Presented today at the Heartland Active Transportation Summit by Congressman Jim Oberstar.
Showing posts with label National Bike Summit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Bike Summit. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Omaha Bikes to Bronze
Presented today at the Heartland Active Transportation Summit by Congressman Jim Oberstar.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Making changes from the top
Just about any advocate can tell you, that one of the most difficult things about trying to change a system, is that the people that can make that change are often not listening to you. That doesn't mean they wont listen, but until the "squeaky wheel" get's loud enough to become annoying, it can be hard to get their attention.
Last week was the National Bike Summit. You can see that Omaha Bikes was pretty busy posting last week as a result. The general feeling I get from the coverage of the summit, is that the "squeaky wheel" is starting to get some attention. In fact, even the people at the top are starting to take notice and listen to the army of advocates in the US that have been pushing for a more balanced transportation system for so many years.
Looks like somebody is listening and there may an “end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized” in sight. Now it's your turn to make some noise.
Last week was the National Bike Summit. You can see that Omaha Bikes was pretty busy posting last week as a result. The general feeling I get from the coverage of the summit, is that the "squeaky wheel" is starting to get some attention. In fact, even the people at the top are starting to take notice and listen to the army of advocates in the US that have been pushing for a more balanced transportation system for so many years.
Looks like somebody is listening and there may an “end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized” in sight. Now it's your turn to make some noise.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bike Summit - Thursday
Greetings all. What's this we are hearing about more SNOW back home?? Can you make sure it is gone before tomorrow night? (Speaking of snow, we have found it very interesting that Washington got hit by "Snowmaggedon" a little while back, completely crippling the city, and there is literally no sign that this ever happened as you look around. Weird.)
At any rate, we had our meetings up on the Hill this morning. Just like last year, we ended up speaking to staffers rather than our actual elected officials. The staffers we spoke to were those who work on transportation issues, so it was still a worthwhile exercise.
I think it is fair to say that we had good meetings with our senator's staffs, but we may have more work to do with Lee Terry's folks. I was very encouraged that both Johanns and Nelson's guys were familiar with the Safe Routes to School program, and recognized the value of that funding and those effort.
We spent a fair amount of time talking about the importance of the Complete Streets bill, and how transportation issues have a direct link to health, healthcare, safety and the environment.
Addtionally, we pointed out that these issues are not just about people who want to buy expensive bikes and ride for fun ... there are many Nebraskans (including school kids) that have no choice but to walk or bike for their transportation, and complete streets is also an access and equity issue.
The biggest positive from today's meetings came from Senator Nelson's staffer, who told us that they are very aware of the issues causing the huge delays in the projects that have been previousy funded (i.e.: the trail connector between the Keystone and Field Club trails, several Safe Routes to School projects, etc.) and they are working with the Nebraska Department of Roads and the Federal Highway Administration to get them resolved. There will be a hearing on March 30 in Lincoln with key officials of all of these agencies attending, in hopes of finding some resolution. This hearing will be open to the public, and we want to encourage people to attend with us.
Our meetings may be done in Washington, but our work is only beginning. These folks need to hear from us more than once a year at the Bike Summit, and they need to hear from and see faces other than ours. We're going to be formulating a follow up plan for when we get home, and it will include assignments for everyone who cares about these issues.
One more thought before I sign off for now: Matt Martin has been an unbelievably valuable member of our delegation. Matt is a veteran of the D.C. political scene (former Bob Kerry staffer, among other various jobs), and his insight and guidance have been very helpful. We will continue to lean on him for advice as we move forward. Thanks, Matt!!
At any rate, we had our meetings up on the Hill this morning. Just like last year, we ended up speaking to staffers rather than our actual elected officials. The staffers we spoke to were those who work on transportation issues, so it was still a worthwhile exercise.
I think it is fair to say that we had good meetings with our senator's staffs, but we may have more work to do with Lee Terry's folks. I was very encouraged that both Johanns and Nelson's guys were familiar with the Safe Routes to School program, and recognized the value of that funding and those effort.
