GMG, BFF, and TN

The Greater Memphis Greenline will have an informational meeting this coming week. From their website:

The Greater Memphis Greenline is meeting to discuss “The Future of the Greenline”
We will conduct an open meeting to update the public on the status of the CSX corridor and future projects.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Date: March 2nd
Where: Benjamin Hooks Library, Meeting Room A
The Benjamin Hooks Library is the main library at 3030 Poplar Ave. I'm planning on riding this corridor in the next few days, weather permitting.

Next up our friend Alona is hosting a planning meeting for the Bicycle Film Festival. As some of you know we are currently working on a trailer to submit to the 2009 BFF with a completed film to follow in 2010. If you would like to know what you can do to help Memphis be a host city for the Bicycle Film Festival PLEASE attend this meeting:

Event: Bicycle Film Festival Memphis First Planning Meeting
"Roll on over to be at the beginning of this historic event."
What: Informational Meeting
Host: Alona Lerman
Start Time: Saturday, February 28 at 5:30pm
End Time: Saturday, February 28 at 7:00pm
Where: Alona's House, contact alonalerman@gmail.com for address
And finally I recieved this email from the Memphis Hightailers:

IMPORTANT ALERT!!! Bill to Ban Bicycles on TN Roads...
Please spread the word about this important state issue to your concerned friends and others throughout the Tennessee bicycling community. While this is currently limited to one road in Davidson County, it could set a bad precedent with implications across the state. That's why it is imperative we take action today!
A bill to ban bicycles on River Road in Davidson County (House Bill 0342 and Senate Bill 0276) is proceeding through the Tennessee Legislature. River Road is a typical state rural highway with light to moderate traffic and no paved shoulder. There have been no bicycle-car crashes on this road in the last 5 years. If a ban is successful, many such roads across the state would be likely candidates for a ban as well.

It is critical that everyone makes an effort to reach these representatives, regardless of where you live. See House Transportation Subcommittee on Rural Roads members below:

Chair: Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram, Cheatham and part of Montgomery and Williamson Counties
Phone (615) 741-7477, or rep.phillip.johnson@capitol.tn.gov
Vice Chair: Rep. George W. Fraley, D-Winchester, Franklin, Moore, and part of Lincoln Counties
Phone (615) 741-8695 or rep.george.fraley@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Judy Barker, D-Union City, Obion, Lake and part of Dyer Counties
Phone: (615) 741-0718 or rep.judy.barker@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, Part of Hamilton County
Phone (615) 741-2746 or rep.richard.floyd@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Bill Harmon, D-Dunlap, Sequatchie, Van Buren, Grundy and Marion Counties
Phone (615) 741-6849 or rep.bill.harmon@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, Part of Washington County
Phone: 615-741-2251 or rep.matthew.hill@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir, Parts of Loudon and Monroe Counties
Phone (615) 741-3736 or rep.jimmy.matlock@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. John C. Tidwell, D-New Johnsonville, Houston, Humphreys, Perry, and parts of Hickman and Maury Counties
Phone (615) 741-7098 or rep.john.tidwell@capitol.tn.gov

Talking Points (borrowed from the Harpeth Bicycle Club's position):
We oppose any legislation that bans bicycling from any state and local roadways of Tennessee, including HB342 and HB276 that bans bicycles from River Road in Davidson County, for the following reasons:

Bicycles are legal users of roadways throughout the United States,
Available accident statistics for River Road in the last five years provides no evidence of bicycle related automobile accidents,
Proper roadway design creates conditions that are safe for all valid roadway users including bicycles and motor vehicles,
Current law including the Jeff Roth and Brian Brown Bicycle Protection Act addresses the issues of safe use of roadways by motorists and bicyclists, and
Bicycling is a healthy and environmentally friendly form of transportation and recreation, and should be encouraged in our state which ranks 47th in health outcomes and 6th in obesity.

