Sustainability isn’t just about recycling or reducing emissions – it’s also about how we take care of ourselves and the systems that support us. One powerful, everyday way we can sustain ourselves is through active transportation – walking, biking, or using public transit. But for that to work, our communities need to be built for it.
That’s one reason I started Sustain With Age. The goal was to help people – especially in Rochester – focus on what matters to them, whether it’s running a business or caring for their families, without being burdened by unsustainable costs (like utilities) or limited mobility options. Everyone should be able to access opportunity, healthcare, and connection, no matter their income or physical ability.
And as we age, that becomes even more important.
We often think of aging in terms of healthcare or retirement, but transportation is just as critical. How do we get to the grocery store? To a doctor’s appointment? To see grandchildren? Transportation access is a social determinant of health, and yet too many communities still prioritize cars over people.
To be a truly age-friendly place, Monroe County needs to design for the future – for younger generations, but also those living longer, with changing physical needs. That means:
Safer streets with slower traffic and more pedestrian crossings.
Accessible sidewalks and bus stops with benches, shelters, and curb cuts.
Frequent, reliable transit of all modes.
A community design that reduces the need for long car trips altogether.
And numerous other measures like coordinated construction planning to allow those in wheelchairs, blind people, and others to continue to safely navigate detours.
The recent Vision Zero commitment in Rochester is a step in the right direction – it shows a recognition that lives are at stake and that we must design for safety, not just speed.
And there are more opportunities ahead. The filling-in of the Inner Loop, the possibility of higher-speed rail, and investments in more frequent bus service could all reshape how people of all ages get around. But we need to make sure accessibility and equity are at the center of that change.
Rochester has a unique role to play: we are a college town, a climate haven, a community for working families, and recently named a top city for aging in place. That mix gives us both an obligation and an opportunity to lead on sustainable, age-friendly design.
Importantly, this conversation extends beyond Rochester and Monroe County. We are a 9-county region with massive towns like Greece that need to be in this conversation and planning too.
I don’t expect a perfect system tomorrow. But as someone who works in the built environment, I see how deeply connected our homes, workplaces, and transit systems are. With smart planning and a shared commitment to sustainability – financially, personally, and environmentally – we can build a community that truly supports people across their lifespan.
Kyle is a climate risk and sustainability professional in Rochester. He is a Board Member of the Climate Solutions Accelerator of the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region and runs his firm, Sustain With Age which has a newsletter you can sign up for here. All views are his own and do not reflect those of any institution or organization.
At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure.
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
A College Student’s Journey On Two Wheels & Transit
By Una Gogstetter:
As a college student who, like many others my age, doesn’t own my own car, living car lite has been necessary for me. My experience getting around Rochester with limited car access has been both enjoyable and eye-opening. I am a current sophomore at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with a Statistical and Data Sciences major, Urban Studies minor, and Community Engagement and Social Change concentration. Living without a car while away at college has also broadened my perspective on car lite living in Rochester
Car Lite in Rochester
For the past two summers, I biked or took the bus to my jobs (first at Corn Hill Navigation then at Rochester Area Community Foundation). While this was more by necessity than by conscious choice, I did particularly enjoy my experience biking. I would often listen to music through my earbuds on my way, the bike ride integrated exercise into my daily routine, and I was able to observe various people, houses, and businesses along my route.
Some of my favorite areas to bike have been the Railroad Loop Trail or passing by the lovely old houses on Park Avenue. Furthermore, RTS provided a convenient way for me to get to work in rainy weather—my house, near Cobbs Hill, is located in close proximity to a bus stop. I will likely spend much of this summer in Rochester and I intend to continue frequently commuting by bike or by bus.
The turn onto the Railroad Loop Trail.
The bike commute to my internship last summer involved this lovely section of Harvard Street.
While I’m lucky to have worked at locations I can travel to without a car, I am still cognizant of the ways in which access to transportation in Rochester could be expanded and improved. I have had to be mindful of transportation-related concerns when applying and planning my schedule for jobs and internships in Rochester, as I am unable to access many Rochester area locations without a car. Transportation-related logistics have also been a concern for me outside of work-related contexts.
Excursions ranging from dining out with a friend to purchasing a particular item I need to going on a family hike would be much more challenging without my parents and friends having cars. While it is of course possible to live car-free in many parts of Rochester, having zero access to a car would likely come with unavoidable drawbacks.
Although living car-free in any city comes with challenges, such challenges are greater in the absence of extensive public transportation systems as well as in the absence of comprehensive infrastructure supporting pedestrians and bicyclists.
Similarly to many cities, Rochester’s bike lanes are neither physically separated from car lanes nor consistently present even on busy streets. Therefore, the current arrangements force bicyclists to choose between riding beside automobiles or riding on the sidewalk. Furthermore, if someone is seeking to live a car lite lifestyle, and thus potentially biking rather than driving, their commute will likely coincide with rush hour—an especially dangerous time to bike in the road.
Comparisons with Northampton
Northampton is certainly imperfect regarding friendliness toward non-automobile forms of transportation. Its bike lanes are inconsistent, not physically separated from automobile traffic, and its bus system does not reach all areas of the city. Still the city has greater mindfulness of pedestrians in comparison to Rochester.
Crosswalks at locations other than traffic lights are much more common in Northampton. Pedestrians frequently utilize these crosswalks—the downtown area is often busy with people visiting the shops and farmers’ market. Additionally, drivers tend to be more considerate toward pedestrians. They consistently stop at the many crosswalks and, even outside of designated crossing locations, and display an awareness of pedestrians I wasn’t previously used to.
Overall, my experience living car lite in Rochester highlights the importance of Reconnect Rochester’s mission to “champion transportation choice”. Tangible improvements, such as expanding the public transportation system, implementing safer biking infrastructure, and creating more crosswalks, would be undeniably impactful. Such improvements, though, must perhaps be accompanied by a shift in residents’ attitudes. A high level of mindfulness toward pedestrians could become more normalized, as it is in Northampton. Biking, walking, and riding the bus would start to be seen as feasible alternatives to driving—a mindset shift that would be helped along by infrastructural improvements.
Improvements in the physical infrastructure and the public attitudes around car lite living in Rochester would allow residents with limited or no car access to get around more safely and easily. And any resident, car owner or not, could experience enhanced well-being and a deepened sense of connection to the city and its communities as a result of walking or biking more often.
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Karen Nozik, Steve Roll, and Calvin Eaton, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle. If you want to support our work and make it easier for others to go Car-Lite please donate and sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets and transportation options.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
In June 2024, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans announced the ROC Vision Zero Initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s streets. Among the 10 priority actions announced was an effort to tackle Lake Avenue, one of Rochester’s most dangerous streets. The plan calls for making Lake Avenue a multimodal safety corridor equipped with a “Bus Rapid Transit” line or BRT for short. What is a BRT and why would a fast-moving bus lane make Lake Avenue a street safer? 🤔
BRT is a high-quality-bus-based transit system that delivers fast, efficient and frequent service along a corridor by implementing dedicated bus-only lanes, signal priority, bus stations with off board fare collection and elevated platforms. The City’s proposal is in early days, so we don’t have anything specific to react to, but we do hope they’ll go for the BRT Gold Standard. Gold standard BRT also includes designing for universal access for people of all abilities and pedestrian access and safety on the street. We should strive for the best and avoid what advocates have termed “BRT Creep”, when elements of good BRT are removed to save on costs and the line becomes unrecognizable from a standard frequent service line. This will take a healthy mix of up-front capital investments (to build out the infrastructure) matched with operational dollars that keep the service running frequently (for more on operating funds, see our February letter to Governor Hochul).
Only a few systems across the US have achieved bronze or better including Albuquerque’s ABQ RIDE (Gold), Clevland’s Healthline (Silver), and Pittsburgh’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway (Bronze). More locally, Albany’s Capital District Transportation Association has upped their BRT game with 3 BRT lines connecting Albany, Schenectady and Troy. Our friend the Urban Phoenix had a lot of good things to say about his experience using the system. Recently, a big step forward for Buffalo’s east side is the proposed Bailey Avenue BRT treatment, a 7.5 mile corridor connecting the City’s south side to north side destinations and the metro rail.
We could see our BRT line going from the Transit Center all the way to Lake Ontario, about 8 miles. Rochester’s initiative on Lake Avenue wouldn’t just add a BRT line to the existing street. It would redesign the street to enhance and advance multi-modal safety. BRT would be a component in a design that would enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities while improving access to the transit system. While we don’t have formal designs yet, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) thinks it could look something like this:
Planners often frame BRT as a potential catalyst transit project and on this one, we agree. BRT can offer Rochester a unique opportunity to connect Edgerton, Maplewood and Downtown with faster and more efficient bus service, and provide opportunities to invest in more transit-oriented development along the corridor. Basically, that means dense, walkable, mixed-use development near the bus stops that adds amenities closer to where people live and use the bus.
Currently, the City of Rochester is building a transit-oriented development in the Bull’s Head area where West Main St. meets Genesee St., Brown St. and Chili Ave. Local credit union ESL committed to being the first tenant in the redevelopment, bringing back banking services to the 19th Ward for the first time in a decade.
The City of Rochester identified Lake Avenue as a top transit-oriented development (TOD) corridor opportunity in the 2018 Transit Supportive Corridors Study. While improving transportation is a core goal, BRT on Lake Avenue goes beyond simply moving people. It’s a strategic investment with a ripple effect of positive outcomes:
Economic Development & Housing: BRT is a proven catalyst for transit-oriented development (TOD). By providing faster, more reliable service, it attracts businesses, housing, and services to the corridor. This is especially promising near underutilized parking areas around Kodak/Eastman Business Park, where BRT could spur valuable development and create a mixed-use hub.
Activating a Key Corridor: BRT will amplify Lake Ave’s potential, transforming the corridor into a thriving destination with increased foot traffic and economic activity.
