Good being green

From my inbox (thanks to WakeUp Wake County) to you, a recap on last week’s Triangle Transit forum:

TRANSIT FORUM HUGE SUCCESS!

The June 26 forum Transit: Is Wake County Ready for it? attracted almost 300 attendees, and the enthusiasm in the room was palpable!   Transit is an issue clearly gaining public support, and this event hopefully ignited the spark needed to bring a bold transit plan to our county and region.

Keynote speaker Carol Coletta CEOs for Cities, commented that our region has many assets that make a great city, minus one important component - transit. We risk losing what is great about our home if we fail to plan for future growth.  Transit and coordinated land use planning must be a priority for our community.

Other speakers talked about Charlotte’s success story, and the new proposal for regional transit recommended by the Special Transit Advisory Commission. Elected officials from across Wake County attended the event, as did representatives of community organizations, business leaders and local government staff. Forum panelists were engaging and explained what opportunities transit can provide for economic development and a better quality of life. To view tv press coverage, go to www.wakeupwakecounty.com.  WakeUP plans to work with community leaders and organizations to build public education and support for transit in Wake County and the Triangle.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS of the Forum:
Capital Group Sierra Club, Raleigh Wake Citizens Assoc., NC Conservation Network, Downtown Housing Improvement Inc, Society of Women Environmental Professionals, WTS-NC Triangle Chapter. 

I wish I had been there to round out that 300…

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue

Get biking!! Especially Wednesday and Friday of this week!!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue!

A couple listservs and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) of Durham are publicizing this coming week is National Bike to Work Week. 

Monday, 12 May through Friday, 16 May, get your fanny on a bike to get where you have to go.  More info is at www.bikewalkdurham.org.  Also know that you can stop at Mad Hatter’s on Friday the 16th from 7 am - 9 am and get free food, coffee and prizes for cyclists!  REI will be there too handing out water bottles and 15% off coupons as well as giving free bike inspections! 

Do any of you bike to work?  My Grandma just brought me my AutoBike last week (I have a chronic phobia of changing gears), which I have never ridden despite having it for nine years.  I guess Marc and I will put some brakes and new tires on it and see how that goes.  But I will not be biking from Raleigh to Durham, I can say that now.

If only I had the ability to bike to work!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

So, in addition to this weekend’s West Durham Urban Hike, check out “Slow-Flow, Warm Glow”, an AWESOME energy, water and conservation event at Watts-Hillandale.  All you have to do is show up at Oval Park on W. Club Blvd on Saturday morning (THIS SATURDAY, 12th April) at 9 am, and then you can pick what you want to do when!

In an effort to get people outta their cars and onto bikes as transportation (not merely exercise), (1) check out whoisbike and (2) know that Cary is offering classes to boost your road and biking confidence (convenient Cary ~ to both Durham and Raleigh ~ SO REGISTER!) :)  Here’s the email I got (below my pic):

Know someone who is nervous about road bicycling?
Do you think they would feel better about it if they felt more comfortable in traffic?
Well, the Street Cycling course can help them learn how to worry less and enjoy road cycling more. During the course participants will learn how to travel more safely and confidently in traffic, improve their bike handling skills and learn to fix flat tires and other minor repairs.

Location: Middle Creek Community Center, Cary
Saturdays, Apr 12, 19 & 26, 1-4 p.m. (3 classes)
Fees: $30 (Cary Resident), $39 (Non-resident)

For more information about this course, please browse
http://brucewr.home.mindspring.com/ec/StreetCFrame.html

For registration information for this course (#34462),
please visit the Town of Cary’s website http://classweb.townofcary.org/

Bruce Rosar
www.bikeleague.org/cogs/programs/education/instructor_detail/376

*************
So pull out your bike and get where you gotta go!

Meanwhile, get a little inspired by Donald Jones, NBC 17 Morning Anchor by day, rebel speed-demon on two wheels by night… well, he probably bikes by day too, but whatever.

To go along with the yuck and lack of bicycle friendly roads here in the Triangle, Phillip recently blogged about the concrete islands and general attitude during critical mass and biking in Durham.  This post really shows a more accurate perspective and testimony to my earlier post on bicycling in the Triangle.

Join Phillip in Durham’s Critical Mass~

By the way, did you know NBC 17’s own Donald Jones is quite the cyclist?  Check out Donald’s blog about his passion for the road if you dig cycling too.

Have you heard of “Raleigh 2030“?  Thanks to Sue’s recent post, I learned that the City of Raleigh has *just* started a 24-month period to seriously revaluate it’s Comprehensive Plan, first created in 1989, and that you can have a part in what Raleigh could be in the year 2030.

Needless to say, Raleigh is one of many cities across the state to experience an unexpected boom in growth since 1989.  Thank goodness for that the City wants to update and revision Raleigh’s future.

THIS WEEK the City is having its first three public input revisioning meetings (according to their site, there will be nine public meetings total).  It could be great to attend to take in what’s said if not to contribute yourself.  I’m curious what will be said about corporate environmental responsibility expectations as well as the demand to create and maintain more greenways, sidewalks, transportation alternatives, etc.

You must register to attend though… so get registering and I hope to meet you there.

In a  progressive city, like those here in the Triangle, Julia Vail points out how interesting it is that the rickety old bicycle exists as the primary choice of fuel-friendly transportation for the area progressives (imagine the cats at the coffeehouse who work for IBM, SAS and Lulu, text-messenging and carrying messenger bags, laptops and ipods).  Mike Dayton even shows all that you can enjoy while riding in the area.

I see a decent number of cyclers in Raleigh, and even more in Durham, but we’re no Boulder, CO.  Just take a look at the use my own bike gets (though I’ve never been good at changing gears).

The Triangle is so spread out, it sounds ludicrous to many of us to bike to work and back (much less walk).  Then again, I had a great chemistry professor as NCSU, Dr. Sandberg, who I believe biked to work every day from somewhere crazy-far-away like Chapel Hill.

Biking is great for the environment and rockstar for your health (and body), so why not?

A big reason is because the Triangle is NOT bicycle friendly.  Road rage prevails, cyclers get yelled and honked at, and very few roads exist here with actual bicycle lanes. 

Worse yet, as for the roads that have bicycle lanes, I usually see jerks in cars use the bicycle lane for passing (for the record, yes I’m scolding you, but if you’re on a two-lane road and the guy in front of you needs to turn left, you CANNOT pass on the right or through a bike lane.  That’s called ILLEGAL, not to mention DANGEROUS for anyone not in a car).

Does anyone know of progressive strides being made in favor or bicycle and foot traffic, or is business our primary area of progress?  Let me know of any great pockets of bicycle/foot friendly traffic in the Triangle.