Win a free trip to Italy!

• Advocates in Action
• Biking
• Diversity / Equity / Building an Inclusive Movement
• Open Streets / Ciclovias
• Walking
• Women  

Individuals can submit up to 20 photo entries via the contest website until October 31. From November 1st to 30th, public voting will determine the finalists in each category. A panel of expert and advocate judges from across the continent will then determine the winners, to be announced in March 2012.

We've received some incredible images already, but we're especially looking for additional entrants in the Women, Diversity and Open Streets categories.  

The overall grand prize is an all-expenses-paid biking or walking trip to Italy, from VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations. Additional prizes include: A new bicycle from PUBLIC Bikes; bags from Ortlieb; lights from Planet Bike; gear from Fyxation; helmets from Bern and more! Plus, all winning photos also will be featured in the March 2012 issue of Momentum magazine.  

Enter your photos by October 31 at  PeoplePoweredMovement.org/PhotoContest  

Winning Campaigns Training in Seattle, WA

This fall the Alliance is bringing its signature Winning Campaigns Training to both coasts of the U.S. Wherever you live, make sure to end 2011 on a high note by attending this energizing workshop that will change the way you identify and implement efforts to improve biking and walking in your community.  

Sign up now for these upcoming trainings:

• October 14-16 in Los Angeles, California  
• (Hosted by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition) 
• November 4-6 in Columbia, South Carolina   
• (Hosted by the Palmetto Cycling Coalition) 

The Alliance's Winning Campaigns Training is a three-day boot camp for bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. This action-oriented workshop gives novice and veteran advocates the tools to create and manage powerful campaigns to increase biking and walking in their communities. Our proven curriculum is led by longtime advocates and national experts with firsthand experience leading -- and winning -- bicycle and pedestrian campaigns.  

But Winning Campaigns Trainings are more than a class. They are a fun, interactive experience that fosters collaboration among advocates. Plus, you'll leave with specific next steps and strategies for your next Winning Campaign.

Don't miss the chance to get one-on-one assistance from national experts and key insight from fellow advocates. Register for a training in your area today!

How would your organization benefit if staff were able to step away from the office bustle and crush of day-to-day tasks and dedicate three days to thinking deeply and strategically about your most important campaign - with the advice of national facilitators and insight of fellow advocates?  

Since 2009, the Alliance has worked with nearly 300 advocates from across the continent at our Winning Campaigns Trainings. By working through the workshop curriculum, those participants tweaked or launched hundreds of different campaigns to boost biking and walking in their communities. While we can give you a hundred testimonials, you have to experience the training yourself to understand its impact on how you plan and execute your campaigns.

• January 13-15 in Tucson, AZ  
• (Hosted by Living Streets Alliance)
• April 27-29 in Boston, MA  
• (Hosted by Livable Streets Alliance)
• June 8-10 in Houston, TX  
• (Hosted by  Bike Houston and Citizens Transportation Coalition)
• October 19-21 in Kansas City, MO 
• (Hosted by BikeWalkKC)

Registration for each training is already open. Click on the links above to reserve your spot today.

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Stay up-to-date with all the news from the Alliance and stories from member organizations across the continent by subscribing to the RSS feed of our People Powered Blog. Just click on the little orange button on the top of the blog and you'll get our near-daily posts hot off the digital presses!

Wisconsin Advocates Expand Bike Valet   

Bike valet is a valuable, visible and fun way to promote cycling at community events. But there's one small hitch: How do advocates get all those bicycle racks to the site of the festivities? Well, Saris Cycling Group teamed up with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and came up with a way to fit 200 bikes into the back of a single car. Dave Schlabowske, the Bike Fed's new communications director, suggests that bike valet is an important and growing asset for bicycle advocates. But there was one pressing problem: transporting the bike racks. That is, until Saris stepped in with a solution. "It was very important that Saris help us develop a bike valet parking system that we could easily provide without outside help and that would not be a strain on our budget," Schlabowske wrote last month. "With this in mind, Saris designed a special rack that could be easily transported in a standard size car or on a fortified bike trailer. Each rack breaks down into three pieces and is very light weight. We've been able to haul 25 event racks that park 200 bikes easily and conveniently in the back of a Prius!" Read more here.

Active Trans Launches Better Transit Initiative 

Alliance Visits NYC Summer Streets    

For a few hours, one of New York City's most famous streets was transformed from a frenzy of car horns, squealing brakes and congestion to an oasis of people powered transportation. The reason for change: Summer Streets. Held during the first three Saturdays in August, Summer Streets creates a car-free route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, including 60 blocks on Park Avenue and connecting streets. As part of the Alliance's recent grant to launch the Open Streets Project, Mike Samuelson traveled to New York to learn more about one of North America's largest open streets initiatives. It was his first time attending an event, and, after getting some insight from  Transportation Alternatives and the NYC DOT, he was blown away by what he saw. Read the full story here.

Marin County Takes Advocacy Off-Road  

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition has plenty of street cred. Since its inception in 1998, the California advocates have compiled an impressive track record, including helping to increase weekday cycling trips in the region by more than 135 percent and reduce collisions by more than 34 percent. Now MCBC is taking its advocacy off-road. Last month, MCBC launched a new Mountain Bike Initiative that aims to increase trail access for mountain bike riders in Marin County, encourage safe and civil behavior among all trail users, and promote trail stewardship. "As mountain biking popularity continues to rise," the advocates explained in the program announcement, "MCBC is compelled by its growing membership base to devote its unique experience and resources in advocacy and education to achieving similar success off-road." Thanks to a new source of funding (and a fundraising campaign- donate here), MCBC will soon hire a part-time director who will work toward a host of program goals, like opening more trail opportunities for mountain bikers and creating more trails that serve as transportation. Read more.

