Fifty miles of new bike lanes and a 50% in- crease in bicycle ridership in just three years? Yes, this kind of bicycle-friendly change is possible, and it happened—in Boston, a city formerly ranked as one of the worst for cy- clists.
On March 27, well over a hundred Atlanta residents turned out to hear Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman speak about revamp- ing her city’s streets at the event “Better Bik- ing for a Safer, Healthier, More Competitive City,” part of the Arthur M. Blank Founda- tion Speaker Series and co-sponsored by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, the cities of Atlanta and Decatur, and the Atlanta Bi- cycle Coalition, among other organizations. Representatives from Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas joined Freedman onstage with Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Rebecca Serna to discuss each city’s methods for increasing bicycle presence.
Atlanta is already making great strides to- ward bike friendliness in our local universi- ties. Georgia Tech was recently honored as a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists. Tech joins Emory Uni- versity in this designation, making Atlanta the only city in the United States with two Bicycle Friendly Universities.
Atlanta cyclists are also making their voices heard to legislators, who are deciding how they will allocate the $94 million in local funding Atlanta could potentially receive over the next ten years from the transporta- tion sales tax referendum, which goes to the ballot July 31. When the City of Atlanta is- sued a call for commentary on how to spend those funds, they received 80 total comments from the public—62 of which called for im- proved bicycling infrastructure in the city.
Atlanta National Bike Month Events The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is starting off National Bike Month right: with a challenge. Starting May 1 through August 31, cyclists across the country will have the chance to compete against each other and themselves
14 May 2012 FREEWHEELIN’
in the 2012 Get Up & Ride National Bike Challenge. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is excited to serve as a local host for this event, encouraging existing cyclists and new rid- ers here in Atlanta to unite both nation- ally and within our community. Begun in 2008 in Wisconsin, this program is opening up for the first time to a national audience and hopes to attract 50,000 cyclists to ride at least ten million miles over the 4 month challenge.
On May 5, we’re holding the BeltLine Bike Tour, where you can ride through 22 miles of historic rail segments, which will be trans- formed into greenspace, trails, and transit to encircle the city’s urban core. With the Eastside Trail slated to open this summer and voters facing the July transportation sales tax referendum that would provide $602 million for BeltLine transit and trails, the project is poised to take a huge leap forward.
On May 20 the city will come alive with bicyclists, skateboarders, yogis, pedestrians, kickboxers, marching bands, artists, choirs, and other living people at Atlanta Streets Alive!
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