003 are: Advocacy Goals (to get involved, contact Paul Schimek - Chair of the Advocacy Committee - schimek@alum.mit.edu) a. Education - Organize Bicycle Driver Training for Instructors, the general public, and kids - MassBike kids club, creating more opportunities for kids to ride - Commuter education programs, making it easier to bike to the workplace and other destinations b. Legislation (to get involved in legislative issues, contact Ted Hamann - thamann@attbi.com) - Organize a legislative subcommittee, and Pass the Bicyclists Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, Safe Routes to School, and State Touring Routes Bill. - Revise the messenger regulations. - Organize a lobby day at the State House c. Roadway issues. Advocate for revised road design, sharing the road policies, and statewide touring routes d. Trail Development. Support trails and good design at the statewide level, and offer better resources for local advocates. e. MBTA Bicycle Access. Press for money for capital improvements Membership Goals (to get involved, contact John Tener, Chair of the Membership Committee - jtener@bost.rc.com) a. Increase membership by at least 450 households. b. Conduct outreach to the bicycle industry Events/Outreach/Communications Goals (to get involved, contact Robin Schulman, committee co-chair - rschu92@yahoo.com) a. Hold one major event for cyclists b. Provide resources and tools for local bicycle advocates and committees c. Create an events kit, print jerseys, and revise MassBike logo d. Update MassBike's website New MassBike Officers Elected The MassBike Board elected its new officers for 2003. They are: John Tener, President Robin Schulman, Vice President Rich Olken, Treasurer Kevin Porter, Secretary We also welcome Lucas Brunelle, Chris Constantino, John Fabel, David Loutzenheiser, Karin Turer, and Frank Tripoli to our Board. Additionally, a Big thanks goes to Carol Blair for her leadership as President in 2002. MassBike Hires Director for Worcester Earn-a-Bike MassBike is pleased to welcome Michael Herrmann to the staff, as the Director of the Earn A Bike program in Worcester. Michael will take over many of the responsibilities that Greg Root has amazingly performed as a volunteer for many moons. Michael will allow us to offer more services and programs for children to learn about bicycling in Worcester. Michael can be contacted at michael@massbike.org Romney's Call for Context Sensitive Design Governor Romney and the new administration have been shaking things up at the State House. One of the positive developments is the Governor's new Statewide Road and Bridge Policy. The policy calls for more flexible road design, and includes the following pro-bicycling language: "All actions taken pursuant to this policy shall fully honor the letter and spirit of provisions in the Massachusetts General Laws requiring the accommodation of bicycle and pedestrian traffic, including chapter 90E, section 2A." We're pretty psyched that this provision made it in there - especially since we sent a letter before the policy was announced asking the Governor to remember the importance of bicycle transportation in any new context sensitive design proposal. Grazie mille to Governor Romney and Chief of Commonwealth Development Doug Foy. Bicycle Requests to the New Administration One of the more remarkable aspects of the new administration is its willingness to listen. MassBike submitted a briefing to Governor Romney (which you can see at http://www.massbike.org/info/brief2003.htm) and got back a nice letter from Secretary of Transportation Dan Grabauskas saying that he will be meeting with bicyclists and community leaders in the coming months to discuss revisions in bicycle policy. MassBike will be all over this one, and we'll also keep you informed once we hear the specifics. Additionally, we made the following specific requests for the Executive Office of Transportation's fiscal year 2004 budget: $500,000 for the Mass. Central Rail-Trail feasibility study. The Massachusetts Central Rail-Trail right-of-way runs 104 miles continuously from Boston to Northampton. We also requested that the state allocate money for purchasing rights-of-way that may be severed by private interests. $5 million for "Safe Routes to School", a program that encourages children to walk and bicycle to school. $100,000 for statewide "Bicycle Touring Routes", which will create signed bicycle touring routes throughout Massachusetts. $300,000 for a statewide Share the Road campaign. Required under Action Item 13 as part of the 1998 Statewide Bicycle Transportation Plan, the Share the Road campaign was never implemented. $60,000 for a Bicycle Program Coordinator to staff the Bicycle Program Office. The 1998 Statewide Bicycle Transportation Plan also requires a Bicycle Program Manager reporting directly to the Secretary, but this position was never filled. $100,000 to update the 1998 Statewide Bicycle Transportation Plan. The Plan is now five years old, and should be revamped to reflect current conditions. Massachusetts Bicycle Legislation The bills submitted by Rep. Anne Paulsen to further bicycling now have numbers and have been referred to committees. The Bicyclists Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (H. Bill 1553) - referred to the Joint Committee on Public Safety - http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h01553.htm Safe Routes to School legislation (H. Bill 1610) - referred to the Joint Committee on Transportation http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h01610.htm State-wide Bicycle Touring Routes Legislation (H. Bill 1611) - referred to the Joint Committee on Transportation http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h01611.htm You can see the text of all three bills at www.massbike.org/bikelaw/leg2003/. MassBike is in the preliminary stages of developing plans for passing these bills. If you're interested in helping out, contact Ted Hamann, Legislative subcommittee chair - thamann@attbi.com In the meantime, if you happen to be a constituent of either of the co-chairs of the Transportation Committee Rep. Wagner or Sen. Baddour, please contact them and tell them to support H. 1610 and H. 1611. If you're a constituent of Public Safety Co-chairs Rep. Tim Toomey or Sen. Jarrett Barrios, please contact them and tell them to support H. 1553. National Bike Summit, March 5-7, Washington, D.C. It's crunch time on the national bicycle scene, with TEA-21 (The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century) up for re-authorization in the fall of 2003. TEA-21 governs most of the federal policies and programs that affect bicycling. MassBike is the lead agency organizing visits to our Representatives and Senators this year. MassBike plans on advocating for things like routine accommodations for bicyclists, safe routes to school, and adequate funding for bicycle programs. If you have some ideas on what you'd like us to say, please email them to bikeinfo@massbike.org. Join us in D.C. if you can! Go to www.bikeleague.org to register. Our current delegation includes Rich Olken (Executive Director of Bikes Belong and MassBike Board Member), Phil Keyes (Executive Director of the New England Mountain Biking Association), Steve Winslow (former MassBike Board Member and Bike to the Sea advocate), Jack Johnson (former MassBike Board Member, newsletter editor, and marketing manager for Landry's), Scott Mullen from the Ride Magazine, and Mike Zane, formerly of Kryptonite. Bike Lights Are Available Just in time for bike week, MassBike is ordering wholesale bulk quantities of bike lights. If your organization is interested in purchasing a number of these lights at a discount to distribute, please contact turil@massbike.org. Join Us for Bowling in Jamaica Plain All work and no play ain't fun everyday - so we're planning a MassBike candlepin fiesta at the Milky Way Galaxy/Lounge in Jamaica Plain (see directions and other info for the Milky Way at www.milkywayjp.com). It's meant as a thank you for all the advocates who work to improve bicycling.

It's scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26th, from 6:30 to 8:30. We have three bowling lanes reserved, and there will also be pizza. Bowling shirts, while not required, are highly encouraged! Bowling names (I go by Scooter Magruder) are also a plus.