Bike Denver Completes Start-Up Grant  

Bike Denver, a recipient of a Spring 2010 Advocacy Advance Grant, completed its "Public Education" Startup Grant proposal in August. The advocates used their $20,000 award to hire a full-time Advocacy Director and launch a comprehensive public education and outreach campaign to increase the number of people who bike in and around Denver. Since the award of the grant, the organization has fully transitioned from an all-volunteer organization to a professionally run nonprofit. With assistance from a local marketing firm, Bike Denver's education campaign emphasized the positive effects and emotions that result from biking, and empowered more people in Denver to ride for fun or transportation. Thanks to its outreach efforts, Bike Denver increased its membership by 33 percent, saw a 4 percent increase from 2009 in the number of people who bike commute in Denver, and achieved Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community recognition from the League of American Bicyclists. Read more. 

Missouri Advocates Put Value on Safe Routes Savings and Benefits    

In 2007-2008, districts across the United States spent a staggering $21.5 billion busing students from their neighborhoods to the classroom. At an average of $854 per student, that accounted for more than 4 percent of the entire cost of the K-12 education system. By helping to create the conditions that get more kids to bike and walk to school instead, the Safe Routes to School movement is reducing that massive price tag. And the advocates at the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation have created a new tool that aims to puts a dollar value on those notable savings. Of course, busing trumps private automobiles by a long shot, saving 347 million vehicle miles traveled each day. And busing certainly makes sense for students traveling longer distances. "We know that school bus transportation is cheaper, better for the environment, and often better for kids, than being driven in private automobiles," the Missouri advocates point out. But they also know that: "Walking and bicycling, when feasible and safe, is cheaper, healthier, and generally better for most kids than either of the other options." So the federation did some number crunching. Read more. 

Michigan Advocates Push to Legalize Right  Arm Turn Signal  

One of the cardinal rules of safe cycling is signaling. Whether changing lanes or making a turn, every bicyclist is taught the critical importance of indicating his or her movements on the streets with a simple hand gesture. Historically, two-wheeling travelers have indicated a right turn by extending and bending their left arm, as if giving the queen's wave. But times are a-changing and many cyclists have come to prefer a more intuitive signal: pointing with their right arm. According to the League of American Bicyclists, 32 states have altered their traffic laws to legalize the new signal. Now, Michigan advocates are working to bump that number to 33 -- but also ensure that the left hand signal stays legal, too. In May, advocates from the League of Michigan Bicyclists presented state legislators with a white paper, urging them to enact a "common-sense update to the Michigan Vehicle Code" that would allow for the extended right arm signal. Policymakers took notice and a bill was introduced that would do just that. But there's a hitch: The bill would also eliminate the current method for signaling right turns and the upturned left arm would no longer be recognized as legal. So the LMB, along with the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and the Michigan Mountain Biking Association, jumped into action to make sure both options stay on the table. Read more here.

RevolveKC Evolves into Community Bike Shop   

For 15 years, Elizabeth Bejan has owned a house in the urban core of Kansas City. But now she's got a second home just around the corner to serve her neighbors with affordable options for active transportation. The new Community Bike Shop is an outgrowth of Revolve KC, a non-profit Bejan founded with bike-shop owner, Theresa Van Ackeren, in 2009. The organization was created to provide bicycle education for youth, adults and businesses and advance green transportation options throughout the region, but the women knew from the beginning that Revolve KC needed a dedicated space -- and, more importantly, Kansas City needed a venue to recondition and recirculate used bikes back into the community. "From the get go, the plan was to work toward a community bike shop to provide a setting for bicycle safety education and low-cost used bicycles as alternative transportation," Bejan says. "We were already aware of the Community Cycling Center in Portland, Blackstone Bicycle Works in Chicago, and St Louis Bike Works. Kansas City did not have a fully operating shop of that nature, and we knew we could grow into that after executing some solid community events and a little fundraising."

In two short years, Revolve KC built that solid foundation and, last month, the Community Bike Shop celebrated its Grand Opening. Read more here. 

Bike Pittsburgh Marks Major Bike Rack Win    

After a mandate from members and a decade of dedicated work, Bike Pittsburgh celebrated last week as the local Port Authority announced 100 percent of buses now have bike racks. The story starts way back in 2002, when BikePGH was just getting its feet wet as an upstart advocacy organization. Already, the Port Authority and City of Pittsburgh had received a $75,000 grant for "Ride, Rack and Roll," an initiative intended to outfit 75 buses with bike racks. But, a year after the program was established, only eight routes had racks - and often, even on those lines, buses would arrive sans rack. So BikePGH got to work. "[From 2003 to 2006] stakeholders represented by Sustainable Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh's Department of City Planning, the Port Authority and BikePGH met on and off to try to figure out the issues regarding the Rack 'n Roll service," Erok Boerer, BikePGH Advocacy Director, explained on the group's blog last week. "It was clear the only answer was to get more racks into the entire system." Read more.

Job Openings at Alliance Member Orgs