Strategic Vision for Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation in the Greater Nashville Region

On Friday, November 21, 2008, the Nashville Area MPO convened the first meeting of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). The BPAC is assisting in the development of the Strategic Vision for Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Planning in the Greater Nashville Region by providing input to MPO staff and consultant RPM Transportation throughout the planning process.

The BPAC is made up of a geographically diverse group of bicycle and running clubs, greenways advocates, city planners, police officers, P.E. teachers, local health departments, transit operators and state transportation and environment departments. The BPAC will meet four more times over the course of the next 10 months to provide input on proposed bicycle and pedestrian facilities, policies and funding opportunities. View members of the BPAC http://www.nashvillempo.org/downloads/bikeped/BPAC_Membership.pdf.

President-Elect Supports Safe Routes to School

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA SUPPORTS SRTS
-> According to an article in the Nov. 6th Safe Routes to School E-News, "Earlier this year, Senator Barack Obama met in Chicago with board and staff members of Bikes Belong -- the Partnership's parent organization. Mr. Obama told the bike group's leaders that if elected president, he would support funding for bicycling, walking and Safe Routes to School in the next federal transportation bill.
"That same week, Mr. Obama celebrated his consolidation of the Democratic Presidential nomination by riding bikes with his two young daughters in a Chicago park. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership will now work closely with Bikes Belong and the America Bikes coalition to ensure that the new Obama administration is fully briefed on the tangible benefits and significant progress of Safe Routes to School programs as they prepare their legislative agenda."
Source: http://tinyurl.com/292n2j

Safe Routes to School

Did you know that up to 30% of morning traffic can be attributed to parents driving their children to school?

Did you know that over 30% of children and adults in Tennessee are considered overweight or obese?

Did you know that 10% of children in the U.S. have asthma which is strongly related to poor air quality?

Want to know one possible solution for these problems? Safe Routes to School. This program encourages children to walk or bicycle to school, which gets them exercise and increases their attention spans and behavior for classroom work, in addition to lowering their BMIs. When caretakers join in, it's fun and healthy for the whole family.

Less congestion = better air quality = better health and quality of life.

Learn more about a report written for Congress by the Safe Routes to School Task Force.

Greenways and Bikeways in Nashville/Davidson County

City Profile: Nashville/Davidson County.

In 2000, 5.6% of Davidson county residents lived within a half mile of a Greenway. No bicycle facilities existed at this time.

In 2007, 34.6% of Davidson county residents lived within a half mile of an existing Greenway or Bikeway Facility. 95.3% of residents will live within a half mile of a Greenway or Bikeway facilities if all planned/proposed facilities are constructed.

In the future, if almost all residents live within 1/2 mile of these facilities there will be increased opportunities for physical activity and active transportation. Do you live near a Greenway or Bikeway currently? If not, how would your walking or bicycling habits change if you did?

Tennessee 3 Feet

Did you know that all motorists in Tennessee must provide 3 Feet when passing a bicyclist? The Jeff Roth and Brian Brown Bicycle Protection Act of 2007 requires that motorists must provide this safe passing distance to avoid contact between the vehicle and the cyclist.

Share your experiences about the 3 feet law. Does it work? Do you think motorists and bicyclists know about the law? We'd like to know what you think.

Learn more about TN 3 Feet here.

Order TN 3 Feet bumper stickers.

Share the Road License Plate

The Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation of Maryville, Tennessee is organizing for a Share the Road license plate. This is not the first attempt at a license plate promoting road safety, but with enough support it just might happen this time around. The foundation needs no less than 1,000 pre-ordered plates in order to send the plate to print. As with other specialty plates, purchase of the Share the Road license plate sporting the adopted 3 Feet law will help to support the efforts of the Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation. Go here to learn more about the foundation or to place your order for a plate.

Bicycle Safety Video

A new bicycle safety video aimed at educating riders on the basics of bicycling was filmed last week and will be ready for viewing in the next month.

The video will be approximately 7-8 minutes long and covers such topics as proper helmet and bike fit, where to ride (and not to ride) on the road, how to make turn signals, and proper etiquette for riding on a greenway.

The video production is coordinated by the Metro Nashville Planning Department and Music City Moves!, with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and video production by the Renaissance Center.

The final video will be made available on this site, so stay tuned to view the finished product.