Addressing Safety Concerns: The current state of Lake Avenue presents a barrier and many safety risks for residents accessing the Genesee River and other destinations. BRT will prioritize safety improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, making the corridor safer and more inviting for everyone.
A Stepping Stone to the Future: BRT is not an endpoint but a stepping stone. The infrastructure built for BRT can serve as the foundation for future transit options like streetcars or light rail. This approach allows Rochester to incrementally build towards a more robust and interconnected transit network.
Safety, better transit options, economic stimulus. What’s not to like about BRT? Detractors in some places have promulgated fears that adding dedicated bus lines would create car congestion. As with most multimodal improvements, the opposite is shown to happen: Studies have consistently shown that BRT does not worsen traffic; in fact, it often improves traffic flow by prioritizing efficient transit and encouraging more people to leave their cars at home. The current levels of congestion on Lake Avenue is primarily limited to peak commute hours, and BRT will help alleviate this by providing a reliable alternative for commuters.
What’s it going to take to launch the BRT planning process? Well, RTS has gotten things off to a good start by announcing last September that the 22 Lake Ave line is getting restored to 15 minute service as was envisioned in Reimagine RTS. The next step is to get a study underway to scope the project. Lake Avenue BRT represents a transformative opportunity for Rochester. It’s a chance to create a more connected, equitable, and sustainable city – one where everyone has access to opportunity and a vibrant public realm.
At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure.
We’ve been busy at Reconnect Rochester since the start of the year pursuing our 2025 Plans and Priorities. Below are a few key updates on what’s been going on in advocacy, especially those projects or events we asked you to mobilize around, and what to look forward to in the next few months:
Growing Our Movement:
Our biggest goal as an advocacy team this year is to grow our base of active, informed and engaged advocates throughout Monroe County. We’re always looking for more people to join the movement – get in touch if you are interested! We have opportunities to support multimodal transportation from taking surveys to speaking to elected officials or writing letters. The easiest way to learn about opportunities is to sign up for Mobility Action Alerts and we will send actions and events you can join.
Annual Executive Meetings:
Back in January, we held our annual meetings with Rochester Mayor Evans (City Hopes & Asks) and Monroe County Executive Adam Bello (County Hopes & Asks), setting the stage for our advocacy throughout the year, including budget advocacy that will be ramping up in the City soon. See our 2025 Budget Input submitted to the City.
ROC Vision Zero:
The Beacon’s ROC Vision Zero forum was well attended with a keynote by Mayor Evans, and an expert panel we helped assemble. Reconnect Rochester is serving on the ROC Vision Zero task force and will be participating in committees on education and community traffic safety champions in March and April.
We don’t know when the next version of the Rochester Zoning Alignment Project code will drop, but we have continued our focus on promoting transit-supportive land use that we had last year in our ZAP comments and Sprawl Effect Rochester Street Films Event. We’re continuing our focus on land use in the Transportation Impact Collective and partnering with Our Local History, Empire Justice Center, RMAPI, and the Climate Solutions Accelerator to deliver informational presentations to pro-housing advocates countywide.
Media Engagement:
Through our daily media monitoring, we are identifying problematic news articles covering crashes and sharing timely feedback using our Crash Reporting Toolkit as a guide.
Federal Uncertainty:
Last but certainly not least on our minds (and likely yours too) is the chaos and uncertainty set off by President Trump’s Executive Orders. Throughout the last two months, we have stayed in close contact with national advocacy groups such as the League of American Bicyclists, America Walks, and the National Campaign for Transit Justice. Focusing on just Monroe County, we analyzed USDOT memos and Trump Executive Orders and identified about $150 million of discretionary funding aimed at bike, pedestrian, transit and safer streets projects, already appropriated by Congress, announced, and some already under contract, potentially at risk through these orders. We have shared this information with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Congressman Joe Morelle, who will be meeting with Rochester cyclists in Washington during the National Bike Summit next week. Currently, we believe White House-mandated review outcomes will be announced in April 2025. We will continue to fight for resources that were appropriated by Congress and awarded to our community to fund multimodal transportation projects.
Save the Dates!
We’re excited about several things coming up:
May 1: Mayor Evan and County Executive Bello will deliver the official Bike Month proclamation at Austin Seward Plaza at 1:30 pm
On Rochester’s last Report Card from the League of American Bicyclists, we were urged to collect and track bike crash data. With that in mind, Reconnect Rochester started requesting crash reports involving cyclists in 2021 under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). We started small by just collecting and analyzing city crashes but soon branched out to crashes in the suburbs too.
Today we’ll explore what is consistently the most common cyclist crash in Monroe County. We want all road users to be aware and take appropriate safety measures, both for themselves and for the safety of others. In separate blog posts, we’ll parse out other findings from these reports.
In the early days of bicycling, roads weren’t suitable for riding. They weren’t paved and were thus dusty, muddy and full of horse poop. The only smooth, hard rideable surface was the sidewalk network. When too many Rochester cyclists started using the sidewalks, pedestrians were inconvenienced and the local law was changed. In 1896, Rochester cyclists were banned from riding on sidewalks, much to their consternation. That ultimately led to (short lived) bike infrastructure, and longer term to paved public roads, which became a normal expectation of government henceforward.
Meanwhile, the automobile gradually took over our cities and bicycling, for a variety of reasons, dwindled for decades to primarily become a childrens’ activity. (It was the 1970s oil crisis and better built bikes and new gearing which gradually started bringing adult bicycling back). Sadly, a spate of fatal crashes involving Rochester children in the 1950s woke the community up to the need for changing laws once again.
The City Code was changed in 1958 to allow sidewalk riding here. Bicyclists in Rochester, therefore have it both ways. They can choose to ride in the road following most of the rules for motor vehicle drivers OR if they’re not comfortable riding in the road, they can bike or scoot on the sidewalk where they are more or less treated as a higher speed pedestrian.
The most common bike/automobile crash in Monroe County features a motorist failing to yield to a sidewalk-riding cyclist approaching from their right. Just as pedestrians can walk both ways on a sidewalk, cyclists can ride both ways on the sidewalk, though riding on the sidewalk on the right side of the road with the flow of traffic is much safer. (The law requiring cyclists to ride on the right with the flow of traffic applies only when riding in the road itself). When riding on the sidewalk on the leftside of the road facing traffic, the trouble for cyclists primarily comes at intersections and parking lot exits.
It’s all too common for motorists wanting to turn right at a red light or stop sign to only look to their left, waiting for a break in oncoming traffic before making their turn. Pedestrians or cyclists entering the crosswalk from their right must be yielded to. Therefore motorists must look both ways, ensuring the way is clear and that their turn can be made with safety.
It should be noted that this failure on the motorist’s part is a ticketable offense. On rare occasions, law enforcement in Monroe County will issue motorists tickets for either of the following violations in this scenario:
VTL 1146 Every driver shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist or pedestrian…
VTL 1151 Drivers shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk… (In their crash reports, it’s very common for Officers to refer to the cyclist in this scenario as a pedestrian – with all their accompanying rights)
What can drivers do to avoid this particular crash?
The law requires motorists to come to a stop *before* the stop line/marked crosswalk, if there is one. If not, you must stop *before* you enter the crosswalk area. (Crosswalks exist legally whether or not they are marked).
Only after yielding to people walking or rolling in the crosswalk and ensuring the way is clear in *both* directions can motorists creep up gradually to get a better view, waiting for a break in traffic before making their turn with safety.
What can bike riders do to avoid this common crash scenario?
Because riding on the sidewalk opens you up to some very common motorist mistakes here, we recommend riding on the right side of the road with the flow of traffic. Yes, this can be scary at first (traffic will be coming up behind you on your left), but you are much more visible and predictable this way. The crash scenario we’re examining today is much more common than cyclists’ greatest fear (getting hit from behind or side-swiped).
Constant fear isn’t required when riding a bike, but constant vigilance is. If you choose to ride on the sidewalk, maintain awareness, scan around and behind you on a regular basis, and ride on the sidewalk on the right side with the flow of traffic. As noted above, motorists ahead of you tend to look left in your direction when approaching intersections, so you ought to be more visible to them.
Riding across crosswalks/parking lot exits via the sidewalk, don’t assume the driver sees you and will yield to you. You must negotiate and reach an understanding. This can be hard due to the increase in tinted windows which don’t allow you to interact with the driver in any way. Don’t proceed until you know it’s safe in all directions.
Some safety educators would advise you to dismount and walk your bike across crosswalks, particularly at busy intersections.
Crossing intersections on the lefthand sidewalk also puts you in danger of other turning motorists, such as motorists behind you turning left.
For municipalities that allow sidewalk-riding, update your code to require motorists to yield to bike & scooter riders in the crosswalk too. This is already the “common law” interpretation, but it helps to get rid of the ambiguity. Clear motorist expectations are important.
Continual messaging to motorists that cyclists have every right to ride in the street
Do us a favor and spread this finding widely. If Monroe County could eliminate or lessen this crash scenario, we’d see a significant decrease in motorist/cyclist crashes. Stay tuned for more crash analysis…
In November 2024, Reconnect Rochester organized a street walk through downtown Rochester with our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to select locations for the inaugural year of our Downtown SmART Streets program. There were eight possible locations scheduled which met the criteria of high pedestrian volume, safety concerns, and proximity to busy areas.
From these eight locations, our CAC team looked for the two spots that were good candidates for design improvement potential via curb extension murals. The curb extensions are meant to slow down vehicle turns and shorten crosswalks, ensuring pedestrians spend less time in the road—making every step across the street safer. The murals, inspired by Washington DC’s Arts in the Right of Way program, add a splash of creativity while drawing further focus to pedestrian zones.
Without Further Ado, Our Selections!
Why East Main & Gibbs?
