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Case Statement For Active Transportation Genesee – Finger Lakes Region, New York

I had a very productive discussion with Bob Torzynski head of bicycle and pedestrian affairs at Genesee Tranportation Council (GTC) and got some background on the proposal discussed by Rich Perrin head of GTC when he visited us last month. This $50 million proposal is just for the Rochester area and is part of a bigger proposal. (More details are in Jeff Mapes’s book Pedaling Revolution on page 59. )
After the 2006 elections Rails To Trails started shopping a plan around the country to give forty communities, $50 million dollars to increase bicycling and pedestrian use – that’s a total of $2 Billion, yes $2 Billion, nationally.
This is being made possible by the introduction of Oregon House Representative Earl Blumenhauer’s Active Transportation ACT of 2010 or ACTA or House Bill # 4722 which asks for $ 2 billion dollars over 6 years. This is the potential source of our funding for our $50 million dollar application. Today I sent a 10 page draft of the Rochester Case Statement to Rails to Trails to critically review and make suggestions to strengthen our proposal. The draft was originally created by the Rochster Area Community Foundaton inconjuction with the GTC. Rails To Trails is very supportive of our application and encouraged us to move forward when we visited their offices when when in Wash. DC.

If the Active Transportation bill passes, they will porbably fund 40 communities. Currently they have 53 case statements from different communities and we would have a very good chance of getting funded. All this is dependent on getting house Bill # 472 passed. We need to encourage all of our congressmen to support and more importantly cosponsor house bill # 4722. This is the most important national letter we can do probably this year so I’d encourage you to do write your congress man or woman. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Scott

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Case Statement For Active Transportation Genesee – Finger Lakes Region, New York

I had a very productive discussion with Bob Torzynski head of bicycle and pedestrian affairs at Genesee Tranportation Council (GTC) and got some background on the proposal discussed by Rich Perrin head of GTC when he visited us last month. This $50 million proposal is just for the Rochester area and is part of a bigger proposal. (More details are in Jeff Mapes’s book Pedaling Revolution on page 59. )
After the 2006 elections Rails To Trails started shopping a plan around the country to give forty communities, $50 million dollars to increase bicycling and pedestrian use – that’s a total of $2 Billion, yes $2 Billion, nationally.
This is being made possible by the introduction of Oregon House Representative Earl Blumenhauer’s Active Transportation ACT of 2010 or ACTA or House Bill # 4722 which asks for $ 2 billion dollars over 6 years. This is the potential source of our funding for our $50 million dollar application. Today I sent a 10 page draft of the Rochester Case Statement to Rails to Trails to critically review and make suggestions to strengthen our proposal. The draft was originally created by the Rochster Area Community Foundaton inconjuction with the GTC. Rails To Trails is very supportive of our application and encouraged us to move forward when we visited their offices when when in Wash. DC.

If the Active Transportation bill passes, they will porbably fund 40 communities. Currently they have 53 case statements from different communities and we would have a very good chance of getting funded. All this is dependent on getting house Bill # 472 passed. We need to encourage all of our congressmen to support and more importantly cosponsor house bill # 4722. This is the most important national letter we can do probably this year so I’d encourage you to do write your congress man or woman. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Scott

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Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About

I hope no one is offended, but I’ve lifted this entire article from RochesterSubway.com.

Our friends at GTC are presenting again Wednesday morning.  We should be there.

Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About



$510 Million No One Seems To Care About

March 14th, 2010

This is the Mortimer St. design for a transit center that was part of the Renaissance Square project. RGRTA still wants to build this portion of the project on Mortimer St.
Last Tuesday I attended a public presentation by the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) to review their Draft 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program Project List external link. It contains over $500 million in new transportation spending for our region over the next few years. And I don’t mind pointing out that I was the only one in attendance. I don’t mean the only one from RochesterSubway.com… or the only one from my neighborhood… I mean THE ONLY PERSON in the entire city of Rochester and 7 county region in attendance. No one from the community, no one from the press, no raging activists… no one. It was literally me and about 5 or 6 representatives from GTC.
I’m more than a little perplexed by the lack of interest. Especially given the amount of money on the table and the shear number of proposed projects and purchases. For example, $6 million for work on the Aqueduct/Broad Street Bridge and subway tunnel, nearly $50 million for new transit buses, and over $45 million for a new RTS Transit Center. These are not small potatoes—there are over 200 other projects and purchases in this draft proposal—and if you wanted to speak your mind about any of it you may have just missed the boat. Don’t blame me, I posted the meeting on theRochesterSubway.com Facebook page external link and pleaded with our 460+ fans to come out. You can’t even blame GTC—the meetings are posted on their site and the Democrat & Chronicle announced them last Sunday.

A Second Chance To Give A Damn…

I can hear reading this and saying to yourself, $510 million is a lot of money and you’d like to bitch and complain about how MY MONEY is being spent! Okay, you know what? This is your lucky week. GTC is holding 2 more public meetings this Wednesday (3/17) in Henrietta and Ogden. See the times and locations here external link. And if you really really REALLY can’t make be bothered to show up in person, you can write, fax, or email your comments and concerns to GTC until March 26.
RGRTA is on target to build their bus terminal on this Mortimer St. parking lot.I don’t have nearly enough time to get into all the projects that are on this list so you’ll have to download the PDF external link and thumb thru it on your own. But I will touch on the one that you may have heard of before. Item #144 on the list is $45.7 million in federal, state, and local funding for a Downtown Transit Center—formerly Renaissance Square. Looks like we can forget any dreams of a real intermodal transit station. RGRTA is moving ahead with it’s plan to build a slightly scaled down version of it’s bus terminal on Mortimer St. and Clinton Ave.
RGRTA is on target to build their bus terminal on this Mortimer St. parking lot.RGRTA CEO Mark Aesch says, “We picked this site and worked on it for 10 years for a reason. Mortimer Street is the right location to build a transit center. It’s environmentally approved. We’ve spent millions of dollars getting the design to where it is today. That’s the right place to build this project. We’re hopeful that’s where it’s going to be.”
According to Aesch the terminal will cost in the mid to high $40 million range. If the GTC’s Draft Project List becomes reality, and I’d judge by the lack of public interest that it will, Aesch will have his $45.7 million and we’ll have a bus garage downtown very soon. Goodie.
Item #69 on GTC's list of transportation projects has $6 million marked for the east end of the Broad Street Tunnel and Aqueduct. More on this later...I’ll save my comments on line #69, Broad St. Tunnel & Aqueduct, for a future post. I’m awaiting comments from the City on this one. Though I’d say it reeks pretty heavily of the canal re-watering plan external link. Stay tuned.Share this on Facebook

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Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About

I hope no one is offended, but I’ve lifted this entire article from RochesterSubway.com.

Our friends at GTC are presenting again Wednesday morning.  We should be there.

Rochester Subway : $510 Million No One Seems To Care About



$510 Million No One Seems To Care About

March 14th, 2010

This is the Mortimer St. design for a transit center that was part of the Renaissance Square project. RGRTA still wants to build this portion of the project on Mortimer St.
Last Tuesday I attended a public presentation by the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) to review their Draft 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program Project List external link. It contains over $500 million in new transportation spending for our region over the next few years. And I don’t mind pointing out that I was the only one in attendance. I don’t mean the only one from RochesterSubway.com… or the only one from my neighborhood… I mean THE ONLY PERSON in the entire city of Rochester and 7 county region in attendance. No one from the community, no one from the press, no raging activists… no one. It was literally me and about 5 or 6 representatives from GTC.
I’m more than a little perplexed by the lack of interest. Especially given the amount of money on the table and the shear number of proposed projects and purchases. For example, $6 million for work on the Aqueduct/Broad Street Bridge and subway tunnel, nearly $50 million for new transit buses, and over $45 million for a new RTS Transit Center. These are not small potatoes—there are over 200 other projects and purchases in this draft proposal—and if you wanted to speak your mind about any of it you may have just missed the boat. Don’t blame me, I posted the meeting on theRochesterSubway.com Facebook page external link and pleaded with our 460+ fans to come out. You can’t even blame GTC—the meetings are posted on their site and the Democrat & Chronicle announced them last Sunday.

