Huntsville Bike Committee

BASC AGENDA
May 20, 2009

1. April 22 Meeting Minutes Approval

2. Previous meeting action item review

3. Bike Plan Revisions (James & Jo)
a) Our options for quick revise before deadline (Jamie)

4. C.A.R.S Update (post meeting with Cecil Colson) what next any news on how we move? (James & Jo)

5. Bike Parking for Huntsville Public events. (Jamie)

6. PSA/WEBSITE (this may be moved to a core meeting in lue of time a) Website info resource list for flowchart (questions for Teresa?)
b) May is National Bike Month proclamation on City Website? (Jamie)
c) Nice picture and article on the website? (Jamie)
d) PSA airing log info for BFC application (Sharon)
e) Letter to accompany PSA distribution??? (Marjorie)

7. BASC Public Meeting. (Teresa)

8. Lincoln St. reflectors update. (Jo)

New Business

a) Police disinformation to public and recent harassment of cyclists. (Teresa)

BASC Meeting Minutes
4/22/09

Attendees

David Stone
Sharon Bayler
James Moore
Jamie Miernik
Rodney Baker
Scott Erwin
Marjorie Holderer
Jo Somers
Peter Hannah
Teresa Fitzpatrick

Jamie Miernik called the meeting to order at 5:10 PM.

Minutes were approved as amended.

Mayor’s Ride

• Copies of the waiver approved by COH Legal Dept. were distributed by Rodney Baker.
• We will collect email addresses of participants for future online bike survey.
• Action – Sharon to do an email sign up sheet
• City to provide 250 copies of waiver/sign up sheet to Marjorie
• Parade permit submitted and approved.
• We will have a registration table.
• Capt. Baker advised that seven bike patrol officers will be on the route.
• Proclamation for Bike Month – Will be ready for May 2.
• Capt. Baker advised that the proclamation can be put on the city website “proclamations page” after being read by Mayor.
• Bike Map – will be mentioned by the Mayor if ready by then.
• All city employees have been notified of the ride and are invited to ride with the Mayor.

Bike Route Map

• Disclaimer – Claudia Anderson needs examples for final version
• Action – Marjorie will contact Claudia for exact wording, will show Claudia the map.
• Peter & Jo worked together to renumber routes, route 64 remains unchanged.
• GIS department provided data for public lands, Peter has added.
• Labeling issues still need to be fixed.
• Routes are now colorized. Shared routes with overlap show dual colors.
• Bus routes are now dotted lines.
• POI & Legend will be on both sides.
• One-way streets will be depicted in inset for downtown.
• Oakwood will not be used to connect rte. 64 as it is too narrow, can be depicted with “dashed” lines to show it can be used as a connector if cyclists want choose.
• Action – Peter to double check legends and make sure they match on both pages.
• Pulaski to Meridian – will be “dashed: due to safety concerns..
• 59 will not change.
• Old Madison Pike – last 1/2 mile (bridge) will be “dashed” due to safety concerns.
• Motion – Jo Somers suggested Peter be credited as map designer on the map – M/S/P Unanimous!
• It was decided to use Bike Routes in larger text with “and Greenways” underneath.
• Add “includes bus routes”.

CARS update

• $197K grant application approved.
• James & Jo to meet with Cecil Colson 4/23/09 regarding how it can be administered.
• Stimulus money needs to generate jobs, we may need to use a consultant to administer. James to update and get back to us.
• Grant may be announced at Mayor’s Ride.
• Survey – will have working meeting in next 2 weeks – Jamie to send out questions
• James presented Logo – Sharon to ask Missy Goebel to work on Logo.
• Bus Wraps – James to meet with bus advertising contact next week.

Dave Stone

• Cycling Essentials class moved to July
• LAB instructor class – need 6 to 9 months to schedule to allow folks to take Cycling Essentials (pre-requisite).

Bike Plan Revisions

• Breakout for bike plan revisions to be held at Marjorie’s house on May 3, 5:00 pm. Changed to May 5th, 6pm
• James to provide soft copy of plan.
• Inputs due by May 20th.

