Thank you to coalition partners and the administration for supporting, and special gratitude to City Council for unanimously approving a Complete Streets policy for the City of Trenton! We are elated by this great development, yet cognizant of the hard work yet to be done. We look forward to working with the city to make Trenton streets safer for all users.
Complete Streets for Trenton
Trenton Cycling Revolution was proud to sign on to this community letter of support, urging the Mayor and City Council to enact a Complete Streets policy here in our city.
More than 30% of our city’s households do not own a car at all. Trenton has an active bicycling and pedestrian culture, with many residents biking or walking to work, to school or simply for leisure. Unfortunately, the road conditions in Trenton are not always ideal for walking and bicycling: crosswalks are poorly marked, the bike lane system is fragmented, and maintenance is spotty, but the city is well-positioned to capitalize on its traditional grid network.
Particularly as a group of residents dedicated to creating a safe and healthy environment for bicyclists in Trenton, we urge swift action!
Bicycle and pedestrian improvements can improve the economy of Trenton by making the city safer and more accommodating for residents, as well as tourists. These improvements will help make it easier for Trenton’s kids to get active. Nearly 1 in 2 Trenton children is overweight or obese!
Please help enact a Complete Streets now! Make our streets safer for everyone and let’s get more residents using bicycles for transportation.
Greening Trenton
Trenton Cycling Revolution was happy to submit a letter of support to accompany the city’s application for Greening America’s Capitals technical assistance program.
“As avid users of the bicycle network in our area, we know there is a pressing need for signage and infrastructure improvements. Upgrades to the bike network, and pedestrian crossings are urgently needed. Clearly marking the roads with better signage for all users, particularly visitors, could help riders better recognize and take advantage of places of interest in close proximity to the train station. Trenton Cycling Revolution supports any programs that will improve the street system in Trenton.”
Let’s Move in May
Trenton Cycling Revolution was pleased to take part in a press conference today at Trenton City Hall to kick off the Let’s Move in May initiative. Mayor Mack introduced several invited guests to say a few words about physical activity events here in our city.
CitySmiles, in partnership with the Trenton Cycling Revolution, announced its annual Car-free Park Family and Community Bicycling Day. On Sunday, May 1st from 1:00-4:00pm, Cadwalader Park will be closed to cars so that children, families and community members can have the park to themselves with no car traffic to worry about. While bicyclists need to ride safely all the time around cars, other bicyclists and pedestrians, an afternoon in the park without cars offers a sense of quiet freedom, relaxation and beauty. Bicyclists all riding together in the park at the same time offers camaraderie around the enjoyment of bicycling and exploring the wonderful paths and places in the park. The park day is also a time for families to get their bikes out of their yards and basements, and get their legs moving and in shape. The afternoon is free. Feel free to bring a picnic lunch. All bicyclists must wear a helmet. For more information, please contact lisa@citysmiles.org.
The Sixth Annual Spirit Walk in Cadwalader Park will be held on Saturday, May 7th, 8 a.m. to 12 noon—rain or shine. Come walk for as long or as short a time as you like. Trenton Spirit Walk brings area faith and civic groups and families and friends together to walk for good health. This free event will start with registration at 8 a.m and the walk around the park will begin at 9:15 a.m. Raffle prizes, health screenings, local entertainment and face-painting will be available until noon. For more information, please contact trenton350jacque@gmail.com.
The Greater Mercer TMA and Trenton Cycling Revolution are hosting a Breakfast for Bicyclists at the Trenton Transit Center on Monday, May 16 from 7-9am, in celebration of National Bike to Work Week and National Bike Month. They encourage you to bike to work that day, stop by for free coffee, snacks, and information.
Trenton Cycling Revolution, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Trenton and Mercer County, will host the annual Trenton Bike Tour on Saturday, May 21. Beginning and ending in Trenton’s crown jewel, the Olmsted-designed Cadwalader Park, the bike tour will be a leisurely 15-mile police-escorted ride through Trenton’s historic streets and sights, diverse neighborhoods and community gardens. As a part of National Bike Month, the tour aims to both highlight the tourist attractions of the city, and raise awareness of bicycle safety throughout the region for avid, commuting and recreational bicyclists. Registration begins at 8:30 AM, and the ride begins at 9AM. Online registration is available.
After the program, press conference participants signed a proclamation, which can be seen here.
Spring Clean-up Saturday, April 2
Photo of NJ Sierra Club's D&R Canal Clean-up
Trenton Cycling Revolution is coordinating a community clean-up along the D&R Canal in Trenton on Saturday, April 2. We will meet at the Mulberry Street entrance to the newly completed section at 9am and work for approximately two hours. Parking is available along Mulberry Street and/or Cortland Street. Coffee, gloves and garbage bags will be provided. The Bonner scholars from TCNJ are also planning a clean-up that day, so let’s make it a community effort! Please join us as we seek to beautify a section of the East Coast Greenway in Trenton!
