Andrew Dollard, Jon Schull and I attend the National Bike Summit on Weds, March 10th and Jon went to advocate on March 11th with members of congress. It was a terrific conference and we all learned a great deal which will come in very handy.
I attended 3 break out sessions. The first one was held by The Alliance for Biking and Walking which was intended for advocacy communities that were just getting started and talked about the grants program ($15 K) they have to get communities started as well as the regional trainings they have for starting communities. I've attatched the "Top 10 Tips" the give for starting organizations. This includes the need to start a 501(c) (3) which I think we need to innitiate soon since it takes at least 3 months to get. I also caught the tail end of a Progressive Cities Session which featured Tom Miller who is Portland Mayor Sam Adam's Chief of Staff and the person who convinced Sam Adams that a bike friendly policy is the way to go. He was impressive and is a potential speaker for our upcoming bike summit.
The second session covered the health benefits and I met with the President of the American Public Health Asscociation and Ken Rose of Tranporation Policy Director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health both of were very informative and helpful. They were both willing to share their slides which may come in handy.
The third session was on Madison Wisc. and the mayor, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz gave a great talk. When I asked him about the snow problem, he was a bit perplexed, since he didn't view it as too big a problem since they have a policy that the bike trails get plowed preferrably before 7am. and that seems to work out. He is also a potential speaker for the bike summit.
Included is the the "Top 10 " list from the Alliance for Biking and Walking -- Scott
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