News

The City’s efforts to improve and develop new shared use walking and biking trails, especially along the Genesee River, include plans to convert

the abandoned historic Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge over the Genesee River into a Rails-to-Trails pedestrian bridge.

About the Project

The converted Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge over the Genesee River will connect the east and west bank Genesee Riverway Trails. The Genesee Riverway Trail is an urban multi-use trail adjacent to the Genesee River, used primarily by bicyclists, pedestrians, and cross-country skiers. This project will further the effort to connect the trail to various neighborhoods and business districts by linking the University of Rochester and Strong Memorial Hospital, the City’s largest employer, on the east bank with its westside neighbors.

Licensing Bicycles in New York State
If you are interested in reading this very short bill here is the link.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A05429%09%09&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Votes=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y
You will notice that it doesn’t provide for any real benefits to the cycling community.

Rochester Transportation meeting gets national attention, and Jon gets his picture taken!
http://blog.tstc.org/2011/02/23/the-public-speaks-at-federal-transportation-town-hall-in-rochester/
The meeting was also mentioned with an entry in “Streetsblog”, the national grassroots transpo blog:
http://streetsblog.net/2011/02/24/rochester-residents-left-out-of-transpo-bill-hearing-create-their-own/

While Rochester searches for its next mayor to take office and begin the arduous task of planning the City’s future, Reconnect Rochester is taking the issues to the candidates and the candidates to the people.

Mayoral Candidates Discuss Rochester’s Future

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 7:00pm

1000 University Ave. Rochester

Gleason Works Auditorium

Rochester Bike Week 2011 is coming soon!
If you are interested in participating, our next scheduled Volunteer meeting is at RIT’s Innovation Center (Google Map Directions)on Sunday, February 20th from 4pm – 5pm Please come to this meeting with a list of all the local bike shops, bike clubs, and local Rochester businesses you have connections with or are willing to reach out to. FYI: Your connections/list will be the foundation for our outreach campaign.
We look forward to seeing you at the next volunteer meeting!
RCA Bike Week 2011, Director

R Community Bikes Inc. (RCB) is a 501c3 charitable organization which provides refurbished bicycles to needy children and adults in our community.

This service is provided free of charge but RCB depends on the generosity of individuals who donate bikes.

If you have an old bike in your garage or basement please consider donating it to RCB.

Last year RCB provided 2,474 bikes to our brothers and sisters of Rochester.

For R Community Bikes to continue this ministry, more bikes are needed.

Visit www.rcommunitybikes.net, email to rcombikes@yahoo.com or call 865-9872 for more information.

Thank you.

Rochester Cycling Alliance Advocates…

If you missed the volunteer meeting last Sunday you still have an opportunity to find-out more and participate in 2011. The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 7th at 7pm – LOCATION: RIT Center for Student Innovation RM: 1100.

RIT Center for Student Innovation.

Google Map Directions available at: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=217907132599489201628.00046c64b3d338283858d&t=h&source=embed&ll=43.085564,-77.679884&spn=0.008259,0.022724&z=16&iwloc=00046c652a700dba32e55

In line with our objectives for the 2011 Bike Week our volunteer needs will follow three main tracks:

Meeting details below.

Bike Week 2011 planning is upon us once again! As the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Project (http://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikeplan/) takes shape, the RCA is looking to grow Bike Week 2011 and build more community partners in an effort to put Rochester on the bicycle friendly map. We are currently recruiting volunteers for the following positions:

1. Bike Shop / Bike Club Ambassador (4 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To make contact with all local bike shops and bike clubs to solicit the following: donations/sponsorships, ride and event support for Bike Week, and to secure distribution sites for Bike Week flyers.

2. Community Relations Ambassador (4 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To identify and contact potential community and business partners that can benefit from helping Bike Week grow in their area. For example, Neighborhood Associations (NA) may be a good partner, due to their political influence and ability to disseminate information to their NA members. Once relationships are established we need to solicit the following: donations/sponsorships, ride and event support for Bike Week, and to secure distribution sites for Bike Week flyers.