Lincoln Street Raised Reflectors

• Raised reflectors are not bike friendly – Jo stated that this was a new product, she will advise Traffic Engineering that they are not bike friendly, and advise what can be done.

PSA’s and Website

• Flowchart for website – Trent to put Teresa in contact with Webmaster this week.
• Action – Teresa to re-send the copy of flowchart originally sent to all in February.
• Meeting Minutes should be on website and blog?
• Calendar of events for May (Bike Month)
• Jamie suggested consolidate all changes into one monthly update.
• Teresa stated that Blog can supplement city website.
• Brochures – The graphics instructor at A&M is a bike advocate & cyclist – Anthony Biggers. He is willing to help with graphics and brochure.(Teresa)
• We should do a competition among students city wide for design.(Teresa)
• Jamie showed copies of a Washington commuter brochure as a good example.
• Need to plan now for 2010 events and education.
• BASC needs to be listed as an official committee on the website under city boards and commissions.
• Action – Teresa to address with webmaster, per Rodney this can be done.
• Letter from the Mayor – what is status?
• Action – James to follow up on letter & advise.
• Action – Sharon to work with Blake to update the photos on slides to reflect content.
• Talk show PSA – Sharon to make copies of DVD for Rodney, Jamie, James, Teresa, Marjorie and Jo.
• Bike ads were running too fast – have been slowed down per Teresa.

Life Cycles:

• HPD Update? No status, tabled for next meeting. Life Cycles is currently applying for non-profit status. This topic will be benched until more info is available.

New Business

Bike Parking for Concerts in the Park – last weekend in May.

• Action – Jamie to contact Lou Hovatter.

PSA/BFC

• Need list of PSA airings for Bike Friendly City application. Blake has a log, tabled.

Bike Racks for Busses

• Two busses still don’t have racks – city will be getting new busses in the fall and all will have racks. (James)
• Action – Marjorie to contact Tommy Brown re: equipping all busses with racks.

Public Meetings

• Do we need more public interface…quite possibly
• Utilize BASC blog in meantime (Teresa included directions to use blog)
• Marjorie suggested waiting until after Mayor’s ride for public forum – to see if still needed.
• Official BASC working meetings open to public – Teresa and Rodney mentioned that perhaps some folks could attend official meetings but as observers only. However, this is yet to be determined by the whole of the BASC committee.

Next BASC Meeting will be May 20, at 5:00 PM. Since this is the same day as the Ride of Silence we will need to close the meeting by 6:30 PM.

Meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm.

The League has announced the 2009 U.S. Bicycle Friendly State Rankings. Go to Bicycle Friendly States to view the 50-state rankings list and to read more.

The bill gives traffic officers and prosecutors new tools to hold accountable reckless drivers who hit pedestrians or bicyclists. The campaign to pass HB 88 is nicknamed “One Road” to emphasize that our public roads must safely serve the needs of all road users regardless of their modes of transportation.

As in many other states, Kentucky law generally does not allow law enforcement officers to issue citations or make arrests for non-felony traffic violations not witnessed by the officer. Even when physical evidence and eyewitness testimony shows the driver at fault, officers typically cannot press any charges. Because most crashes occur when no officer is on hand to witness them, criminal charges are rarely filed in connection with the crashes. When a law-abiding bicyclist or pedestrian gets hit by a car, the news accounts say, “No charges will be filed,” giving the impression of a tragic accident for which nobody is at fault. The lack of enforceable criminal penalties sends the message that these crash-causing driving violations are of no concern to the Commonwealth, and that it is merely a private (civil) matter for the involved parties to resolve among themselves. This helps to perpetuate the false belief that bicycling and walking are dangerous, and that drivers need not do anything to reduce those dangers. read more here

This spring, Bicycling for Louisville presents three free programs to help adult bicyclists ride more safely and comfortably. One even shows motorists how to drive safely around bicyclists! Click the links below for more information, including class times and locations:

