**Join Walk/Bike Nashville**
$

Annual Membership

Individual: $20
Family: $30
Institutional: $100

Or, send a check to:

Walk/Bike Nashville
P.O. Box 198162
Nashville, TN 37219-8162

Our organization is dedicated to:

Increasing the use of bicycling, walking and other forms of nonmotorized travel as transportation modes in order to reduce road miles traveled by motor vehicles, thereby reducing traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and improving the quality of life in Nashville.

Enhancing opportunities for recreational walking, bicycling and other forms of non-motorized travel, thereby improving the health and wellbeing of participating Nashvillians.

Making Nashville's streets and neighborhoods safer and more functional for all modes of travel through the use of planning and design, public education and enforcement.

E-Mail Inquiries:
INFO@walkbikenashville.org

Phone: (615) 585-2014

Come Join the Movement

Being part of the effort to improve the Nashville area has never been easier. You can join our 501c3 not-for-profit organization thru online registration by clicking on :Join Us".

Whether you run marathons or walk your child to school, your membership will support a growing culture where people of all ages enjoy bicycling and walking for a variety of reasons. We are launching a membership drive, so please join yourself if you haven't already done so, and invite your friends to join.

Bike/Ped Fact Sheet

National Facts

54% of Americans would like to walk more
53% would like to bike more
In the 1960’s, nearly 70% of children walked or bicycled to school. Today, less than 10% go to school under their own power
28% of trips in the US are under one mile
48% are less than 3 miles
1.7% of trips are made by foot or bicycle
Motor vehicle emissions represent 31% of carbon dioxide, 81% of carbon monoxide, and 49% of nitrogen oxide
60% of pollution created by automobiles occurs in the first few minutes of operation
A four-mile trip by bicycle keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air.

Local Facts

10% of Nashville households do not own a car
Nashvillians drive an average of 38 miles of day, one of the highest in the US
The Surface Transportation Policy Project ranked Nashville as the 10^th worst pedestrian city
81% of Nashvillians favor more sidewalks and bikeways
Tennessee spends 0.7% of its federal transportation funds on pedestrian/bicycle facilities
Pedestrians and bicyclists account for 7% of all traffic deaths in Tennessee
The obesity rate in Tennessee is 22.7% which is one of the highest in the country
Nashville has almost twice the road miles as Minneapolis, but half the sidewalks
Of 338 miles of roadways surveyed in Nashville, 75% were identified as unsuitable for bicycling

News from Walk/Bike Nashville

Friday, October 9th is the Walk/Bike Nashville Annual Meeting!

The event will take place at the Nashville Farmers Market beginning at 6:45 p.m., but in the spirit of Walk Nashville Week, some people will be gathering at the Germantown watering hole of their choice around 5:30, then walking over to the Farmers Market from 5th and Madison shortly after 6 p.m.

Toks Omishakin, the city's bike/ped coordinator, will present some highlights of the accomplishments of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee in its first year, and we expect to recap the successes of this week's Walk Nashville Week.

We will also be presenting our annual awards, which are intended to recognize leaders in the Nashville community who have made the city a better place for pedestrians and cyclists. The awards are:

The Kibby Clayton Friendly Streets Award
2009 Volunteer of the Year
2009 Best New Bike/Ped Friendly Development

The "Kibby Clayton Friendly Streets Award" is named for Walk/Bike's first president, who passed away in 2003. The award is presented to a person or group has done the most in the past year to make Nashville a more walkable and/or bikeable city. Past winners of the Friendly Streets Award include former Mayor Bill Purcell, several Metro city council members, and the Nashville Downtown Partnership.

Please join us, and support us by becoming a member!

Friday, May 15 is Nashville and National Bike to Work Day!

Walk Bike Nashville is hosting several routes from around town. Refreshments provided on Symphony Place in front of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center from 7:30-8:15 am. Come join riders from all sides of town as we show how bike commuting is a fun and practical way to get around Nashville. No registration-just show up. Helmets required.

