Thanks for Wheeliing with us
Aloha, all!  Thanks again to all of our members and all of our other great friends in Savannah for joining us on the third annual Earth Day Wheelie!  It was a huge success again, and we were pleased to be joined this year by Tybee city councilman Paul Wolff and Tybee City Manager Diane Schleicher along with a host of other exceptionally fine bicycle folk. Those who stayed for the Post Wheelie Dealie enjoyed some sumptuous vittles from Blowin’ Smoke and a few walked away with some shiny prizes courtesy of our excellent sponsors Quality Bike and Bicycle Link.

Washington Avenue and Price Street Bike Lanes at City Council
In the wake of that success, more lies on the horizon. Engineering is complete and public comment has been issued on bike lane striping on Washington Avenue between Waters and Bull.  As noted in the WSAV story from last night including our own Frank McIntosh and City of Savannah Parking and Mobility Director Sean Brandon, Washington Avenue would be the first new bike lanes installed in 10 years.

The project awaits only a resolution at City Council this Thursday.  SBC will be there to say thank you to the city for the fine work they are doing to live up to the commitment they made in their first Bicycle Friendly Community application and following up on the recommendations there, including addition of East-West bicycle facilities and, potentially given the will and favorable neighborhood approval, a southbound bike lane on Price Street in the coming months!

Next up, every other street!
The process of updating the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Long Range Transportation Plan has begun, and they are soliciting comments on bicycle and pedestrian projects in the county. They specifically want to know where people are currently walking and bicycling and where they might if given the appropriate facilities. Mapping exercise is this Thursday April 22 at 5pm at the MPC building (see below), and an online version should be available soon.

Development of the Non-Motorized Plan element of the Total Mobility Plan MPO staff encourages public participation through the any of the methods listed below. With the
exception of the online survey, these mostly are multiple ways to do the same thing; it is not necessary to participate in more than one mapping option unless you want to. The online survey will include some questions that are not as location-focused as the mapping options.

Mapping exercises at the CORE MPO Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings
o Apr. 22, 2010, 6:15pm, in the MPC Hearing Room, 112 E. State Street, Savannah, GA. CAC meeting begins at 5pm and will include additional information between 5 and 6:15pm which may be of interest but will not be directly related to this process.
Mapping exercise at the CORE MPO Advisory Committee on Accessible Transportation (ACAT) meeting
o Apr. 26, 2010, 1pm. Meeting begins at 1pm and mapping exercise will be at the end of the meeting, some time before 3pm.
MPO staff will announce the availability of an online survey and an online, interactive map soon.

Contact staff directly anytime:
Jane Love, Transportation Planner
912-651-1443
lovej@thempc.org

Where would you go? Everywhere? Us too — that is why we will be pushing again for adoption of Complete Streets policies for the MPO and all its included governmental entities. That’s why we will stress the importance of developing safe bike access on bridges that are the only points of access to the islands in particular. That’s why we’ll be there and that’s why you should too (or at least fill out the survey when we let y’all know about it).

Earth Day Wheelie rolls again this Sat Apr 17 at 4pm! A police escorted 5.3 mile spin around the downtown springtime splendor, hundreds of bikes and their happy occupants taking it in, 80 degrees and sunny with a mild southerly breeze. You won’t even get hot in your helmet.

I’m not sure how you could ask for more, but we’re bringing it. Join us at the City of Savannah’s Earth Day Festival before the ride to sign our ride waiver and to find out what we’re up to. You can also pick up the new 2010 SBC shirt (so hot, they’re radioactive!) and join or renew your membership.

We want you as a member because we want you to enjoy the afternoon Post Wheelie Dealie to follow at Blowin’ Smoke. Food, drink, music and bikes, not to mention sweet door prizes to current members courtesy of our sponsors. Must be present to win, so BE PRESENT. and win.

We love you, and your bike loves you. Bring all the love together this Saturday starting at 4pm.

As previously noted, Local Government on the Move is this month’s theme for 2Wheels 2Work. Employees and elected officials from the City of Savannah, Savannah-Chatham MPC, and Chatham County will join our bicycle commuting convoy leaving from the Habersham Village Shopping Center at 7:30 a.m., bound for Johnson Square in Downtown Savannah, and we hope you will too.

Bicycle commuters can join in from anywhere on or off the route. Everyone arriving in Johnson Square on a bike can enjoy free coffee from our loyal sponsor Jittery Joe’s and refreshments. As always, helmets are strongly encouraged.

Click here to download the route map. See you tomorrow!

Savannah’s favorite (and only) bicycle commuting event returns on Friday, April 2. Last month we were joined by local legal professionals. In April our focus is reflected by the the title “Local Government on the Move.” We welcome everyone to ride with us, but will be especially happy to see City of Savannah, Chatham County and Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission employees and elected officials getting to work in a more economical, more sustainable and healthier way.