• Confident Cycling:
  This ten-hour hands-on course, offered in two or four sessions, teaches you how to handle your bicycle safely in most any condition you will encounter on the roads. This class is great for bicyclists who want to build skills and confidence for riding in areas with motor vehicle traffic.
• Bicycling Safely New!:
  This two-hour presentation shows how to make sure your bicycle is safe, adjust your helmet, follow traffic laws, avoid crashes, choose the right place to ride on different types of streets and intersections, and more. This class is great for bicyclists who don’t have time for the full Confident Cycling class but want to strengthen their safety knowledge.
• Sharing the Road New!:
  Do you know the legal rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and motorists, or the driver and bicyclist mistakes that cause the most crashes? This 45-minute session will tell you, and help you avoid becoming a statistic. This presentation is great for any bicyclist or motorist.

For more information, see the classes page.

by Peter Walker
York is safest place to ride your bike in Britain, while Calderdale, West Yorkshire is the most dangerous, research finds
A study of the most and least safe places to cycle in Britain, released today, shows that where there are more riders on the roads there is generally a lower accident rate, while in areas less popular for bikes, cycling can be notably more risky.

Contradicting the notion that a mass of inexperienced riders taking to the streets brings a spike in injuries and deaths, the research by the Cyclists Touring Club (CTC), the UK’s main cycling organisation, rates local authority areas in England on a scale of A to E according to how safe they are.

The trend is clear, with areas popular for cyclists tending to be safer on average, with the differences sometimes significant. Top of the list is traditionally bike-friendly York, where around one in eight commuters cycle to work and 0.1% are badly hurt in accidents each year. Not far down the road, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, a district centred around Halifax, is at the other end of the scale. Here, fewer than 1 in 120 commuters use bikes, and those that do face a danger level 15 times higher than in York.
read more here

No matter how, where, and why you ride…you ride, we are diverse people…from commuters to recreational riders…professional athletes to utilitarian travelers. We all vie for space and consideration in streets and on the road.

Mayor Tommy Battle has extended an invitation to join him for the re-scheduled, free, short, and easy, 4 mile loop around the downtown Huntsville area next Sunday May 17th. Sign up begins at 1:30pm at 320 Fountain Circle (at Williams) across from the children’s fountain, ride begins at 2pm. This is a ride to highlight safety, address motorist awareness, and bring together cyclist from all walks of life. It will take no longer than an hour or two. I believe we can all agree that there needs to be action to shift motorist knowledge, perception, and interaction with cyclists everywhere, as well as, address the public’s overall perception and understanding of cyclists’ rights.

Our city representatives want and need to see a united effort. If we cannot unite on this basic truth, leaving any differences behind us, how then can we expect anyone to rally in our defense for the greater benefit of us all? We may have varying opinions, but I believe we can all agree on the above statements with regard to our presence and quality of life?

That our safety be considered by all not just us must be formally addressed, or little to nothing will change…Another universal truth! That we can be treated as insignificant because we are more vulnerable than a vehicle is unconscionable. ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS, our lives and rights are just as important to consider…Don’t you think?

Let’s get together, let’s stand together, let’s ride together…for change! What do you have to loose…Everything that is precious if you do nothing! Be part of the solution, not the problem!

Thank you, and please make this a priority!

Sincerely,

Teresa Fitzpatrick

HEY ALL,

Unfortunately, the Mayor’s office cancelled it’s first ever Mayor’s ride @ 8:30 am the day of due to on and off heavy rainfall. Mayor Battle did however, ride on over to the starting point at 9am to greet the folks who braved the heavy rain and swine flu hysteria to offer his regrets and assure all that he plans to re-schedule. It was a gracious gesture and we all shared some great conversation in the rain before he headed off down the road on his bicycle. Thanks, Mayor Battle!

I will be talking to his office Monday and will post any updates and the new date for all who wish to come join Mayor Battle on the city re-scheduled free, easy, and short (4mile loop) around our downtown “Inagural Mayor’s Ride”.

Thanks, to all who volunteered support and helped in organizing this low key event! We all hope to make it a grand one next year!

Take care, and stay posted for updates!

Sincerley,

Teresa Fitzpatrick, BASC