In 2009, this image won the grand prize. Help decide the winner in 2011!

Vote for your favorite images now through November 30th on the contest website.   

Categories include Biking, Walking, Biking & Walking, Women, Diversity, Open Streets and Advocates in Action. Once the public vote has determined the contest finalists, a panel of expert and advocate judges from across the continent will then determine the winners.  

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 first-place photos will be featured in a 2012 issue of Momentum magazine.  

View the photos and cast your votes at  PeoplePoweredMovement.org/PhotoContest  

Winning Campaigns Training in Los Angeles, CA

The Alliance held its most recent Winning Campaigns Training in Los Angeles last week, hosted by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC). Thirty biking and walking advocates from 18 organizations, two states, and two countries came together to participate and propel their campaigns toward success.

Most of the participants were local members of the LACBC Regional Partnership and have been working together for months and years to build a cooperative network of L.A. bike-ped advocacy. Additional participants from Sacramento, Idaho, and Mexico added diverse perspectives that led to rich discussion and enthusiasm.

The Alliance's signature training uses proven curriculum, targeted specifically to the unique needs and experience of bicycle and pedestrian advocates. They are intended for any potential campaign leader who would benefit from gaining the tools to craft and manage powerful advocacy campaigns. Manuel Zavala, of the  Montebello Bicycle Coalition, summed it up well: "This training gave me the confidence to conduct a proper campaign!"

"I have been absolutely changed, empowered and inspired by this training to become a more effective campaign manager," added Andy Rodriguez, LACBC's Bilingual Bicycle Safety Coordinator.

"Every Alliance-facilitated training or retreat I've attended has been inspiring, but this training has been my favorite," said Carol Feucht, Membership and Online Media Manager for the LACBC. "Seeing so many groups, particularly LA county's fledging regional groups, at this training signifies how far the regional bike-ped movement has come."

Read more on the Alliance blog and check out pictures from the training on the Alliance Flickr page.  

Do you have a blueprint for your  winning campaigns in 2012?

January will be here before you know it, so make sure you include some space on your 2012 calendar and budget to attend an Alliance Winning Campaigns Training. 

Since 2009, the Alliance has worked with nearly 300 advocates from across the continent at our signature training. 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.

Register for a training near you:    

• 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 the Citizens Transportation Coalition)
• October 19-21 in Kansas City, MO 
• (Hosted by BikeWalkKC)

Sign up now to receive the discounted rate of just $75 for members / $125 for non-members. See you in 2012!

• Join or renew your organization membership. 

• Make an individual pledge.

• Become a 2012 sponsor. 

We have big plans for 2012, including the release of our 2012 Benchmarking Report, our biennial Leadership Retreat and a wealth of new resources through our Open Streets Project. We'll host Winning Campaigns Trainings and Action 2020 Workshops across the continent; convene engaging discussions through our Mutual Aid Calls; provide the insight you need to grow the capacity of your organization through our coaching and strategic planning - and so much more.  

You are the Alliance. Your contribution propels our People Powered Movement. Join us in transforming communities into great places to bike and walk in 2012.  

Please, pledge your support today!

Member News

Subscribe to the People Powered Blog! 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!

Arkansas Advocates Win Major Bridge  Victory   

Last month, leaders from Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas were on hand as former president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hilary Clinton opened the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock. Two years before, the same leaders from BACA had attended the Alliance Winning Campaigns Training in North Little Rock, with the goal of refurbishing the bridge as part of a trail in the area. At the training, the organization was able to plan the campaign's strategy, think about costs and fundraising ideas for the campaign, determine messaging strategy and identify the key decision makers to target. As BACA President Tom Ezell said, "BACA was able to bring enough pressure to help leverage the final fundraising steps to start construction, and we were privileged to be the first to cross over the bridge, other than President Clinton himself." Read more. 

BikeWalk Virgina Launches Online Community Toolkit  

In September, BikeWalk Virginia released its new  Community Resources Toolkit --- an online resource containing everything from case studies to expert interviews to a dictionary of terms. According to Executive Director Kim Perry, the goal in creating the toolkit was to inspire communities through real-world examples. The toolkit can help people to learn from others' mistakes, and build on their successes. Kim hopes that the toolkit will "give people hope that they can have a place to ride or walk and that the efforts they put forward will be successful and amount to something." The toolkit is easily adaptable to any area of the country. Of course, there are differences between towns and cities, but many bicycle advocates working to make their communities more bike- or pedestrian-friendly face similar obstacles. Issues such as funding and community perceptions can hinder the work of any advocate, regardless of location. This toolkit offers a framework to get beyond those issues - from advocates who have addressed those precise challenges themselves. Read more. 