A Second Chance To Give A Damn…

I can hear reading this and saying to yourself, $510 million is a lot of money and you’d like to bitch and complain about how MY MONEY is being spent! Okay, you know what? This is your lucky week. GTC is holding 2 more public meetings this Wednesday (3/17) in Henrietta and Ogden. See the times and locations here external link. And if you really really REALLY can’t make be bothered to show up in person, you can write, fax, or email your comments and concerns to GTC until March 26.
RGRTA is on target to build their bus terminal on this Mortimer St. parking lot.I don’t have nearly enough time to get into all the projects that are on this list so you’ll have to download the PDF external link and thumb thru it on your own. But I will touch on the one that you may have heard of before. Item #144 on the list is $45.7 million in federal, state, and local funding for a Downtown Transit Center—formerly Renaissance Square. Looks like we can forget any dreams of a real intermodal transit station. RGRTA is moving ahead with it’s plan to build a slightly scaled down version of it’s bus terminal on Mortimer St. and Clinton Ave.
RGRTA is on target to build their bus terminal on this Mortimer St. parking lot.RGRTA CEO Mark Aesch says, “We picked this site and worked on it for 10 years for a reason. Mortimer Street is the right location to build a transit center. It’s environmentally approved. We’ve spent millions of dollars getting the design to where it is today. That’s the right place to build this project. We’re hopeful that’s where it’s going to be.”
According to Aesch the terminal will cost in the mid to high $40 million range. If the GTC’s Draft Project List becomes reality, and I’d judge by the lack of public interest that it will, Aesch will have his $45.7 million and we’ll have a bus garage downtown very soon. Goodie.
Item #69 on GTC's list of transportation projects has $6 million marked for the east end of the Broad Street Tunnel and Aqueduct. More on this later...I’ll save my comments on line #69, Broad St. Tunnel & Aqueduct, for a future post. I’m awaiting comments from the City on this one. Though I’d say it reeks pretty heavily of the canal re-watering plan external link. Stay tuned.Share this on Facebook

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National Bike Summit & Alliance for Biking and Walking Top 10 Suggestions

Andrew Dollard, Jon Schull and I attend the National Bike Summit on Weds, March 10th and Jon went to advocate on March 11th with members of congress. It was a terrific conference and we all learned a great deal which will come in very handy.
I attended 3 break out sessions. The first one was held by The Alliance for Biking and Walking which was intended for advocacy communities that were just getting started and talked about the grants program ($15 K) they have to get communities started as well as the regional trainings they have for starting communities. I’ve attatched the “Top 10 Tips” the give for starting organizations. This includes the need to start a 501(c) (3) which I think we need to innitiate soon since it takes at least 3 months to get. I also caught the tail end of a Progressive Cities Session which featured Tom Miller who is Portland Mayor Sam Adam’s Chief of Staff and the person who convinced Sam Adams that a bike friendly policy is the way to go. He was impressive and is a potential speaker for our upcoming bike summit.
The second session covered the health benefits and I met with the President of the American Public Health Asscociation and Ken Rose of Tranporation Policy Director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health both of were very informative and helpful. They were both willing to share their slides which may come in handy.
The third session was on Madison Wisc. and the mayor, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz gave a great talk. When I asked him about the snow problem, he was a bit perplexed, since he didn’t view it as too big a problem since they have a policy that the bike trails get plowed preferrably before 7am. and that seems to work out. He is also a potential speaker for the bike summit.
Included is the the “Top 10 ” list from the Alliance for Biking and Walking — Scott
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National Bike Summit & Alliance for Biking and Walking Top 10 Suggestions