Due to its immediate proximity to the Eastman School of Music with all its associated student housing, as well as its adjacency to Rochester’s East End neighborhood, not to mention the half mile walk to the RTS Transit Center or Jazz & Fringe festivals, East Main & Gibbs St would certainly qualify as a pedestrian heavy zone. Car speeds and the width of the road itself show strong potential for design improvement for the numerous daily pedestrians. Plus this intersection is no stranger to on-street art installations.
Why West Broad & Fitzhugh?
Just down the road from Blue Cross Arena, the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, the Genesee River, and local government buildings, West Broad and Fitzhugh is a vibrant area of downtown Rochester with heavy pedestrian traffic which would benefit strongly from safer pedestrian infrastructure. This is a large intersection with ample asphalt, offering an opportunity to optimize space for all road users.
Next Steps…
The design team at GPI is creating renderings for E. Main & Gibbs and W. Broad & Fitzhugh featuring curb extensions. Once the plans are ready, Rochester’s Traffic Control Board will conduct a site review to determine if these proposals get the green light.
We’re now accepting local artist submissions in response to our RFQ to design vibrant murals that will breathe life into the curb extensions. Partnering with local artist Shawn Dunwoody, we’ll select mural design concepts and plan for their seamless implementation. After final approvals from both the CAC and the Traffic Control Board, we’ll gather data on vehicle speeds and pedestrian activity to measure the real impact of these changes.
This temporary on-street project will debut this summer. Keep an eye out for updates!
In the U.S., pedestrian fatalities have skyrocketed, increasing by 75% since 2010. According to our Monroe County Crash Map, on average, thirteen people die walking or biking on our local streets every year. In 2023, this number rose to 20 fatalities. We must do better.
So what are the solutions to change this trajectory and reduce the harm? On-street demonstration projects are one way to highlight the importance of improving safety by designing our streets for people (not just cars). That’s why in 2025, Reconnect Rochester launched a new on-street project centered in downtown Rochester, complementing our Complete Streets Makeover where we transform intersections in Rochester’s neighborhoods.
Downtown SmART Streets, inspired by Washington DC’s Arts in the Right of Way program, implements complete street design in the form of seasonal curb extension murals to improve pedestrian safety and beautify the streetscape.
What Are Curb Extensions?
Curb extensions, also known as bulb-outs, are sidewalk widenings that extend into the roadway at intersections. These features help:
Slow down vehicle turns by narrowing the space available, encouraging safer and slower driving behavior.
Shorten crosswalk distances so pedestrians spend less time in the road, reducing the risk of collisions.
The combination of physical and visual cues promote traffic calming measures and make streets safer for pedestrians, as well as for cyclists and drivers on the road.
Safety doesn’t have to come at the cost of beauty. We enhance curb extensions with vibrant murals designed by local artists to draw attention to pedestrian zones, further encouraging drivers to slow down and stay alert. The artistry beautifies the space with designs that reflect an area’s identity and sense of place.
How Do We Decide Project Locations?
The Downtown SmART Streets project is informed by a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) made up of a diverse set of downtown Rochester stakeholders and community partners.
We facilitate a “Street Walk” whereby CAC members document observations at each of the 8-10 viable locations that have been vetted by City of Rochester staff. An evaluation tool incorporates strategies and checklists informed by the Ground Mural Best Practices Guide.
Following the Street Walk, the CAC convenes for a selection review meeting. The group selects a location(s) based on the results of the Street Walk, as well as the secondary criteria data prepared by the Reconnect team such as crash safety data.
When selecting project locations, we focus on spots with safety concerns that have potential for design improvement. Proximity to busy areas and areas on major RTS lines or the Transit Center are other considerations due to high pedestrian density, and traffic volume.
A Safer Street Design
Once a location(s) is selected, our awesome design firm partner, GPI, gets to work drafting a design rendering to show where street murals could go to make it a safer, more comfortable place for pedestrians to travel. The design is reviewed by the City’s Traffic Control Board to make sure it allows for safe travel for all road users.
Meanwhile, an RFQ process facilitated by Dunwoode Design, is conducted to select a local artist for the project that will create mural artwork that reflects the character and history of the immediate area.
There’s much to coordinate for the installation regarding paint requirements and logistics, purchasing equipment and materials, and event permitting via the City of Rochester’s DES department. Our CAC members help out with outreach to area residents, businesses and stakeholders to get their input, address any concerns, and build excitement for the project.
Finally, speed and pedestrian count data is collected pre- and post-installation to measure project impact. We want to show our intervention is successful in slowing drivers down and encouraging pedestrian activity.
Over time, our vision is to build a whole network of curb extension murals throughout the downtown area that will improve pedestrian safety for those traveling to and through our center city by slowing down traffic, beautify public spaces and nurture a sense of place, and call attention to street design as one critical factor in creating streets that are safe for everyone.
We are happy to announce the two locations for the 2025 Downtown SmART Streets inaugural year will be East Main St & Gibbs St as well as Broad St & Fitzhugh St. Read about our selection process.
Strong leadership is an essential ingredient to any organization’s success. Today, Reconnect Rochester’s Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Mary Staropoli and Cody Donahue as the organization’s Co-Executive Directors. This shift to a shared leadership model marks a strategic move toward a bright future for Reconnect Rochester as we continue to champion safer, more equitable transportation solutions across Monroe County.
About Mary & Cody
Mary joined Reconnect Rochester as our first employee in 2016, serving first as Director of Planning & Development and as Executive Director for the past three (or so) years. She has overseen tremendous organizational growth, and an exciting shift from an all-volunteer effort to a staff-driven organization with seven (7) fabulous team members who handle a vast array of programming and advocacy work.
Mary brought to Reconnect Rochester 20+ years of experience working, volunteering and providing independent consulting services to a wide range of local non-profits and community groups. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College in Human Resources & Organizational Development, and a Master of Public Administration from SUNY Brockport.
Cody has served for the past 18 months as Director of Policy & Advocacy at Reconnect Rochester. During that time, he has driven the mission forward by working with the grasstops and the grassroots throughout Monroe County to build coalitions, partnerships and authentic community engagement, and significantly expanding our statewide advocacy profile.
Prior to Reconnect Rochester, much of Cody’s professional career was spent at UNICEF and other international NGOs before landing in Rochester where he worked for Planned Parenthood of Central & Western NY. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oregon State University, and a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute.
Why Co-Leadership?
Shared leadership models are trending in the non-profit sector, and that’s because the benefits are numerous at both the organizational and personal levels. Here are some reasons cited in our research and by the folks we talked to with co-leadership experience:
Organizational Benefits:
Sustainability, succession planning, continuity of the organization with two people working closely together and sharing strategic decision making
Covering the various functions results in more “rational, do-able job”
Complementary skills allow different focuses, higher skill level and leadership capacity in more areas
Two individuals can be “thought partners” for strategic thinking and everyday decisions, and building organizational culture
Coverage when someone is on leave or needs to focus on a project (balls won’t drop)
Nimble/respond quickly to opportunities with ability to “pass the ball back and forth”
Personal Benefits:
Allows for better work-life balance, lower burnout, ability to take time off
Burden of responsibility shared, psychological weight less when it’s “we”
Having a confidante to talk through everyday decisions = less feeling “alone at the top”
What Makes It Work?
Rather than rushing headlong into it, we did our research and due diligence to understand the concept of co-leadership. We spent several months meeting and learning from folks who had been in co-leadership roles to understand the benefits, cautions/pitfalls, and we especially wanted to know – what makes it work? Here are some insights we heard:
Shared values & perspective, approach to the organization and the work
Complementary skill sets & experiences to bring
Low ego personalities, competition/power leanings
Both competent (so one is not over-functioning)
Mutual respect and appreciation, easeful working relationship
Both committed/able to have frequent, candid, direct communication
As we measured ourselves against these characteristics, Mary and Cody found that every box could be checked!
Who’s Handling What?
Something else we learned from exploratory interviews is that a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities is important to offer clarity for both internal staff and external stakeholders.
Mary’s expertise lies in organizational and administrative functions, so she will maintain a more internal focus in the areas of fundraising & development, marketing & communications, human resources, financial management, office administration, and organizational development & planning. She will also continue to lead program development, and oversee Reconnect Rochester’s on-street projects like the Complete Streets Makeover.
Cody’s expertise lies in policy and advocacy work, and his focus will remain on driving the content of our work, and representing us externally in the media and out in the community. Advocacy areas under Cody’s purview are policy & legislative expertise, data & resources, grassroots organizing, and grasstops relationship management. He will pick up oversight of our bike education & programming.
Shared leadership responsibilities will include organizational culture & team building, diversity & inclusion work, strategic planning, staff supervision, and managing “big relationships”.
What’s Next?
We get on with the work! We have built an amazing staff team, and there is so much to do to keep championing mobility and transportation in Monroe County. We’re excited to tackle it from a position of even greater organizational strength!
Reconnect Rochester has taken the lead on Complete Streets Maintenance, a bill that would require NYSDOT to consider complete streets design features on all types of road projects or when they receive both state and federal funding. Complete streets design features on all road projects would allow the necessary design interventions needed to enable safe access for all road users including pedestrians, people using mobility aids, cyclists, and public transit users.
Thank you to the bill sponsors Senator Sean Ryan and Assembly member Jonathan Rivera for meeting with us!
Simply put, state roads are the main streets of many of our towns and villages in Monroe County, and NYSDOT isn’t currently required to consider complete streets on their most common and most frequent types of projects. Even when towns want to improve safety, the state often doesn’t remove barriers to doing so. With NYS not currently meeting its climate law mandates for transportation, this is a cost-effective way to expand safe walking and biking infrastructure through existing maintenance routines.
NYSDOT is in the midst of updating a wildly out-of-date walk/bike strategic plan (2005 was the last update!). That plan will set the goals, but our bill is the way they can implement it. We understand it may require some process changes within NYSDOT to plan for AT infrastructure on each project and we would urge NYSDOT to show leadership on making it a best practice in the country rather than shying away from these urgently needed changes.
