2007 Benchmarking Report - Alliance for Biking & Walking

Preface
6
Thunderhead Alliance: Who We Are
The Thunderhead Alliance is the only North American coalition
with a mission to create, strengthen and unite state and
local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. Since
our founding in 1996, we have grown from 12 to 128 member
organizations representing 49 states and two Canadian provinces.
In the last 11 years, we have improved the effectiveness of our organizations
through trainings and the sharing of best practice models in
organizational development and bicycling and walking initiatives. We
are continually improving our delivery channels through executive
coaching, replicable models, trainings, roundtables, our on-call support
system and our members’ web resources library.
Thunderhead organizations inform and organize their communities
to improve conditions for bicycling and walking, promoting
these as healthy and enjoyable ways to travel. From advocating for
bikeways and walkways to conducting safety courses, our coalition
is changing attitudes and the environment in communities across
North America. Thunderhead Alliance connects these grassroots
forces, sharing best practices, creating peer networking and supporting
each other in our efforts to promote bicycling and walking for
healthy communities, a healthy environment, and a better quality of
life.
Benchmarking Project Origins
Thunderhead’s Benchmarking Project began in 2003 when
Randy Neufeld of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation recognized
the need for advocates to measure progress of bicycling and walking
and realized the lack of available data. Thunderhead staff and
board jumped on the project, recognizing the benefit of showing
the impact advocacy has on increasing biking and walking. Without
hard data measuring their results, Thunderhead organizations were
missing a key argument for their efforts.
In 2004 Thunderhead completed a pilot benchmarking
report collecting data only on bicycling from just 15 cities and 15
states to test methods for the project. This first report helped pave
a smoother path for the collection of more comprehensive data
from all 50 states and 50 cities in 2006 and 2007. This is the first full
report on the status of bicycling and walking in the United States.
Through the ongoing Benchmarking Project, Thunderhead will
publish an updated version of this report every two years and will
continuously expand the scope and breadth of this project. As the
project progresses, it will offer more precise benchmarks and recommendations
for advocates and government officials so that they
have the data and processes they need to improve bicycling and
walking in the U.S. and eventually all of North America.
Leaders of Thunderhead organizations gather during
a 2004 Thunderhead Retreat.