Tag: bike advocacy

Countdown to Velo-city 2012 – Build It and They Will Come

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Lucky attendees at the Velo-city Global 2010 conference in Copenhagen had an opportunity to check out the city’s fine cycling infrastructure.

Transportation infrastructure is a key focus of the upcoming Velo-city Global conference in Vancouver, BC. No wonder, considering that the bicycle helped pave the way for the automobile back in the late 1800s.

How the Dutch Got their Separated Bike Lanes

Bicycling was so popular in the 1880s and 1890s that cyclists formed the League of American Wheelman (still in existence and now called the League of American Bicyclists). The League lobbied for better roads, literally paving the road for the automobile.

Ironically, bicycles are often marginalized on the same roadways that were originally designed to help make it easier for them to get around.

One of the objectives of the Velo-city conference is share information about how cities can develop better bicycle infrastructure, which, in turn, will enhance city liveability and transportation options.

Public bike sharing systems are one of the pivotal themes that will be discussed at the conference. Attendees will learn how to move

from vision to policy, to planning, to public support, to marketing, to acquisition, to implementation and then to operations, while discussing the role of public bike sharing systems within liveable and sustainable urban communities and their transportation options.

Other pivotal conference themes include how to effectively integrate cycling with transit, rail and other modes of transportation, how to replace fleet vehicles with bicycles and cycling and tourism.

Velo-city Global 2012 is expected to host over 1,000 delegates from around the world. The conference will be held June 26 -29 at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center Hotel, accessible by the new Hornby Street separated bike lane.

Conference registration has begun! Visit velo-city2012.com/registration to secure your spot now. Early bird registration rates end March 31.

Originally published on momentummag.com.

Countdown to Velo-city 2012 – Learning from Peers

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Renowned urban planner Jan Gehl (Gehl Architects) giving his keynote in the main conference hall at Velo-City 2010 in Copenhagen.

Conferences like Velo-city Global are a link to inspiring speakers and current information on best-practices, research and more. Attendees have exclusive access to leaders in their field in a collegial setting. No wonder the next biannual Velo-city Global is expected to attract over 1,000 delegates.

A notable figure in the transportation policy world, Gil Penalosa will be opening and closing the conference, which takes place in Vancouver, BC, June 26-29, 2012.

The executive director of the Canadian non-profit organization 8-80 Cities and former commissioner of parks, sports and recreation in Bogota, Colombia, Penalosa brings with him a wealth of experience in developing liveable cities where bicycling plays a key role.

He recently stated that the best way to get politicians on side is to not mention cycling specifically, but as one factor in policies that promote public health, mobility and environmental protection.

“Imagine you have a city with two percent cyclists and 60 percent people using cars,” Penalosa said in a European Cyclists’ Federation report. “People will say you are against the 60 percent.”

“Cyclists are often too keen to talk about cycling and forget about the whole package. If you introduce cycling as a solution for obesity, for example, you are suddenly not only trying to help other cyclists, but a whole population.”

Information about other notable speakers attending the conference is presently available on the Velo-city Global 2012 website.

Keep checking this blog each week for more updates about the conference, presenters and attendees.

Velo-city Global 2012 is expected to host over 1,000 delegates from around the world. The conference will be held June 26 -29 at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center Hotel, accessible by the new Hornby Street separated bike lane.

Conference registration has begun! Visit velo-city2012.com/registration to secure your spot now. Early bird registration rates end March 31.

Originally published on momentummag.com.

Alliance, League, Bikes Belong Unifying into One Organization

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The Alliance for Biking & Walking, the League of American Bicyclists and Bikes Belong are joining forces to create a unified organization.

“This is about having a bigger and better impact in our communities across America,” said Alliance president and CEO Jeffrey Miller in a telephone interview yesterday. “This is an incredible opportunity to transform this nation into a more bicycle-friendly nation by having us all work together as one team to improve cycling for everyone.”

The decision to move forward in principle with the unification was approved by 15 representatives from the League, Bikes Belong, the Alliance and related programs during a meeting in San Diego on February 14 of this year in San Diego, CA.

Since then, Miller said talks have been ongoing between the three organizations about pooling their resources and creating one organization that can meet the growing needs of cycling advocacy in the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, to an extent.

“The unification is about three organizations moving together from a position of strength,” Miller added. “We’ve all grown over the years. We’ve all been doing more and better. It’s about how we can do even more and get these individual pieces working together much better.”

Some of those pieces include services at the state and local levels, something that Miller said he believes will be a significant part of the mission of the new organization, which has yet to be named.

“The Alliance has always worked closely with the League and people have probably often wondered: ‘Well, who does what?’” Miller said.

With the unified organization, access to a variety of resources, many of which were formerly offered by the three organizations, would be possible through one organizational channel. Services, such as the Alliance’s annual Benchmarking report and the federal government lobbying campaigns championed by the League and Bikes Belong, as well as funding and state and community program assistance, would, thus, continue to be offered through the new organization.

Resources and programs, such as the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, would also continue to operate under the new organization, according to a release.

The name and launch date of the unified organization has yet to be determined, but Miller said they are working through the details and hope to have something workable up and running by the end of this year or in January 2013. The position of acting CEO has been assigned to present Bikes Belong CEO Tim Blumenthal.

Miller said the unification is not about cutting costs and should not result in the loss of staff.

“There are a lot of details and work ahead,” Miller said in an email release, “but we are excited to combine the diverse strengths of our powerful coalition of state and local organizations with the storied national user groups, and a vibrant industry association, in a way that preserves their unique attributes and realizes the game-changing potential of a single organization.”

Originally published on momentummag.com.

Countdown to Velo-city 2012 – Momentum Magazine is an Official Media Partner

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Momentum Magazine is excited to be an official media partner of Velo-city Global 2012. The lifestyle cycling magazine, which recently launched its new web URL: momentummag.com, will be spreading the word about North America’s first Velo-city Global through its online, print and social media platforms.

Velo-city 2012 Cities in Motion

The Countdown to Velo-city 2012 blog that you are reading right now will feature speaker profiles, highlight conference themes and introduce you to some of the delegates who will be in attendance.

Velo-city Global, scheduled to take place June 26 to 29, 2012, in beautiful Vancouver, BC, is the world’s premier international cycling planning conference. The four-day event offers delegates from around the world a chance to share best practices for creating and sustaining cycling-friendly cities where bicycles are valued as part of daily transport and recreation.

The Velo-city Global conference unites politicians, engineers, planners, architects, social marketers, academics, researchers, environmentalists, advocates, educators and industry representatives. Delegates join forces and foster transnational collaboration. The event also draws experts from related areas, such as health, economics and the environment.

Published five times a year, Momentum Magazine focuses on cycling as transportation, providing a perfect complement for one of the key themes of Velo-city Global 2012: growing cycling transportation mode share globally. Momentum also highlights bike culture in North America while providing positive and solutions-based editorial coverage, including arts & culture, city and people profiles, style, food, current events and gear.

Velo-city Global 2012 is expected to host over 1,000 delegates from around the world. The conference will be held June 26 -29 at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center Hotel, accessible by the new Hornby Street separated bike lane.

Conference registration has begun! Visit velo-city2012.com/registration to secure your spot now. Early bird registration rates end March 31.

Originally published on momentummag.com.