Rochester Cycling Alliance Meeting: Tuesday June 21 at 7:00 P.M. Location: RIT Center for Student Innovation, Room 1100 Map Link: http://facilities.rit.edu/campus/maps/general/general.pdf. Guest Speaker: Chris Doran, Director of Business Development, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
On Thursday, June 16 Reconnect Rochester and the people of Rochester NY, will join the rest of the country for National Dump the Pump Day. We will leave our cars in the driveway and instead use public transit. Share this on Facebook and let your family, friends, co-workers, and employers know.
Use Google Transit 
to plan your trip.
Find RTS schedules & route maps .
RTS Fares:
Adults : $1.00
All-Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $3.00
Adult 5–Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $14.00
Adult 31-Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $56
Children age 6-11 : $0.50
Children age 5 and under : FREE
Senior/Disabled : $0.50
Senior/Disabled 1-Day Unlimited Pass : $1.50
Senior/Disabled 5–Day Unlimited Pass : $7.00
Senior/Disabled 31-Day Unlimited Pass : $28
For more information: www.rgrta.org/CommuterResources
or leave a comment below with any question you might have about riding RTS. We will get you an answer.
Let’s ride!
Rochester Bike Week (May 20-27, 2011)
Bicycling Events to Promote: “A Community in Motion”
PRESENTED BY: the Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA)
EMAIL: bikeweek@rochestercyclingalliance.org
DETAILS: The Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) will present their second annual Rochester Bike Week from May 20th through May 27th, 2011.
Complete list of events at: www.rochestercyclingalliance.org
May is Bike Month! As a nationally recognized week, The League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.org) sponsors Bike Week each year to “…promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation…” in communities all across the United States. As such, the RCA will host their second annual Bike Week in Rochester, NY. Rochester’s Bike Week will include: races, fun group rides and other bicycling events to promote “A Community in Motion.” Our goal is to communicate that bicycling is a fun and viable mode of transportation that provides many great opportunities to get out and enjoy the City of Rochester by bicycle.
Key events include:
• Friday, May 20th @ 9:00 pm “Light Up the City Ride”
• Saturday, May 21st @ 12:30 pm “The Blessing of the Bicycles”
• Sunday, May 22nd @ 7:45 am “RCA Bike for Breakfast Ride”
• Sunday, May 22nd @ 3:00 pm “The Seersucker Social”
• Monday, May 23rd @ 7:00 pm “Basic Bike Commuting Workshop”
• Tuesday, May 24th @ 5:00 pm “City of Rochester Downtown Ride”
• Wednesday, May 25th @ 5:00 pm “GROC Victor Trail Sampler”
• Thursday, May 26th @ 6:30 pm “Ice Cream Social Ride”
• Friday, May 27th @ 9:00 pm “Search and Rescue Alley Cat”
For a complete event schedule with locations and start times, visit the RCA website at www.rochestercyclingalliance.org.
About the Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA): The RCA was formed in September, 2009 as an alliance of citizens working to create better cycling infrastructure and a stronger voice for cyclists in Rochester, NY. The RCA draws it members from all areas of the community and welcomes all types of cyclists.
Rochester has great potential for bikes!
• Rochester, NY – One of America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-3-583-21901-1,00.html
• Rochester, NY – One of David Byrne’s Favorite Bike Cities:
http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/go-green-david-byrnes-favorite-biking-cities.html
Public Meeting on Monday, May 23, 7:30 P.M.
The subject - Traffic review to allow commercial vehicles access to a construction site for a residential development south of Lehigh Station Road and off Clover St.
Town of Pittsford Planning Board
Town of Pittsford Hall (lower level)
The issue – Clover St. is designated a bicycle route. Bicycle safety along Clover St. is of great concern to cyclists. Clover St., being a 55 mph thoroughfare and relatively narrow, that cyclists will be placed into danger by large construction vehicles trafficking on that road.
You are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice your opinion about cycling safety on a bicycle route that is used frequently by cyclists.
If you haven’t heard, the City of Rochester is requesting proposals for a new combined Amtrak/Greyhound/Trailways station. We don’t know about you, but we’re giddy with excitement. Rochester has had more than its share of great transit stations – sadly, many have been lost to history. Now, finally we have an opportunity to build a respectable gateway to Rochester that will serve our region well and become a landmark for many many generations.
