These were the grant amounts awarded to municipalities in Dec 2008.  If we could change the biking policy of the Collingswood Board of Education, we would be in a much better position to apply for this grant.  (This grant money is from Federal funds, which are given to the States to administer.)

FY 2008 Safe Routes To School (SRTS) Grant Awardees:

Atlantic Co, Linwood, $10,000.00

Bergen Co, Demarest, $150,000

Bergen Co, Fort Lee, $184,000

Bergen Co, Hasbrouck Heights, $23,000

Bergen Co, Ridgewood, $42,000

Burlington Co, Riverton, $23,000

Camden Co, Chesilhurst, $256,000

Camden Co, Magnolia Boro, $156,000

Essex Co, Newark/Meadowlink TMA,

$225,000

Gloucester Co, East Greenwich, $15,000

Hudson Co, Bayonne, $300,000.00

Hudson Co, Jersey City, $250,000

Hudson Co, West New York, $300,000

Hunterdon Co, HART TMA partners, $46,000

Hunterdon Co, Clinton Town, $225,000

Hunterdon Co, Milford, $300,000

Hunterdon Co, Raritan Twp, $200,000

Middlesex Co, New Brunswick, $329,000

Monmouth Co, Union Beach, $74,000

Ocean Co, Brick, $39,000

Ocean Co, Little Egg Harbor, $300,000

Salem Co, Elmer, $300,000

Sussex Co, Ogdensburg, $23,000

Union Co, Cranford, $9,000

Union Co, Garwood, $40,000

Union Co, New Providence, $180,000

Warren Co, Oxford, $8,000

To learn more about Safe Routes to School, take a peek at the National Center for Safe Routes to School website:  http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/

Also for the local scoop, check out New Jersey’s Safe Routes Scoop Newsletter. 

http://policy.rutgers.edu/VTC/bikeped/Safe_Routes_Scoop/Vol2_Issue2/index.html

Stella

I just found out one minute ago that it is Blog Action Day 09- a day of worldwide blogging on the issue of climate change.  Well, I have ten minutes before I have to pick up my daughter so, readysetgo!

Climate Change!  (Formerly known as Global Warming)  Scarier than terrorism, running in a dead heat with nuclear holocaust.  It’s not about people feeling slightly warmer in the summertime.  It’s about people dying on a massive scale- worldwide crop failure, rising sea levels, refugees, and wars over land, water and food. 

The polar ice caps melting could cause vast dead zones in the seas causing mass die-offs of our already scarce fish populations.  The caps melting could also change ocean currents which would change the worlds weather patterns which would render all of our knowledge of crops useless.  Have I paralyzed you with fear yet?

I hope just the opposite is the case.  We should be galvanized into action by these truths.  We need to stop living in the past and take charge of our future.  Lets imagine our cars growing a little lonely as we foot and bike it in our everyday lives.  Lets give the trains and buses a little attention too, they do good work.  Cars are not going anywhere, so lets also imagine a world of clean alternative fuels and electric vehicles powered by wind and solar. 

The environment is not just in some distant forest in Brazil, it is right here- right now, It is the air and fine particulates I breathe through my asthmatic lungs and it is the grass and pesticides my daughter walks through on my neighbor’s lawn. 

Climate Change is also right here, right now- lets talk about it to our families and friends, and what we can do about it,  and lets watch the world wake up from history. 

We are fed up.  Fed up with driving from one soulless big-box store to the next.  Fed up with being overweight despite watching our diets.  Fed up with not knowing our neighbors. 

We want to change things but where do we start? 

I am fond of a phrase popularized by Booker T. Washington, that goes: “Drop your bucket where you are!”  This is not really about buckets; it’s about being overwhelmed, feeling disenfranchised, and finally making the decision to stop thinking about the problem and start doing.  Right here.  Right now.

We want a town where we feel connected to the community, where people respect each other, where walking and riding a bike are normal activities, not so anomalous that we feel like we are committing an act of defiance every time we put on our sneakers.   So should we all move to Portland or Amsterdam? Is this a “love it or leave it” situation? 

Hell, no.  We need to drop our buckets right here, and get to work.   With all of the energy that we expend talking and thinking and reading about change, we have the energy to make change happen.  Thanks to people like Leigh Ann at the Rutgers Voorhees Transportation Center, we also have the resources.  We could start today, or we could put it off until next month, next year, or blame someone else for the change not occuring…Or we could recognize that it is up to us to effect change.

Now, I’m not saying that changing from a car-culture to a human-scale culture is an easy thing, or that it will happen all at once.  Not only do we have to influence the hearts and minds of our neighbors (and do it in a loving way), we also have to provide reasonable alternatives to a lifetime of ingrained transportation habits.

That is why all of these pieces of the puzzle must be addressed, from bike lanes to bike parking, from biking education to changing school board policy, from greenways, to safe crosswalks for pedestrians, from installing sidewalks where there were none to providing fun events for residents and visitors. 

Yes, it sounds like a lot.  But you’d be amazed how fast things change once you just drop your bucket and start.  I am excited to have received so much encouragement, interest and offers of help.  Members of this group have offered their organizational skills, their knowledge, and their time.  I truly believe that a group working together can produce a much better outcome than one person working alone, no matter how skilled that person may be. 

