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Bike Maryland December 2014 Update

Riding Your Bike When It is Cold Is Not Just For The Hardcore!

Cold weather bike rides can be fun, even merry and bright! Let our Bike Minded Safety Program Coordinators show you tips and techniques at a FREE workshop that will remind you cycling is an easy way to get around town for work, errands and play. Experienced bike commuters will offer insight to help you enjoy your bike year round. Meet other commuters and stay for a social bike ride after the workshop! 

Everyday Cycling Made Easy Adult Workshop
Saturday, December 13, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Cold Community Cottage at 4800 Tamarind Rd, Baltimore, MD
FREE, Open to the Public
Register here

2014 Annual Report and the 2015 – 2020 Strategic Plan

Now available, the Bike Maryland 2014 Annual Report is a summary of the accomplishments that resulted from our advocacy and education initiatives. The annual report is intended to give Maryland bicyclists and other interested people information about the organizations activities over the past year. Please review it! The annual report will be accessible on the Bike Maryland website on the Achievements page under the About section. In January 2015 a finacial report will be added to this page and will disclose our 2014 financial performance.

To become a Bike Maryland stakeholder and receive a hard copy of the 2014 Annual Report, please join us as a member here. 

Keeping with the theme of focusing our efforts and operating transperantly, Bike Maryland has released the recently developed 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. Created in partnership with local bicycling advocates from across the state, this living document is also now available on our website under the About section. The Strategic Plan identifies our core initiatives and lays our measurable goals and actions, which will help fulfill our mission.

Bike Maryland End of the Year Match Campaign Going On Now!

Please consider Bike Maryland as you prepare for your end of the year giving. Between now and December 31st every individual contribution up to $5,000 will be matched by Race Pace Bicycles during our 2014 End of The Year Charitable Matching Campaign. That means your 100% tax-deductible gift will travel twice as far and help us pedal twice as hard to achieve our mission to improve bicycling conditions across the state! Please consider Bike Maryland
as you plan for your end of the year giving and click HERE to donate. 

Thank you to Race Pace Bicycles for their dynamic role in helping Maryland become a GREAT place to ride!

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DECLINING WALKABILITY: BIG ROLE IN CHINA’S OBESITY PROBLEM

-> According to a Nov.17th CityLab article, "In China’s rapidly changing urban landscape, the Chinese middle class may be bearing the greatest burden when it comes to the connection between the way their cities are being built and rates of obesity, a new study suggests.
"A paper recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine (Walking, Obesity and Urban Design in Chinese Neighborhoods: https://bit.ly/1xmYmcW) examines the connections between obesity, income, and the built environment in two of China’s major cities, Shanghai and Hangzhou. The research team is headed up by Mariela Alfonzo, an assistant research professor at the NYU School of Engineering and a Fulbright scholar who has spent years developing measures of walkability in the United States and is now expanding that work to China.
"Alfonzo and her colleagues found that, as in other countries, there is a link between neighborhood designtheir walkabilityand levels of physical activity among residents. They also found, however, that the relationship between income, obesity, and physical activity is not a linear one in China. There, the poorest and the most affluent were both less likely to be obese than the middle class…"
Source: https://bit.ly/1EYEg9n
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

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Waiting for the perfect proof of what works

"The evidence base on the clinical and behavioral interventions to reduce obesity is far from complete, and ongoing investment in research is an imperative. However, in many cases this requirement is proving a barrier to action. It need not be so. Rather than wait for perfect proof of what works, we should experiment with solutions, especially in the many areas where interventions are low risk. We have enough knowledge to do more."
Source: https://bit.ly/1tDdYEc
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

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Canal Towns Program Plugs Businesses into the Enormous Potential of Trail Tourism

by Jake Lynch, Rails To Trails
"When coal mining died and the railroads left, a lot of the towns really struggled. What the trail has done has brought that transportation corridor back to them. And it’s actually helped to sustain businesses and revitalize the downtowns."
— Bill Atkinson, Maryland Department of Planning
…
https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/2014/september/01/canal-towns-program-plugs-businesses-into-the-enormous-potential-of-trail-tourism