Safety Victory on the Midtown Greenway    

Minneapolis boasts a Gold Level Bicycle Friendly City ranking from the League of American Bicyclists, and one of the crown jewels of its bike facilities is the Midtown Greenway, a 5.7-mile rail trail used by commuters and recreationalists alike. Thanks to the Midtown Greenway Coalition and the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition all users will feel a whole lot safer at a previously dangerous intersection at 28th Street. That particular stretch of the multi-use path got a big boost in ridership in 2007 with the opening of the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, a 2,200-foot, cable suspension, bike-ped bridge that carries the Greenway over busy Hiawatha Avenue. But more folks traversing the bridge meant far more cyclists and pedestrians crossing 28th Street, just west of the bridge. And conditions at-grade put those users at risk. "The City of Minneapolis put in a crosswalk and a light that flashes if a button is pushed - which many bicyclists, unfortunately, do not push," Soren Jensen, executive director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, explains. "There were two lanes in both directions, but the outside lanes were striped and cars were not supposed to be in them. The problem was that many cars illegally went down the striped lane, anyway, causing a double threat to bicyclists. Often, one car would stop for the cyclists in the crosswalk, blocking the sight line of the car illegally using the striped lane. That's how several bikers got hit by cars over the past few years." Read more.

Youth Bike Summit Returns to NYC    

The Safe Routes to School National Conference this past August included some high-profile speakers. We heard from top government officials, influential nonprofit leaders and transportation icons. But the most moving speech came from college sophomore, Kimberly White.

A student at Baruch College in New York, White explained how the earn-a-bike program at Recycle-A-Bicycle empowered and inspired her to become an advocate for sustainable transportation and social justice. She linked the building of that bicycle to her participation in the National Bike Summit and her hand in creating the first Youth Bicycle Summit in the Big Apple last year. Well, White and other young leaders are getting ready for the second summit this January -- and you could be involved. Read more. 

WABA Wins Intro of Anti-Harassment Bill    

This summer Washington, DC, bicyclists were stunned by a needless act of intentional violence toward an innocent commuter on his way to work. A helmet-cam video shared by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association showed a male cyclist being verbally assailed and then struck by a pickup truck. The man was thrown from his bicycle, crashing to the pavement, as the motorist fled the scene. Circulated by bloggers and advocates, the incident quickly served as a catalyst for many community members to push for a new measure to protect cyclists' rights on the road. Proposed by WABA, new anti-harassment legislation, titled 'Assault of Bicyclists Prevention Act of 2011,' would seek to provide a civil right of action for cyclists in the case of assaults, and the ability to recover legal fees and damages. The goal is to provide legal recourse for cyclists who have been intentionally harassed or assaulted by drivers in the District of Columbia. Read more.

Open Streets Comes to Downtown Chicago   

On October 1, Chicago advocates celebrated the first open streets initiative since 2009 -- and they went big. The initiative was held on the city's iconic State Street in the heart of downtown, and was titled "Open Streets on State Street." Unlike the initiative in New York City, which was organized by the NYC DOT, Chicago's initiative was put on by local Alliance member organization Active Transportation Alliance, in cooperation with the Chicago Loop Alliance. While Active Trans has organized open streets in the past, this was the advocates' first time preparing an initiative downtown. In anticipation of the time commitment, the organization hired several part-time staff members to help coordinate volunteers, programming and logistics for the big event. Active Trans also partnered with local media to spread the word. The initiative itself was a huge success, with thousands of pedestrians and cyclists enjoying a brisk fall day. Children were everywhere along the route, enjoying relay races, the imagination playground and plenty of games. Even Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein got in on the fun by taking a turn in the dunk tank. Active Trans Open Streets Manager Julia Kim summed up Open Streets on State Street by saying, "We're encouraging people to ride bikes, take a stroll, and embrace the dramatic beauty of Chicago. Open Streets brings communities together to have fun and lead active lifestyles." Read more.

First Spanish-Language Bicycle Safety Class in Silicon Valley    

 Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition partnered up with the City of Mountain View to offer a new resource to Spanish-speaking members of the community -- a class about bicycle safety. "We feel it's of critical importance to engage daily cyclists and encourage safe riding skills," SVBC Deputy Director Colin Heyne says. "Many members of the Latin American immigrant community here ride a bike to work because they have no other choice." The City of Mountain View identified the need for the classes several months ago and approached SVBC for support. The classes will be taught by a certified instructor who will discuss riding in traffic safely and with confidence. So far, the main challenge has been getting the word out to the Spanish speaking community. SVBC has engaged volunteers to pass out flyers, as Spanish speakers do not frequent the Coalition's website. "We hope that this first attempt at a class makes an impact, and that we can learn from the challenges we encounter to make it better next time," Colin says. Read  more. 

Alliance Organizations Participate in CA Climate Ride