We spent a fair amount of time talking about the importance of the Complete Streets bill, and how transportation issues have a direct link to health, healthcare, safety and the environment.
Addtionally, we pointed out that these issues are not just about people who want to buy expensive bikes and ride for fun ... there are many Nebraskans (including school kids) that have no choice but to walk or bike for their transportation, and complete streets is also an access and equity issue.
The biggest positive from today's meetings came from Senator Nelson's staffer, who told us that they are very aware of the issues causing the huge delays in the projects that have been previousy funded (i.e.: the trail connector between the Keystone and Field Club trails, several Safe Routes to School projects, etc.) and they are working with the Nebraska Department of Roads and the Federal Highway Administration to get them resolved. There will be a hearing on March 30 in Lincoln with key officials of all of these agencies attending, in hopes of finding some resolution. This hearing will be open to the public, and we want to encourage people to attend with us.
Our meetings may be done in Washington, but our work is only beginning. These folks need to hear from us more than once a year at the Bike Summit, and they need to hear from and see faces other than ours. We're going to be formulating a follow up plan for when we get home, and it will include assignments for everyone who cares about these issues.
One more thought before I sign off for now: Matt Martin has been an unbelievably valuable member of our delegation. Matt is a veteran of the D.C. political scene (former Bob Kerry staffer, among other various jobs), and his insight and guidance have been very helpful. We will continue to lean on him for advice as we move forward. Thanks, Matt!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
National Bike Summit - Julie's Update
Hi all -just a few minutes here to post before we head off for dinner. It has been a very long, but very energizing day in your nation's capital.
I tried to Twitter as much as possible today as I heard various interesting things during sessions. You can see those random thoughts by following @omahabikes on Twitter.
The day started out great with remarks from Earl Blumenauer. As somebody mentioned, "I might not be from Oregon, but as a cyclist, Blumenauer is my Congressman." He gets it, and he is one the key people leading the charge for many things near and dear to cyclists' hearts: complete streets, transportation, safe routes to school. The governor of Delaware spoke of campaigning on his bike and joining in Bike to Work day. It was also good to hear about the work being done by the Federal Transit Administration to make improvements that will help create a more multi-modal transportation system.
Google also made a big announcement today about their new bike mapping system: www.maps.google.com/biking. I've seen this blogged, tweeted, retweeted and emailed all over the place today, and I hope that means that many of you have already checked it out!
There were two reoccurring themes today: Livability and Sustainability. The Obama administration using these two themes as the lens through which they view policy, and they both fit perfectly with cycling.
The luncheon was a proud moment for the Nebraska Delegation. Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, announced the Bike Friendly Business awards. He said he wasn't going to take the time to mention every business by name, but he did want to recognize 3 distinct "clusters" of designees ... Omaha being one of those. He was very kind in his comments about Omaha and the work we are all doing, and I believe we were the city with the most awards given. When we had our photo taken with Andy, we told him to expect many more to come, at which point, we were challenged to beat out Milwaukee as the city with the most awards. It's ON.
It was great to connect with my Safe Routes to School colleagues today, and there are a couple of bills regarding this great program that we will be highlighting on our trip to the Hill tomorrow. The SRTS panel also included two 11 year old brothers who discussed their experience with biking to school. Advocates in action!
The day wrapped up with a strategy session of the Nebraska Delegation. We are ready to hit the offices of Lee Terry, Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson tomorrow. We are disappointed that we do not yet see any of their names as sponsors of any of the bills that we will be discussing with them tomorrow; hopefully we can convey the message that multi-modal transportation is good for health, economic development, safety and the environment.
