Consortium of North Shore Environmental Groups CONSEG Nov. 11, 2014 MINUTES Transportation in the Suburbs: Moving Beyond the Car (15 communities represented, 42 attendees plus 4 panelists) (Highlights first, details follow.) League of Illinois Bicyclists can help towns to become Bike Friendly Communities (see http://bikeleague.org/bfa) and create a bike plan. Contact Ed Barsotti at lib@bikelib.org. See www.bikelib.org. The Bike Friendly Community program (http://bikeleague.org/bfa) is a good way to make progress and clarify what your community needs to focus on. Active Transportation Alliance is also available to assist. Contact Nancy WagnerATA at nancy@activetrans.org. See www.activetrans.org. RTA (oversees CTA, Metra and PACE) is another resource but they work only with municipalities, not non-profits. Contact Jessica Hector-Hsu at HectorHsuJ@RTACHICAGO.ORG. Cities with active transportation amenities benefit in many ways, including economically. Sixteen of Business Week s twenty Best Cities to Ride out the Recession are also Bike Friendly Cities. Walkable/bikeable communities are more likely to attract millennials and seniors. Active Transportation advocates in each community should create a steering committee that includes residents and Village staff, work to pass a Complete Streets Ordinance, and then create a Master Bike Plan. That plan should be submitted to your Village and then the Village should submit the bike plan to CMAP. This makes in more likely that active transportation considerations will be included in all future IDOT road projects in your community. People bike and walk more when it is safe to do so. Focus on dangerous intersections and develop safe school routes. Encourage traffic calming. Page 1 of 7
To help educate both drivers and cyclists, consider using League of Illinois Bicyclists on-line education tool - www.bikesafetyquiz.com - great quiz, free and easy to use. To encourage walking, consider snow shoveling ordinances, education and enforcement. Add notices in Village newsletters about clearing sidewalks. There is funding available for active transportation improvements. Grants are much easier to write once a Master Bike Plan and a Complete Streets ordinance are in place. All CONSEG members should consider participating in the Nov 22, 2015 National Car-free Day for maximum regional publicity and impact. * * * * * * * Ed Barsotti, Executive Director of the League of Illinois Bicyclist, Director and current Board Member of Active Transportation Every community can increase biking rates those communities that are most active have the highest rates of cycling. If you build it, they will come First, every town needs a bike task force, then a Bicycle Master Plan. These include bike networks maps (roads, routes and trails with barriers highlighted) Bike Plans involve the Five E s engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation Who initiates a Master Bike Plan? Trustees, Planning or Community Development staff, Transportation Commissioners, Environmental Commissioners, citizens or cycling groups Develop a steering committee, get staff/village support, get public involved, create detailed recommendation, plan for implementation, be strategic. Avoid pitfalls. Obstacles Perception of recreation-only purpose, limited funding levels, resentment of unlawful cyclists, road standards and liability fear Villages can use www.bikesafetyquiz.com - great quiz, free and easy to use. Page 2 of 7
Since parking is hard and getting more expensive at train stations, that is an opportunity to increase biking amongst those commuters. Look for win-wins. Use economic arguments for biking. Bikers do stop at certain types of businesses. Removing parking can be very difficult. League of Illinois Bicyclists is a available to help your community. Contact them. Nancy Wagner, Suburban Outreach Manager of Active Transportation Alliance. ATA works to help communities develop Master Bike Plans. Moving beyond the car is very hard to do in the suburbs. At least, the north shore has access to Metra and RTA through Wilmette. Every suburb is unique. One size does not fit all. ATA partners with other communities to write bike plans and study active trans issues. ATA helps get players together at the same table to work on trails. Trying to create more bike trail Friends of... groups. To move beyond the car, make it safe and easy. Consider the built environment like sidewalks, safe intersections, (see ATA s Safe Crossings campaign) Consider snow shoveling ordinances, education and enforcement. Add notices in Village newsletters Submit a Bicycle Plan and submit it to CDOT. Then, CDOT needs to take your plan into account in their planning. Grants are much easier to write once a Master Bike Plan and a Complete Streets ordinance are in place. Active Transportation Alliance is a strong ally and advocate. Contact them for assistance. Randy Neufeld, Cycling Fund Director at SRAM, Former Executive of Chicagoland Bicycle Federation This is the most exciting time for urban cycling advocacy with huge strides. But Moving Beyond the Car is really, really challenging. Ridership is flat or diminishing in the suburbs. Page 3 of 7
Schaumberg has great bicycle infrastructure for years, but driving is easy and parking is free in the suburbs. What is the competition for biking? Look for short vehicle trips. Can we focus on those trips and get people to consider NOT driving their own cars for those trips? Consider bike share systems in the suburbs, but think outside the box. What about the Chicago Botanic Garden providing rental bikes? Park Districts? What about companies providing bikes for their employees lunch time and break time use? Getting people to commute to work by bike is only 11% of all car trips. Don't neglect to focus on all those other car trips such as school, shopping and entertainment. What big new things can we put in place fast? Think outside the box. Promote electric bikes e-bike trend is growing fast, but not in the US. New trend is The electrification of transportation Promote cool new bike designs ELF bike put on display in your village. Consider and