Andrew Dollard, Jon Schull and I attend the National Bike Summit on Weds, March 10th and Jon went to advocate on March 11th with members of congress. It was a terrific conference and we all learned a great deal which will come in very handy.
I attended 3 break out sessions. The first one was held by The Alliance for Biking and Walking which was intended for advocacy communities that were just getting started and talked about the grants program ($15 K) they have to get communities started as well as the regional trainings they have for starting communities. I’ve attatched the “Top 10 Tips” the give for starting organizations. This includes the need to start a 501(c) (3) which I think we need to innitiate soon since it takes at least 3 months to get. I also caught the tail end of a Progressive Cities Session which featured Tom Miller who is Portland Mayor Sam Adam’s Chief of Staff and the person who convinced Sam Adams that a bike friendly policy is the way to go. He was impressive and is a potential speaker for our upcoming bike summit.
The second session covered the health benefits and I met with the President of the American Public Health Asscociation and Ken Rose of Tranporation Policy Director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health both of were very informative and helpful. They were both willing to share their slides which may come in handy.
The third session was on Madison Wisc. and the mayor, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz gave a great talk. When I asked him about the snow problem, he was a bit perplexed, since he didn’t view it as too big a problem since they have a policy that the bike trails get plowed preferrably before 7am. and that seems to work out. He is also a potential speaker for the bike summit.
Included is the the “Top 10 ” list from the Alliance for Biking and Walking — Scott
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Writing Women Back into Bicycling – Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

Writing Women Back into Bicycling – Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals


3/31/2010

When: Wednesday, March 31
3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT

Registration Information
Online registration is available until: 3/31/2010
Details
Some say that transportation culture will change when more women are cycling. What’s the key to making that change happen? Hear all about it during APBP’s free webinar, Writing Women Back into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle. This presentation is linked to the encouragement recommendations of the International Scan. Consider hosting a site and inviting your colleagues to attend.
This webinar is made possible by a generous contribution from the Family of Mrs. Neil L. Miller (1938-2005) Barry University HPLS Faculty.

« Go to Upcoming Event List

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Writing Women Back into Bicycling – Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

Writing Women Back into Bicycling – Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals


3/31/2010

When: Wednesday, March 31
3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT

Registration Information
Online registration is available until: 3/31/2010
Details
Some say that transportation culture will change when more women are cycling. What’s the key to making that change happen? Hear all about it during APBP’s free webinar, Writing Women Back into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle. This presentation is linked to the encouragement recommendations of the International Scan. Consider hosting a site and inviting your colleagues to attend.
This webinar is made possible by a generous contribution from the Family of Mrs. Neil L. Miller (1938-2005) Barry University HPLS Faculty.

« Go to Upcoming Event List

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BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The RCA Events Committee will be holding their first volunteer recruitment meeting at the Genesee Waterways Center today (Wednesday, March 10th) from 7PM – 9PM.

Directions to the site can be found here: http://geneseewaterways.org/directions_gwc.htm.
GWC Boathouse Address:
149 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, New York 14611

Please spread the word to all those who may be interested and post this message to your Facebook and Twitter accounts (if possible). The meeting will focus on explaining our overall events and strategies for bike week in order to recruit volunteers. Bike week will help RCA fulfill its mission to create better cycling infrastructure and a stronger voice for cyclists in Rochester, NY.

Thanks for your support!
Jason Hammel and the RCA Events Committee

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BIKE WEEK VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The RCA Events Committee will be holding their first volunteer recruitment meeting at the Genesee Waterways Center today (Wednesday, March 10th) from 7PM – 9PM.