On Transit Equity Day, we called on lawmakers to let us Get Around New York!
Thanks so much to Senator Brouk and Assembly Member Bronson’s teams for meeting with us on February 4th to discuss transit equity issues.
The new federal administration has already attacked funding for transit riders, seniors, immigrants, refugees, low-income and disabled New Yorkers. New York State must dramatically alter how federal funding is spent so as not to waste taxpayer dollars. Highway expansions are ineffective. Highways do not solve long-term traffic problems, they entrench archaic land-use, and they create worse traffic and transportation outcomes long-term.
We urge the State tofix roads and bridges first, reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) 20% by 2050, and invest taxpayer dollars in mass public transit, walkability, and density.
Thank you to Senator Jeremy Cooney, Chair of the NYS Senate Transportation Committee who said, “Following the legacy of civil rights heroes like Rosa Parks, Transit Equity Day is a time to reflect on the ways public transportation fueled the progress of yesterday, while also working towards a better tomorrow. In this year’s budget I’ll be advocating for more sustainable and reliable initiatives to get New Yorkers from Point A to Point B, pushing for more funding for public transit systems, and continuing to use transportation as a means to combat poverty.”
There are proven strategies that New York can implement this year. Our state can fulfill the goals of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and include the Get Around NY Act (S4044/A4230) in the One-House Budget this year.
Public Transportation Investments
As in past years, Reconnect Rochester met with RTS and the New York Public Transit Association’s lobby team and we support their state budget recommendations, highlighting the particular need for upstate state operating assistance to increase 15% per year. Why is this important? State funding is the largest proportion of the RTS operating budget and increases are needed to make routes run more frequently.
In addition to Reconnect Rochester’s state priorities, we’re actively participating in supporting other state coalitions:
Standing with the Climate Solutions Accelerator, we’re calling on NYS to pass the NY HEAT Act to protect New Yorkers from skyrocketing natural gas prices, as part of the overall shift away from fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.
At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure.
Our biking community in Monroe County is diverse and vibrant. But what if everyone who wanted to bike could feel comfortable and protected doing it? They could if we made our bike network safe, low-stress and seamless for all kinds of people.
Two key transportation plans were adopted in 2023 that, if aggressively implemented, would significantly expand and transform bike infrastructure in our community. The Monroe County Active Transportation Plan and the City of Rochester Active Transportation Plan were completed in a coordinated fashion so that the bike network envisioned in the city would someday continue out into Monroe County’s towns and suburbs. These two plans quite literally provide a roadmap for building a bike transportation system throughout Monroe County.
The City of Rochester calls the main corridors of their envisioned ideal the Bike Spine Network. Our hope is for the city to provide a high-comfort and seamless bike transportation network, or a connected bike spine, in a matter of years – not decades. Therefore we will use this space to track the progress of the most crucial sections (Spines A and H) of the City’s Bike Spine Network.
We can attain a “minimum grid” of north-south & east-west bike facilities through downtown by focusing on completing Spines A and H. Investing in the 8 miles needed to connect these two spines are the key to success and must be completed in the near-term.
Spine A: The Genesee Riverway Trail
This is an important north-south connection along the Genesee River. The city is conducting a trail study to identify feasible options for completing the Genesee Riverway Trail on both sides of the river between downtown and the lake.
All that’s needed to complete Spine A: 2 miles of new trail (or protected bike lane) investment.
The city has a study underway to determine the most feasible way of closing the gap in the Genesee Riverway Trail north of downtown to where it resumes at Lower Falls.
The ROC the Riverway project is gradually extending the Riverway Trail through downtown. This is difficult and expensive since so many buildings there go right up to the river’s edge. But bit by bit as money comes in, it’s happening!
East and West Main Streets and Chili Avenue connect people on this bikeway from the city’s western border at Chili to its eastern border at Brighton.
What’s needed to complete Spine H? 6 miles of new investment.
Scattered segments of East and West Main streets have conventional bike lanes. But those don’t meet the criteria of the ATP’s Bike Spine Network, which should be usable and comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities. The only segment that does meet the criteria currently is between Goodman and Culver. It had cycletracks installed on each side in 2021. We can expect protected bike infrastructure from 490 westbound to the Canal in the not too distant future. And the City is planning on fixing East Main between Union and Goodman with a Safe Streets For All grant, probably in 2028.
From Union Street west through downtown to 490 is still an issue. As is Main Street east of Culver.
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
I leave for work around 7:30 each morning. In winter, that’s when the sun clears the horizon, slicing through the trees and spotlighting treasures like my neighbor’s PEACE sign—a gem I would surely have missed if not for its timely glow as I walked by. Stunningly beautiful!
Today’s scene was no less inspiring. The sky displayed every shade of pink and orange against freshly fallen snow. These are the moments that make life worth living! Had I not been outside walking I most certainly would have missed it.
When I think of my walkable life, the gratitude I feel cannot be contained. While reflecting on why I often choose walking over driving, I realized it’s because walking outdoors is the only time I truly feel free. When I am out walking it is my time—precious stretches between hither and yon where no one can find me. I go at my own pace, look at things that catch my eye, see things about my city that can never be seen from inside a car. It’s a time when I truly live—focusing not on what I have to do, but on what I want to (traffic being the only exception, of course!).
Art Everywhere
Once you break free from the shackles of traffic—with its constant demands and occasional mean-spiritedness—you’ll be amazed to discover art all around you. It’s in the gargoyles perched on buildings, staring down from above, and in the vibrant murals bursting with color on their walls. It’s in the historical markers scattered through parks, offering fresh context and appreciation for the struggles of those who came before us, the vision of past civic leaders, and the progress we’ve made in transforming neighborhoods into more livable spaces. You’ll find it in splendid gardens, cascading fountains, and the intricate beauty of stained-glass windows.
Add Time to Your Day
A lot of people wonder how I can be so prompt if I always arrive on foot. They mistakenly believe that driving is always faster than walking. But I am almost never late. I pride myself on arriving on-time, mindful not to “steal other people’s time.”
The truth is— “trip-chaining” errands– the practice of linking multiple walking trips together in a single outing and combining several tasks into one journey is the most efficient way to travel! It minimizes travel time and distance and reduces repeated car starts and stops. Consider that I never have to waste time looking for parking. Or wait for traffic lights to change. I just keep moving by crossing the street in the other direction to get across and continue on my way. If you feel like you don’t have enough time in your day, try walking where you need to go. I promise it will feel like you are gaining time back from everything that has been conspiring to rob it!
Who Needs a Gym? (Or Pharmaceuticals?)
And forget excuses about not having time to work out. Or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Walking is an antidote to the winter blues. As a bonus, while enjoying surroundings and avoiding road rage, I can also hit my 10,000 steps, listen to music (and even dance along), stay up-to-date on podcasts, reduce stress, breathe fresh air, and reflect on the day’s events. Nothing like a walk through the park to blow off steam, get your Vitamin D on, and forget about work.
Speaking of work, some of the best work meetings happen on a walk. The open air makes it easier to deliver bad news or tackle tough problems head-on. There’s something about walking and talking that sparks creativity, eases tension and builds camaraderie.
It’s All about the Gear (and Planning Ahead!)
Arriving at work after a cold Monday morning walk. Wearing black from head to toe without reflectors isn’t the best idea, but against a snowstorm?! (Take that logic with a grain of salt!)
Of course, walking everywhere sometimes requires a little planning ahead—what shoes will you need once you get there? (What shoes will you need to walk there?) It’s all about the right gear to weather the weather and get you where you’re going. The common phrase “use the right tool for the job” fits. I call my closet the convertible wardrobe, because every piece of clothing should do double-time in my walkable life. Those walking tights pair nicely with my work dress and boots!
Still, how will you get groceries home? Is it raining? These are trivial obstacles to a walking life, and nothing that a lightweight trusty backpack, sturdy boots, an umbrella, and a warm hat cannot solve. (My Jan sport is still going strong after 40 years. I wouldn’t call it fashion, but it’s black and fits in anywhere—business meetings, theatrical performances, the public market). For a middle-aged woman fighting osteoporosis, carrying weight on my back helps keep bones strong and is just what the doctor ordered.
Get to know your Trees, and your Neighbors
In short, there are dozens of reasons why walking is preferable over driving. Walking offers so much more than just a way to get from point A to point B —it’s a lifestyle choice that enriches every part of my day. It helps to assuage highway anxiety, allows chance meetings with neighbors and friends, and connects me with my community. It supports local businesses, keeps me active and healthy, and allows for notice and appreciation of the art and nature around me. Trees look different 365 days a year, and just by watching them while walking we can learn things. Walking gives back time for simple pleasures while saving money and sparing my car wear and tear. Most importantly, it brings a sense of peace and serenity that driving simply can’t match. That’s why, whenever I can, I choose to walk. And you can, too.
Get Involved
Reconnect Rochester has been integral to improving transportation options in Rochester and Monroe County. This work is important so that transportation is less of an obstacle for daily living.
Join Reconnect Rochester in making our city and county more livable by expanding transportation options:
Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets and transportation options
Be part of the change happening in Rochester by getting “multi-modal” yourself and riding a bike, taking the bus, walking, or rolling for your next trip!
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Steve Roll, Calvin Eaton and Yamini Karandikar, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
In August, we asked you to help identify the intersections and trouble-spots in your daily travels where you don’t feel comfortable walking or biking, and that could be designed to be safer for everyone.
A big shout out to all those who took the time to submit a nomination! We received a total of 64 nominations for 39 locations in Monroe County.
Click here to view the nomination locations in Google Maps
Met with such esteemed and thought-provoking submissions, the Steering Committee employed the utmost levels of consideration to determine the winners for this year! After establishing criteria for both the Complete Streets Makeover Winner and the Design Rendering Winner, we reviewed each and every submission with painstaking care.
