Virginia Bicycling Federation has teamed with three organizations around the state to get lights on bikes and reflectors on riders. Bike lights and ankle reflective bands have been delivered to Williamsburg Area Bicyclists, The New River Valley Bike Kitchen, and Virginia Commonwealth University RamBikes. The goal of the Light up the Night project is to improve visibility of bicyclists who ride after dark out of necessity.
The Williamsburg Area Bicyclists will work with a James City County-based hostel to provide the lights and reflective leg bands to international exchange student workers and other service workers staying at the hostel who use bicycles for transportation. Having the lights and reflective leg bands will allow WAB to expand their current work in which they have distributed helmets to workers, and provided education on helmet fit, laws governing bicycle riding and general safety.
The New River Valley Bike Kitchen serves the communities of Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Dublin and Pulaski. While these communities are increasingly connected by public transportation gaps in where customers need to go – home or work –need to be bridged. The NRV Bike Kitchen sees the recycled bike as a tool to bridge these transit gaps and seeks to provide customers with a package that includes a recycled bike, a helmet, lights and a lock. Since many of these trips will be made in the early morning hours or after dark, the Bike Kitchen believes distribution of lights with the recycled bike is essential for safe use of the bike.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) RamBikes serves VCU students and residents in surrounding communities. Many bicyclists riding on and near the VCU campus ride at night without lights. VCU RamBikes works to increase safety awareness among all road users by distributing information about laws governing bicycling, general safety guidance, helmets and lights. VCU RamBikes bike ambassadors will target key intersections on campus and wait for cyclists to ride by at night. Those without lights will be offered a set in exchange for listening to how visibility is critical for safety for all road users.
All three organizations will be providing updates on their efforts. We look forward to sharing those updates with our VBF members and friends.
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