Directions to the site can be found here: http://geneseewaterways.org/directions_gwc.htm.
GWC Boathouse Address:
149 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, New York 14611

Please spread the word to all those who may be interested and post this message to your Facebook and Twitter accounts (if possible). The meeting will focus on explaining our overall events and strategies for bike week in order to recruit volunteers. Bike week will help RCA fulfill its mission to create better cycling infrastructure and a stronger voice for cyclists in Rochester, NY.

Thanks for your support!
Jason Hammel and the RCA Events Committee

3 Comments

Roll Up Your Sleeves. Let’s Reconnect Rochester.

Posted by: Mike Governale, co-founder of Reconnect Rochester.
Don't confuse her with Rosie the Riveter. The model for this WWII poster is actually Geraldine Doyle. We're borrowing this powerful illustration from Howard J. Miller to help us Reconnect Rochester.Hopefully by now you’ve read Rochester’s Case for a Streetcar Line. If you haven’t, go read it. Go on, I’ll wait.

…Okay great, now here’s an update. Since that article, traffic to RochesterSubway.com has doubled, our Facebook fan club external link has grown from 100 to over 400 (and counting), and my inbox hasn’t had a moments rest. This is all very encouraging and a sure sign that the people of Rochester really want to see their city thrive. The big question is; do the people of Rochester care enough to make an effort? All signs point to yes. So far we’ve got 12 people (including myself) who have risen to the challenge. Together we will lead a city wide movement to Reconnect Rochester.

Last Saturday morning, one day after a northeast blizzard moved thru our area, 5 passionate Rochesterians dug there way out of their homes and met me for lunch at Legend’s Bar & Grill. Against the backdrop of a bus-lined Main Street we introduced ourselves and got right down to swapping ideas about how we could help put Rochester back on track—pun intended…

Read more

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Rochester’s Case for a Streetcar Line

The following article was published at RochesterSubway.com on 2010/02/16. Two weeks later 6 citizens got together and Reconnect Rocheseter was born.

Photo simulation of a new Rochester streetcar on Main Street.

America seems to have taken a renewed interest in mobility. Maybe due to President Obama’s recent commitment to high speed rail—or perhaps the positive results seen in towns like Portland and Denver have caught our collective attention. Whatever the reason, from the top down, people are rethinking our automobile-oriented culture—and getting excited about the possibilities.

There’s also good reason to focus on transportation as a way of jump-starting economic development. Industry requires access to people. And people need to have easy access to centers of employment. Continually improving access makes further development possible. Interrupting access will have the opposite effect. Likewise, doing nothing or simply maintaining existing infrastructure for an extended period of time will also hinder development.

For 30+ years Rochester has relied on the infrastructure choices it made in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. At that time we made development choices that encouraged our population to emigrate from the downtown core. We scrapped our extensive streetcar system, choked off downtown with the construction of the inner-loop, and paved super highways to take us from the city to the NY State Thruway and beyond. Since then that’s exactly where our money, our workforce, and our future have gone—down I-490 and out of state.

Read more

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New Bicycle/Pedestrian bridge

Was anyone able to attend last night’s meeting about the possible new bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the Genesee? I was not able to attend, but am interested in what was discussed. Please leave any info in comments below, or e-mail me at alamedajunk@yahoo.com .

Thanks!

-Bill Collins

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New Bicycle/Pedestrian bridge

Was anyone able to attend last night’s meeting about the possible new bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the Genesee? I was not able to attend, but am interested in what was discussed. Please leave any info in comments below, or e-mail me at alamedajunk@yahoo.com .

Thanks!

-Bill Collins

No Comments

Act now to get Congress to enact the ACT Act

rails to trails conservancy
Dear Jon,
Read about yesterday’s historic milestone for trails, walking and bicycling, and take action now!

Yesterday, H.R. 4722, the“Active Community Transportation Act of 2010”was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives!

Now, your voice is needed to ensure that this legislation becomes reality.
Please act now!

For years, you have been speaking up for active transportation. Through both critical victories and short-term setbacks, your phone calls, e-mails, and support have persisted.

And finally, we have the most tangible result yet that our calls for more active transportation will be answered.