Without Further Ado, Our Winners!
COMPLETE STREETS MAKEOVER WINNER: Avenue D & Hollenbeck St in the El Camino neighborhood
DESIGN RENDERING WINNER: Webster Ave and Bay St in the Beechwood neighborhood
Why Avenue D & Hollenbeck?
Street redesign potential
High degree of safety concerns showing need for intervention
Strong community support from impassioned residents and community organizations to combat the area’s historical marginalization
We will collaborate with organizations such as the Ave D R-Center, the Northeast Neighborhood Service Center, and Ibero-American Action League to help us capture the spirit of El Camino and transform this intersection in the spring of 2025!
Next Steps…
We’ll hold a Community Workshop in February to gain insight from the residents of the El Camino neighborhood about the enhancements they would like in the intersection. No one understands what it’s like to use our streets better than those who walk, bike, roll, and ride along them everyday.
Our friends in the complete streets design team at Stantec will use community input from the workshop to create conceptual design enhancements of an improved streetscape. We’ll then see these concepts transform into reality through a temporary on-street installation in May. This transformation is only possible through the input and support of neighborhood residents coming out to help with the installation. Keep a look out for updates along the way!
Let’s not forget about our Design Rendering Winner (Webster Ave & Bay St)!
The design team at Stantec will create a conceptual drawing of street design improvements that will be given to the communities surrounding Webster & Bay. The neighborhoods can use these illustrations as a launch pad for community discussion, and a tool to help advocate for changes that would make these streets safer for everyone.
Do you have an intersection where you don’t feel safe? Although our Complete Streets Makeover nominations are closed for the year, you can always fill out the Traffic Safety Concern form from Monroe County to ask for special attention for trouble spots in your daily travels!
On December 15th, 2018, Jean Dietch, age 95 at the time, was meeting good friends for dinner at Mario’s on a typical Sunday afternoon. Her younger son started to make a left turn off Empire into the restaurant. He didn’t see a driver coming down the hill from the east, t-boning the car and killing Jean immediately. Neither of the drivers were harmed.
After a News 8 Investigation found over 800 crashes on Empire Blvd in a five year period, Jean’s other son who lives in the Water’s Edge apartments, Howard Dietch, reached out to News 8 to share his story of turning his mother’s tragedy into action. Howard has spent the last six years advocating for New York State DOT to do something to make Empire Blvd safer, enlisting support from local officials and the County Legislator from Penfield. As of 2024, no changes have been implemented to make Empire Blvd safer, and Howard is hoping that advocates calling for multimodal safety improvements can step in and boost his message.
In 2023, Empire Boulevard was the run-away winner of Reconnect Rochester’s annual “Mind the Gap” campaign. We reached out to Howard who was happy to have community support for his safety efforts. The nomination text read:
We’re happy to provide an inspirational design rendering of the 2.4 mile stretch of Empire Boulevard to advocates for their advocacy. Click here to access the PDF. As we’ll explain below, there are low-cost changes that can be made that will not only make the space more welcoming to active transportation users, but also help mitigate the risk of more lives being lost on the road.
“Safety is always the priority for the New York State Department of Transportation, and the agency is in the early stages of design for a project to enhance safety along Empire Boulevard in Penfield, Monroe County, which is scheduled to begin in late 2025. DOT looks forward to engaging with our local partners and stakeholders to discuss concerns and areas for potential enhancements prior to the implementation of this project.”
Empire Blvd and the area it serves have a lot of unique features. As NY State Route 404, it spans the Towns of Irondequoit, Penfield and Webster and it hugs the southern end of Irondequoit Bay. Its beautiful setting has attracted new apartment buildings, restaurants and breweries as well as investments to enhance access to Irondequoit Bay via LaSalle’s Landing Park.
On the other hand, Empire Blvd is not at all unique in its speed and unfriendliness to people outside of fast-moving vehicles. It is typical of state routes where commercial and residential development has progressively been added over many years. What used to be a road whose singular purpose was to connect towns, is now a residential hub, with over 600 new housing units added over the last 10 years.
The latest, Bayview Landing, will add 60 units next to the K2 Brothers Brewing Company, just west of where Jean Dietch was killed. And yet the road design remains configured primarily to move cars and trucks through as quickly and efficiently as possible (it is the designated truck route for the area).
For people walking or biking, getting around Irondequoit Bay is a pain. The Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge operates mostly outside of bike season (we’d like to see that run all year around too). While cars have the option of traversing Irondequoit Bay over 104, bikes are limited to Empire or Browncroft Blvd. Browncroft is not an ideal option for cyclists coming from Webster as it would require a longer detour to the south. Even traveling down Browncroft in a car, one would experience higher speeds and similar hills as Empire. While both roads are envisioned for future Monroe County Active Transportation Network consideration, we believe Empire is the better option for investing in bike infrastructure.
Proposed Multimodal Improvements
We hope our vision inspires you to take action and mobilize support for a safer, multimodal corridor on Empire Blvd.
The first step in our advocacy effort was to hire a Licensed Qualified Engineer (thanks to funding generously provided by long-time cycling advocate Dr. Scott MacRae). We brought on Mode Choice Engineering, a multimodal transportation focused company in the Buffalo-Niagara region, who has experience retrofitting New York State routes for improved multimodal options.
The goal was to create a design rendering to show improvements that could be made along the 2.4 mile stretch from Winton Rd to Bay Rd that would help make Empire safer and more welcoming to people who want to travel to and through it on foot or on bike.
Together we analyzed current conditions, road design and speed, and vehicular traffic patterns. With support from Genesee Transportation Council, we also conducted independent speed data collection. Results showed that in the 40 MPH speed limit zone, the 85% percentile speed was between 52-56 MPH meaning that most people were going more than 10 MPH over the speed limit. A vehicle traveling eastbound was clocked at a maximum speed of 90 mph. We also looked at crashes from 2017-2023 and found that Empire had a higher rate of crashes during that period than similar roads in NY State.
The most recent 5 year period saw 770 crashes involving vehicles, 2 involving cyclists and 5 involving pedestrians. 72% of these crashes took place during the day so darkness wasn’t a factor. We estimate the bike and pedestrian number is low because the area is so inhospitable to people outside the car.
With this analysis in hand, we turned to what we can do within the existing “right-of-way”, meaning we wouldn’t have to change the width of the roadway or acquire land that is currently town or private property. Our big picture goal was to improve safety with a short-term/quick build solution, using low-cost materials.
We could accomplish this in a cost minimized way by:
Narrowing the travel lanes to 10 feet
Lowering the speed limit to 35 MPH
Converting the 8 feet shoulders into protected bike lanes with low-cost flexible bollards
This proposed design solution meets FHWA proven safety countermeasures and was designed by Mode Choice Engineering to be able to be done with in-house engineering from NYSDOT.
Another major improvement to the area would be to install a High Intensity Activated CrossWalK (HAWK) Crossing near LaSalles Landing Park, which would provide a traffic calming effect and safe crossing to and from key destinations.
This multimodal retrofit would provide significant benefits to residents and folks planning to access Irondequoit Bay. For cyclists, it would provide a continuous bike lane eastbound and westbound as well as protection from cars. For pedestrians, it would connect existing sidewalks to shared pedestrian space throughout the corridor and the ability to cross safely midway through the corridor.
We see this design as a stepping stone toward the future where hard curbs with fully continuous sidewalks and some sort of hardened bike lane protection can be added as part of a larger reconstruction project. Our goal in this round was to find cost-optimized ways to add the amenities outside the scope of the often decades-long reconstruction cycle.
Let’s keep up the momentum for positive changes to Empire Blvd!
If you’re inspired by this vision, we’re encouraging you to reach out to share your enthusiasm with state and local officials. And perhaps the most important thing you can do is share this blog with residents, businesses, neighbors and friends who are also concerned about Empire Blvd and ask them to take action with you.
Take Action:
Write an email or call the office.
Targets:
NYSDOT – let NYSDOT know you support improvements to Empire Blvd and you plan to reach out to Town and state officials to also share your support. Email: Region 4 Director Chris Reeve – Christopher.Reeve@dot.ny.gov or 585-272-3310
Assembly Member Sarah Clark represents the western portion of the roadway: clarks@nyassembly.gov or 585-467-0410
Assembly Member Jennifer Lunsford represents the eastern portion of the roadway: lunsfordj@nyassembly.gov or 585-223-9130
State Senate
Senator Samra Brouk represents the area: brouk@nysenate.gov or 585-223-1800
Senator Jeremy Cooney is the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee: cooney@nysenate.gov or 585-225-3650
What to ask for:
I, resident of [Town of X] and your constituent, support Reconnect Rochester’s proposal to make Empire Blvd/NYS RT-404 a safer, more welcoming place for residents and people walking, biking and taking transit throughout the Winton Rd. to Bay Rd. corridor. I believe that Empire Blvd is an important gap in our cycling network, and the current conditions are preventing residents from all over the county from accessing the beautiful and historic Irondequoit Bay and frequenting the small businesses along the road. We have lost too many people to traffic violence on Empire Blvd and we need to change the way it’s built. I would urge you to support NYSDOT adding protected bike lanes, connecting the sidewalk network, slowing speeds and narrowing the travel lanes on Empire. Thank you.
Note: if you or your family members have been impacted by motor vehicle crashes, the organization New York Families for Safe Streets exists to support you. They can provide one-on-one or group support to individuals and families. Their social worker, Bobby Preti, is available if you’d like to talk to someone and learn more about how they can support you.
On Sunday, November 17, Reconnect Rochester hosted a community conversation in honor of “World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in the US” to remember victims of traffic violence, support victims and their families, and discuss ways to improve road safety. Reconnect opened its doors to anyone who has been affected by traffic violence, directly or through a friend or family member, to listen and connect.
