John Allens' Campaign: Bike-Ed initiatives

This page was first posted as part of my 2003 campaign for New York-New England Regional Director of the League of American Bicyclists. I am keeping the campaign pages online, with brief additional comments (here, inside the box), for the information of League members.

LAB member Riley Geary, who studies bicycle crash statistics and maintains an informative Web site on that topic, has commented on this page as follows. I endorse his comments:

My only real quibbles, and they're pretty minor at that, would be the mentioning of helmets in the context of a university's greater ability to compel "correct" behavior among cyclists while on campus, and the idea that bicycle couriers might actually be an appropriate target audience for training in vehicular cycling.

Better to target utilitarian cyclists from the minority and immigrant communities who tend to ride against traffic and/or up on the sidewalks with greater frequency than other more affluent cyclists, who rarely use lights of any kind when riding after dark, and who consequently tend to show up in the fatality stats to a disproportionate degree...

(Geary's additional comments are on another page).

Here are some initiatives that I would like to see the League take with Bike-Ed:

Include Bike-Ed material in the League's magazine

What would be more useful to members than information about how to ride on the road with confidence and in safety? Recent issues of the magazine contain no such information. Content of the Magazine has been rather light of late, and this would be a welcome and needed addition.

Emphasize Bike-Ed in the League's conferences

The League's conferences have been deficient in promoting the Bike-Ed program. Even the Bicycle Education Leaders Conference (Madison, Wisconsin, 2002) was weak in actual hands-on content and trading of information among instructors. Rather, this conference featured a parade of government officials and facilities advocates; the material directed toward instructors was mostly about marketing rather than about teaching. The League's Advocacy Summit lacks any Bike-Ed component whatever -- though the education program represents the most important kind of advocacy which the League can offer.

Target opinion leaders

The Bike-Ed program needs to have a component directed toward government officials, politicians and, especially, the planning and engineering professions. This component would combine elements of education and advocacy. The program needs a module on this topic which local LCIs can use.

Build the program at colleges and universities

I would also suggest getting to opinion leaders in the formative stage -- that is, when they are attending colleges and universities. These offer a major opportunity that does not exist in society at large, because of:

The large bicycling population;
The presence of people who understand the difference between good science and junk science;
The university's interest in the survival and health of its students -- (avoiding the death of one student in a bicycle crash would probably pay for a program for several years, when calculated against that student's future donations as an alumnus);
The university's ability to compel correct behavior (for example, use of helmets and lights, and compliance with traffic laws on campus) to a greater degree than in society at large, backed up ultimately by the threat of withholding degrees from students if fines are not paid.
The university's unique ability to conduct research, so that it develops an information resource on the performance of it programs, while familiarizing students with bicycling issues.

It may be possible to convince a few institutions to develop such a program, and based on their example, to convince others.

Market to working bicyclists

The League already has spun off the International Police Mountain Bike Association as a resource to train bicyclists. Newspaper deliverers and bicycle couriers are two groups who are reachable through their employers, and for whom education is a win-win situation for employer and employee alike. There are probably other such populations as well.

Build support in the bicycle industry.

The National Bicycle Dealers' Association's new study of bicycling trends shows that purchases of off-road bicycles have subsided. Enthusiast-level cyclists and road cyclists are now the most important market for independent bicycle dealers. A very good case can be made to the dealers and manufacturers that educating people to ride properly on the road is essential to their marketing strategy.

Use new media

The Bike-Ed curriculum has been distributed only on paper and overhead projection transparencies. The work of Bike-Ed instructors can be made easier, and classes more interesting, through PowerPoint presentations, videos and promotional materials. With CD-ROMs and DVDs, distributing such material has become easy and inexpensive.

Incorporate material provided by LCIs

Local LCIs have developed resources on their own. The Education Committee should solicit and review these materials, upgrade them as needed, and make them available. Materials are easily shared using the Internet and new media.

Next: my positions on facilities