In early 2023, Lou Savastani, the former Chair for Bike Montgomery County gave notice that he was stepping down from the position as Affiliate Chair of Bike Montgomery County. Many thanks were exchanged with Lou for all his hard work and advocacy that he has put forth over the years as the Bike Montco Chair and a leader for the Circuit Trails Action Team in Montgomery County. Lou’s account on the news is below:
Lou Savastani lives in Lower Merion Township with his wife, two college-aged kids, two dogs, and two cats. After chairing Bike Montgomery County and co-chairing the MontCo Circuit Trails Action Team (with Bill Sabey), Lou has decided to un-retire and step back into the financial industry full-time. Lou still remains a local advocate for better cycling infrastructure, working on local projects like the Main Line Greenway and the Lower Merion Township Active Transportation Plan. Lou is also on the Board of Governors for the Lower Merion Township Scholarship Fund.
The Bicycle Coalition is excited to introduce our new Co-chairs for Bike Montgomery County, Dominic Vasturia and Ross Abel! Below is a brief bio of their interests and involvement with the biking community in their area.
Dominic Vasturia, works as a scientist in Spring House where he commutes by bike regularly and participates in promoting sustainability on and off of site. He calls Lansdale home where he advocates for cycling and pedestrian safety and improved infrastructure, as a member of the Bike North Penn (BNP) Advocacy group. He can also be found participating in bike rides in the area with BNP or the local cycling club, The Instigators. Catch him at the monthly BNP meeting held at the Lansdale Library on the third Thursday of each month, on a Mellow Monday ride hosted by the Instigator Cycling Club, or just cycling around the area blinking like a Christmas Tree.
Ross lives in the Abington / Jenkintown area with his wife and two kids. After finding so many passionate neighbors and parents concerned about dangerous roadways, he helped found Jenkintown Abington Neighbors Association (JANA) to advocate for traffic calming and safer pedestrian & bike infrastructure. He has a background in product and user experience design and loves exploring the Philadelphia area by foot and bike, doing night rides to the Pennypack decked out in christmas lights (Dom and Ross apparently have a theme!) and towing his kids around town in the Radwagon cargo bike.
Looking ahead, the Bicycle Coalition and Bike Montco are excited to collaborate with Dominic and Ross and have begun some early engagement for bike safety advocacy and events in Montgomery County. Stay tuned and look forward to updates as the year continues.