Late yesterday, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) introduced H.R. 4722, the “Active Community Transportation Act of 2010” (ACT Act), on the floor of the House of Representatives!

The ACT Act is the direct result of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s (RTC)Campaign for Active Transportation. The Act would create a $2 billion program to fund dozens of communities around the country to improve their trail, walking and biking networks. Your community could ultimately receive some of these funds, better allowing you and your neighbors to walk and bike to the places you live, work, play, shop and learn.

Across the country, Americans have made clear that we want more transportation options, and the ACT Act goes a long way toward making such safe and convenient options a reality. Research clearly shows that funding active transportation is a wise investment, saving our nation substantially over time.

Now that Rep. Blumenauer has introduced the legislation in the House, we need to ensure that other representatives support the bill’s passage.
Encourage your representative to co-sponsor this very important legislation now.
This push for co-sponsors is the first step of a larger strategy to ensure that we get the strongest possible congressional support. Next Thursday, hundreds of advocates from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C., for the League of American Bicyclists’ annual Bike Summit, to lobby for the ACT Act.That same day, Thursday, March 11, we’ll ask you to join a national call-in day in support of the ACT Act. Please stay tuned.
Thank you,
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
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Act now to get Congress to enact the ACT Act

rails to trails conservancy
Dear Jon,
Read about yesterday’s historic milestone for trails, walking and bicycling, and take action now!

Yesterday, H.R. 4722, the“Active Community Transportation Act of 2010”was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives!

Now, your voice is needed to ensure that this legislation becomes reality.
Please act now!

For years, you have been speaking up for active transportation. Through both critical victories and short-term setbacks, your phone calls, e-mails, and support have persisted.

And finally, we have the most tangible result yet that our calls for more active transportation will be answered.

Late yesterday, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) introduced H.R. 4722, the “Active Community Transportation Act of 2010” (ACT Act), on the floor of the House of Representatives!

The ACT Act is the direct result of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s (RTC)Campaign for Active Transportation. The Act would create a $2 billion program to fund dozens of communities around the country to improve their trail, walking and biking networks. Your community could ultimately receive some of these funds, better allowing you and your neighbors to walk and bike to the places you live, work, play, shop and learn.

Across the country, Americans have made clear that we want more transportation options, and the ACT Act goes a long way toward making such safe and convenient options a reality. Research clearly shows that funding active transportation is a wise investment, saving our nation substantially over time.

Now that Rep. Blumenauer has introduced the legislation in the House, we need to ensure that other representatives support the bill’s passage.
Encourage your representative to co-sponsor this very important legislation now.
This push for co-sponsors is the first step of a larger strategy to ensure that we get the strongest possible congressional support. Next Thursday, hundreds of advocates from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C., for the League of American Bicyclists’ annual Bike Summit, to lobby for the ACT Act.That same day, Thursday, March 11, we’ll ask you to join a national call-in day in support of the ACT Act. Please stay tuned.
Thank you,
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
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Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

In order to adopt a city-wide system of bicycle boulevards, they must be coordinated across many neighborhoods. UMNA stepped up to the plate and became the first neighborhood in our city to endorse the City of Rochester’s decision to include bicycle boulevards in its Bicycle Masterplan. Eventually, we want to provide the Rochester community with an example of bicycle boulevards designed to connect neighborhoods with the city-wide trail system and to encourage bicycle use by casual bike riders to nearby destinations.

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Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

Upper Monroe Bicycle Boulevards

In order to adopt a city-wide system of bicycle boulevards, they must be coordinated across many neighborhoods. UMNA stepped up to the plate and became the first neighborhood in our city to endorse the City of Rochester’s decision to include bicycle boulevards in its Bicycle Masterplan. Eventually, we want to provide the Rochester community with an example of bicycle boulevards designed to connect neighborhoods with the city-wide trail system and to encourage bicycle use by casual bike riders to nearby destinations.