The Thunderhead Alliance Weather Report

		Volume 2, Issue 4 _____ April 28, 2006
		In This Issue: Not Too Late to Register for DC Thunderhead Training Member News: Using Crash Data to Improve Streets Org Tip: Gearing Up for Bike to Work Week and Beyond Cut and Past for Your Newsletter: Put the Joy Back in the Joy of Cycling
		NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER FOR DC THUNDERHEAD TRAINING We're still accepting registrations for our Thunderhead Training in Washington, DC coming up May 9-11. On top of our proven campaign development curriculum that will guide you through effective campaign planning as you build your organization, this Training has the special, added bonus of Hill visits and our guidance to help you make them productive. A huge thanks to our sponsors for helping make this Training possible!: Planet Bike, National Bicycle Dealers Association, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Preferred Offices, Local Government Commission, AARP and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Find all the Training and registration info at: http://www.thunderheadalliance.org/trainings.htm. If funding is an issue, please contact Sue Knaup, Executive Director, sue@thunderheadalliance.org or: (928) 541-9841. We have ways to help.
		MEMBER NEWS: USING CRASH DATA TO IMPROVE STREETS What if you could find the location, type, and date of any reported bike or pedestrian accident in your city, online? What if you could also find every bike shop, bike rack, road hazard, or amenity with this same tool? You can in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Bike PGH! (http://www.bike-pgh.org) partnered with MapHub (http://www.maphub.org) to make this dream a reality. This innovative new service has been up and running for several months. Although it will take a little bit of time to collect a substantial volume of data, the early results look promising. "Right now MapHub is an experiment in progress," said Scott Bricker, Executive Director of Bike Pittsburgh. "We envision it as a new tool for bicyclists to communicate with one another, inform city agencies and politicians, and hopefully, effect positive change for the City of Pittsburgh with regards to bicycling." Bricker adds, "We're currently collecting as much data as we can on where accidents involving bicycles have happened, and mapping them. We plan on working with City Planning to make areas with many bike accidents safer through better signage, shared lane markings, and both motorist and bicyclist education. We are also posting details about Pittsburgh's many bridges and how they rate in terms of bike-friendliness. Yet another use is posting locations where bikes have been stolen." The truly innovative aspect of this new technology is that it allows individual bicyclists and pedestrians to provide real data in real time - instead of the years that it may take to complete a study or get sets of government data. Historically, data has been collected from state DOTs, public health statistics, or government studies. Often, the data sets are several years old. When questioned about simply adapting existing technologies to collect data, Bricker replied, "Google map hacks just don't do the trick. We're really excited about how people can comment on the various things that are posted to the site - it adds to the community aspect of bicycling, and allows us to get feedback from bicyclists and their perspective of the city." Right now, Thunderhead members can log in to the website as a guest to get an idea of the power of this new tool. Just visit: http://www.maphub.org and look for the "Visit the Guest Map" link in the upper right corner of the website. (Note: At this time, the mapHub service is only available for the City of Pittsburgh.) Thunderhead welcomes news items from our member organizations based on each month’s theme. Please send your suggested item (maximum 300 words) to: david@thunderheadalliance.org. We will publish the most inspiring story and list the web links of other contributors within that month’s theme. Next month's theme is: Successful media campaigns regarding increased transportation costs.
		ORG TIP: GEARING UP FOR BIKE TO WORK WEEK AND BEYOND This month’s Org Tip offers inspiration on building on the momentum of Bike to Work Week to inspire your members to bicycle everywhere they go. First we’ll point you towards the source of this inspiration. Many organizations use Bike to Work Week (May 15-19 this year) as an excellent public outreach tool. The weather is warming up, people feel the need to get outdoors again after a long winter, and many have spent the cold months longing to ride. The League of American Bicyclists offers some really great tools and tips for individuals and organizations; check them out. Getting some of your local officials out on a bike during Bike to Work Week has proven to be a great way to attract media and attention for many Thunderhead organizations. Thunderhead offers ready-to-use materials to help you get your elected officials out on their bikes. See the members’ side of our web site or email david@thunderheadalliance.org for copies. But think bigger; think beyond Bike to Work Week. How do you turn those folks who made the effort to get to work on their bike into folks who make the effort to get everywhere on their bike? Think of Bike to Work Week as one gateway to getting folks out on bikes for more than just commuting to work. Try some of these event ideas immediately following Bike to Work Week: Rides to a local sporting event A post-work happy hour just for cyclists at a hip bar or restaurant A social gathering in a popular park Get a local bar to play the Sunday bike races aired by the Outdoor Life Network (http://olntv.com/cyclysm) from May to mid-June and set a regular time for all to meet there. Maybe the bar will offer bicyclists a special. Nothing inspires people more than a little group bonding. The possibilities are endless. These events can be used to boost your membership, too! Be sure to have plenty of membership materials on hand as well as some of your best supporters to help keep the enthusiasm up and the conversations flowing on all the many ways participants can make bicycling a regular part of their lives. CUT AND PASTE FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER: PUT THE JOY BACK IN THE JOY OF CYCLING For your newsletter - complete and ready to print; just cut from our newsletter and paste in to yours! - - - - - - - - - - Put The Joy Back In The Joy Of Cycling Here are 10 great reasons to stop reading this newsletter and get out on your bike! 1) Spring is here! You can really smell the flowers when you're outside and on your bike. 2) Take your friends and/or family along; bicycling is a great weekend recreational activity that costs nothing to do. 3) Got your eye on a new bike? Donate your old bike to a local charity or community bike program so that someone can take advantage of your old bike. 4) Go shopping with your bike - see how easy it is to buy several days of groceries without the hassle of finding parking or putting gas in your car. 5) Bike to work - people who bike to work report feeling better and significantly more productive at work. Save money, gas, parking, and hassles. 6) Sign up for a bike tour on your next vacation. 7) Teach a child how to ride a bike. This is a gift that lasts a lifetime. 8) Work off those extra winter pounds - this type of exercise really feels good! 9) Ride past a gas station for fun. (Or stop in if you need some free air.) 10) What are you waiting for? Bicycling is much more fun than reading this newsletter!
		This monthly Thunderhead Alliance Weather Report is for the leaders of our member organizations and our supporters. The Thunderhead Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is the only coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations working in unison to break down the barriers to safe bicycling and walking in North American communities. Find more info at: www.thunderheadalliance.org.