Organizers aim to create Action Plan for Bicycle Friendly Community
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The 2010 Bike Ballot is open for voting from Monday, June 21 through Thursday, July 15th at bikecharlottesville.org. The ballot consists of a series of simple questions that invite you to choose the most important projects to make the Charlottesville area more bicycling-friendly. The results will be presented to local officials later this summer, and an action plan will be developed to drive progress on the top-voted projects.
The options listed on the 2010 Bike Ballot are the top ideas that resulted from the 2010 Bike Summit, which was held on May 22 at CitySpace. More than 75 cyclists and community members attended, where they brainstormed dozens of ideas to make the Charlottesville area more bicycling-friendly. At the end, each participant voted for the projects they felt were the most important. Says Vince Caristo, executive director of the Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation, “We had a nice turnout, had some fun, got a bunch of great ideas up on the wall, and hopefully we can turn this into a mandate for change”.
Following the first Charlottesville-area Bike Summit in 2006, over 400 people weighed in on the online survey for the most important projects. This led to a list of prioritized bicycling improvements, called the “Top 5 Priority Bicycling Projects”, which was presented to local officials. While slow, progress has been made in all areas. In January, Charlottesville trails planner Chris Gensic called this list of priority improvements “the best thing that’s ever been done for bike advocacy in the city.” This year, the effort is aimed boosting the region to a Silver rating in the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bicycling Friendly Communities” program. The League evaluates communities in the areas of engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation. In 2008, the Charlottesville area earned a Bronze rating, and is due to reapply in 2012.
Founded in 2001, ACCT is dedicated to promoting sustainable land-use and alternative transportation in the Charlottesville region. Founded in 2010, Bike Charlottesville is a coalition of cycling clubs, advocacy organizations, retailers, employers, and individuals from in and around Charlottesville dedicated to promoting safe cycling for transportation, recreation, and sport.
Ror More Information, contact:
Vince Caristo, Executive Director
Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation
vince@transportationchoice.org
434.295.6554
Heather Higgins, Spokesperson
Bike Charlottesville
hey@bikecharlottesville.org
434.760.3330
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