By Peter Burns

Dressing for the Weather

Dress for the weather as it is rather than the weather you hope for. Sunny spring mornings can be especially deceptive. If it is in the 40’s with a brisk breeze blowing you are in for a chilly ride if you underdressed. Sun can quickly turn into rain or snow. Always bring along a waterproof jacket, just in case.  

Newsletter sent on 10/20

Fall Newsletter: Bike Smart Is Back! 👍

We’re busy gearing up for our fall programs and looking back on another great summer!

Newsletter sent on 7/21

Summer is better by bike! 

We’re rolling out our programs and services to make biking and walking more enjoyable for all. Read all about what we've been up to this summer in our newsletter! 

By Laurie Keve, Development Manager

Rosalba Bellen seems to me a force majeure: Unstoppable, joyful, and absolutely passionate about her recumbent electric-assist bike.

One warm June afternoon, Rosalba and her Lancaster Recumbent bike zipped into my Colchester home driveway. She hopped out of the seat, introduced herself, and asked about my kinetic brass garden sprinkler and of course, I asked her about her very cool recumbent bike. The bike has changed her life, she said, in so many ways. She rode a regular bike until recently, but she decided on a recumbent bike when vertigo made riding uncomfortable and unsafe. She purchased this one last fall and now arranges her days around the best time to get out for a ride. She hits the road nearly every day, weather permitting.

Spring is one of our favorite seasons, as we’re busy planning out the year ahead and getting ready for summer!

What are we doing this spring?

• Installing a Demonstration Project to make a village safe and pleasant for pedestrians
• Sending our Bike Smart trailer to 20 schools
• Developing a new interactive mobile Island Line Map
• Prepping our Bike Ferry for a long fun season on the water
• Tuning our rental bikes for the Trailside Center
• And more! Scroll down to discover what we’re doing!

We’re excited for all our programs and services to roll out for the season and encouraging all Vermonters to experience the joy of biking and walking!

The birds are chirping and the fresh scent of spring is in the air! Been itching to get back on your bike after the long winter break? Here are some tips to help you get ready to ride again. 

By Peter Burns

Maps 

I can use the map apps on my phone, but I prefer paper maps.  In an unfamiliar place, the phone maps are  difficult to follow.  They give a micro view of where you are, but not the bigger picture.  When you zoom out, street names disappear.  Last summer when I ventured across the lake to ride south to Port Henry and then took the ferry back to Charlotte, I almost got lost. I used my phone and maps copied from a New York State Atlas, but I would have preferred a regional map. Sometimes I can tell where I am but I am not sure if I am heading in the right direction.  There is also the option of mapping out a route using one of the map apps and then printing it out.  I first learned to use maps in England, when I was walking through the countryside. I used Ordinance Survey maps which are beautifully designed. Perhaps I inherited a bit of map reading ability from my father.  He was a flight navigator for B-52 airplanes, although he was never involved in any actual bombing runs. 

By Karen Yacos, Local Motion Executive Director

Curt McCormack is the new Chair of the House Transportation Committee in Vermont, and he doesn’t own a car! We love how this guy gets to work (watch how here) by walking to a regional bus for his Burlington to Montpelier (and back) commute to the Statehouse. Everyday. He, and all the folks who are opting to use their feet, a bike or transit rather than a car, will help infuse some new thinking and ideas into the transportation discussion in Vermont, and at the perfect time.  Although Vermont has made progress creating safe space for bikers and pedestrians on some roadways, and continues to work on the initial stages of a network of transit and other options that make travel without a car possible in such a rural state, local and state transportation policy, plans, and projects are still substantially about the car first and foremost.  This will change because it has to.  We all can see more and more people out, in all weather, waiting for a bus, biking, jumping in a carshare or on a share bike trying to get where they need to be WITHOUT A CAR.  Our state policies, and expenditures, need to support this shift in the biggest way possible because the result will be healthier people and planet, more livable communities, and a better quality of life for Vermonters.  

As part of Transportation for Vermonters (T4VT), a coalition of likeminded partners who support a vision for a sustainable and accessible transportation system for Vermont, Local Motion helped develop a shared 2019 Policy Agenda which was sent to Vermont legislators last week to welcome them to their job and reinforce the importance of bringing forward-thinking and new ideas about our transportation system with them.  The T4VT agenda calls for, among other things, increased funding for infrastructure for walking, biking, carpooling and other choices, and the public transit that knits it all together.  See the full agenda below or by clicking here.

Features that help make biking and walking safer have been installed across Burlington in many places this summer! And DPW isn't done yet, as several more safety features are being completed into this fall. These are all a part of the City's effort to create a network of connected streets where people of all ages and abilities can easily get around and feel safe doing so, as outlined in planBTV Walk Bike. Neighborhood Greenways are an important part of this--that is, streets with low vehicle volumes and speeds designed to prioritize bicycling and enhance conditions for walking. "The Wiggle" in the ONE is a great example of this, where folks of all ages and abilities can get from the NNE or Battery Park and the Waterfront to the top of the hill (UVM and UVMMC), downtown, or anywhere in between.

Below is a sample of the wonderful bike and walk infrastructure that the City of Burlington has or is in the process of completing this summer. Fear not, much more superb bike and walk infrastructure is planned for upcoming years to help complete a connected citywide network.

Local Motion will reinstate the Island Line Bike Ferry service for the 2018 season. The Vermont Agency of Transportation announced a joint effort today with, the Town of Colchester and Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department to rebuild the Colchester Causeway, targeting early July for reopening.