In January, we started a community conversation about encouraging biking and walking. Many, many ideas have been generated and I will summarize these in this blog post. Most exciting to me is the way someone’s eyes light up and I can very nearly see the gears of their brain turning as they start to consider how to make our towns bike and pedestrian friendly. The enthusiasm is infectious. What we now need are two major things: 1) help in naming our initiative and 2) help implementing some of these programs. Please read on and put your naming ideas in the comment box below or send them to bike@greentownlosaltos.org. The ideas for the bike/walk initiative generally fall into one of the following four categories:
Fun/Participatory Bike Events
Awareness / Promotion /Incentives
Educational Events
City Infrastructure and Support
In the Fun Events category, ideas include:
scavenger hunts on bicycles, bike parties or soirees (like the San Jose Bike Party)
a troop of lighted bikes in the Festival of Lights parade
ciclovias or weekly closures of certain streets to vehicle traffic (as in Cambridge, Massachusetts)
making a bid to earn the “Longest Bike Parade” title in the Guinness Book of World Records (the U.S. record is currently held by the City of Davis, California)
supporting Bike to Work Day on 5/12/11
participating in the Drive Less Challenge (a 2-week “get out of the car” challenge that starts on Earth Day, 4/22/11)
buddy rides program for seniors
Residents have proposed many ideas to generate awareness of and incentivize biking and walking as an alternative to driving in cars. These include:
Drive Less Challenge, mentioned above
merchant incentives for bicycle riders
“Think Globally, Bike Locally” bike “bumper stickers”
“One Trip a Week” promotional campaign
art/essay contest
pedi-cab service downtown during special shopping days or holiday events
Suggested educational events might include:
safety talks and bike training
bike maintenance workshops
inspirational speakers
a community forum (World Café format)
“Bike the Creek” docent-led bike tour
screening of bike-related films
senior-focused programs – to help our senior citizens continue to ride bikes and walk or to get back to biking and walking again
And, lastly, many residents have suggested that we request support from our cities to provide services such as:
more bike racks
safer sidewalks and bike routes through town
becoming an official “Bicycle Friendly Community”
following the 08-80 city guidelines to make our towns safe for people to walk and ride whether they are 8 or 80 years old
These are just some of the ideas that have been generated since we started this conversation. What other ideas do you have? What should we call this initiative? Can you help us get it moving? Comment below or contact us at bike@greentownlosaltos.org.
KJ
