September 2008 - Spokes Magazine

DEPARTMENTS
COMMUTER CONNECTION by RON CASSIE ron_cassie@yahoo.com
Maryland Bicycle Fall Forum
A variety of Maryland bicycle groups in conjunction
with One Less Car, the state-wide bicycling and pedestrian
advocacy organization have put together a fall
forum, scheduled for Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, from 6-9
p.m. at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL),
Parsons Theater, in Laurel, Md., just off Route 29.
The central topic to be presented and discussed is:
How can we make Maryland more Bicycle Friendly.”
Bill Kelly, chairman of the College Park Area Bicycle
Coalition, said the information sharing forum will
bring together elected officials and state and county
transportation planners to discuss bicycle transportation
needs.
The goal, he wrote in an e-mail inviting bicycling
activists from across the state, is to present a unified
message to the Maryland Legislative Session in the
2009 Session in Annapolis.
The date for the 12th Annual Bicycle Symposium in
Annapolis on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.
Kelly stressed the need to work together, as before, to
make Maryland more bicycle friendly. He added, he
expects the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Committee (MBPAC) to attend along with members
of the Bicycle Legislative Caucus.
Kelly noted, he’s received numerous responses from
elected officials and SHA/MDOT executives indicating
that they will attend. He hopes that a strong turnout
will show legislators and transportation officials
that there is a serious desire statewide in making
Maryland better and safer for bicycle transportation.
Kelly expects several hundred to attend, including
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bicycle advocates from Baltimore and Washington,
D.C., Prince Georges, Montgomery, Baltimore, Anne
Arundel and Howard Counties to attend. Kelly added
refreshments will be served and encourages everyone
interested in bicycle issues. For more info, contact
Richard Chambers at rchambers@onelesscar.org or
Bill Kelly at ws.kelly@att.net or (410) 480-1909. The
address is: The Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory 11100 Johns Hopkins Road Laurel,
MD 20723. Directions to the Parson Theater at APL:
For an online visitor web page with maps (area and
campus) and driving directions: see www.jhuapl.edu/
newscenter/visitor/default.asp Visitors after 5 p.m.
can park in any open parking. The should come in
the main entrance to the Lab off Johns Hopkins Road
(APL Drive) and enter the main Building 1 Lobby
(Lobby 1). The Parsons Auditorium is right inside the
entrance.
College Park Coalition Is 20
The Maryland Fall Bicycle Forum coincides with
the College Park Area Bicycle Coalition’s 20th
Anniversary.
CPABC was formed in the fall of 1988 by a group of
College Park residents and bicyclists who wanted a
better and safer place to ride and recognized that
with a well-informed, organized group of bicycle and
pedestrian people working together, they could make
a difference.
Kelly recalled that 12-15 people first met at the newly
opened REI Sports Store at 9801 Rhode Island Ave.
in College Park. He thought that with College Park
and the 50,000-person population of the University of
Maryland, that they’d “have a built-in group of advocate
cyclists.”
College towns like Davis, Calif., and Madison, Wisc.,
are noted for their great bicycle and pedestrian support,
Kelly added. However, he’s sorry to say, the
U of M never fully embraced their efforts, but that
nonetheless CPABC has worked with other agencies
with great success. Kelly also noted that the group
quickly grew to over 125 active CPABC members with
a dedicated core of 12 to 15 who became the driving
force in College Park and Prince Georges County that
greatly improved bike/ped travel in the busily growing
county of nearly 900,000.
CPABC has won over $5 million in federal funding
from ISTEA, the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991, to complete 26 miles of the
Anacostia Trails System. They’ve also helped garner
over $3 million to complete the six miles of
the WB&A Trail in Bowie behind the leadership of
CPABC board member Morris Warren, who passed
away earlier this year.
CPABC members over the years have met with elected
officials from the Governor to state legislators, and
with county planners and representatives from all
the cities in their entire area. They’ve also developed
relationships with park and recreation agencies, businesses
and schools. They’ve worked with “every person
who would listen to us,” Kelly said. They helped
form the State Highway Administration Bicycle
Advisory Committee, (with several CPABC members
serving for years), the SHA Bike/Ped Master Plan, the
MDOT Bike/Ped Director, brought ISTEA funding to
the county/state level, got better access for bikes on
the D.C. Metro and helped place bike racks on all the
1460 Metro Buses and CPABC helped in forming One
Less Car.
CPABC also recently published two Bike
Transportation Maps and were able to distribute
50,000 Bike Maps across the region.
Tour du Port Registration Open
Tour du Port
One Less Car event planner Charina Chatman
said she expected more than 700 bicyclists to make
the early bird registration for 2008 Tour du Port
and hoped 1500 cyclists would celebrate one of
Baltimore’s best events Sunday, October 5.
20 September 2008