Bike friendly cities are less obese
by A.K. Streeter, Portland, Oregon on 08.23.10 GRIST
Photo credit Kiwi Flickr.
Cars make you fat. That’s more or less the message noted researcher John Pucher has tirelessly delivered, making the case for cycling and walking – “active transportation” – as a way for cities to deal with creeping obesity rates and climbing health costs. Now, in a new analysis of U.S., European, and Australian cities, Pucher and his colleagues press the point home even a little further by showing that cities with the highest percentage of trips by foot and by bike have the lowest levels of obese (and even diabetic) adults.
“Among the 14 countries in our international comparison, those with higher levels of walking and cycling tended to have lower levels of adult obesity, whether self reported or clinically measured.” – John Pucher, PhD, Ralph Buehler, PhD, David R. Bassett, PhD, and Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH
The same relationship held true in the U.S.
In our comparison of all 50 US states and 47 of the largest 50 US cities, we found that higher rates of walking and cycling to work were associated with a higher percentage of adults who achieved recommended levels of physical activity, a lower percentage of adults with obesity, and a lower percentage of adults with diabetes.
Pucher and his colleagues note that the results of their study are not enough to prove active transportation can cause improved health, but should be viewed along with the other evidence piling up that show the health benefits of active travel.
This may all seem somewhat self evident, and yet, the bicycle is not viewed by the majority of Americans as a transportation tool. This is due to decades of considering the cycling as a pastime or a sport, and not as the handy (and healthier) city transportation device it can truly be.
Pucher et al do say that encouraging both walking and cycling will require a bigger build out of the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure than has thus far occurred in the U.S., as well as further restrictions on car use and other traffic calming measures.
While that is already happening in some cities, most notably New York, there are still giant hurdles, including the fact that transportation planners depend on federal money which is still skewed towards car-based infrastructure projects, and inexpensive but vital bike and ped projects are unable to be financed from federal pots.
Let’s work to make Trenton more bike friendly and decrease obesity at the same time!
Trenton IS a Center of Place!
Trenton Cycling Revolution supports the City of Trenton’s application to the Department of Transportation to be designated as a Center of Place. We recently submitted a Letter of Support.
This would be a great development for bikers in our capital city!
Clean Transportation Bill – Contact Your Senators!
For far too long, America has been in a transportation rut, pouring money into systems that increase our emissions and oil dependency. What’s more, in too many of our communities we have failed to invest in efficient transportation options like public transportation, passenger rail, and increased safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
This is our chance to change that.
By putting significant resources behind a plan to build clean transportation options, we’ll not only help meet our greenhouse gas reduction goals and reduce our dependence on oil, we’ll also create thousands of new jobs, save consumers money, and make our communities better places to live, work, and play.
This climate change bill is an opportunity to make serious progress. But with transportation accounting for nearly a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of our oil usage, clean transportation options must be part of the final legislation if we expect it to do the job.
Tell your Senators that a comprehensive climate bill must include adequate funding for clean transportation options. Click here to tell them we want big, bold changes this year!
Hubsmith to Testify on Bike/Ped Safety Before Senate Committee
On Wednesday, April 14, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be holding a hearing on transportation safety. This hearing is part of a series meant to gather input and recommendations for the next surface transportation authorization bill.
Deb Hubsmith, Director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, is one of seven witnesses that will be testifying at the hearing. She will be addressing bicycle and pedestrian safety in her testimony, particularly as it pertains to children and Safe Routes to School.
In her remarks, Hubsmith calls attention to the grave disparities between the number of bicyclists and pedestrians killed each year in traffic crashes and the small proportion of funding that is used by states to address bicycle and pedestrian safety. Nationwide, more than 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists were killed on U.S. roads in 2008, representing 13 percent of all traffic fatalities. Yet, states have dedicated just 1.2 percent of their SAFETEA-LU funds and 0.6 percent of federal safety funds to bicycling and walking, which are common and increasingly popular modes of transportation; 12 percent of trips in America are already made on foot or by bike.
Hubsmith highlights a number of programs, including Safe Routes to School, and studies that are improving safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. She also urges the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to take several steps to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety in the next transportation bill, including:
- Increasing funding for Safe Routes to School and other bicycle and pedestrian transportation programs;
- Supporting Complete Streets;
- Creating benchmarks for transportation safety that include goals to reduce fatalities and crashes for all modes, including bicyclists and pedestrians;
- Collecting more bicycle and pedestrian data; and
- Supporting innovative designs that have been shown to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.
The hearing will be broadcast live on April 14, 2010 starting at approximately 10:00 a.m. from the website of the EPW Committee. An archived copy will also be available for future viewing after the hearing is over.
Trenton Cycling Revolution supports this effort and hopes to create more safe routes to school here in our own city!
Scudder Falls Bridge Expansion Needs a Bike Lane
Our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia have done a great job galvanizing support for a bike and pedestrian lane on the proposed Scudder Falls Bridge expansion. Trenton Cycling Revolution submitted public comments to support the inclusion of such a lane and we hope to see it built soon!