Let your opinions shape your community for years to come – voice your opinions in the City of Tempe Transportation Master Plan. This is an opportunity for cyclists of Tempe to tell the city what we need by way of bicycle friendly infrastructure.

http://www.tempe.gov/city-hall/public-works/transportation/transportation-master-plan-/transportation-master-plan-survey

This survey will be used for the Tempe Transportation Master Plan for the next 10 years. The city is asking for specific street names where residents would like to have bike lanes, protected bike lanes, bike boulevards and paths. They are also asking for lists of gaps in the current bike system. You have until June 15 to let your voice be heard!

Take the survey today http://www.tempe.gov/city-hall/public-works/transportation/transportation-master-plan-/transportation-master-plan-survey

There are also public meetings on May 29th and 31st, please attend and give your feedback: http://www.tempe.gov/city-hall/public-works/transportation/transportation-master-plan-

 Need some inspiration? TBAG has been advocating for the following changes in the Tempe bike system:

1. A north-south bike route along the railroad tracks east of McClintock.
2. Bike lanes on McClintock
3. Bike lanes on Southern
4. Bike lanes on Broadway
5. Bike boulevards on the major bike routes such as College, Hardy, and Alameda
6. A bike path along the railroad tracks from Tempe Town Lake to Kiwanis Park
7. A bridge over the 1-10 at Alameda
8. A bridge over the 101 at Alameda

In April 2013, the third annual city-wide bike count in Tempe was conducted as a way of understanding cycling habits and to identify routes and intersections that are problematic or dangerous. In total, 14,750 bicyclists were counted from a total of 91 different locations, with 26 locations common between 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Get the report here [pdf]: Tempe_Bike_Count_Report_2013

Thanks to everyone who helped bring this effort to fruition!

Zhergxing Yang is the winner of a balloon tour for two by Float Balloon Tours. The other night before the CRAP Ride Tempe, we gathered all the count sheets we have. We recruited two visiting cycle tourists to throw them all in the air and grab one, and Yang is our lucky winner! Thanks again to the huge cast and crew who made this effort a success.

The 4rd annual Tempe Bike Count takes place in just two weeks, on March 25-27. Training meetings are in just one week. Each of 58 intersections has an AM shift and a PM shift. You can sign up for just one 2 hour shift, or more shifts on more days if you want.

If you think you can make it, please sign up now to reserve your intersection, and so that I know that we’re going to have enough people, but let us (bikecount@biketempe.org) know if you have to cancel or switch days.

RSVPs for training dates are used to figure out how much pizza to order. Tempe icon William T. Terrance will introduce the Bike Count and all of the ways to get confused that you never even thought of.

When:

The count will take place over three days. Each volunteer counts during commuting hours, with morning (7:00am to 9:00am) or afternoon (4:00pm to 6:00pm) shifts (or both).

• Tuesday, March 25th
• Wednesday, March 26th
• Thursday, March 27th

For full details on the Tempe Bike Count and to sign up please go to: http://www.biketempe.org/events/bike-count/

Why:

Traffic Engineering responds well to serious safety problems. People ride bikes even where safe infrastructure doesn’t exist. Often, the only way through is on roads like Southern, McClintock, or Rural, where bicycles were not taken into consideration. The Bike Count lets us show the city where cyclists overwhelmingly feel they have to ride on the sidewalk, something that the city knows is not safe. It also shows the City of Tempe how many bicycles do come out where safe facilities do exist, which helps them with their goals of smug reduction and congestion reduction. The raw data has been requested by environmental engineering firms, traffic engineering grad students, and others. We’ve presented it to the Tempe Traffic Engineers and at the ADOT Highway Safety Summit. The Bike Count is a fantastic way to encourage making Tempe bicycle friendly, and to quantify progress. It helps the city help us!

Afterparty:

We’re throwing an appreciation party at Boulders on Broadway for our volunteers! Come turn in your count sheets, have a beer, and tell tales of the craziness you saw out there on the streets of Tempe.

http://bitcoin100.org promotes Bitcoin with donations of $1000 worth of Bitcoins to selected non-profits. At today’s rates, that’s 1.599 of them. Tempe Bicycle Action Group is pleased to receive this contribution. To accept this and future Bitcoin contributions, we’ve added a Bitcoin donation widget to the side bar. Our address is 1DtJhkiszBie5iLKGin7NnsWBwXvbuCuSG. This also means that we now have a balance of Bitcoins to pay for goods and services where they are accepted. Thanks much to bitcoin100 for their philanthropic work!

