"I feel that now it is up to us to really beat the bushes, so to speak, and get that average non cyclist to pay attention and help with our cause," says BikeDFW president Eric Jackson. "If we can get the average person to accept cycling in greater DFW as a good thing and a viable means of transportation, we will have accomplished more than enough to say this organization matters." Luckily, we've had the assistance of several local news stations who have covered our petition in light of the recent string of cyclist-related crashes in the past few months, including Channel 11 KTVT, CW33, and at least two articles in the Dallas Morning News.
While this has made quite impact on our petition, word of mouth will continue to be our greatest ally towards gaining signatures. This means metroplex cyclists need to make sure that friends, family, and other acquaintances know what riding a bike means to us, and why we want to keep it safe.
The next step is just that, making it our mission to make cycling
safety a community issue, acknowledged by our local officials and
motorists. "It needs to be about our communities," BikeDFW Vice
President Barry Zajac noted, "it needs to be about the safety of our
streets in general as a component of the quality of life and aesthetic
of our communities; it needs to be about cycling being a part of, not
apart from, the things that attract people to live in certain places."
In other words, safer roads don't just make for better biking, they
make communities safer for children, pedestrian traffic, construction
workers, animals, police officers, other motorists, and generally
anyone else who has to live near or be on these streets. This is why it
is imperative our voice is heard by our elected officials, and our
petition is just one more step down that road.
However, BikeDFW could still use your help in making your communities a better place for cycling. How can you do this?
1) Volunteering - BikeDFW is run entirely by volunteers, who
sacrifice their time and effort in order to bring you a safer
metroplex. However, there is always work to do that can't be done by
us, so any help is always appreciated. We need people to do everything
from volunteering at specific activities, helping with membership
drives and dues, to canvassing local bike shops, and the list only goes
on. To see a comprehensive list of what we are looking for and how you
can help, point your browser HERE.
2) Membership and Donations - BikeDFW is run with money provided to
us by members, donors, and sponsors. Any help on this front is also
greatly appreciated. Membership and donation are both tax-deductible
and the money provided goes to pay for things like server fees,
advertising, and other things important to our movement. Information
about membership can be found HERE. Information about donating to the
cause can be found HERE.
3) Sponsorship - Does your company or organization have especially
bike-friendly or green policies? Sponsoring us helps us gain even more
ground towards making DFW a safer place to ride your bike. Several
local entities involved in sponsoring include Richardson Bike Mart, the
Plano Bicycling Association, and the Mirage Cycling Team. More
information about sponsoring can be had by emailing
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4) The petition - Once again, we are looking to score at least a
hundred thousand signatures on our petition to make DFW streets a
little safer. Anything you can do to spread the word of this petition
is greatly appreciated. Tell your family, tell your friends, and
remember that cycling safety is everybody's problem. "We need to
educate ourselves, cyclists, first and then work on educating others as
to how we can all co-exist on the roads of North Texas," says Eric, and
one of the first steps towards that is our petition. We need to prove
the cyclists and people fighting for cyclists are out there, and then
we need to make those voices heard.
5) Write letters to your city councilman, your mayor, and state and
national legislators. Show up at city council meetings and take your 3
minutes to speak about cycling. And let us know when your city council
meetings are and when you plan to speak so we can let other interested
parties in your community know to show up and support you!
Those who are hesitant about what we can achieve need to only look no
further than Washington D.C., where after thirty years of dedicated
advocacy from the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, the local
government began implementing more bike-friendly policies. These
include a planned 105 miles of safe bicycling routes, a city-run
bicycle rental service called SmartBike, and drastically increased
bicycle parking availability. Washington D.C. has instituted so many of
these policies that they were named one of Bicycling Magazine's "Most
Improved Cycling Cities of 2008." It stands to be noted, however, that
at the top of the list for "Worst Cities for Cycling" was DFW and the
surrounding area, which just goes to show how much work there is to do.
So volunteering, donating, joining, or even getting your friends and
co-workers to sign the petition and get even a little interested in
bicycling safety are all ways you can help, and we look forward to
having your assistance. So until then, let's keep riding safe and
encouraging others to do the same!
