Volume 2, Issue 8 August 29, 2006 |
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In This Issue:
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THUNDERHEAD TRAINING IN PHILADELPHIA OCTOBER 20-22 A huge thanks to our Philadelphia Thunderhead Training sponsors who are making this Training possible: Planet Bike, National Bicycle Dealers Association, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Local Government Commission, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Fuji. THUNDERHEAD’S BENCHMARKING PROJECT GETS BOOST FROM CDC AND FEATURED AT ITE CONFERENCE The CDC is Thunderhead’s most recent partner for the project, offering not only funding through the contract, but invaluable health expertise and analysis of the report to ensure it will resonate with health practitioners. The bicycle industry has also taken a valuable role initially through seed funding from Planet Bike, the National Bicycle Dealers Association and the Bikes Belong Coalition. Now that the report is underway, they will offer their expertise for bicycle industry data. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), another valuable partner for the Benchmarking Project, invited Thunderhead’s Executive Director, Sue Knaup, to present on the project at their annual conference in Milwaukee earlier this month. This was an excellent opportunity to showcase the project to ITE members as momentum for the project builds. You can find Sue’s ITE conference Power Point presentation and more information on the project posted on our Benchmarking Project page at: http://www.thunderheadalliance.org/benchmarking.htm |
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THUNDERHEAD’S MUTUAL AID PROGRAM Thunderhead's Mutual Aid conference calls have already won accolades from Thunderhead leaders who have participated. About 20 people joined each of our first two calls of the season. The first call on Founders' Circles shared the systems and secrets for recruiting 20-30 people to become Founding Members at $1,000+ each, generating a nest egg to hire your first executive director and build a major donor base to support strong, sustainable advocacy. The second call on Advanced Membership Development generated excitement about wholesaling memberships to bike shops, customizing donation level to the ability of the member to give, and other tricks to get the most out of a membership base. Join in on future calls! Contact Dave Snyder to get the access info for the call, or if you have an idea for a topic. Notes from these calls can be found in the Members Resources Library of the Thunderhead website. The calls are always on Thursdays at 1:00pm Eastern time (12:00pm Central, 11:00am Mountain, 10:00am Pacific). Future calls are scheduled as below: September
21 - Beginning Membership Development
September 28 - Small Town Bike/Ped Advocacy October 12 - Working With Chapters October 26 - Big City Bike/Ped Advocacy |
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MEMBER NEWS: MAINEDOT CONTRACTS SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL TO BICYCLE COALITION OF MAINE Did you know that SAFETEA-LU, the most recent transportation bill passed earlier this year, requires each state to have a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Coordinator? Jeff Miller of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM) did! The BCM had already been contracting to MaineDOT since 2003 to assist with the SRTS Encouragement Projects, so when the state put out RFPs for a contracted SRTS Coordinator, Jeff leapt at the opportunity. The BCM was not the only organization that applied to the state to contract this position; according to Jeff, the BCM faced some real competition. Thunderhead asked Jeff how things have changed now that BCM is the MaineDOT SRTS Coordinator: Thunderhead: How has your job changed now that BCM is responsible for all SRTS activities rather than just assisting? Jeff Miller: Well it is a bit more difficult because we are finding MaineDOT understandably wants their name on everything. It is a DOT program but we are balancing a fine line as partners who are administering the project and when and where it is appropriate to crow for ourselves. It also means we can't write letters of recommendation for communities, due to potential conflicts of interest. T: What particulars were MaineDOT looking for on their RFP - any advice to give other Thunderhead organizations that might find themselves in a similar situation? JM: They wanted a professional with project management experience and or engineering experience. Paul Niehoff (whom BCM hired for the job) was the perfect person since he has been a project manager for one of Maine's larger cities for a while in addition to having assisted with Safe Routes programs and being an AVID bicyclist. T: Has the addition of the SRTS Coordinator been the gateway for any additional funding opportunities (other than the state contract)? JM: I think it is important for bike advocacy organizations to beware of mission creep and only attempt something like this if it is an area where they bring some expertise and it can strengthen the program. This significant stretch challenged us and sidelined a lot of other important things but with three years experience in Safe Routes already we felt we were the best team to tackle this by far. T: Any general advice for organizations that are considering taking on this role for their state? JM: Be sure you have very clear boundaries to maintain your autonomy as an advocacy organization and constantly communicate with the relevant agencies. In some ways we would have preferred that the MaineDOT had been able to hire the role directly but this is certainly a good plan B. 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: Partnering with like-minded organizations to increase membership. |
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ORG TIP: GREAT BICYCLING AND WALKING PHOTOS AVAILABLE Over the years, David Drdul has assembled a collection of bicycle- and pedestrian-related photographs. David has made over 150 of these photos available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/drdul for anyone to download and use. These photos are provided under a Creative Commons "attribution/share alike" license, which essentially means you're free to use the photos provided that you a) attribute them to "Richard Drdul," and b) make any derivative works publicly available. The Pedestrian and Bicycling Information Center (PBIC) also maintains a vast library of digital photo images. They are free for public use, but as always, please abide by their usage guidelines. If you have good digital images of bicycling, walking, and transportation infrastructure that you would be willing to share with Thunderhead members, please email them to David Hoffman; we'll start a collection and eventually post them to the Members Resources Library on the Thunderhead website. CUT AND PASTE FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER: BICYCLING'S FUTURE IN CHINA (AND THE UNITED STATES, TOO?) You may have heard about the explosive growth of automobile traffic in China's cities due to government crackdowns on bicyclists and pedestrians. This news item brings hope through a renewed encouragement of bicycling and walking in China... Just put [your city name here] where noted in the article below. - - - - -
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Bicycling's Future in China (and the United States, Too?) China has a population of more than a billion people - four times the population of the United States. Until recently, bicycling and walking reigned supreme throughout most of China as the preferred mode of travel. Yet, since 1978, automobile use on China's roads has increased more than 20 times! This is due in large part to government crackdowns on bicycles. There are estimates that at the current pace auto usage could quintuple again by 2020. In some cities like Shanghai, motorists flagrantly disobey traffic signals and barrel through crosswalks while pedestrians are crossing. Unfortunately and amazingly, the pedestrians and bicyclists are being fined! Imagine what would happen if this was the case in [insert your city here]. Now, faced with looming energy shortages and increased traffic congestion, China is taking a second look at how it has encouraged the increased use of automobiles and the decrease of bicycling and walking. But can such crackdowns really happen here in [insert your city here]? Do you think car culture is still on the rise, or will we be seeing a decline due to increased gas prices, the rise of global temperatures, and an increased focus on public health and obesity? We can’t be sure, but you can be assured that [insert your org’s name here] is doing everything we can to prevent such a terrible tide as China is now facing. The future of bicycling, bicycle and pedestrian-friendly urban areas, and strength of our voice is in YOUR hands. YOU can help us by attending public meetings when we get the word out, voting for candidates who support bicycle and pedestrian projects, and keeping your membership current. We can't do it without your help... not for all the tea in China. For more information on this disturbing trend in China, please visit: http://www.itdp.org/STe/ste22/china.html |
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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. |