Attendees who felt comfortable shared their stories about loved ones lost on Monroe County roads. 19th Ward community member Farasa Brown recounted the community’s efforts to put in a crosswalk where her 6 year old son Ryan Grantham Jr. was struck and killed on Thurston Rd. in June 2023. Rochester City Council Member Bridget Monroe shared her son’s story of being hit by a driver who fled the scene.
(photo courtesy of the D&C)
According to our Monroe County Crash Map, each year, an average of 13 people are killed on Monroe County streets. Over the last 10 years more than 5,000 vehicle crashes occurred involving people walking or biking with 2,279 of those resulting in an injury or a fatality. In 2024 so far at least 10 pedestrians and 3 cyclists have died. Additionally we’ve seen some very serious crashes in the last few weeks and are monitoring their conditions.
The World Day of Remembrance is an international effort to remember, support, and act to prevent car crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Every year, millions more road victims are added to the current toll of over 50 million killed and hundreds of millions injured since the first road death. It is an actual pandemic, affecting primarily our vulnerable and our young. In addition to the trauma of injury and bereavement, it also has a devastating economic impact. Therefore, during the Decade of Action 2021-2030 the World Day has an important role of helping to achieve the 50% road casualty reduction target.
The global objectives of World Day of Remembrance 2024 are to provide a platform for road traffic victims and their families to:
Remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads
Acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services
Draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries to push for an appropriately serious response
Advocate for better support for victims and their families
Promote evidence-based actions to stop further road traffic deaths and injuries
If you or anyone you love was impacted by a crash, the organization New York Families for Safe Streets exists to support you. They can provide one-on-one or group support to individuals and families. You can directly contact their social worker:
The event ended with a moment of silence for the victims:
On this World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, we gather to remember the victims, support them and their loved ones, and act to prevent future tragedies on our roads. One life is too many. One injury can have lifelong consequences. We stand here to take a moment of silence for all of the crash victims who have been injured or lost their lives this year and in past years in Monroe County. Please join me in observing a moment of silence. Thank you.
If you would like to join our planning committee for the 2025 World Day of Remembrance event, please contact us at info@reconnectrochester.org
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Over the course of this series we hope to inspire and equip more folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather.
Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to share our next several destinations.
Two helpful links before we jump in:
Our ROC Easy Bike map – the easy ways to bike around the area. Many of the zoomed out maps below couldn’t label every street along the way. You’ll get your answers here.
Most of the following maps incorporate the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent deep dive on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
ROCHESTER’S CITY-RUN PUBLIC MARKET
Our award winning public market is one of the most popular destinations in the area, especially on Saturday mornings. The parking lots are extremely congested but one doesn’t have to worry about that at all when biking there. There is ample bike parking throughout the complex and as long as you have a way to haul what you buy, biking is probably the easiest and most convenient way to get to and from for nearby residents. The City’s bike boulevard network takes riders to the Market comfortably from all four directions. If you haven’t checked it out, definitely enroll in their bicycle incentive program: “Each time you ride a bike to a regular Market shopping day or free-admission special event, you can enter drawings for Market Gift Tokens!”
EAST AVE WEGMANS
Let’s be very clear: University & East Avenues’ intersections with Winton Road need to be made bike-friendly. In the meantime, many folks have easy access to Wegmans via Harvard Street, Colby Street and the bike/ped bridge over 490. From the north, access is pretty easy via the University (north side) and Winton (west side) sidewalk. Though sidewalk riding is not generally advisable, it tends to be fine in instances like this – short, finite stretches with few conflict points. Bike parking at Wegmans is the best! Right up in the front.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS GREATER ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Thanks Doug Kelley for this entry. Unlike so many airports, Rochester’s is quite close to downtown; very bikeable! Brooks Avenue, as it’s currently configured, is uncomfortable to bike on but there’s another way to access the airport by bike. Just take the Genesee Valley Greenway southbound from the Genesee Valley Sports Complex (131 Elmwood Ave). There’s a traffic light that helps you cross Scottsville Road to E Airport Road, which is very low traffic and overall bike-friendly. The main parking garage has multiple bike racks, which many riders have found secure. Whereas car parking is $12 per day, bike parking there is free! Granted, biking to depart for a flight isn’t for everybody, but it can be done, especially if packing lightly. Furthermore, access to the airport isn’t just for airline passengers. The airport is an employment hub and many employees can use this way to bike to work in an easy manner, especially if they live in the 19th Ward, South Wedge or West Brighton.
PITTSFORD PLAZA AND WHOLE FOODS
As we explored in this 2021 blog, the newly improved Auburn Trail makes it super easy (and downright delightful!) to bike to Pittsford Plaza, Whole Foods – heck, even the PGA when they’re in town. Getting there does require biking on Highland Ave for a tiny bit. Most riders can bike on Highland over 590 with no trouble. Once past Clover, there are multiple lights and crosswalks that allow you to cross Monroe to visit destinations such as Barnes & Noble and Trader Joes.
NAZARETH (AND ST JOHN FISHER TOO!)
Thanks Tim Franz for this entry. Similar to the map above, if you go just a bit further along the Auburn Trail past Pittsford Plaza, you’ll come to French Road. A nice sidepath there takes you straight to Nazareth University. St John Fisher is just a short ride along East Avenue, which has shoulders.
On October 8th, we hosted The Sprawl Effect, the latest edition of Rochester Street Films. We examined the costs and consequences of our current auto-centric land use and how we can grow our communities smarter to deliver access, vitality & upward mobility.
In the 1930’s the Federal Housing Administration provided loans to make mortgages more affordable yet the loans came with guidelines to standardize neighborhood design which directly contributed to sprawl and auto-centric infrastructure:
No sidewalks (hostile to pedestrians)
Minimum lot sizes (homes are more expensive to build and farther apart)
Separated land use due to exclusionary zoning (homes far from amenities and difficult to reach without a car)
When services are built far from homes this contributes to sprawl. It also costs more to subsidize auto-centric neighborhoods due to requirements such as more asphalt to support the parking requirements and more frequent road repairs due to degradation from heavy use. When we build transit oriented developments with a mix of high density residencies (instead of exclusively single family homes), along with commercial, office, and entertainment spaces in the same neighborhood; they financially outperform auto-centric suburbia every single time.
The diagram below from Urban 3 shows that cities are much more profitable and actually subsidize suburbs with their tax dollars. The revenue bars of the dense downtown area vs the expenses associated with sprawl is clear in the visual provided. While this graph is from Lafayette, Louisiana, Urban 3 found this phenomenon is true with every city they studied all over the country.
Presentation on Local Data & Stats
Cody Donahue, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Reconnect Rochester
Even if you have access to a car and all of the expenses that come with it, losing access to basic amenities in your neighborhood deprives it of its usefulness and its character. Our sprawling land use patterns have a substantial human cost in limiting the ability of too many of us to access what we need. This stands in the way of upward economic mobility.
Thanks to the resource Zoning Atlas, we see that single family homes can be built virtually anywhere in Rochester. Yet building higher density homes such as apartments, ADUs, or even single family homes on small lots is more restricted.
Irondequoit and Penfield data is currently unavailable.
We believe connecting Monroe County with robust transportation options and utilizing less restrictive land use will increase the vibrancy of town centers, reduce harmful air pollution, and allow seniors to age in place without relying on driving. While understanding that we need to build on what we have, before building anything new we recommend considering the following:
Using land that is located in town, village and city centers productively by building denser, mixed use buildings along transit corridors & filling in disused parking lots
Choosing development patterns that make the car and car storage optional, not the center of the design
Using new transit developments such as bus rapid transit or incentives to stimulate economic growth in areas well served by transit options or walkability
Special Remarks
Simeon Banister, President & CEO of Rochester Area Community Foundation
Land use decisions are often attributed to organizations instead of people but Homer Hoyt is an actual person who made decisions that brought us many of the problems that we have discussed today. Hoyt was the Chief Land Economist for the Federal Housing Administration who approached his work through the lens of his preconceived biases about people of color and immigrants rather than letting data itself inform his research. He is the architect of redlining which led to zones of deprivation in our community and all across the United States. Hoyt made a choice based on fear, and we can do the same or make a choice for vibrant neighborhoods that embraces smart growth in transit policy.
Moderator: Abigail McHugh-Grifa, Executive Director at Climate Solutions Accelerator
Panelists: Aqua Porter, Executive Director of RMAPI Kevin Kelley, Office of City Planning Manager Miguel Velázquez, CEO of RTS
Aqua Porter emphasized that building power, autonomy, dignity, and belonging is key to upward mobility and economic opportunity. Exclusionary zoning and car-dependent infrastructure are costly and restrict residents’ autonomy. By addressing land use and embracing dense, mixed-use neighborhoods, we can offer people more choices in where they live and engage with their communities. This shift can help reduce social isolation, fostering more connected and vibrant neighborhoods compared to the isolating, sprawling suburbs created by single-family zoning.
Kevin Kelley discussed the Rochester 2034 plan and Zoning Alignment Project, which aim to promote density along transit corridors and address land use issues. However, he cautioned that Rochester’s history with a struggling market could present a barrier to building high density projects. He also highlighted the need for more inclusive zoning in suburbs and rural areas, along with increased state and federal funding for public transit. Raising awareness about zoning problems and solutions is key to making progress.
Miguel Velázquez discussed how frequent service is crucial for robust public transit, but RTS has faced decades of underfunding, limiting its effectiveness. He noted that land use plays a role, as many people want to get by without needing a car but are scattered across Greater Rochester. Miguel also emphasized the importance of involving RTS when large companies plan new facilities, as many opt for highway-adjacent locations with big parking lots instead of transit-accessible downtown sites. To address this, the NYS Assembly and Senate are considering bills to fund transit services when companies receive tax incentives for building in the region: S8563/A9225.
