01.05.09
Posted in Events
by Mark Dieterich at 12:39 pm
Welcome to 2009! I hope the holidays were good to everyone and you are ready to help make 2009 the yaer of the bicycle in Providence. Our next adocacy meeting is just around the corner. We will be meeting @ 6pm, at the office of Red Five Sports Group (269 S Main St, Providence). On the agenda for this meeting:
Continuing Business:
- The Bike Providence T-shirt design
- Public Service Announcement project update
- Driver manual pamphlet update
- Henderson and Washington bridge updates
- NBW/GARI grant application
- Bike to Work Day (B2WD)
New Business:
- Discussion about what we can do to help DOT apply for grants to support bicycle infrastructure under the stimulus package.
- Google Map displaying official city routes, recommended routes, points-of-interest, etc.
There will be time to discuss other topics after these items are discussed.
As always, we encourage anyone interested in bicycle advocacy to attend our meetings. We want to hear from as many voices and willing volunteers as we can!
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Posted in Advocacy
by Eric at 10:59 am
Happy new year!
While I still don’t believe that the City of Providence is ready for a full-on bike sharing program (although the local colleges may be), here is another example of people pulling it off in a nearby municipality, Mystic.
The organization behind the program has had over 100 bikes donated already, and over 20 of them are road ready, complete with helmets, baskets, locks, and neon green paint jobs. There are multiple distribution centers around town where a local or tourist can sign one out for a fully-refundable $10 deposit. Support comes from donations and the local chamber of commerce.
As a more tourist-oriented city, Mystic is better positioned for this program. What do you think has to change in Providence before a citywide bike-sharing program can be successful?
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12.16.08
Posted in Advocacy
by Margherita at 5:00 pm
DAVID BEERS
From Monday’s Globe and Mail
December 15, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
Humanity is threatened by a global-warming crisis. Canada, facing the crisis of global financial meltdown, is looking for ways to keep people working. The time is ripe, it seems, for an era of massive, green public-works projects.
Projects like a 12-kilometre SkyTrain subway line connecting Vancouver to the University of British Columbia.
Imagine that train packed with smiling, eco-guilt-free students zipping on and off their secluded campus by the sea. The UBC subway line, which would run through the heart of the city, is already on the drawing board, slated for 2020. Provincial and Vancouver political leaders have voiced their enthusiasm. The price tag is set at $2.8-billion.
Well, hold on there. Patrick Condon, senior researcher at the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC, has run further numbers and believes he has a more sensible plan.
Read the rest of this entry »
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12.15.08
Posted in Advocacy, Bike Commuting
by Eric at 5:35 pm
The rumors are true, RIDOT will soon be re-opening the narrow Washington Bridge sidewalk connecting India Point Park and East Providence.
Late this month or early in January, the fences will be removed and bike commuters will no longer be forced to use the Henderson Bridge to cross the Seekonk River. This is a temporary reopening, and access will be closed again once construction of the George Redman Linear Park is imminent.
Speaking of the Linear Park: there is currently some $15 million in place, but the project as currently designed would now cost $33 million to construct. To get this project back on track, RIDOT will be conducting a “value engineering” study in January or February of 2009, to examine how the design might be altered in order to bring the cost down, making it more feasible given current funding realities, while not diminishing the central utility of the project as a transportation route for bikes and pedestrians. More on that will be posted here when the information is available.
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12.10.08
Posted in Advocacy
by Eric at 12:20 pm
Perhaps so. In that case, just send this on to friends and family. Here is a tool for calculating the true cost to you of owning a car (not just the price of gas, registration and insurance!).
http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm
Near the bottom of the page, you will find a link to a page showing where they came up with the various per-mile costs.
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12.05.08
Posted in Advocacy, General
by Eric at 4:25 pm
The Providence Bicycle Coalition has been notoriously underrepresented at Green Drinks in Providence. What’s Green Drinks, you ask? It is this, and it happens every month in our town. This month, we meet at the offices of the R.I. Green Building Council, 28 Wolcott St, which is here, sort of behind the VA Hospital. Starts at 5 pm. Ends when you leave.
So come on out and meet other bike advocates, as well as environmentalists from all sorts of fields! See you there.
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Posted in Advocacy
by Margherita at 9:54 am
TRANSPORTATION: Electric bicycles drawing U.S. consumer interest (12/05/2008)
Sales of electric bikes — a category of vehicles that combine pedal power with electric assistance — are on the rise in the United States as major producers rush to put more of them on their shelves.
U.S. consumers are projected to buy a record 170,000 e-bikes — which range in price from $350 to $14,000 — this year, up from 120,000 in 2007, according to Frank Jamerson, an e-bike supporter who tracks the industry.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, began selling e-bikes from Currie Technologies — the largest U.S. producer of e-bikes — and Toys”R”Us plans to expand its distribution tenfold to 550 stores. Target also sells the bikes.
“This has been the most rapid growth year in the company’s [10-year] history,” said Larry Pizzi, Currie’s president. “We’ve seen dramatically increased interest thanks to financial motivations, environmental concerns.”
The increased U.S. sales come as demand slackens in China, the world’s largest market for e-bikes, where 20 million are sold annually.
But the industry’s recent success could disappear amid a drop in gasoline prices, which decreases the cost of automotive commuting, and the recession, as bicycle purchases are closely correlated with disposable income (Olga Kharif, BusinessWeek, Dec. 4). – PR
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12.03.08
Posted in Events
by Mark Dieterich at 11:41 am
I received word from the folks at Save the Bay that they are hosting a community cleanup this coming Saturday. Their focus will be along the East Bay Bike Path, so I thought some of you might be interested. Here’s the official announcement:
We’ve had a volunteer just schedule a Community Cleanup for this Sunday, December 7th in East Providence – if you’re free and looking for something to do and or some community service – please sign up!
Community Cleanup of East Providence
Meet at the parking lot at the East Bay Bike Path on Veterans Memorial Parkway at 9 am on Sunday the 7th
Dress for the weather, bring your own work gloves and a drink.
Your leader will be Rob Resendes
Please sign up by emailing shessler@savebay.org or calling 401.272.3540 x 130
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Posted in Events
by Mark Dieterich at 10:36 am
Sorry everyone… I got tied up in the holiday festivities and enjoyed a nice long vacation ;) However, it meant I forgot to post an advocacy announcement. Yes, we are having our monthly advocacy meeting. It will be tomorrow, Dec. 4th @6pm, at the office of Red Five Sports Group (269 S Main St, Providence).
I’ll try to go back and edit this post later in the day with an agenda… if I don’t get around to it, just show up and join the fun!
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11.27.08
Posted in Advocacy
by Eric at 4:20 pm
Confirmed! Of course, it took college students to bring Providence its first bike-sharing program. Thanks to Greater City: Providence for passing this along. Story here.
Now: expansion! (but first, back to Thanksgiving…)
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