3. Ride Leaders / Support (6 volunteers needed)

· (Duties) To lead and or support bicycle rides at their planned times. Make sure all participants are safe and accounted for. Leaders and support will also be responsible for maintaining an accurate sign-in sheet used for tracking and recording the number of participants on each ride, while also documenting the ride through photographs.

BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEER OBJECTIVES

Build Relationships

The Rochester Cycling Alliance is just that…an alliance of cyclists in Rochester. However, we cannot have a very strong alliance if we are not actively seeking and building support from the community of cyclists that live and work in Rochester. As volunteers connect with shops, clubs, businesses, and communities we want to inform our target communities about the RCA, Bike Week, and the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan Project, while providing multiple levels of involvement. The three volunteer positions listed above are very public positions and require volunteers that can leverage established relationships with our targeted communities or have the ability to develop the necessary relationships.

Secure Involvement, Donations and Sponsorships

Ambassadors will be supplied with our 2011 Bike Week Donation/Sponsorship letter to deliver to each potential bike week partner. The letter will detail how shops, clubs, businesses, and communities can participate at various levels and even financially or through in-kind donations (time or product). The letter should be delivered in person, rather than mailed, in order to help establish a face-to-face relationship with the potential partner. Our goal is not to make money with this effort, but to solicit involvement and funds to help cover the 2011 Bike Week event expenses. As the RCA develops into a 501c3 (non-profit entity) this year, we will be able to receive and appropriate tax deductible donations from contributing partners.

We look forward to seeing you at the Volunteers meeting! Please feel free to email me with any questions.

Thanks!

Jason Hammel

jasonjhammel@gmail.com

RCA Bike Week 2011, Director

It may only be January, but the Rochester Cycling Alliance is already thinking ahead to Bike Week 2011, May 20-27. We want to build on the successes of last year’s Bike Week by expanding the event and bringing in more community partners to get the message out that bikes belong on Rochester’s streets.

But we can’t do it alone! We have several volunteer positions that need to be filled to make sure that Bike Week 2011 is a success. We’re holding a volunteer meeting this Sunday at 7 pm for anyone interested in helping out. Join us at the RIT Center for Student Innovation (map) to find out how you can help.

In line with our objectives for the 2011 Bike Week our volunteer needs will follow three main tracks:

Read More…

Alta Planning & Design, http://www.altaplanning.com/ announces its sister company Alta Bicycle Sharing, Inc. (ABS) launches bike sharing systems in Melbourne, Australia and Washington, D.C. There’s no question that the success of bike share programs rests upon not just great technology, as provided by companies like Bixi, but on top-notch operations management, as provided by ABS.

Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map
Genesee Transportation Council — 2010

These ratings represent the opinions of experienced bicyclists on the rideability of major roads based on existing road conditions and features such as pavement width and quality, traffic volumes, presence and type of shoulders, and posted speed limits.

Please be aware that road conditions may change and bicyclists must always be aware of vehicular traffic, potholes, and other road hazards.

Further information is available at: http://www.gtcmpo.org/Bike_Map/BikeMapInfo.htm

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=https:%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fgreaterrochesterareabikemap%2Fmap%2Fv2GreaterRochesterAreaBicyclingMap.kml%3Ft%3Dp&sll=43.14183,-77.570686&sspn=0.067137,0.219383&ie=UTF8&t=p&lci=bike&ll=43.157297,-77.606306&spn=0.073381,0.181789&z=13

Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map
Genesee Transportation Council — 2010

These ratings represent the opinions of experienced bicyclists on the rideability of major roads based on existing road conditions and features such as pavement width and quality, traffic volumes, presence and type of shoulders, and posted speed limits.

Please be aware that road conditions may change and bicyclists must always be aware of vehicular traffic, potholes, and other road hazards.

Further information is available at: http://www.gtcmpo.org/Bike_Map/BikeMapInfo.htm

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=https:%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fgreaterrochesterareabikemap%2Fmap%2Fv2GreaterRochesterAreaBicyclingMap.kml%3Ft%3Dp&sll=43.14183,-77.570686&sspn=0.067137,0.219383&ie=UTF8&t=p&lci=bike&ll=43.157297,-77.606306&spn=0.073381,0.181789&z=13