Get Involved
We hope that this discussion resonates with you and that you will consider watching the program in its entirety on our YouTube channel. While you’re over there, make sure to subscribe!
Want to help more directly? Sign up for our weekly Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets, bicycle infrastructure, and transportation options.
Also please consider donating to support our advocacy work building a community connected by a robust transportation network that makes it easy for everyone—regardless of physical or economic ability—to get around.
Got an idea for a blog post about mobility? Contact Chaz to get started.
By: Rob Sliker President, Genesee Regional Off-road Cyclists
The Irondequoit Bay Park System is a natural gem within Monroe County, providing residents access to some of the region’s most beautiful and diverse landscapes. Yet, despite their value, these parks remain underutilized by many who would benefit most. The reason? Each park exists in isolation, with fragmented and informal trails that don’t offer the continuity needed for a comprehensive outdoor experience. We have the opportunity to advocate for the parks to be interconnected by professionally constructed trails that provide seamless off-road connectivity to cyclists for both recreation and active transportation.
Imagine a future where everyone—beginners, families, adaptive users with disabilities—can easily access and enjoy these spaces through a well-planned, connected trail network.
This vision extends beyond recreation; it’s about building resilience to climate change by giving people more access to green spaces and sustainable transportation options. The recently adopted Monroe County Community-Wide Climate Action Plan emphasizes the need for climate adaptation, and trails can be a key part of this effort. By enabling people to use trails for transportation between destinations, we reduce carbon emissions while promoting a healthier, more active lifestyle.
Currently, many trails within the Irondequoit Bay Park System cater primarily to seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. However, these trails are often “social trails”—organic paths not designed with accessibility or sustainability in mind. As a result, these parks can feel out of reach for beginners, families, or those with disabilities. To serve the entire community, we need inclusive trails—wider beginner trails, well-maintained and suitable for all, from adaptive bikes to beginner cyclists. In addition, having designated learning areas with gentle grades will allow beginners to explore at their own pace. Accessible facilities like bike parks, lodges, and rest rooms are also key. Imagine adaptive equipment rentals, making it possible for individuals with mobility challenges to experience the full joy of outdoor activities. This level of inclusivity will allow the parks to serve a diverse range of users, turning them into spaces where everyone feels welcome.
Connectivity
Equally important is connectivity. The goal isn’t just more trails but a cohesive, well-designed network linking all the parks. With professional sustainable trail design, we can minimize environmental impact, avoid sensitive habitats, and reduce erosion, all while creating arteries that connect the parks. For example, trails can be carefully routed to avoid wetlands and constructed using eco-friendly materials that blend seamlessly into the natural landscape. These trails can do more than provide recreation—they can act as vital corridors that help protect local wildlife by offering less disruptive routes for human activity. This thoughtful approach preserves both the environment and the experience, ensuring that future generations can enjoy these green spaces.
Additionally, these trails can serve as critical connectors within the community, not just between parks but between neighborhoods, schools, and local businesses. By integrating the park system into the fabric of the surrounding area, we can encourage active transportation—walking, biking, and other non-motorized travel. These trails become more than just recreational; they provide safe, scenic routes for daily commuting or local errands, reducing car dependency and contributing to a healthier, more sustainable community.
Implementation
Let’s explore a practical example of what this future vision could look like. Imagine starting from the “Mind the Gap Season 3 Submission #4” trail near Route 104, where users can head south toward Norton Street. From there, the path seamlessly connects into Homewood Road, leading you to Bay Park West. As you continue, the trail links into Tryon Park, offering the option to exit at Tryon Road or continue south. The trails then extend further, reaching Browncroft Boulevard, where users can access Lucien Morin Park. From here, you can either circle back north toward Empire Boulevard or push onward into Ellison Park, with access points at Blossom and Penfield Roads. This interconnected system would transform how residents and visitors explore these green spaces, enhancing accessibility, connectivity, and community engagement.
The vision for the Irondequoit Bay Park System is clear: a future where these parks are accessible to all, thoughtfully designed to protect our environment, and interconnected to maximize their value to the community. But achieving this vision requires your support. Whether participating in the Monroe County trails study, advocating for responsible development, or joining local organizations supporting these changes, you can help make this future a reality.
Together, we can ensure that the Irondequoit Bay Park System thrives as a space where everyone connects with nature, enjoys outdoor recreation, and preserves our green spaces for generations to come.
Make your voice heard and provide your feedback through the Irondequoit Bay Park Trail User Study by Monroe County Parks:
At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure.
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Over the course of this series we hope to inspire and equip more folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather.
Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to share our next destination: Parcel 5 and downtown, which are deserving of their own deep dive.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Agnello
Some helpful links before we jump in:
The map below around downtown largely incorporates the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent blog on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
Our ROC Easy Bike map shows the easiest ways for newer/younger riders to bike and scoot around the area. Riders who’ve developed their skills aren’t constrained to the lines on that map. Want to increase your biking know-how and confidence? Take one of our classes sometime.
It has to be said: At the moment, the easy ways to access downtown and Parcel 5 by bike are quite limited.
More and more bike lanes are being added to Main Street over time, which is great. However, what’s been installed so far at the time of this writing doesn’t meet the criteria for riders of all ages and abilities. Main Street between Goodman and Union is built like a gun barrel (an inappropriate design for a road in any city’s heart) and the bike lanes there badly need protection.
Westbound as you approach downtown, there’s the stressful turn-off to the Inner Loop cyclists have to navigate, and as you head further into downtown on Main, the bike lanes between University and Scio are routinely blocked by parked cars. There are no westbound bike lanes from Franklin to Plymouth (except for over the Genesee). At present, there are no eastbound bike lanes on Main Street from Scott Alley to Aqueduct Street.
Furthermore, it’s unfortunate that the northeast side is bereft of decently comfortable bike connections to downtown. Crossing Inner Loop North on St Paul, Clinton, Joseph, North St, or Union is uncomfortable for most riders.
But don’t despair! Five transformational projects are in store that will change the game in coming years:
With the removal of Inner Loop North and the restoration of the surface grid, intersections can be reconfigured and hopefully the Union Street cycle track can wrap around to Innovative Field.
The gradual building of the ideal Bike Spine Network envisioned in the City’s 2023 Active Transportation Plan. As the Plan clearly states, only protected bike lanes will hit the mark: “It is essential that bike lanes be separated from traffic on high-speed streets that carry a lot of traffic” [along this spine network].
So in the future, we have every hope that bike riders of all ages and abilities will be able to access downtown in ways that are obvious, intuitive, direct, safe and comfortable (no secret backways required!).
In the meantime, here is how we think the average bike and scooter rider can access Parcel 5 without too much trouble.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACY STREET
Boy oh boy. Thank goodness for Tracy Street. It’s the only decently comfortable bike connection from the direction of Park Ave and Brighton. After Tracy Street, cross to the sidewalk on the other side of Alexander when the way is clear. Bike north on the sidewalk just a bit and take Chapman Alley west to Union. Yes, Tracy Street is technically one-way traffic eastbound for a tiny stretch, but you’re probably fine biking westbound along it (bike on the sidewalk for a few seconds if you want a clear conscience). We’re hoping the City makes it both ways for cyclists, like you see in the below New York City example (right).
THE WESTSIDE BIKE/PED BRIDGE OVER 490
This bridge grants pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders easy downtown access from the 19th Ward, Mayor’s Heights and Corn Hill.
THE PORTION OF THE GENESEE RIVERWAY TRAIL ALONG PLYMOUTH
A curious detour of the Genesee Riverway Trail, a vestige of the never-quite completed “Plymouth Avenue Greenway,” runs alongside the Plymouth sidewalk between 490/Utah Alley and Allen Street. More or less a north/south cycletrack, albeit less distinct. While bicycling on downtown sidewalks is generally discouraged, bikes are allowed on this “trail” section of the Plymouth sidewalk.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
BROAD STREET
Broad Street doesn’t have dedicated infrastructure along its entirety downtown, but it’s plenty wide, tends to have low traffic volumes and slow speeds, and most folks are capable of biking along it just fine. Take “The Grove at Midtown” cut through below (in between Unwine’d and Dice Versa) to access Parcel 5 from the south. Just go leisurely and be polite, yielding to pedestrians.
THE NORTHWEST BIKE BOULEVARD NETWORK
The Bike Boulevard Network through Maplewood, Edgerton and Brown Square grants very easy bike access from the northwest. This allows riders to bike parallel to Lake Ave without biking on Lake Ave itself (thank goodness!). For the tiny stretch of Plymouth that’s one way northbound (Lyell to Morrie Silver Way), use Verona instead or just hop on the sidewalk briefly.
IN SUM
Whether it’s biking downtown for Fringe or the Jazz Festival, a movie at Parcel 5, a fireworks display, RDDC’s Midday Bash, the Central Library, a hockey or lacrosse game at Blue Cross Arena, or enjoying one of downtown’s many great dining establishments, we hope the routes above get you there relatively stress-free by bike. In the future, because of the many investments being made, you’ll have more direct, obvious and comfortable options. We have a lot to look forward to!
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
For most of my adult life, I got around using the default transportation mode in America: a car. I didn’t own a bike as an adult and never thought about using the bus. I was perfectly content to drive my Honda Fit to wherever I needed to go.
Then, in the spring of 2019, I had a seizure while walking out into a parking lot after a workout. I grew up with epilepsy, but it was well-controlled and I hadn’t had a seizure in about a decade. As I regained consciousness and the EMTs began loading me up into the ambulance, my mind quickly focused on one thing: not the ambulance bill I was going to get or the fact that I just had a seizure again, but that I wouldn’t be allowed to drive for at least 6 months.
You see, when someone has a seizure in New York State, they lose their driving privileges for 6-12 months until their neurologist and the DMV Medical Review Board clear them. I had to go through this once before when I was in high school and I remember how frustrating it was to lose my independence suddenly and be reliant on others for rides.