From the folks who brought you the moonwalking bear

dothetest.co.uk has come up with another cycling awareness test, or rather tests. Here's my favorite:



The other two can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cd63P54PaI

These were all produced by Transport for London, a government organization that handles London's transportation issues from subways to congestion and penalty charges (which I assume are the equivalent of traffic tickets) to cycling awareness. The website is extremely easy to use, not like our government websites that look as though they were designed by 1994. And cycling takes a very prominent role on their agenda. They plan to have a hire cycle network (similar to Paris) in place by 2010. That alone makes me want to go to London.

How can we get Memphis (or MATA) to care about us this much?

Bicycling 101

Hey everyone! Sorry this is going out so late but whatever...

Revolutions is starting it's Fall Semester of cycling classes tomorrow.

Saturday October 11: Bicycle Safety in the Streets
Should I ride with traffic or against it? Should I ride on the sidewalk? Can I take a left hand turn in traffic on my bike? Is it even legal to ride in the road? How can I safely navigate Memphis’ city streets? Answers to all these questions and basic street safety procedures will be covered in this workshop.

Classes are $10 and usually fill up quick. Check the calendar to the right for a class you'd like to attend and send an email to revolutionsbikeshop@gmail.com

I'm personally holding out for Bicycling 101: SUMMER SCHOOL! in the hopes that Mark Harmon can turn my group of ne'er-do-well and slacker friends into C students.

Where is Section 211?

Kermit texted me to google bailout bill section 211 and while there are many websites showing the text from said section, I can't find it in the actual bill.

Somebody help!

If you have no luck either, this is what it supposedly says:

“(a) In General- Paragraph (1) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(D) Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.

(b) Limitation on Exclusion- Paragraph (2) of section 132(f) is amended by striking `and’ at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting `, and’, and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(C) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.

(c) Definitions- Paragraph (5) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(F) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT-

`(i) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT- The term `qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.

`(ii) APPLICABLE ANNUAL LIMITATION- The term `applicable annual limitation’ means, with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the product of $20 multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle commuting months during such year.

`(iii) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING MONTH- The term `qualified bicycle commuting month’ means, with respect to any employee, any month during which such employee–

`(I) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment, and

`(II) does not receive any benefit described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).’.

(d) Constructive Receipt of Benefit- Paragraph (4) of section 132(f) is amended by inserting `(other than a qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement)’ after `qualified transportation fringe’.

(e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.”

Cycling laws... Again.

A while back JMG posted the City of Memphis cycling laws:

http://fixmemphis.blogspot.com/2008/07/memphis-city-cycling-code.html

And here are the TN State Cycling Laws:

http://bikememphis.com/TCA.htm

The only conflict I can see is that City Laws say to ride single file and State Laws allow riding two abreast.

Revolutions Video on CA!

From Anthony:

The Commercial Appeal has published a video about Revolutions and the work we are doing there each week. Go to the Commercial Appeal's home page and look to the right. It's in the CA TV box.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/

GGM To Meet August 12th

Greening Greater Memphis is an organization that brings together the leaders of "green" organizations in Memphis in an effort to implement a green plan for Memphis. The purpose of the August 12th meeting is to "[seek] feedback on a proposed organizational model and services to be provided."

The meeting is from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the Memphis Botanic Gardens.

Here is a list of just some of the organizations that will be attending:

CommonSense, Inc.
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis
Greater Memphis Greenline
Hyde Family Foundations
Memphis Regional Design Center
Shelby Farms Park Conservancy
Sierra Club
University of Memphis Ecological Research Center
Urban Land Institute District Council Memphis

Cyclist Hit By Car

Danny Fadgen was hit by a car as he and his wife crossed the Wolf River Bridge. He broke his back and is at home recovering. We're thankful that he's still alive but this really puts the issue of bike lanes at the forefront. As posted earlier the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will host a meeting at CBHS (right down the street from the accident) to discuss bike lanes on Shady Grove and Humphreys. The meeting is at 6:30pm this THURSDAY!