To end, I would like to offer you this video link, which, on the surface, is about closing a street in Manhattan and creating a pedestrian plaza. But underneath, this short video speaks volumes about changing old habits, and how that may be easier than we ever thought possible.  Enjoy:   http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010189.html

Stella

Its funny, we’re just getting the wheels in motion over here at Collingswood Streets, but already there is spontaneous interest from the press- we must be on to something! 

Here’s how it started:  Unbeknownst to me, Lily B. from the Livable Streets Community wrote a nice blog about us on Streetsblog NY on May 22nd.  http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/05/22/collingswood-streets-connects-academics-to-advocacy/#comments

Well, Streetsblog being a super-famous blog helps things I guess.  A month later and that article has been picked up by a dozen other blog sites, one of which is Korean, which means, yes, we have gone international, my friends. 

That story was recognized by the folks over at Rutgers University, and they just interviewed me for an upcoming promo piece on my bike lane feasibility research, which hasn’t even oficially started yet (July start date). Talk about pressure!

And just this afternoon our local rag, the “What’s On?” has a little snippet about us.  We’re famous, and we’re not even trying that hard!  But lets start, ok? 

So, what would you like to bring to the table? Should we have meetings? Informal coffee klatches? Would you like to volunteer to work in specific areas (e.g. Safe Routes to School Campaign, or Community Education) or would you like me to ask you to help with projects as they come along?  I would love to see a bit more activity on this page, so don’t be shy! 

Our group is feeling the love- lets take this momentum and run with it!

Stella

I would like to invite everyone to view some of the many funny and enlightening videos on Streetfilms, a sister site to this one which you can jump to by the icon at the top of the page.  I haven’t figured out how to successfully embed these videos in this blog, so until then check out that site for yourselves. 

Two of my favorites are “Bike Box!” which shows an innovative way towns and cities are helping to give cyclists more visibility and easier left turning at intersections. To boot, it shows Green bike lanes, my favorite kind! After watching this video you may find yourself shouting Bike Box! at random points throughout the day. 

The other video I love is “Hal Grades Your Bike Locking - Again!” where this funny guy goes around with a cameraman and inspects people’s bike locking jobs- poking fun at each in turn and explaining how he would steal the bike if he were a thief.  Quite an eye opener to a slapdash bike-locker such as myself. 

If you find any favorites of your own, post them here to the comments! 

Project:  Bike Lane Feasibility Study.  July, August 09. 

Details- I will conduct a bike lane feasibility study for Collings and Haddon Avenues as an independent study.  My advisor is Dr. James Dunn, a transportation policy expert.

Project:  Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan.  September-November 09. 

Details- This is where the input of the community becomes crucial. This second independent study will center around specific suggestions for areas most urgently in need of improvement.  For example, a dangerous crosswalk.  Nonexistent or inadequate bike racks. An online and (in limited amounts) paper survey will become available for residents AND all users of Collingswood roads. 

Project:  Safe Routes to School Campaign.  Projected for Spring 2010-Infinity.

Details- Many parents have expressed interest in changing the Board of Education’s policy on bicycling to school.  This should be a town-wide effort to be really effective.  Parents, start organizing yourselves and pressuring your PTA’s.  There will be more information about this in future blogs.  Feel free to start discussion threads.

Project:  Connection of bike lanes to East Coast Greenways.  Ongoing. 

Details- Greenways are continuous cycling routes from one green space to another.  For example, a signed bike route from the Delaware River to the Cooper River to Knight Park, to Newton Lake Park and so on. 

Project: Education and Encouragement.  Ongoing.

Sky’s the limit! Classes on bike safety, rules of the road, bike rider’s fashion shows, classes for motorists on driving safely near cyclists and pedestrians, what makes a town pedestrian friendly, ride your bike to school, walking school bus, etc etc.  Suggestions and instructors needed!

Project: Collingswood Bike-Share. Ongoing.

This is Collingswood’s pioneering bike program, saving bikes from the landfill and offering them at a nominal rental fee to Collingswood residents, as well as tune ups! See the Bike-Share “Page” on this site for the details of the program.

And as many other initiatives as there are people eager to create the town they want to live in!

Long -Term Goals:

For the Borough of Collingswood to implement a Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan that has its basis in the residents of Collingswood.  For that Master Plan to be comprehensive and subject to review and amendment at regular intervals so that it may change with the changing times and continue to be improved. 

For bicyclists and pedestrians to be welcome as equal users of the roads, to increase safety, promote healthy lifestyles, reduce fossil fuel pollution, alleviate the town’s parking problems, encourage shopping at local businesses, and make Collingswood a model of innovation for surrounding towns to emulate. 

Hello!

Welcome to your community discussion page and clearinghouse for all things bike/ped!

This group is by invitation only, the only requirement for being added as a member is that you have a desire to increase bicycle and pedestrian accomodations in Collingswood. 

We have a blog page, which is where I will post updates.

We also have a discussion page where members can discuss issues of interest to them.  My only guidelines for the discussion page are: 

1) Keep it polite. I will ruthlessly remove people who write nasty things. Thank you.

 2) Stay on the topic of bike and pedestrian issues.  Don’t give in to the temptation to talk about anything and everything related to Collingswood.  Focus, people, focus!

***Important note: If you do not want to get an automatic email every time someone posts a discussion message, then go into Discussion and change your Preferences to either “daily digest” or “web only”.

Finally, thank you for your interest in our wonderful little community.  Words + Action= Change!

Stella Bonaparte (group facilitator)