(Photo © J. Maus)
An effort to form a new bicycle advocacy group in Vancouver will take another step tonight.
Todd Boulanger, a transportation planner and active participant in the bike scene on both sides of the river, says he hopes to bring concerned residents together to focus on urban transportation issues.
At the end of April, Boulanger says over 50 people showed up with enthusiasm for improving bike conditions in Vancouver (some present at the initial meeting in April were spurred into action by Vancouver City Council’s passage of an all-ages, mandatory helmet law back in February).
Attendees at the first meeting meeting had a range of opinions about what they hope the new group can accomplish. They filled out comment cards that answered the question “What do you want out of a new bike advocacy group in Vancouver?”
The responses included: “I want bikes viewed more positively as viable transportation”; “I want Vancouver to be another model city like Portland”; and “I want my kids to feel safe when they go out for a bike ride.”
As a follow-up to that meeting, Boulanger has brought in Gordon Black, executive director of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Scott Bricker, executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance to join the group and offer advice on how best to move forward.
If you are interested in creating a bicycle advocacy group that focuses on urban bicycling issues in Vancouver, you should attend tonight’s meeting (and/or stay tuned for further developments).
- Vancouver Bike Advocacy Meeting
June 9th, 5-7pm (tonight!)
Wallis Engineering Offices (215 West 4th St., Ste 200 — right off the I-5 bridge bike path in downtown Vancouver)
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There will be chips, dips, and drinks at 5PM.
Look for the A board sign on Columbia street (\’Bike Meeting\’ + Arrow) – as to where to turn. (The door is mid block near the Fastenal Shop.)
Bring a friend and park your bikes on any given pole in the area…as the 12 bike parking spaces at Wallis will fill quickly.
I wish I had checked this page sooner. Such is the problem of living ten miles out in Fisher\’s Landing.
But at the moment, I\’ll be content watching a few families-worth of kids zip around by bike outside of my window. At least they know how to have fun.
We had a strong turnout at the meeting ~27 bike advocates.
We worked through several issues: proposed service area, inital focus of the group, modal focus (bike only vs. multimodal), and which group to work with on developing an advocacy program in Vancouver (or set up an independent group).
We used an electronic voting process so I will send that data to Jonathan for an update about the meeting.
Thanks again to our guest speakers Scott (BTA) and Gordon (Bike Alliance of Washington), our hosts Wallis Engineering, etc.
And for The Columbian for posting notice of the meeting and The Oregonian (Clark County desk) for sending a reporter (Allan Brettman) to cover the event.
The next meeting will be in July. Thanks.