Read about the accident: Commerical Appeal, WMC TV

Want bike lanes? E-mail, call, or write your city council representative.

Also, in the events list you will see that July 25th is the last Friday of the month and therefore Critical Mass. I've already seen the following two flyers from separate sources so let's really make this one huge!

Memphis City Cycling Code

Hey everyone, after the break, in the comments, is the text of the City's vehicle code as it applies to cyclists. As Cort mentioned, some are in serious need of update (no coasting in the park, y'all), but they are generally a good start for cycling safety in the city.

Copy and paste it into word - at 9pt font size and in two columns, it will fit on the front and back of one sheet of paper.

To those about to bike

Some of you probably aren't on the Revolutions email list so I just wanted to (let Anthony) fill you in on a couple of things.

First:
This Saturday July 5 is the kick-off class for a six week bicycle education seminar. Our topic this week is "Bicycle Safety in the Streets."
The class will deal with these questions: Should I ride with traffic or against it? Should I ride on the sidewalk? Can I take a left hand turn in traffic on my bike? Is it even legal to ride in the road? How can I safely navigate Memphis' city streets? Answers to all these questions and basic street safety procedures will be covered in this workshop. Class starts at 10 a.m., and will be hosted at Revolutions Community Bike Shop.
We will actually get on our bikes and practice some street skills, so please bring your bike if you have RSVPed for this workshop. If you haven't RSVPed and you plan to attend, please let me know. Email revolutionsbikeshop@gmail.com.

Second:
On Tuesday July 8, at 6 p.m. the Cooper Young Community Association will hold its monthly meeting just outside Revolutions on the new deck at First Congo. The topic for the meeting is "Making Cooper/Young Memphis First Bike Friendly Neighborhood." We'll unveil the proposed design for bike racks in the Cooper/Young neighborhood, and describe what we need to do to make CY into a bike friendly neighborhood. Using precedents from similar neighborhoods in other cities we will demonstrate how bike lanes and bike signs can calm traffic, improve parking, and impact crime. Your presence at the meeting would be greatly appreciated.

Third:
Thursday July 10 at 6:30 p.m. the Metropolitan Planning Organization will hold a public meeting at CBHS to discuss the proposed bike lanes on Shady Grove and Humphreys Blvd. Revolutions will close on that night so that all volunteers and members can attend the meeting. If you are working to complete your 10 hours of volunteer time at Revolutions this is an opportunity to get hours! Time spent riding to and from and time spent in the meeting will count towards meeting your volunteer requirement.

That's more like it

Because of errors in the way the Sustainable Shelby Digital Congress Votes were counted there was a re-tally. You can read about the congress and the results here.

Problems inherent in the system

We were honored today to be a part of the Sustainable Shelby Digital Congress. The subcommittees all presented feasible recommendations for future governmental policy. Of all the recommendations the top 10 will be implemented 90 days after July 8th. One thing that was really cool was the almost unanimous support for biycle lanes. However, the problem with the system is this: a consulting firm did a random sampling telephone poll of 610 Memphians but that poll made no mention of bicycles. So when you combine the results of the congress with the public the results are skewed so that bicycling didn't even make it to the final Top 10. The silver lining is that some of the recommendations are rather broad and talk about revitalizing neighborhoods, which could include adding bicycle lanes.

Anthony Siracusa of Revolutions Community Bike Shop is on the Traffic and Transportation sub-committee and hopes that there will be some kind of concession made for these system errors, if not a full-on public re-poll.

The Top 10 results will be released on July 8th in a ceremony led by Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton at 2:30pm at the Memphis Botanical Gardens.

Later that night at First Congo Church in Cooper-Young at 6pm Mr. Siracusa will make a presentation to the Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA). In this presentation Anthony will explain ways to solve parking problems, create bicycle lanes, and increase business. He will also unveil the bicycle rack designed by Cooper-Young artist Yvonne Bobo. These bicycle racks will cost between $300 - $500 each and 5 businesses have already stated an interest.

