The Bicycle Alliance of Washington - Advocates for bicyclists and a bike-friendly Washington
The Bicycle Alliance of Washington -- promoting bicycling for everyday transportation through education and advocacy

311 3rd Avenue South - Seattle WA 98104
PO Box 2904 - Seattle WA 98111

206.224.9252 - info@bicyclealliance.org

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Safe Routes to School


Earthshare of WA

 

Welcome

What we do at the Bicycle Alliance:

  Action Alerts:
  Job Opening: Development Director
  Join the Bike Alliance Board!
  Name the New Trail!
  Comment on Energy Plan
  * Commute Route Alerts *
  * Bicycling in the News *

 
Latest News

Upcoming Events & Meetings and Rides

 Jan 8 Willie Weir at REI: Colombia & Venezuela: Bicycling Beyond the Headlines
 Jan 21 Edmonds Bicycle Advisory Group Invites Bike Alliance to January Meeting
 Jan 22 Willie Weir at REI: A Tale of Twos: Cycling Thailand & Laos
 Feb 4 Willie Weir at REI: The Bad Road: Cycling Turkey
 Feb 24 Transportation Advocacy Day Set
 Feb 25 Willie Weir at REI: Cycling Cuba: So Close & Yet So Far Away
 Mar 12 Willie Weir at REI: Fear & Hospitality: Cycling South Africa
 Mar 26 Willie Weir at REI: I am God: Cycling India
Statewide RIDES Calendar lists rides and events that support the Bicycle Alliance.
Statewide ADVOCACY Calendar lists Bicycle Advocacy Groups that meet regularly.

Job Opening: Bicycle Alliance Seeking Development Director

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington is looking to fill a new position: Development Director. As the organization's first Development Director this full time position will be responsible for the planning, growth and implementation of a development plan. The Director will enhance BAW's existing funding program, and establish and implement a successful development plan covering fundraising, marketing and communications.

For more details and to apply for the position, read the complete job description.

For questions please contact Julie Mercer at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington at 206.224.9252, ext 300 or email juliem@bicyclealliance.org.

Bicycle Alliance Seeking New Board Members

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington is seeking members from around the state to serve on its Board of Directors.

This is an opportunity to help lead the only organization devoted to bicycle advocacy in the state. The Board is responsible for creating vision, setting overall policy, ensuring implementation of programs, and fiscal oversight. As a Board member, you will serve on committees, participate in fundraising, provide technical and professional advice, and participate in advocacy efforts. Board members serve a 3-year term and the full Board meets quarterly.

Interested parties can make inquiries and applicants should submit a letter of interest with credentials to BAWboard@bicyclealliance.org by January 15, 2009.

Another Successful Safe Routes to School Summit

The Center for Safe Routes to School in Washington State held its second Statewide Safe Routes to School Summit in Spokane Washington on November 13th. Forty seven attendees from all across Washington participated. The agenda consisted of 2 tracks, a training course for beginners and a second which featured information about innovations, mobilizing parents and administrators and sustaining programs. Success stories included:

  • Spokane's school zone flashing beacons.
  • Los Angeles, California's road diets on multi-lane roads near schools that resulted in increased walking to school without impeding traffic flow.
  • Vancouver, BC's encouragement efforts including Walking Crews (neighborhood walking clubs that encourage participation from all grade levels so that the older children are encouraging the younger children to walk with them). And Car Cootie Day (a no-car day where children are encouraged to ride the bus, walk or bike to school but to avoid the cootie contaminated cars).
  • Spokane School District's program teaching children bicycle safety skills and a program designed for the youngest students using scooters because they are too little to bike.

Willie Weir provided an inspirational lunch presentation and the afternoon featured a Safe Routes to School "open mic" that resulted in a lot of brainstorming, funny stories and more inspiration.

The Center's summit partners included the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Spokane Regional Health District.

Legislative Issues

By Kristin Kinnamon
Bicycle Alliance of Washington
Board Member

Traffic Actuated Signals:   When a car arrives at a signalized intersection that is "traffic actuated," it is detected either by an in-pavement magnetic loop or by an optically-based video camera system. Unfortunately, such detection systems are often not set or designed properly to be triggered by smaller legal vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles. This creates an unsafe situation -the motorcyclist or bicyclist must either wait for a car to trigger the light, cross illegally against the light or leave the traffic lane to push a pedestrian signal.

The Bicycle Alliance proposes a bill to require cities, counties and the state to make all new traffic-actuated signals detect bikes and motorcycles and to upgrade equipment at existing signals when significant upgrade work is being done or when an upgrade involves an arterial or bicycle route. The bill also requires intersections which require a bicycle or motorcycle to stop in a certain location to activate the signal to mark that area within a set period of time (four years is proposed).

Seeking support from bicyclists, motorcyclists, health community advocates and bike-friendly communities.

Construction Zones:   Ever been frustrated as a cyclist by carelessly-placed construction signs blocking the bike lane or shoulder? Ever suddenly come across a closed sidewalk with no safe alternative? National standards (Manual of Uniform Traffic Code Devices) that are adopted by most jurisdictions suggest that bicycles, people with disabilities and pedestrians be considered when planning for access through construction zones. In practice, construction projects often create dangerous barriers for non-motorized travelers when proper planning could provide safe alternatives. Our bill will require compliance with MUTCD standards so that people who use wheelchairs, bikes or their own two feet are considered important user groups when construction, repair, utility or maintenance closures and detours are necessary.

Seeking support from bicyclists, pedestrians, disability groups, senior groups, transit and transit advocates and bike-friendly communities.

3-Foot Passing:   The Bicycle Alliance has worked successfully for many years to promote and legislate safe passing behavior by motorists. Washington state law already requires cars to pass cyclists at a "safe distance" This bill would specify what that distance is. The Washington State Patrol supports this bill because they understand that the main goal is to use "3 feet" for educating drivers, not forcing cops to enforce the law by walking around with yardsticks. The bill also addresses a concern raised by the truckers last year that they may be ticketed for crossing a center line to pass a bicycle. The bill adds passing a bicycle to the list of items that allow a vehicle to cross a center line. We've been studying other state's laws and have good information on how similar bills have succeeded.

Seeking support from bicyclists, law enforcement, pedestrian advocates, traffic safety advocates, automotive groups.

School Transportation Funding:   The Bicycle Alliance is a partner in the Center for Safe Routes to School in Washington State. We help communities educate, engineer, encourage and evaluate walking and biking programs and facilities for schools. With our bad economy, legislators and school leaders are also wondering how to get the most out of school transportation funding. Did you know state money can be used to bus kids who live within 1 mile of school, but can't help pay for school crossing guards so kids could walk instead? We want to give school districts incentives to work for safer roads and healthier transportation in their community, not just more money for buses year after year.

Seeking support from school districts, PTAs, public health, bicyclists, pedestrian and environmental advocates, children's groups and bike-friendly communities.

Global Warming:   A Bicycle Alliance representative serves on the state's Climate Change subcommittee on transportation. The committee will be supporting policies and legislation that encourage bicycles as a climate-friendly transportation option.

Seeking support from environmentalists, bicyclists, smart growth, public health.

The BAW Legislative Committee welcomes bike advocates from across the state. If you'd like to be considered for membership, please submit a letter of interest to me at kinnamonk@aol.com or call (360) 658-2462.

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