Vancouver. Photo taken from the
I-5 bridge.
(Photos © J. Maus)
Advocates and concerned citizens from both sides of the river will meet tonight to discuss how to move bike advocacy forward in the city of Vancouver, Washington.
The meeting will be facilitated by Todd Boulanger, an active Vancouver bike advocate who also works for the City of Vancouver as a transportation planner (although at this meeting, he is acting as a citizen, not as a city employee).
Boulanger says he called the meeting to try and organize Vancouverites who care about better biking conditions. He hopes to someday establish an official, Vancouver chapter of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) or the Bike Alliance of Washington, or possibly an entirely new advocacy group.
“This is an initial social meeting to discuss how to advocate for a bike friendly Vancouver, share stories, and access help from the BTA and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. All bicyclists and friends of bicyclists are welcome.”
Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists.
Talks about strengthening the voice of Vancouver bike advocates were renewed back in February when the Vancouver City Council passed a new mandatory helmet ordinance.
In June of 2006 Vancouver was named a “Bronze” level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Here are the details on tonight’s meeting:
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Vancouver BTA or Bike Alliance – organizing for advocacy in the Couv!
Wednesday, 4/23 – 5:30 ~ 6:30
Wallis Engineering (215 West 4th St., Ste 200, Vancouver)
More meeting details here
Thanks Jonathan – see you all there tonight.
For anyone who is not able to attend tonight and would like to be notified of future Vancouver advocacy discussions please email me at oulanger@excite.com
[There is no \’B\’ in my email address.]
And THNAKS to Bob Wallis and Chad Kays for hosting this event. (Beer and snacks will be provided.)
I am sharing some of the community discussion for transportation advocacy in Vancouver.
\’STEPS\’ is interested in broadening future discussion of advocacy to include pedestrians:
Hi Todd,
I have a scheduling conflict with the timing of tonight’s meeting. Ralph is attending in my place as well as being someone interested in the topic of bike/ped advocacy. If and when it is appropriate, these are the few points I would like the group to be aware of regarding Steps’ pedestrian advocacy work.
Steps to a Healthier Clark County (Steps) is a grant-funded initiative managed by Community Choices (www.clarkcommunitychoices.org )
Advocating for walkable communities is one goal within the Steps initiative
A committee comprised of community partners has worked for two years to assess and research the status of and need for an organized and sustained voice for pedestrian advocates. The needs and opportunities in Clark County are great and this is the right time to move on this issue.
There is no organized and sustained voice for pedestrians in Vancouver or Clark County. It is a gap we want to fill.
The committee’s goal is to recommend a preferred structure for a pedestrian advocacy group and then help with the implementation of the recommendation
Currently, the structures being researched for viability are a county advisory committee, an advisory committee within COV, a free-standing coalition, or potentially (although unlikely) creating a new nonprofit.
We are not opposed to combining forces with bicycle advocates; especially with the move in many communities to work within the Active Transportation context.
We are willing to be part of discussions to envision the pros and cons of working together and what that could look like.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you very much,
Charlene
Charlene Welch
Community Choices
Steps to a Healthier Clark County
http://www.clarkcommunitychoices.org
http://www.walkclarkcounty.org
Phone: (360) 907-3502
From the Bicycle Alliance of Washington:
We depend on the input from affiliated clubs and organizations around the state and would invite the new Vancouver group to be a participant in that effort.
In Spokane, we have provided logistical support, fiscal sponsorship, aided in the city bike/ped plan, liaised with elected officials – the whole range – and would, resources permitting, be willing to offer the same level of support to a group in Vancouver.
I would encourage your group to be as broad-based as possible – bring in schools folks, health dept and recreational and commuter cyclists. Think county-wide.
From having worked on creating an advocacy group on Bainbridge Island in 1994, I can tell that the biggest thing to achieving success is turning up, turning up, turning up. Reading reports, responding and being a polite presence at every damned local meeting. Advocacy at this level is not glorious and the victories will be hard won.
It will take 2-3 years to have a cohesive group with an effective voice.
Good luck tomorrow night.
Regards,
Gordon Black
Executive Director
Bicycle Alliance of Washington
PO Box 2904
Seattle WA. 98111
(206) 224-9252 Ex. 300
http://www.bicyclealliance.org
**Note – we have installed a new phone system.
Be sure to use the extension number below to reach me directly.
Vancouver is becoming better for cyclists all the time. This can only help.
In general in my experience, drivers are as polite in Vancouver as they are in Portland. Plenty of room for improvement, but most are very aware of cyclists.
It was certainly encouraging to see the turnout for this event. Even better considering the 20+ mph winds and rain this evening. I can\’t wait to see where we can take this.
I wish to thank all of the bicycle (and pedestrian/ physical activity) advocates that came out to our initial advocacy meeting last night.
There were 50 attendees!
Our next steps:
– sending out a short survey monkey survey as to what focus our organization should initially have (bikes + peds vs. bikes, traffic safety or connectivity, service area: city or county, fun vs. change the world, etc.)
– contact the BTA and BAW to send a representative to our next meeting to discuss the +/- of an alliance with either group or going it alone.
– meet in late May or mid June
Please email me if you would like to be added to our discussion effort.
oulanger[at]excite.com