.. . attached to their bikes, to show how much more space cars take up and to keep cars at a proper distance! You've got to order this article! Or get regular inspiration by ordering a subscription! Send ·$16 (1 yr) or $30 (2 yrs), or for a sample copy send $4 to Kokopelli Notes, PO Box 8186, Asheville, NC 28814, or call (704) 683-4844. The Bicycle Advocate's Action Kit The BFA's National Bicycle and Pedestrian Advocacy Campaign includes transportation planning, advocacy conferences, awarding grahts and technical assistance to state and local adv~cacy groups and publication of helpful handbooks such as the Action Kit. This Kit contains short sections on effective bicycle groups/programs, resource lists .and lots of photos. Some interesting tidbits include: - Seattle's Bicycle Program distributes postcards to bike shops that allow bicyclists,to ask for spot improvements (filling potholes, striping bike lanes, upgrading drain designs, installing signs and racks). This allows for quick responses to bicycle unfriendly areas and reduces the city's liability. -Missoula's (Montana) Bike Program "Yorks with a redevelopment agency to install 30 to 70 new downtown bike racks each year. - In Spokane, Washington, public utility employees have access to the utility's bicycles for errands and short trips. - Dayton, Ohio's Bike-A-Thon is a very effective fundraiser: raising between $300,000 and $500,000 (half ·goes to charity, half to local bike projects). - Also, check the kit's local bike advocate's shopping list. To order the kit, contact: The·Bicycle Federation of Anierica, 1818 R St., NW, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 332-6986. With $12 billion in federal funds available . through !STEA for bicycle and pedestrian projects, your group might also want to order BFA's Comm.unity-Based Planning .Under /STEA: A Handbook for Citizens & Agencies, 1993. 70 pages. $20. Bicycle Blueprint.'. A Plan to Bring Bicycling Into the Mainstream in New York City. The Bi<;ycle Blueprint is a bicycle advocate's powerful ally for learning winning strategies from around the world and for discovering successful steps to a sustainable transport system. This well-researched and eminently useful book by the nation's largest bicycle advocacy group will tantalize you with the possibilities and make you reconsider the sometimes overwhelming task 'of creating positive transportation changes. If Transportation Alternatives members have the guts to take on New York City's car addicts and bureaucracies, we smalier city folk can surely handle our own. Besides all the information abo.ut stuff outside of NYC, the Bicycle Blueprint has a section of immediate actions that can be taken by the city government, and an Auto-Free New York four-year plan. If you've been reading this column regularly, you've heard of free bike loaning programs in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stratford-uponAvon (England), but did you know that the Boulder Downtown Management Commission in Colorado (USA) bought l 00 bikes and 50 helmets for residents and tourists to borrow for free (credit c·ard deposit for security) and Burlington, Vermont's Champlain College gives students bikes for not having a car on caµipus. And for groups fighting increases in the number of lanes of highways/streets, the Blueprint tells of TA member~' day in court. The judge "echoed the findings of the international transportation researchers Peter Newmann and Jeffrey Kenworthy that adding space to keep traffic flowing actually produces more emissions than limiting or reassigning that road space....In effect, cities that build more roads and parking spaces find that the volume of cars expands to fill the roads:" There is much to learn from this 160-page treasure. Don't miss this opportunity! To order, send $15 to Transportation Alternatives, 92 St. Marks ~lace, New York, NY 10009. L.A. W. 's The Bicycle Advocate ~s Handbook Bicycle advocates have in common a vision of a more bicycle-friendly future, but their strategies are quite diverse. The League of American Wheelmen's The Bicycle 1 Advocate's Handbook shows how to run a national organization: -Organize an effective group using non-antagonistic tools · - Work closely with government agencies involved in transport -Influence the mainstream media - Keep volunteers by, amon'g other thjngs, acknowledging their achievements. The Handbook's advice pertains especially well to other large, highly structured, financially stable organizations. Available for $14.95 from League of American Wheelmen, 190 W. Ostend St., Suite 120, Baltimore; MD 21230: American Public Transit Association's LQcal Organizing Kit is meant for public transit groups and does not mention bicycle advocacy. But it is we11 worth reading for a step-bystep guide on how to org~nize an effective group and to h~lp bicycle organizations ]earn more about public transit groups. More bicyclists involved with public transit issues 'will help the American Public Transit Association understand the need for more bicycle facilities on transit and at stations. This 66-page kitis available from APTA, 120 I New York Ave., NW, Washillgton, DC 20005. RAIN s·ummer 1994 Volume XIV, Number 4 Page 39
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