West End / Bellevue - Sean Davies / Bill Glass
Red Caboose Playground-6:30 am
Gran Fondo Bike Shop-6:45 am
Vine St. Church-7:00 am
Join Murphy Rd Route at Elmington Park

Hillsboro/Belmont - David Kleinfelter / Bob Murphy
Hillsboro High School-7:00 am
Belmont/Gale-7:15 am
16th/Magnolia-7:25 am

Shelby Ave - Carey Rogers
Shelby Community Center-7:15 am
East Community Center-7:25 am

Murphy Road - Stephen Carr
Charlotte Park Library-6:50 am
Richland Park-7:00 am
Elmington Park-7:10 am
Join Hillsboro/Belmont Route on 16th Ave

Donelson
Donelson & Lebanon Pk-6:45am
Two Rivers Skate Park-7:00 am

Germantown - Freddie O'Connell and Johnny Crow
Morgan Park Community Center-7:00 am
Nashville Farmers Market along 7th Ave-7:15 am

Franklin/Williamson - Alan Hall
Franklin YMCA - 6:10am
Group will roll down Mack Hatcher, Franklin Rd. 16mph average.
Everyone is encouraged to organize their own group to ride into downtown if this doesn't work for you

IMPORTANT Tour de Nash INFORMATION

The 6th Annual Tour de Nash takes place Saturday, May 16th, 2009,

at the East Bank Greenway next to the Titans Stadium.
For more information click here.

Tour de Nash Registration for current Walk/Bike Nashville Members

Members of Walk/Bike Nashville whose dues are current

February 28th, 2009 through May 16th (or renewed by May 1st) will receive one complementary registration to any of the Tour de Nash events, including the Gran Tour rides.

To confirm your eligibility and to register, contact Sean Davies at seansdavies@gmail.com rather than using the Tour de Nash registration site.

Registration for the Tour de Nash includes Walk/Bike Nashville membership through December 31st, 2009.

WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

...VOLUNTEER!

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

EARTH DAY APRIL 18th, 2009

Ever think it ironic that most people drive their cars to Nashville's
Earth Day festival? Now you can help change that tradition! Walk/Bike Nashville will once again be providing valet bike parking to festival participants. 2-3 volunteers are needed for each of the following shifts: 10:45am-12:15pm; 12 pm-2:30pm; 2:20pm-5:00; 5pm-7:30pm.

Please contact Sean Davies if you would like to volunteer.

For more event information

URBAN ASSAULT RIDE MAY 3rd, 2009

Help Walk/Bike Nashville earn some extra operating money while supporting a new bike event in town. 15 volunteers are needed to help at the staging area (Hall of Fame park) and various checkpoint for this "bicycle scavenger course". Volunteers will need to arrive by 7:30 am and will work until about 3 pm. Volunteers will receive event t-shirt and beverages.

If you can volunteer, please contact Freddie O'Connell

For more information about the event

TOUR DE NASH MAY 16th, 2009

This is Walk/Bike Nashville's premier yearly event and we need every volunteer we can get to make it a success. Volunteers will perform a wide variety of tasks. A few tasks can be completed in the days prior to the event like route marking, stuffing goody bags, early packet pick-up, and setting up the start/finish. Most are event day, including helping with set-up and take down, on-site registration, route safety volunteers, and SAG. Volunteers receive event t-shirt and goody bag.

If you can volunteer please contact our volunteer coordinator Claire Beck or our event director Laurel Davis

WALK/BIKE NASHVILLE COMMITTEES

The work of Walk/Bike Nashville is primarily done by volunteer committees. Each committee is headed by a member of the board of directors, and meets monthly. The five standing committees are:

ADVOCACY-Identifies major challenges to safe walking and biking in Nashville and develops effective strategies to create change. Includes fact finding, preparing recommendations for changes to current policies, practices, or built environment, attending and speaking at public meetings, letter writing campaigns, direct contact with decision makers, and related tasks.

