“I wish I could ride my bike to work, but I just don’t feel safe.”
“I want to walk my children to school, but people won’t stop to let us cross.”
“I don’t feel safe crossing my street because there is no visibility.”
Does this sound familiar to you? I hear variations of these three statements every single day from people all around our city.
It frustrates me because these are fixable problems. Making biking and walking (and transit riding) more convenient and welcoming through Complete Streets infrastructure like bike lanes, sidewalks and multi-use paths produces the obviously desirable results. But unlike automobile centric infrastructure, everyone benefits from active transportation improvements — even people who drive.
We’ve made great strides on these Complete Streets projects in 2019. We cut the ribbon on improvements on Lincoln Street and Price Street, secured $1 million in SPLOST funding for Tide To Town, begun construction on the Truman Linear Park Trail and provided bikes to more than 110 people in need. But we have a lot we want to tackle in 2020, including needed policy updates, implementing more high-quality bike lanes and multi-use paths, and installing sidewalks and crosswalks across the city. And in order to do that work, I’m asking you to make a tax-deductible contribution today to help us reach our $10,000 goal.
Your contribution will:
- Help us to provide bicycles to those in need through our New Standard Cycles program.
- Allow us to continue serving as your voice for connected, equitable and welcoming places to bike and walk.
- Provide education classes for children and adults.
- Support our public policy work to ensure that places to bike and walk are always on the list.
- Help us continue our great events like the Moonlight Garden Ride, Matt’s Moon River Cruise, Tweed Ride, Seersucker Ride, and so much more.
And anyone who donates more than $100 this month will receive a commemorative, limited-edition Bike Walk Savannah mug.
Thank you, as always, for your support of the people-powered movement.
Caila Brown
Bike Walk Savannah Executive Director