Reconnect Rochester is not standing idly by. You know what they say about idle hands. Well these hands have been busy drawing up our own vision for the most perfect intermodal transit station Rochester is certainly deserving of.
We hope you feel this design is cool enough to share. Share it on Facebook. Email it to a friend or your local officials and representatives. Help us make this concept a reality.
More details about our concept after the jump…
The City of Rochester is requesting proposals for a scoping project . The project will inventory and analyze the site and corresponding buildings used by Amtrak, Trailways and Greyhound. The end product will be a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) compliant scoping document that lays the foundation for final design, build-out, and occupancy of a new Intermodal Transportation Center.
Reconnect Rochester is proud to be a stakeholder of this project. And BOY OH BOY do we have ideas we want to share.
Here’s a summary of what the City is asking from bidders:
Heading to the Lilac Festival this weekend? R Community Bikes is providing a Bike Valet service for festivalgoers at Mindful Body Pilates & Yoga – just $2!
RCA Meeting Agenda
Date: May 17, 2011
Time: 7:00 – 9p.m.
Location: U of R Georgen Hall Room 108
Map Link: http://www.rochester.edu/maps/ (River Campus)
Think Bicycling as Transportation
Sign in
Welcome and Introductions
Standing Committee Reports:
Communications
Events & Rides
Advocacy
Education
Public Meetings Reports:
City- 5/16 University Ave
Special Projects:
Symposium 4/27 –
Interest forms on SanDisk
Announcements:
Bike Week 5/20-27
Ride of Silence 5/18
We have a checking a/c
New Business:
Next Steps:
Symposium – All
Greentopia 9/17 & 18 (Bridges Ride) – ?
Wegmans East Ave Store Passport – Richard
501(c) (3) filing – Richard
Join LAB – Richard
Guest Speaker:
Next Meeting: June 21 at RIT
Check the RCA web site calendar for any last minute changes
Please RSVP Richard at rdscomm@rochester.rr.com if you plan to attend.
May 18, 2011
Meet: 6:30 p.m.
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. throughout North America
Start Location: Town of Penfield Highway Dept. on Jackson Road
Cyclists will ride in a slow, 10 mile silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roads.
Ride of Silence is sponsored by the Rochester Bicycling Club. It is a North American event now in its seventh year.
The ride will be escorted by Karwowski Escort Service. The Monroe County Sheriff Zone A will be present at the start.
Contact:
Andrew R Stewart
mine48565@mypacks.net
585 729-7008 cell
Rochester Cycling Alliance is promoting another Rochester Bike Week May 20th – May 27th with the theme “A Community in Motion.” This year we are advocating for the Rochester Cycling Community at large to develop and promote their own events during Bike Week.
If you are interested, click on this link (CLICK HERE) and fill out the form. Once the form has been completed and reviewed we will contact you for any further details and then post your event on our website.
PLEASE NOTE: each ride organizer will be solely responsible for his/her event, including the development and logistics of the event to be listed below. Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) does not assume any responsibility for the event you decide to organize. RCA will not post any events that are not geared toward making Rochester a bicycle friendly city.
For any questions regarding Bike Week please email: BikeWeek@rochestercyclingalliance.org.
Thank you for getting involved!
APRIL 28, 2011 9-11 AM
West Capital Park, Albany
(next to the State Capitol Building)
NOTICE:
Each year the NYS Bike Summit brings together bicycle advocates, coalition partners and allies to gather in the State Capital. We demonstrate that bicycling is important for human health, for the environment for our economy and our communities! We want investments to enable people of all ages and skill levels to ride safely on the road. We will recognize Bike Champions – legislators and others. We will be calling for passage of the crucial “Complete Streets Bill”. If it rains we will gather in The Well of the Legislative Office Building (across the street from West Capital Park).
Much more information about the NYS Bike Summit is available at www.nybc.net including;
Contact Brian Kehoe brian@nybc.net 518-436-0889
This Thursday evening Reconnect Rochester will be at the Sierra Club’s 13th Annual Environmental Forum, “Sustainable Production: Rochester’s Cutting Edge”. Come out and see us at our table and hear two nationally recognized leaders on sustainable production and manufacturing. Happy Earth Day!