As you know, every bicycle event that we plan in the future is donation a portion of the proceeds to install one of these bicycle racks in the name of Revolutions Community Bike Shop. Twenty dollars has been raised so far and there are several upcoming events: Flat Track Attack 2 on June 28th and The Moon Landing Anniversary Alleycat (details soon!) on July 19th.

So mark your calendars for all these dates.

First Things First

After some e-mails and talking with Anthony it has become clear that the Sustainable Shelby meeting is not open to the public. HOWEVER, Anthony has informed me that 3 more votes have been made available to the cycling community in regards to future policy. While the meeting is not open to the public there is nothing stating that demonstrations are not allowed. I will recommend that any confrontation be avoided. If you would like to show support please direct it in a positive manner. For instance, I plan to have a sign that says, "I want to ride my bike to school!" Also, please plan on getting there early, 8:15am or so. ON YOUR BIKE!!!

This is a MAJOR chance to show support for the kind of change we all talk about. I'll be sending out a text message to everyone I know about this. If you don't get the text, email me your phone number. If you do get the text, I'll see you there.

Call To Action

Friends--

This Thursday, the city engineer, the county engineer, the director of MATA, policymakers, community specialists and other leaders from all over the county will gather to vote on Shelby County's sustainable agenda. It will be a very important and very historic meeting, as you can stated by the MPO's Paul Morris. His comments are attached below.


This is an opportunity for us to put bicycling at the forefront of city and county planning. I have served on the Sustainable Shelby Transportation Committee for the last 6 months or so, and we have written bicycle lanes, bike signs, and bike paths into the set of recommendations submitted by the transportation committee. Now, six other committees will join us to decide how high bicycling will be on our county priority list. The recommendations that receive the most votes will begin to be implemented within 90 days.


If you can come to the University of Memphis this Thursday at 9 a.m., your support would be greatly appreciated--not to mention that if other voters see you ride your bicycle to the meeting it may influence how they vote on bicycle policy. I do not think you can vote if you were not on one of the seven committees appointed by the mayor, but if you can come and support the bicycle vote it would be a great asset to developing a truly sustainable Memphis.




Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.




Thanks so much,


Anthony Siracusa
--
First Congregational Church UCC
Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop
1000 S. Cooper St.
Memphis, TN, 38104
(901) 949-1201
www.revolutionsmemphis.com
Thursday 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Sunday 2-5 p.m.






At Thursday's meeting from 9-12 in The Zone at the FedEx Institute of Technology at University of Memphis, you and your fellow committee members will rate these priorities using wireless keypads. In addition, Steve Ethridge will cast votes on behalf of the public, based on the results of the polling that was done for Sustainable Shelby.

Each committee co-chair will explain the recommendations of that committee and the voting will be conducted at the end of each committee's overview. That's why there are boxes besides the priorities on the attached document of recommendations, so you can jot down the values that you give to each priority – from 1, strongly disagree, to 7, strongly agree. There will be copies distributed at Thursday's meeting as well.

As Mayor Wharton has said, this will be a unique experiment in public policy development, so we hope that you can be with us. Once this list is set, Mayor Wharton says these will be the priorities for immediate action and within 90 days, staff members will develop plans of implementation for each of them. However, while these are the immediate priorities, all of your recommendations, including your goals, values and other material, will be included in the final report to be presented July 8 at the Sustainable Shelby Call to Action meeting at 2:30 p.m. at the Memphis Botanic Garden.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We look forward to your help at the Digital Congress Thursday morning.

Continental breakfast will be from 8:30 until 9 a.m., and we will begin promptly at 9. Parking is available across the street at the Fogelman Executive Center garage. Please bring your parking ticket to the Digital Congress so we can provide you with a parking pass.

If you have any questions please let us know.





Paul Morris

Transportation Planner

Memphis MPO

1075 Mullins Station Road

Memphis TN 38134

901-379-7849 (office)

901-379-7865 (fax)

paul.morris@shelbycountytn.gov