Sun. Jan 8, 12:00 NOON
We are meeting at Stinkweeds, 12 West Camelback.
Stinkweeds opens at 12:00 noon for on time arrivers.
Early arrivers can shop around the excellent shops on the northwest corner of Camelback and Central.
At Stinkweeds parking lot we will discuss these possible destinations: Postino, Windsor/Churn, TrailHead Cafe, SunUp Brewery.
12pm – We will be riding the new BUFFERED bike lanes on Central Ave from Camelback to Bethany Home then to Camelback then to Bethany Home then to Camelback then to Bethany. (a series of out and backs)
1pm-Lunch at Postino
2pm-we will do another hour of circles OR we could ride to Trail Head Cafe via AZ Canal then SunUp brewery.
3pm-Windsor/Churn OR TrailHead Cafe
4pm-more bike riding.
5pm-SunUp Brewery /End of Event
http://www.facebook.com/events/279859675396754/

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) has issued a draft report reviewing bike and pedestrian crash data in Maricopa county in order to develop appropriate countermeasures. Please email me at aar...@biketempe.org if you’d like a copy to review. Comments are due on November 15th.

For many Americans, the bicycle is a choice. An expensive toy. An eco-conscious mode of transportation. For countless others across the globe, it is much more.
For Fred, a health worker in Zambia, the bicycle is a means of reaching twice as many patients.
For Bharati, a teenager in India, it provides access to education.
For Mirriam, a disabled Ghanaian woman, working on bicycles is an escape from the stigma attached to disabled people in her community.
For Carlos, a farmer in Guatemala, pedal power is a way to help neighbors reduce their impact on the environment.
For Sharkey, a young man in California, the bicycle is an escape from the gangs that consume so many of his peers. With My Own Two Wheels weaves together the experiences of five individuals into a single story about how the bicycle can change the world—one pedal stroke at a time.
44 mins.
Here’s the trailer: http://vimeo.com/19734902
Co-Director Jacob Siegel-Boettner will be present to answer questions after the show.

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Contested Streets is a Transportation Alternatives produced, Cicala Filmworks made documentary that explores the rich diversity of New York City street life before the introduction of automobiles and shows how New York can follow the example of other modern cities that have reclaimed their streets as vibrant public spaces.

Contested Streets features new footage of reclaimed streets in London, Paris and Copenhagen and interviews with New York savvy notables such as Ken Jackson, Mike Wallace, Bob Kiley, Majora Carter, Kathryn Wylde, Enrique Peñalosa, James Howard Kunstler and many more.
57 mins.
Here’s the trailer: http://www.transalt.org/files/campaigns/sensible/contestedstreets/trailer.html

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November 7 @ 8 pm, FilmBar in Phoenix 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149225378506884

November 9 @ 6:30 pm ASU Tempe SCOB  

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=129988823771797   

Advocacy Update from Aaron Golub, TBAG Advocacy Director:

1. Communication with ADOT regarding Alameda bike bridge and 202 underpass.

We did hear back about our letters to ADOT, and we met with an ADOT representative at the CAzB meeting in January. The bridge is in their plans for the freeway expansion, but there is a debate about the source of the funds for the bridge and underpass. Hopefully, we can assist the City of Tempe in working with ADOT to come up with a solution.

2. Tempe Streetcar. Several members of the Tempe multi-modal (bike/ped) committee have been attending the streetcar meetings, and vice-versa – members of the bike/ped committee have been getting reports from the Tempe Streetcar team. We are being vigilant about bike access, impacts on existing bike lanes, and bike/ped safety as the project is being planned. They are still in early stages, so detailed designs are yet to be produced, but we are keeping our eye on everything. If you want to lend a hand with this – we need more folks concerned about cyclists and pedestrians at these planning meetings. Here is the official project website with upcoming meeting dates: http://www.tempe.gov/tim/TempeStreetcar.htm

3. Bike count. TBAG volunteers and friends and about 30 ASU students did tremendous job on the bike count. Over 75 volunteers counted bikes over two shifts at 50 intersections. Look for upcoming updates on the TBAG website concerning data analysis and other results from the count.

4. Regional meetings: We still have not secured a regular TBAG rep for the monthly MAG bike/ped meeting. I have been attending the Livable Cities Coalition meetings (we are official members of the coalition) and the coalition is giving two workshops at the annual AZ state public transit conference next week in Mesa. We need help with representing TBAG at regional meetings – let us know if you are interested in helping – it just takes a few hours per month.