So, off to dinner now. Let me close with a little name dropping. :) We've met and/or rubbed elbows with some really cool people, including John Burke (CEO of Trek Bicycles), and Gary Fisher (yes, THAT Gary Fisher - the one with his name on the mtb in your garage). We've also had a chance to reconnect with old friends from Bikes Belong, Trek, Safe Routes to School, and many others. Oh, and obviously Jonathan Maus, the "voice" behind the Bike Portland blog and twitter that we follow closely...as evidenced by our photo showing up in his blog coverage!
I'm sure Matt will also have a full report (and may have already beat me to it).
Pictures to upload soon and more updates and tweets tomorrow as we make our way around Capitol Hill!
I tried to Twitter as much as possible today as I heard various interesting things during sessions. You can see those random thoughts by following @omahabikes on Twitter.
The day started out great with remarks from Earl Blumenauer. As somebody mentioned, "I might not be from Oregon, but as a cyclist, Blumenauer is my Congressman." He gets it, and he is one the key people leading the charge for many things near and dear to cyclists' hearts: complete streets, transportation, safe routes to school. The governor of Delaware spoke of campaigning on his bike and joining in Bike to Work day. It was also good to hear about the work being done by the Federal Transit Administration to make improvements that will help create a more multi-modal transportation system.
Google also made a big announcement today about their new bike mapping system: www.maps.google.com/biking. I've seen this blogged, tweeted, retweeted and emailed all over the place today, and I hope that means that many of you have already checked it out!
There were two reoccurring themes today: Livability and Sustainability. The Obama administration using these two themes as the lens through which they view policy, and they both fit perfectly with cycling.
The luncheon was a proud moment for the Nebraska Delegation. Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, announced the Bike Friendly Business awards. He said he wasn't going to take the time to mention every business by name, but he did want to recognize 3 distinct "clusters" of designees ... Omaha being one of those. He was very kind in his comments about Omaha and the work we are all doing, and I believe we were the city with the most awards given. When we had our photo taken with Andy, we told him to expect many more to come, at which point, we were challenged to beat out Milwaukee as the city with the most awards. It's ON.
It was great to connect with my Safe Routes to School colleagues today, and there are a couple of bills regarding this great program that we will be highlighting on our trip to the Hill tomorrow. The SRTS panel also included two 11 year old brothers who discussed their experience with biking to school. Advocates in action!
The day wrapped up with a strategy session of the Nebraska Delegation. We are ready to hit the offices of Lee Terry, Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson tomorrow. We are disappointed that we do not yet see any of their names as sponsors of any of the bills that we will be discussing with them tomorrow; hopefully we can convey the message that multi-modal transportation is good for health, economic development, safety and the environment.
So, off to dinner now. Let me close with a little name dropping. :) We've met and/or rubbed elbows with some really cool people, including John Burke (CEO of Trek Bicycles), and Gary Fisher (yes, THAT Gary Fisher - the one with his name on the mtb in your garage). We've also had a chance to reconnect with old friends from Bikes Belong, Trek, Safe Routes to School, and many others. Oh, and obviously Jonathan Maus, the "voice" behind the Bike Portland blog and twitter that we follow closely...as evidenced by our photo showing up in his blog coverage!
I'm sure Matt will also have a full report (and may have already beat me to it).
Pictures to upload soon and more updates and tweets tomorrow as we make our way around Capitol Hill!
Omaha crew spotted at National Bike Summit
BikePortland had a link up to the flicker photo stream for the National Bike Summit. Guess who I spotted enjoying a beverage?
Hope you ladies are having a great time. We can't wait to hear all about what is happening at the summit.
Hope you ladies are having a great time. We can't wait to hear all about what is happening at the summit.
Google Maps BIKE THERE
If your ride a bike and you are familiar with Google Maps, you have probably wished, at one point or another, that Google offered a "Bike There" feature. Well, the wait is over. Google now supports "Bicycling" directions. It may not be perfect, but it's a start. "Give it a try" and tell us what you think.
While your playing with Google Maps, take a minute to swing by PeopleForBikes.org and sign the petition.
While your playing with Google Maps, take a minute to swing by PeopleForBikes.org and sign the petition.
