We aren’t sure how it is already almost July, but here we are, chugging along. It’s too hot for us to think of a pithy introduction to this month’s newsletter, so let’s just get to it!
Transportation Bond Oversight Committee Update: Bend Bikes Board President Elected as Chair and Digging Into Project Priority Evaluation Criteria!
Bend Bikes Board President LeeAnn O’Neill was elected to serve as the Chair of the Transportation Bond Oversight Committee and Scott Robinson was elected as the Vice-Chair. We are excited to have this opportunity to:
- Help staff develop agendas and meeting formats;
- Support staff in conducting public outreach;
- Support staff in commenting on or reviewing documents;
- Identify strategies to move group discussions forward; and
- Present the TBOC’s advisory recommendations to City Council.
The full TBOC also had a robust dialogue around the draft evaluation criteria that will be used to prioritize and phase the GO bond projects. Some of the key themes discussed were:
- The need to integrate the criteria regarding alignment with Council goals into the other categories so the prioritization does not change every two years when future Councils set goals;
- The need to create a separate category for projects for people who bike, walk, and roll due to the historic disinvestment in bicycle and sidewalk infrastructure and to honor the spirit of the negotiations that went into creating the GO bond package; and
- The need to see rapid delivery of “low hanging fruit” projects so our community can see tangible results from the taxes they will be paying.
We invite your words of support, comments, thoughts, and input… let’s send a powerful message to City staff, project consultants, and our local leadership that we need to prioritize projects for people who walk, bike, and roll! Public comments can be sent to [email protected] and if you do not want for your message and/or contact information to be published on the TBOC website, please indicate this in your message. Key dates for public comment coming up are as follows:
- July 27th: Finalize evaluation criteria and provide feedback on preliminary project groupings
- August 31st: Review and analyze draft project prioritization and provide direction to staff
- September 28th: Final project prioritization, prep 5-year GO bond project recommendation to City Council, and develop next steps
Maps Update: Truth Checking Our Data!
Leading the charge on our maps team is super-volunteer Rob Garrett and board member Eric Holscher! Since our data is a few years old, our all volunteer maps team is slowly but surely vetting potential routes for the bike map. We know it won’t be perfect, but our goal is to publish something sooner than later, and engage the community to collaboratively improve it over time.
Heat Stroke or Heat Stoke? Tips for Riding Bikes in a Heat Wave
Let’s face it, the folks riding bikes in this heat wave either have no transportation alternatives or are just that committed to riding bikes. In either case, we hope folks keep the following in mind!
- Bring extra water and electrolytes… and while we are not a huge fan of single use plastic, it doesn’t hurt to have an extra bottle on hand to help out a neighbor in need!
- Wear lightweight wicking clothing.
- Use sunscreen and reapply!
- Keep an eye on the road and your tires, tarmac can melt, causing slippery patches or material to stick to your bike tires.
- Slow your roll to avoid overheating… there’s no shame in a little granny gear action while temps are this high.
The Bend Bicycle Film Festival Is Back and Accepting Film Submissions!
Bend Bicycle Film Festival (BBFF) will be returning to the Tower Theater in Bend, Oregon September 25th, 2021! The BBFF is a celebration of all things bikes in our own background and is a fundraiser for the Bend Endurance Academy.
All submissions must prominently feature bicycles, bicycle culture or be directly related to cycling with a solid local connection to Central Oregon. Submissions can be anywhere from 5 seconds to 10 minutes and are due August 31st, 2021. If anyone has appropriate video gear and is interested in doing a very short film in collaboration with Bend Bikes, please email [email protected]!
Our friends over at Bend Electric Bikes and the cargo bike moms were crowned the champs at the last BBFF – for a little inspiration, check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC1HbLIRCpo
Bend Bikes Vision: Better Bike Infrastructure Helps Everyone
Over the past several months we’ve talked about a complete bike network and protected bike lanes and you might have wondered how better bike infrastructure in Bend will change your day to day life. So, in our efforts to get more people on bikes for transportation in addition to recreation, this month we are going to pause in defining these terms and go over some statistics on how more biking will improve our community.
- Business owners should consider prioritizing bike parking and bike lanes as people who bike to convenience stores spend 1.3 times more per month than those that drive (Bike Portland)
- Bad days at work can be reduced with your bike as cycling has been found to be happiest mode of transportation to work (Center for Transportation Studies)
- Biking more can help with climate change as dramatically increasing bicycle and e-bike use for short city trips can reduce up to 11% of urban transportation carbon emissions (A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario)
- Save costs on parking and the need for more parking spaces by riding your bicycle! 10-20 bicycles can be stored in the space required for one car (Evaluating Active Transportation Benefits and Costs)
- Health benefits of biking might save your life – cycling to work was associated with a 41% lower risk of dying overall compared to commuting by car or public transport (The Conversation)
So, considering that biking can help your mental health, physical health, pollution levels, and finances perhaps it’s time to switch your primary mode of transportation to your bike! We’ll leave you with one more statistic to think about: 48% of all car trips are less than three miles (Streets Blog).