publicize Uber and Lift car hiring/sharing services, and data-driven options Try to establish car sharing in your community, like Zipcar. Green cars still cause a problem they result in just as much congestion, so moving to green cars does not solve the problem. Solar paneled trail being installed in Amsterdam. Generates electricity for the surrounding community. Kudos to first community that installs this in the northern suburbs! Look at traffic calming methods Speed limit in German towns is 18mph! Makes biking a better option. The first step for advocates is to communicate problems and barriers to your village. Jessica Hector Hsu from the RTA Regional -- Oversite agency over the three public trans systems, Metra, CTA and RTA We focus a lot on the last mile of everyone s commute on public transportation. TOD - Transportation Oriented Development. Her organization works with communities they put out a call for projects. They work with municipalities, but not with advocacy groups. See RTAMs.org Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics (RTAMS) is a data warehouse for planning and financial Page 4 of 7
information on the transit system in the northeastern Illinois area surrounding Chicago. Encourage companies to work with RTA to provide shuttles to help with that last mile to a company There are company transit benefits/incentives programs We need transit parity we need at least as much of a break for transit costs as parking costs. Questions and Answers: How can we promote kids walking and biking to school? Active Trans has a trailer with 30 bikes and helmets for education opportunities. Every Village needs a Bike Master Plan we all can use the people at this event to help them. Advocates MUST get Village staff on your side for active trans. How do we change the reputation of bus riding? Make it fun, figure out rewards, change attitudes, encourage busing to specific events like fireworks, or other celebrations. Work on the economic argument to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT s) Ask teens to delay license and share insurance savings with them Do Idling Reduction Campaigns with signs, Letters to the Editor, student written thank you notes to those parents NOT idling in the school pick up line. Discuss traffic, parking and idling issues with your schools district. 2:55pm Discuss format and agenda for next meeting on Jan. 13th. Proposed topics: January 13 Spring Clean Up/Habitat Restoration programs and/or how to run a successful campaign in your community March 10 Food and Agriculture: Reducing Your Community s Foodprint - Farmers markets, greening restaurants, community gardens, composting Other possible future topics include: Website development Financing, fundraising, dues & membership Page 5 of 7
Communications newsletters, social media, etc Utilizing community environmental commissions effectively Benefits of a community sustainability director Water quality Water conservation Electronics recycling Energy Conservation Light bulb project Sharing Programs Other ideas? 3:00pm Adjourn Informal conversations continue. The next CONSEG meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, 1-3 pm Panelist Biographies: Randy Neufeld is the director of the SRAM Cycling Fund. Randy started his career as a cycling advocate in Chicago at the Active Transportation Alliance, formally known as the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. He began as executive director in 1987, and then served as Chief Strategy Officer from 2004 through 2009. He continues to be active as a board member. During over 20 years of NGO leadership in Chicago, he gained experience working in all aspects of cycling promotion including planning, mapping, safety, marketing, design, policy, lobbying and funding. With the support of SRAM, Randy continues as a leader in cycling advocacy in Chicago, nationally, and internationally. Randy is president of America Bikes the national coalition working to grow cycling through national transportation policy and funding. He is also the strategy manager for the National Complete Streets Coalition. Randy serves on the Chicago Bicycle Advisory Council, the Chicago Pedestrian Advisory Council and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Transportation Committee. He was the founding chair and is a current board member of the Alliance for Biking and Walking, a North American coalition of pedestrian and bicycle advocacy groups formerly known as the Thunderhead Alliance. Randy chairs the state advocacy committee of the National Partnership for Safe Routes to School. Page 6 of 7
Ed Barsotti has been Executive Director of the League of Illinois Bicyclists since 2001. In his role heading the non-profit bicycle advocacy organization, Ed serves as a liaison between government and cyclists seeking better biking conditions in Illinois. Projects include, promotion of bike-friendly roads and more trails, cyclist and motorist and bike planning assistance for communities. Ed is certified by the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycling safety instructor. A resident of Aurora IL, Ed bikes around 3000 miles per year for recreation and transportation. Nancy Wagner is a Suburban Outreach Manager for the Active Transportation Alliance. She brings extensive experience in public affairs, policy advocacy and community development to the organization. Passionate about making communities comfortable places to walk and bike for people of all ages, Ms. Wagner has assisted dozens of suburbs in developing bicycle and pedestrian plans, securing funding for Safe Routes to School programs, and making connections to trails. She created Active Transportation Councils to advance regional bike/walk/transit goals, and leads the Family Friendly Bikeways and Safe Crossings programs in the north and west suburbs. As a Policy Consultant with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Ms. Wagner directed campaigns supporting renewable energy sources and managing climate change. She has also lead successful initiatives to pass energy efficiency legislation and significantly increase health care funding. Page 7 of 7