5. City of Tempe ’3-Foot Rule’ Public Information Campaign. TBAG members spoke in support of the ’3-foot Safe Passing rule’ campaign being proposed by City of Tempe staff to bring attention to cyclist safety. Hopefully, this can broaden awareness about safe passing among drivers. We also hope it can improve awareness among law enforcement that endangerment of cyclists by drivers is a crime and should be punished. Look for this campaign to start this summer and during ASU back-to-school.

Do you have any advocacy ideas you’d like to pursue? Let’s discuss them over beer! Our next advocacy meeting is Monday, April 25th at 7pm at Boulders on Broadway. We hope to see you there!!

Last week, I made a visit out to Austin, Texas for the annual South by Southwest music conference. Austin’s a great town for cycling, so we threw on a carrier for our bikes and hit the highway.

On Saturday I rode into town from Manor on my fixed-gear Raleigh taking the quiet “farm to market” backroads. As I neared town I caught up to a group of friendly riders, just finishing the third day of a series of 50 mile training rides.

Turns out they were students of UT, putting in practice miles for the Texas 4000, a bicycle journey from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska for cancer research and awareness. Their goal is to earn $4500 per rider, with the deadline coming very soon of April 1st, so I told them I’d be happy to give them a mention when I got back to town. Hope you’ll take a minute to check it out.

–monk

Read more on the ride and on their fundraising progress here:
www.texas4000.org

Info on Gabrielle Giffords as a cyclist and cycling advocate:
http://drunkcyclist.com/2011/01/13/cyclist-down-gabrielle-giffords/

From Eric Iwersen:

The bicycling community came together recently to honor two cyclists killed in separate, unrelated accidents in Tempe during May. Chris Volpe was killed May 10 when he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike at University Drive and Ash Avenue. A week later, bicyclist Jay Fretz was struck and killed at the intersection of McClintock and Alameda drives.

Memorials for each of the cyclists included installation of a “ghost bike” – a bicycle that has been painted solid white – near each of the accident locations. A well-known practice by cycling communities internationally, the ghost bike serves as both a memorial and a reminder of the potential dangers bike riders face.

City of Tempe staff have been working together with the bicycling community for decades to make Tempe a bicycle-friendly community. Following these two accidents, members of the Tempe Bicycle Action Group and other bicycling advocates have contacted city staff and elected officials to express concern and advocate for continued efforts to increase bicycle safety.

Tempe encourages community members to participate in planning bicycle facilities and outreach efforts, and has a number of ways people can be involved, including the Transportation Commission, which is comprised of Tempe residents (several of whom are bicyclists), and the Commission’s Multi-modal Planning Committee to facilitate community dialogue and input on bicycle/pedestrian projects and issues.

Over the last 14 years – since passage of Tempe’s transit tax – the city has emphasized multi-modalism and creating a balanced transportation system with connectivity between transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Improvements include on-street bicycle lanes, multi-use paths, streetscape and traffic calming projects. Tempe now has more than 170 miles of bikeways throughout the city.

This is somewhat late notice for tonight’s meeting, but better late than never, right?

There are two important upcoming public meetings for transportation projects in Tempe. The more people who attend these meetings and provide public comment, the more clear it becomes that the City should keep supporting bicycling projects. The one tonight is a big one, for a road for which many people have asked over the years, “Why doesn’t it have a bike lane?” Well, it’s getting one, that’s right, it’s BROADWAY, from Rural all the way to Priest. That’s right, you will soon be able to ride your bike down a bike lane on Broadway to get to Boulders on Broadway.

Main info page here: http://www.tempe.gov/tim/Traffic/broadwayroad.htm (LOTS of info, plus a public comment form, too!)
Meeting: TONIGHT (June 7), 6 pm, Don Cassano Community Room, Tempe Transportation Center, 200 E. Fifth Street

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Also, there will be public meetings for another huge project, called the “Tempe South” project. This is part of the general regional project that brought us the light rail. It doesn’t stop there, oh no it doesn’t! That’s right, there will be some sort of link down to the south, to bring mass transit to even more of the masses. A lot of Tempe residents should be getting postcards and door hangers from the City to encourage participation.

Valley Metro has the scoop on their website: http://www.valleymetro.org/metro_light_rail/future_extensions/tempe/

The Tempe public meeting will be Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6:00–8:00 p.m
Pyle Adult Recreation Center (that’s by the library)
655 E. Southern Ave., Tempe