We are delighted to share Local Motion’s 2015 annual report with you. Our annual report is not only a snapshot of a year that has brought many highs and lows. It is also a look ahead to what we can achieve together next year. With your help, 2016 will be a watershed year for walking and biking in Vermont.
Back in May 2015, when news broke of the third fatal crash involving a person riding a bike and a person driving a car, each of us was faced with a choice: Do we conclude that biking in Vermont is too dangerous, and stop riding? Or do we speak out for safer roads, and keep on pedaling?
As the year came to a close, the choice we Vermonters have made was overwhelmingly clear: we are speaking out, and we are riding more than ever. More people visited our Trailside Center and rode the Island Line Bike Ferry in 2015 than ever before. Twice as many Vermont communities called on Local Motion for assistance with on-the-ground projects to improve conditions for walking and biking in 2015 than 2014.
Our Bike Smart skills training program reached over 7,000 kids in 2015. And over 300 of you turned out on the Statehouse lawn on a late September 2015 afternoon to rally for safer roads for everyone.
To realize the dreams of the many thousands of Vermonters who want to have the choice to walk and bike, and to honor the memory of those who died in 2015—we have our work cut out for us. We need to change our roads. We need to change our laws. And most important, we need to change our culture: how we drive, how we ride, and how we look out for each other on the road.
Will you help fuel the change? The momentum and the opportunity are there. We are ready. All we need is you.