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LAKEWOOD (OH): NO SCHOOL BUSES, ALMOST ALL WALK TO SCHOOL

-> According to an article in the November issue of Governing, "In a nation where few students still walk to school, how has Lakewood, Ohio, gone without school buses for so long? Lakewood doesn’t have any school buses and it never has.
"There are a few reasons why Lakewood may be the nation’s unofficial walk-to-school capital. Density, for one… the city of 52,000 has 9,000 residents per square mile…. As Lakewood grew, the city opted against setting up a school bus system, focusing instead on building schools to fit within the community. Most of the schools are multistory buildings on relatively small lots, making them easier to incorporate into residential neighborhoods. As the facilities aged over the years, officials chose to restore and upgrade the existing structures, rather than build sprawling new single-story campuses.
"In Lakewood, there’s another benefit to having everyone walk: The city saves a fortune on school buses. When Lakewood does need to provide transportation for students — for field trips, out-of-town games and so on — it contracts with the nearby town of Olmsted Falls. But all told, the Lakewood school district spends about $500,000 a year on transportation, about $1 million less than comparable school districts…"
Source: https://bit.ly/11ByuhU
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

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BOSTON (MA) 1ST TO MANDATE TRUCK SAFETY MEASURES FOR CYCLISTS & PEDS

-> According to an Oct. 29th City of Boston media release, "Today the Boston City Council voted unanimously to pass a Truck Side Guard Ordinance,… [mandating] all large city-contracted vehicles to be equipped with enhanced safety measures designed to prevent fatalities and further reduce the risks of a collision with pedestrians and cyclists.

"The Truck Side Guard Ordinance is the first of its kind in the country. The ordinance requires vehicles over 10,000 pounds (for tractor-trailers a combined weight over 26,000 pounds) and awarded a contract with the City of Boston to have side guards, convex mirrors, cross-over mirrors, and blind-spot awareness decals. Vehicles associated with an awarded City contract will be inspected for side guards by the Inspectional Services Department and issued a permit, certifying the vehicle for 2-years. For those vehicles not in compliance, businesses will face a fine, escalating from $100 for the first offense, to potential termination of the contract…

"In 2013, the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Public Works Department undertook the largest municipal pilot of truck side guards in the nation. The Truck Side Guard Ordinance is a result of this pilot, which included more than a year of testing three different types of side guards on 16 large vehicles, reviewing data from external studies, and from field observations. In the City of Boston pilot, each vehicle cost about $1,800 to outfit and will last the lifetime of the vehicle."

Source: https://bit.ly/1qWmAot

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

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AGENCY TRAFFIC FORECASTS & REALITY

-> According to an Oct. 20th Streetsblog article, "The amount that the average American drives each year has been declining for nearly a decade, yet most transportation agencies are still making decisions based on the notion that a new era of ceaseless traffic growth is right around the corner.

"The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, for example, has overestimated traffic on its roads by an average of 73 percent, according to a recent study. And Dallas-area planners recently produced traffic projections that predicted a much larger increase in driving than the state DOT was even predicting.

"Thats why a new traffic forecast from the Washington State Office of Fiscal Management is so interesting: It actually acknowledges how travel habits are changing. Seattle-based environmental think tank Sightline spotted the above traffic projection in a new government report. In its most recent financial forecast, the agency has abandoned the assumption of never-ending traffic growth that it employed as recently as last year. Instead, the agency has responded to recent trends, even projecting that total traffic will start to decline within the next ten years…"

Source: https://bit.ly/1CUZ6Wf

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

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Cycling Is Creating More Jobs in Europe Than Automakers Are in the U.S.

By Taylor Hill, Takepart
Want to lower greenhouse gas emissions, get fit, and create new jobs? Ride a bike.
That’s the finding of the first comprehensive study on Europe’s cycling industry , which details a cycling economy that employs more than 655,000 people in industries such as retail, manufacturing, infrastructure investment, and tourism.
On just two wheels, the industry is creating more jobs than Europe’s high-fashion footwear industry (388,000 jobs), its well-established steel sector (410,000), and the United States’ Big Three automobile companies (Ford , General Motors , and Chrysler ) combined (510,000).
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https://www.takepart.com/article/2014/12/03/not-just-health-and-fitness-cycling-has-created-650000-jobs-europe