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica will visit Rochester and Cortland on Thursday as part of the field hearings and listening sessions being held around the country by the Committee on the next federal transportation bill.
While the hearings are open to the public, testimony is via invitation only. Members of the public will be allowed to bring written testimony to share with staff at the hearing, or mail in their testimony directly to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The Rochester hearing was originally scheduled for February; local advocates held their own transportation town hall to get more inclusive input, and delivered it to Rep. Mica.
Thursday, March 24, 9-11am
Rochester International Airport [map]
Rochester, NY
Rochester’s Bicycle Master Plan Project
The City of Rochester wants to make it easier for you to get around on your bicycle. The Bicycle Master Plan project was completed in January 2011. The plan’s recommendations will serve as a framework for the city’s future investment in bicycle infrastructure. Thank you to everyone who provided comments, attended public meetings, and got excited about bicycling in Rochester!
About the Project
The City developed a long-term master plan for bicycling infrastructure and services.
Sprinkle Consulting (with SRF & Associates and EDR as sub-consultants) was selected through a request for proposal process and produced a plan that:
While the City of Rochester and Monroe County received an “honorable mention” from the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bicycle Friendly Communities” program in 2009, the goal is to achieve full “Bicycle Friendly Community” status from the group.
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943115
National Geography sponsored author Dan Buettner recently studied the happiest communities worldwide and profiled several of them in his book “Trive”. He looked at them with regard to an extensive study of economics, sociology and individual interviews with experts in the field as well as residents. He found that two of the four cities he profiled were very strong bicycling and walking communities. What cities did he find were the happiest? Copenhagen, despite their weather and long winters, and St. Luis Obispo. St. Luis Obispo has a strong culture of individual entrepreneurialism, and civic involvement. The were the first city in the US to ban smoking, and also banned food drive throughs, watch out Dunkin Donuts!
In the final section of the book he makes recommendations on how to make a happy community. Walking and biking trails and lanes are important parts of a happy healthy community. It is interesting reading and Check out his book “Thrive” for some insight on tips for creating more happiness in your life.
A brief article on St. Luis Obispo is noted below: Scott
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/transportation/madonna-inn-bike-path-30265.html
This past Tuesday evening Reconnect Rochester co-sponsored a Mayoral forum on issues related to land use, neighborhood urban planning, transportation, development and revitalization. Bill Johnson, Tom Richards, and Alex White went toe to toe and Rachel Barnhart (WHAM 13 News) moderated.
In all, well over 200 people turned out and submitted questions ranging from planning to poverty. The event was the first extended, in-depth forum of Rochester’s mayoral campaign and was covered by several local news outlets including YNN, WROC, and the D&C.
Now, in the famous words of sportscaster Warner Wolf, “Let’s go to the video tape!” And let us know what you think of the candidates’ responses in the comments section.
DenDekker Withdraws Statewide Bike Licensing Bill 
March 3, 2011
Today, NYS bicyclists showed their rising political clout, and NYBC and its members were right there in the fight! Only a few days ago, New York State’s bicyclists first heard about a proposal to require that every bicycle in the State have a license. This bill had many problems; in a time of severe fiscal constraint it would have added a costly layer of bureaucracy. Also, contrary to its stated intent, the required licenses would have done nothing to stop bicycle theft. Improving safety for bicyclists, motorists and other road users is more effectively achieved through education and investments in balanced infrastructure.
Today, the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Mike DenDekker, withdrew bill #A05429. His statement about that mithdrawal can be found here: http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/03/03/dendekker-withdraws-statewide-bike-license-bill/
NYBC staff and members made their objections to this bill loud and clear in emails and phone calls to DenDekker’s office. Brian Kehoe, NYBC Program Manager, provided statements to a variety of media outlets describing how this bill would have discouraged people from bicycling and produced no benefits. NYBC’s statement in opposition to the bill can be found at: http://www.nybc.net/wp-content/uploads/NYBC-State-Legislative-Platform.pdf
Congratulations NYS bicyclists!