February is (almost) here and we will have an abundance of bike fun events for you in the coming weeks.

The 2014 season of Science Sunday Rides kick off this Sunday, February 2. Solar Energy will be the topic, and the AZ Republic solar/business reported Ryan Randazzo is the guide. Starts at the Tempe Transit Station at 2pm. The next Science Ride occurs two weeks later on February 16th.

The annual Tweed Ride hits the streets of Tempe on Saturday, Feb 8th. Dress in your tweediest fines and meet at Tempe Beach Park at 3 for tea and grassy games. The ride will visit some of the most appropriate establishments in the area on a rambling route.

As always, the CRAP ride occurs every Tuesday at 7:30 at Tempe’s Front Porch, and is a great way to keep abreast of the latest news and events.

Keep and eye on the all-encompassing calendar at bikearizona.com to make sure you don’t miss anything.

Tweed Ride FB link: https://www.facebook.com/events/131896793647228/

More than 1,000 people are expected to participate in the Tour de Tempe community bike ride on April 6 from 7:30 – 11 a.m. at Kiwanis Park, 6111 S. All America Way in the west parking lot north of Guadalupe Road across from the batting cages. This free 10-mile bike ride is led by members of the Tempe City Council.

The City has requested TBAG volunteers. On the morning of Sunday April 6, 2014 we will need 12 volunteers: 5 people to ride in the crowd and help out when necessary and 7 people to stand at locations along the route where people could make a wrong turn.

We will also need a couple people manning the TBAG booth during registration, which begins at 7:30 am, and following the ride. We will have a 10 x 10 tent, an 8 foot table, and 2 chairs provided for us. We will need to supply the TBAG propaganda. Breakdown for the event usually begins around 11 am.

All volunteers will get a free t-shirt and breakfast, so provide your t-shirt size when you respond.

We’re using VolunteerSpot to organize our upcoming activity.

1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/yrdjFR
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots – VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone (at least that’s what they’ve promised). If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Ashlee or I and we can sign you up manually.

Ashlee (ashlee@biketempe.org), our excellent Rides Coordinator, is
kindly organizing this event (I’m just sending the email).

See ya there!
-scott

Get a report of what we’ve been up to all year and get some skin in the game at the annual voting and committee assignment meeting at 5 p.m. Nov. 3 at Boulders on Broadway. RSVP on our Facebook event here.

Since the TBAG board has seen a serious change of members, there has been a lot going on! Make the choice to lead or join one of our fine committees concentrating on a multitude of different areas.

While you’re at it, grab a snack and a beer on us, plus snag some sweet beer specials!

• Where: Boulders on Broadway
• When: Sunday, Nov. 3, 5 p.m.
• Why: Become a bike activist star and spokesman.

RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/570784782968777/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Thanks to a grant from the Not One More Foundation, the billboard has been renewed for two more months with new a campaign inspired by Pittsburgh’s I Ride A Bike campaign.

Kolby Granville, Tempe City Councilmember and bicycle advocate, kicks off the series. We’re working to book other well known public figures with a goal of doing a series of three people over two months. We also hope to refine the presentation as we go.

The campaign is designed to humanize cyclists. Motorists should be aware that people on bicycles are, like anyone else, pillars of community, members of families, workers, auto owners, and so on, just like anyone else. We hope that some empathy encourages people to take care and save a life.

There’s so much to do on a bike this weekend, you just might not have time to work on that stamp collection or weed the garden. Aside from the dozens of road and mountain bike rides sure to be out in the Valley, two brand-spanking new events are hitting the streets in Tempe.

It starts off with a bang on Friday night with the first ever Arizona Bike Party, a roving bike ride that starts at Tempe Beach Park and heads off into the night with stops at public spaces to provide opportunities for people to socialize, chat, dance, and maybe even solve the world’s problems…who knows! Ride meets at 7, departs Beach Park at 8 and repeats monthly.

The second inaugural event is the Science Sundays Bike Ride. This is an opportunity to spend the afternoon with a local expert and learn something about the natural sciences right in your own backyard. The ride starts at Bike Cellar in the Tempe Transit Center at 2pm. Scott Nowicki, a geology professor and TBAG legend, will lead the ride around sites in North Tempe to investigate the geologic history of the region. The ride will occur every other Sunday with different guides and disciplines every time. Hooray science!

Remember to keep checking the TBAG calendar for more random bike events.