That’s what I was scared of: losing my independence to get around because I relied solely on my car for transportation. That’s why this is called “car dependency.”
I lived alone, so my mind was suddenly flooded with questions like:
How will I get to work?
How will I get groceries or run errands?
How will I see friends and family?
The options seemed to be:
Get a bike and a use the bus
Depend on friends, family and Uber/Lyft to chauffeur me around
Be stuck at home for 6-12 month
I chose to get a bike and a bus pass.
Adapting to Life Without a Car
The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods One thing that helped a lot is that I live in a walkable neighborhood in Rochester, the North Winton Village. I didn’t fully appreciate the importance of a walkable neighborhood until I wasn’t allowed to drive.
I live about a mile from Wegmans, walking distance to where I worked at the time (Carlson Cowork), and near plenty of shops, restaurants, and parks. This made a huge difference. Life would’ve been much more challenging if I had lived in the car-dependent suburbs.
Getting around by bike Soon after the seizure, I went to my local bike shop and bought my first bike as an adult, a Trek FX3, which I still ride today. I also made sure to get a bike rack and a set of panniers so that I could carry cargo like groceries (more on that later).
At first, riding my bike on the road around cars was nerve-racking. However, I was lucky enough to find out about Reconnect Rochester’s On-Bike Smart Cycling Class taught by Jesse Peers where I learned how to ride safely on city streets. After taking the class, I was surprised at how much more confident and comfortable I felt biking through Rochester. I highly recommend it!
Getting around with the bus Besides my bike, I began using the bus more regularly to get to doctor appointments and other trips that were too far away or inconvenient to bike. Although the bus was not as convenient as a car, it was nice not to have to do the actual driving in traffic and I could sit and read.
It’s also really easy to combine a bike and the bus with the nifty bike rack on the front of the bus. Or you can bring your scooter. This adds a lot more flexibility to using the bus and it extends the range of a bike, especially on corridors where it’s unsafe to ride. For example, I recently had to go BayTowne Plaza from the city. Instead of biking on Empire Boulevard and putting my life at risk next to four lanes of 60 mph traffic, I rode my bike from my house to Empire Boulevard and took the bus the rest of the way.
Managing Challenges
Busy Roads Early on, I used Google Maps to map out a route to bike on. This would often give me a route that was shortest, but that also included busy roads that were very stressful to ride on, especially with all the giant SUVs and pickups these days.
At the Smart Cycling class, I learned about Reconnect Rochester’s Low-Stress Bike map and the Bike Boulevard Network. These tools helped me plan out a safe, comfortable bike route to get where I needed to go.
For example, riding downtown for me includes a lovely ride down Harvard St.
Groceries I thought getting groceries would be a big challenge without a car, but I quickly realized that a bike is fully capable of carrying a load of groceries. With a set of panniers, I can carry two fully loaded grocery bags with room on top of the rack for more. It’s also easy to hook up a small trailer to carry more and e cargo bikes are becoming more popular options as well.
When I didn’t ride my bike for groceries, it was easy enough to take the bus. I found the bus more convenient than I expected to get to Wegmans, as long as I didn’t stay too long and miss the bus on the way back!
That’s all to say: Good News Everyone! You don’t need an F-250 to get groceries!
Weather The weather also wasn’t as much of a challenge as I had expected. I try to avoid riding during a downpour, personally, but if the roads are wet or it’s only raining lightly, bike fenders and some rain gear go a long way.
Even in the winter, the roads are usually snow-free most of the time. Also, cold weather isn’t as bad as you’d think on a bike, as long as you have the right gear, like pogies to keep your hands warm. Even if it’s chilly out, riding a bike naturally warms you up with the exercise.
In the summer, the challenge sometimes is hot, humid weather. Riding at a leisurely pace helps, but it can be a challenge if I need to arrive somewhere and I don’t want to be all sweaty. This is where e-bikes have an advantage over regular bikes.
Bus Routes A main challenge with taking the bus was that I often needed to make a connection through the Transit Center. This was compounded with the fact that bus headways were often 30 minutes apart or more. Together, this meant that the travel time could be an hour or more by bus instead of a simple 15 minute drive by car. A short errand could take half a day on a bus.
However, if the bus route is convenient, it’s a great way to get to where you need to go. Just use the Transit app to easily see what bus you need to take and buy a bus pass on your phone!
Transitioning to Car-Lite Living and Lessons Learned
Overall, I was able to maintain my independence during those six months thanks to my bike and the bus. After about 6-months, I was cleared to drive again.
These days, I’d say I’m “car-lite.” I get around by bike if I can, but I drive when I need to go somewhere farther away or when the weather is bad and I just don’t feel like biking (that’s OK, too!). In case I have a seizure in the future (a very real possibility), I want to live a lifestyle that’s not dependent on driving everywhere.
[8/29/24 edit: Welp, unfortunately, I did have another seizure last week. Looks like I jinxed myself writing this. In the future, I’ll have to write an update about Car-Free Living Round 2!]
I learned a number of good lessons during this period
1 – The Benefits of Traveling by Bike
First, I realized so many unexpected benefits from riding a bike for transportation, which is why I still ride my bike to get around today. Some key benefits:
Being more active and enjoying the health benefits
Feeling more connected to the community as I bike through it
Improved mental well-being – I always feel better if I get somewhere by bike than by sitting in a car
A major lesson I learned is how important transportation resilience is. If you’re solely reliant on driving for everything, having a car breakdown, a medical issue leaving you unable to drive, or aging out of driving can be a major life challenge. For this reason alone, I think it’s important, both on a personal level and societal level, to make sure different transportation options are available. Just in case.
3 – The Inadequacy of Rochester’s Transportation System for Non-drivers 24% of Rochester households don’t have access to a car, but Rochester’s transportation system is built around the assumption that everyone has a personal automobile and can drive. This largely ignores the transportation needs of non-drivers; people who also need to get around to live life.
When driving was taken away from me as an option, I realized how difficult our city makes it for non- drivers in our community to get around. The main issues I personally noticed were:
Inadequate public transit: too infrequent, lack of connectivity, and lack of amenities like benches and shelters
Lack of a safe, connected network of comfortable bike lanes
Not enough safe crosswalks and crosswalks spaced too far apart
Roads built for moving cars fast at the expense of safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, kids, and other drivers
Signs of Improvement
Despite the challenges for non-drivers, I am excited about the steady progress and improvement I’ve seen in Rochester since 2019.
A (literally) concrete example of this progress is the reconstruction of E. Main between Culver and Goodman, which includes comfortable cycle paths, traffic calming measures, pedestrian islands, and crosswalks. Now, I bike it almost weekly to shop at the Public Market. Yes, bike lanes are good for business!
Reconnect Rochester has been integral to improving transportation options in Rochester and Monroe County. This work is important so that transportation is less of an obstacle for daily living.
Join Reconnect Rochester in making our city and county more livable by expanding transportation options:
Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets, bicycle infrastructure, and transportation options
Be part of the change happening in Rochester by getting “multi-modal” yourself and riding a bike, taking the bus, walking, or rolling for your next trip!
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Robert Picciotti, Calvin Eaton and Yamini Karandikar, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to start showing you some of the answers. Hopefully this will inspire and equip some folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather. Of course, over time, as the City and County’s Active Transportation Plans are implemented, we hope the ways to bike to popular destinations are obvious, intuitive, safe and comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities (no secret backways required!).
Two helpful links before we dive in:
Most of the following maps incorporate the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent deep dive on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
Our ROC Easy Bike map – the easy ways to bike around the area. Many of the zoomed out maps below couldn’t label every street along the way. You’ll get your answers here.
THE SENECA PARK ZOO
Our wonderful zoo is right beside the Genesee Riverway Trail, El Camino Trail, the beautiful bike/pedestrian bridge connecting Maplewood & Seneca Parks, and delightful neighborhood bikeways in Irondequoit. There is a bike rack at the main entrance. Hopefully someday, the Seneca Trail north of the zoo will lead all the way to Lake Ontario on the east side of the Genesee River.
MONROE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
It’s been a common complaint for years: Monroe Community College, our area’s largest institute of learning, is very uncomfortable to get to by bike. Though bike lanes have been installed on East Henrietta Road from Westfall south to 390, the bridge over 390 can be terrifying. Good news though: The Town of Brighton is developing a Multiversity Plan for an accessible, off-road, and multi-use trail system connecting the campuses of the University of Rochester, MCC, and RIT! In the meantime, there’s an easy, though unintuitive way to approach MCC from the northwest. It incorporates the Lehigh Valley Trail’s north branch, Whipple Park, West Brighton and Corporate Woods.
INNOVATIVE FIELD FOR ROCHESTER RED WINGS GAMES
Biking is the best way to get to a Red Wings game! The Pont de Rennes bridge (scheduled to reopen in November) grants bike/ped access directly from the east. There’s plenty of bike racks at both Innovative Field entrances and security is there during games. When the game ends, you’ll be most of the way home before most attendees get out of the congested parking lots nearby.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
RIT & LOVIN’ CUP
At least from the north, RIT and Lovin’ Cup are easy to bike to thanks to the Lehigh Valley Trail’s north branch – a bicycle superhighway along an old railroad bed.
TINSELTOWN & GATES HOME DEPOT
File this in the “This ride isn’t for everybody, but it’s probably way easier than you think” category. From Corn Hill, Cinemark Tinseltown & the Gates Home Depot are only 6.5 miles away by bike. Bike lanes are coming to West Main Street. In the meantime, there are bike boulevards parallel to West Main that take you to the Canal and under 390, which isn’t too bad compared to many other highway underpasses. Hinchey and Pixley get you the rest of the way there. Tinseltown has a well placed bike rack. Furthermore, if you want, you can take Loderdale and Brooklea, which parallel Hinchey and are a breeze to bike along.
the Union Street cycle track can wrap around to Innovative Field.