Contact: Glen Wanner

EDUCATION-Organizes and assists with teaching our educational programs including Music City Moves!, Bicycle Street Smarts, and Road I Cycling Class. Also puts together informational packets for topics related to best practices in walking and biking.

Contact Leslie Meehan

EVENTS-Plans, organizes, and carries out annual meeting, quarterly member socials, neighborhood walks and bike rides, Bike to Work Day, and the Great Commuter Race.

Contact Pat Clements

FUND-RAISING-Identifies organizations and individual who are potential sponsors, prepares sponsorship package, and meets with potential sponsors. Identifies potential grant writing opportunities and assists program director in writing grants.

Contact: Austin Bauman

MEMBERSHIP-Actively seeks to grow Walk/Bike Nashville membership by developing relationship with sister organizations, staffing information booths at various events, and producing membership brochure and mailers. Answer members questions, produces newsletter, create content for the website, and manage the membership library resources.

Contact: Sean Davies

River Road Bike Ban Quiet for Now

The bills prohibiting bicycles on a section of River Road in Davidson County (House Bill 0342 and Senate Bill 0276) were removed from discussion in the Rural Roads Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 24, but it does not mean they won't be considered at a future date. Thank you to everyone for contacting your legislators. We don't know at this point why the bills weren't discussed, but we are hopeful the cycling community's opposition was a factor. We will keep you posted if there are any changes.

Here is a copy of the press release Walk/Bike Nashville sent to the media last week.

Nashville, TENN. Feb. 20th, 2009

Bills to ban bicycles on River Road in Davidson County (House Bill 0342 and Senate Bill 0276) are proceeding through the General Assembly. River Road is a typical state rural highway with light to moderate traffic and no paved shoulder. Walk/Bike Nashville strongly opposes any legislation that would ban bicycling from state and local roadways.

The legislation, designed to address a perceived safety issue, is unnecessary. There have been no bicycle-car crashes on this road in the last 5 years.

Walk/Bike Nashville believes that current law, including the recently-adopted 3 foot passing law, which designates a safe passing zone of three feet for motor vehicles when overtaking a bicycle on a roadway, adequately addresses the safe use of our roadways by all users.

The arbitrary boundary of the Davidson County line included in the ban further reveals that the issue is not a broader one of motorist/cyclist safety.

"Our roadways have historically been public corridors open to a variety of transportation modes," said Freddie O'Connell, president of Walk/Bike Nashville. Bicycling is becoming increasingly popular as a mode of transportation, and bicyclists are legal users of the roadway in all 50 states. O'Connell continued, "Cyclists and motorists both need to respect the rules of the road. It's a two-way street. But Tennessee should not head down the path toward becoming a state that is unfriendly to bicyclists while many states and cities are improving accommodations for bicyclists as more people look to them as a mode of transportation."

If a ban is successful, many such roads across the state may be candidates for a ban as well. All Tennesseans favoring safe multimodal use of Tennessee roads are urged to contact their representatives and members of the House Rural Roads Subcommittee. Advocates are also encouraged to attend the subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 in Room 31 of Legislative Plaza.

Walk/Bike Nashville advocates for better road design that makes it easier for motorists and bicyclists to share the road. We strongly oppose any attempt to ban legal and responsible bicycling on our highways.

Map of Nashville's On-Road Bikeways and Off-Road Paths

Commuting And Short Trip Quick Cost Calculator

How much does it cost you to get to work? If you're driving a car, here is a quick way to find out!

Visit: The Rideshare Web Site

What about trips that you take by car less than 5 miles from where you live for short errands such as the post office, pharmacy, grocery store, the gym, or that pound of coffee you :: have :: to pick up from the local coffee shop? Add these trips in to the quick cost calculator and see how much it really costs for you to drive your car!

Try replacing short trips in the car with bicycling or walking. These trips are free, and include a bonus of adding fitness to your routine; you may no longer need to go to the gym. Now recalculate your trips and see how much money you're saving!