President Obama's Transportation Vision

On February 26th, President Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation is offering $600 million dollars to fund transportation projects across the country, continuing the sixth year of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Read more about the grant opportunity and the President's transportation plan here.

Bike Walk Montana Summit

BIKE WALK MONTANA
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR THE ANNUAL BIKE WALK SUMMIT

All across Montana, momentum is building for bicycling and walking. More and more communities are building trails and individuals are turning to walking and bicycling for transportation and recreation. Medical providers are issuing prescriptions for walking as a way to address the obesity epidemic and rising health costs associated with chronic health conditions.

The annual Bike Walk Summit, “Catch the Momentum”, scheduled for March 27-29 in Billings, is an exciting opportunity for individuals all across Montana to come together and learn from others who have successfully made a difference in their community. National, state and local leaders will share how they are working to make Montana and the nation safer, more accessible and enjoyable for biking and walking.

The Summit kicks off on March 27th with a pre-conference workshop, “Bicycling Means Business” by April Economides, President of Green Octopus Consulting. This workshop will help attendees understand the economic benefits of bicycling and what it means for business. The pre-conference workshop will be followed by an opening reception Thursday evening. The conference agenda includes break-out sessions and mobile sessions on a multitude of topics including roundabouts; bicycle tourism; the impact of trails groups and partnerships; the Transportation Alternatives Program; trail maintenance plans; building active and accessible places and much more!

Other Summit highlights include: a keynote address from Mike Tooley, the Director of the Montana Department of Transportation; a presentation by national expert Gary Toth from the Project for Public Spaces; opportunities to network and fun bicycle tours of Billings’ trails.

Bike Walk Montana is a statewide nonprofit organization working to make biking and walking safe and accessible for everyone. This is being accomplished through building a coalition across Montana that will impact positive change, providing educational materials, improving legislation impacting people who want to bike and walk safely, and being a resource for people, organizations, schools and communities on bicycling and walking issues

For more information or to register for the Summit, visit www.bikewalkmontana.org, or contact Melinda Barnes at melinda@bikewalkmontana.org.

Montana Driver's License Test Adds Bicycle and Pedestrian Questions

Due to a recent Share the Road meeting discussion, Montana is adding questions about bicycles and pedestrians to its driver's license exam. There will now be anywhere from 4-10 questions concerning non-motorized traffic on the tests, with the questions originating from the Montana Driver's Licensing Manual. While it may seem to be a small step, this addition to the exam will stress to new drivers the importance of acknowledging pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the roads as well as motor vehicles.

Bicycle Friendly Intersections

Check out this great video on how the Dutch have improved standard intersections to make it safer and easier for bikes and cars to co-exist on the roads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA

Take Action for Complete Streets

A Complete Streets policy ensures that cars, public transportation, bicycles and pedestrians can all share the same roadways in a safe and efficient manner. The Safe Streets Act--a bill to include Complete Streets in the design and implementation of new roadways--has been introduced to both the House (HR 2468) and the Senate (S 2004). Learn more, and send an email to Senator John Tester, Senator John Walsh, and Representative Steve Daines asking them to support the Safe Streets Act here.

Intercity Bus Service Restored to I-15 Corridor from Butte to Great Falls

Salt Lake Express announced yesterday that they will be reestablishing the intercity bus service between Butte, Helena, and Great Falls that was abandoned last summer due to lack of funding. Service will begin February 20th, thanks to funds from the Federal Transit Administration 5311 (f) Intercity Bus Program, and will include stops in Great Falls, Ulm Juction, Cascade, Craig Junction, Wolf Creek, Helena, Boulder, Basin, and Butte. Read the press release here.

Community Building Institute Webinar

The Community Building Institute is currently putting on a great webinar series through Montana Campus Compact. The lecture yesterday discussed identifying and engaging specific stakeholders for community issues, with an emphasis on increasing attendance at public events and meetings. A couple important tips: Identify specific groups--don't try to target the entire community, because you need specific stakeholder groups who have a reason to contribute to actually get people there! Invite people one-on-one or with a phone call--emails or flyers can be used to raise awareness, but are not affective in increasing participation.

I found this very relevant considering the public forums that are approaching for the revision of the Greater Helena Area Transportation Plan (See previous Transportation Updates blog post). Considering how different populations may be affected by the Transportation Plan update, and how to increase their attendance at the public meetings to gain their input, will be an important task for everyone working in transportation as these forums approach.

The session materials can be found here if you're interested in learning more.

Public and Active Transportation Updates in the Greater Helena Area

The Downtown ADA Ramp Installation Project was recently funded by the MDT Transportation Alternative Project. The grant, totaling $587,384, will provide ADA-friendly sidewalk ramp improvements in many key locations throughout downtown Helena. Congratulations!

The Transportation Coordinating Committee is beginning to work on updating the Greater Helena Area Transportation Plan. The Plan coordinates analysis of the transportation systems within the city of Helena and the entire Lewis & Clark County to recommend future improvements. Robert Peccia & Associates and Alta will be working as consultants with TCC on the project. Chapter 6 of the plan is the Non-Motorized section, and Alta is looking for a lot of public involvement to write it. There will be a public meeting in April to hear ideas from the community on the needs of non-motorized transportation in Helena. There will also be a website and Facebook group to keep the public updated on what's being discussed. This Transportation Plan Update will guide decisions for the next ten years, so this is an exciting opportunity for change in the community!

Public Transit was discussed in detail at this weeks Administrative Meeting. Helena Area Transit Service's Five Year Transit Development Plan was funded for Phase Two, which is focused on improving and increasing fixed route service in Helena, while still continuing their excellent curb-to-curb service. More details to come as this plan further develops.

Harvesting Clean Energy Conference

 

The Harvesting Clean Energy Conference happened this week in Helena. Participants heard a message from Governor Steven Bullock in person, as well as electronically from Senator Jon Tester, showing their support and commitment for clean energy in the state of Montana.

Some take aways from this conference:

This group of graduate students at the University of Idaho are researching climate change and how it may specifically impact the Northern Rockies region. Read some of their publications here:

http://web.cals.uidaho.edu/northernrockies/research-publications/

A Greater Yellowstone Electric Vehicle Working Group will be coming to Montana! Learn more:

http://www.ytcleanenergy.org/projects/gyev/

Innovative clean biofuel energy is quickly developing. Learn about the benefits of biodiesel and low carbon fuels:

http://www.savemobile.org/resources.shtml

 

These businesses in Helena are working hard for our environment. Check them out and add yours to the list here:

http://www.greenbusinessmt.com/

New VISTA Introduction and Bike Parking Examples

You may have noticed a name change in our blog! My name is Allison Batch, and I’m the new VISTA serving with the S.A.V.E. Foundation for this year. I hope to carry on Matthew Cramer’s legacy in improving public and active transportation in Helena. He left some big shoes to fill, but I’m very excited to be here and get started!

One of my first projects has been helping the Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Council (NMTAC) gather visual aids for their recommendations. Here are some examples of bike corrals and other bike parking I found for them. Click on the picture to read the article it came from!

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