National industry-funded bicycle advocacy group People for Bikes (formerly Bikes Belong) has launched a new PSA campaign dubbed “Travel With Care.” The campaign aims at “humanizing people on bikes and encouraging better behavior among drivers and bike riders.”
A series of posters has been launched and they’ll soon be appearing on billboards and other locations nationwide.
The campaign was modeled on the “Drive With Care” campaign launched (via a successful crowd-funding effort) by the non-profit Bike Pittsburgh this past spring.
The visuals include portraits of everyday people and their bikes, along with some clever taglines. For instance a chef’s posters reads: “Chef. Neighbor. Rides a bike. Don’t cut it close.”
People for Bikes says, “We want to inspire the general public to see every bike rider as a neighbor, friend or family member—just a normal person who chooses to bike.”
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The campaign is also very similar to one created by the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition in 2007 in response to the death of Timothy O’Donnell. The “And We Bike” campaign also included portraits of everyday riders and events where people held up signs on the side of the road that read “neighbor,” “employee,” “friend,” and so on. That campaign earned WashCoBTC’s former leader Hal Ballard an Alice Award nomination.
Here are more of the posters from the new People for Bikes campaign…
I’m glad they changed the slogan from “Drive” to “Travel” because I think people respond poorly when bike-related campaigns look like they’re targeted only at drivers. I also like the mix of people in the portraits — the race car driver being an especially good idea.
If enough media companies donate enough quality advertising spots to this campaign, it could help encourage more people to chill out while using the roads. And that’s a good thing.
The only thing that bums me out about this type of campaign is that it lays bare a hard truth of American roadway culture: Most people don’t even consider bike riders as being human. Oh well, I guess we’ve got to start somewhere.
What do you think?