Peopleforbikes.org is dedicated to bringing together people who are passionate about bikes. Our goal is to gather a million names of support, and to speak with one, powerful voice—to make bicycling safer, more convenient, and more appealing to everyone.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Bike Friendly Business Awards
WOW! The press release from the League of American Bicyclists has just been released, and we are thrilled with the number of Omaha-area businesses that have been awarded a Bike Friendly Business designation!
Omaha businesses joining previously awarded RDG Planning and Design (silver) as Bike Friendly:
Activate Omaha (silver)
Alley Poyner Macchieto Architecture (bronze)
Bike Masters (bronze)
Bike Rack (bronze)
Carlson Hospitality Worldwide (bronze)
PayPal (bronze...also mentioned specifically in the press release!!)
Union Pacific (Honorable Mention ... For the record, we know that UP is quite bike friendly, and we are baffled as to why the HM rather than bronze!)
Congrats to all!! We will proudly represent all of you at the National Bike Summit luncheon on Wednesday when the awards are handed out!
We know that there are MANY more businesses and organizations in Omaha that would be worthy of this recognition. OmahaBikes will be sponsoring a seminar during Bike Month (May)on how to apply for BFB designation. Let's get more names on that list next fall!!
Greetings from the National Bike Summit!
I arrived in sunny, warm Washington, DC this afternoon for the National Bike Summit! I’ll be blogging over the next few days, trying to give you a flavor of the goings-on here and some up-to-date info on what the national efforts to improve bicycling policies look like and how we can apply what’s going on here back in Omaha. There’s a lot scheduled over the next few days and it looks like the organizers have put together a great program. You can check out all the details here: National Bike Summit.
Tonight is the opening reception, tomorrow is a strategy day with some great keynote speakers and breakout session, Thursday is our day on Capitol Hill, where we’ll visit all our local Congressional representatives: Congressman Lee Terry, Senator Ben Nelson, and Senator Mike Johanns, and Friday is the Congressional Bike Ride.
If you have any questions or want me to check out anything in particular, email me and I’ll do the best I can. In the meantime, here are some pictures of DC and my swanky conference swag!
Matt
Tonight is the opening reception, tomorrow is a strategy day with some great keynote speakers and breakout session, Thursday is our day on Capitol Hill, where we’ll visit all our local Congressional representatives: Congressman Lee Terry, Senator Ben Nelson, and Senator Mike Johanns, and Friday is the Congressional Bike Ride.
If you have any questions or want me to check out anything in particular, email me and I’ll do the best I can. In the meantime, here are some pictures of DC and my swanky conference swag!
Matt
Monday, March 8, 2010
National Bike Summit Week!!
Prepare yourselves for a social media blitz - the Nebraska Delegation is heading off to Washington DC today to attend the National Bike Summit this week! The summit is sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, and will have over 700 cycling advocates in attendance.
On the agenda: networking, educational seminars, and a day of meetings on Capitol Hill with our congressional representatives. We have meetings confirmed with Lee Terry, Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns.
Attending on your cycling behalf:
Julie Harris, Activate Omaha/Safe Routes to School, OmahaBikes
Tammie Dodge, Activate Omaha, OmahaBikes
Julie Harris, Activate Omaha/Safe Routes to School, OmahaBikes
Tammie Dodge, Activate Omaha, OmahaBikes
Matt Martin, OmahaBikes
Kerri Peterson, Live Well Omaha
Kent McNeil, Trek Bicycle Stores
Jay Thomas, Trek Bicycle Stores
Matt and I will be blogging and twittering our little fingers off while we are there, so make sure you are following us on Twitter (@omahabikes) and here on the blog. Heck, check the OmahaBikes facebook page, too, while you're at it. Feel free to send questions, thoughts to us as well!
We are especially looking forward to the luncheon on Wednesday when we will be picking up our Bike Friendly Business award, and those of the other Omaha recipients!
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