A bicycle commuting convoy will leave from the Habersham Village Shopping Center at 7:30 a.m., bound for Johnson Square in Downtown Savannah. Bicycle commuters can join in from anywhere on or off the route. Everyone who arrives in Johnson Square on a bike (please dismount before entering the square) can enjoy free coffee from our loyal sponsor Jittery Joe’s and refreshments. As always, helmets are strongly encouraged.

Click here to download the route map or here to download a poster to print and display in your workplace.

We are thrilled to announce that we are able to hire staff for the first time in our short history to help carry out our previously volunteer-only mission:

Savannah Bicycle Campaign will create a safer and more convenient bicycling environment by uniting cycling groups and individual cyclists, engaging local governments to advocate for better facilities and enforcement, while encouraging, educating and empowering residents and visitors to make bicycling a healthy part of their daily lives.

The Executive Director position will be part time to start, but we expect growth to a full time position in the future when funds are available. Chief among the duties will be development and donor relations, strategic planning and board development, and government and media relations. A full job description is available at this link. Please submit a resume and three current references by 3/27/2010 to info [at] bicyclecampaign [dot] org if you are interested. A working knowledge of current bicycle and pedestrian issues is a must, and League Cycling Instructor certification and nonprofit management experience or training are preferred.

As some of you Campaign insiders are aware, I made a trip to DC this past week as part of the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit, in its 10th year. There were almost 700 registrants from across the country, there to learn about federal policy as it affects their local efforts, and to advocate with our elected officials in Congress for better policy.

Luminaries of the bicycle industry were there, including the ever fashionable Gary Fisher, pictured above  with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Inspiring words came from elected and appointed officials including Jim Oberstar, Earl Blumenauer (both above right), LaHood and many others. I was particularly pleased that Representative Jack Kingston, himself a regular bicycle commuter while in DC, joined us for the Congressional Bike Ride on Friday even in the face of rain and cool temps (as also chronicled on the League of American Bicyclists’ blog).

A suite of bicycling-related bills is under consideration, but since the vast majority of legislation that is introduced never becomes law, we need your involvement to ensure that our government takes action on these bike-partisan issues:

• HR 1443/S 584: The Complete Streets Act of 2009 requires state and local transportation agencies to adopt complete streets policies to ensure all road users (bikes, pedestrians, transit and cars) are included in the design of transportation facilities funded with federal dollars.
• S1156/HR 4021: Safe Routes to School reauthorization (first was in 2005, expires with current transportation bill) to include high schools and an increase in the amount of funding available to states for the programs.
• HR 4722: The Active Community Transportation Act (ACT Act) establishes a competitive funding program in the surface transportation bill for concentrated investment in communities to complete active transportation networks.
• HR 3734: The Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act authorizes funding for development and revitalization of urban parks and community recreation infrastructure.
• S 2747, The Land and Water Reauthorization Act rededicates funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund through which park and trails programs can compete for funding.

Go to congress.org and find your representatives. Let them know you support these bicycle friendly federal policies — Georgia’s advocates at the bike summit briefed staffers of all Georgia’s members of congress on Thursday, so they should already know about them.

The geography may differ, but many of the issues we face are common to everyone.  Help make your government work for you by calling for better policy.

Let this be a reminder to all of you happy Campaigners that spring is on the way, and with it more and more bike events. This weekend in particular is a busy one starting tonight, Thursday March 4 at River Club at 3 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, where bicycle culture film Veer will be screened at 9pm as part of the Spoked bike arts festival.

Don’t stay up too late, though, because Friday morning, March 5, 2Wheels 2Work rides again from Habersham Village at 8am. Join us anywhere along the way or at our Davant Park finish for Jittery Joe’s coffee and be entered in a free drawing for a cruiser courtesy Quality Bike Shop and McKee Court Reporting.

Last but not least, Savannah Wheelie rolls Saturday at 2pm from the Spoked expo, which will also include bike contests and demonstrations from 12-6pm. Join us at the Starland parking lot at Whitaker and 40th to check it out!

Most of us get our hair cut, styled, or otherwise tended to on a regular basis. We are very pleased to announce a new way to put part of the money you spend doing that here toward better public policy for bikes in Savannah.

Expanding their efforts to promote environmental sustainability, B Street Salon has begun a partnership with Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Patty McIntosh (below arriving at her appointment with salon owner and master stylist Monica McMasters), already a B Street client and regular bicyclist kicked the program off yesterday. Going forward, B Street will donate 10% of proceeds from services and products purchased at the salon by Savannah Bicycle Campaign members.

B Street sources environmentally responsible products and has long recycled materials from the business, even beginning a program to reuse bottles at their “Filling Station,” so their efforts are of course a good match for our own focus on sustainable transportation, and we hope this will be a model for similar partnerships with other local businesses.

Members of Savannah Bicycle Campaign and their immediate family members simply indicate their membership prior to checking out and the donation will be applied. This is a great way to make your dollars count in supporting local businesses who support sustainability, and support our efforts specifically to improve bicycling conditions here in Chatham County. If you or someone in your family is already a client, make sure to let B Street know you are an SBC member when you are at your appointment; and if you’re not already a client, consider giving B Street a try!