By Erin Curry
The 20th annual National Bike Summit is taking place March 9-12th in Washington D.C. and Arlington, VA. It is the premier bike advocacy event of the year, as bicyclists from around the nation unite on Capitol Hill to showcase successes on the ground, as well as how they happened and how we can expand them.
The summit will feature educational workshops, bicycle rides, a league rally, receptions, speakers, and much more.
The Bicycle Coalition’s own Brenda Hernandez Torres and Randy LoBasso, and with AARP’s Yocasta Lora, will be presenting “Changing the Conversation on Street Safety through Listening,” discussing the Vision Zero Alliance’s listening sessions, to better hear from those communities most affected by traffic violence in Philadelphia.
Six listening sessions were held in West and North Philadelphia, two areas that experience extremely high rates of traffic crashes and fatalities. The listening sessions intended to understand what residents want in order to make their commutes and living situations both safer and more comfortable — not necessarily focusing on bikes.
Attendees were eager to have their voices heard, and are hopeful for positive change in their communities.
(For those interested in the formatting, organizing, and implementation of our listening sessions, we will be discussing it at one of the 2019 Vision Zero Conference’s Breakout Sessions, on March 16. More information is available at VisionZero2019.org.)
Also representing the Bicycle Coalition at the National Bike Summit is Sarah Clark Stuart, who will be moderating “Bicycling and Walking Mega Projects: Creating a National Vision,” which will discuss the East Coast Greenway, the US Bike Route System, and the Great American Rail-Trail, and the opportunities in challenges in creating a national vision for bicycling and walking using these projects.
Our members and supporters are invited to join us for Lobby Day on March 12th, when delegations from Pennsylvania and New Jersey that be meeting with congressional staff from delegation members’ districts and senators. As the federal transportation bill sets to expire in 2020, delegations will advocate for increased funding to bicycle and pedestrian projects.