Transportation Advocacy Day 2013: Let’s Make it Bigger Than Ever!

Last year’s record turnout of over two hundred dedicated advocates for biking, walking, transit, and rail provided a critical voice to help us advance an agenda that led to increased state funding for Safe Routes to Schools and more flexible design standards for cities and towns as they work to grow bicycling and make it safer.

This year we want to make Transportation Advocacy Day 2013 bigger because bigger means more stories, more voices, and more testimony to grow bicycling statewide, to make it safer for kids to walk and bike, and to create great neighborhoods across Washington.

No matter how many white papers, statistics, and reports we reference to promote our policies to legislators, invariably, it’s the story that matters most. Your voice is critical in making the case for:

• why kids need sidewalks, trails, and bike lanes to safely get to school – while saving our state money with reduced busing costs
• safer neighborhood streets for children, elderly, and everyone else to live, work, and play
• more recreational opportunities for bicyclists that lead to more money spent in cities and towns across the state

Transportation Advocacy Day is your opportunity in 2013 to connect with fellow advocates from across the state and to meet with your elected officials in Olympia on the issues we care about. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

To register, visit Transportation for Washington’s RSVP page. There are many transportation options to get to Olympia, including Zipcar and rail. During the sign-up process, we’ll work to help your travel go as smooth as possible. Also, the entire day (food, scheduling, great workshops) is free!

Staff and dedicated volunteers from over ten organizations representing biking, walking, transit, rail, and public health are coordinating events and the policy agenda for the 2013 event. Luckily, the Transportation Advocacy Day platform is very similar to the Washington Bikes legislative agenda and includes:

• Local Government Control and Safe Neighborhood Streets. The Bicycle Alliance again will lead the Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill to make safer streets and neighborhoods by allowing cities and towns the authority to set speed limits to 20 miles per hour on non-arterial streets.
• Adding Health as a State Transportation System Policy Goal. The Bicycle Alliance will again support legislation that adds human health to the policy goals of our state transportation system —alongside existing goals such as economic vitality, mobility, and the environment.
• Transportation for Washington’s Campaign to expand funding to give Washingtonians the freedom to get around, safer streets for our children, and more complete streets for our towns and cities.

Washington Bikes is excited to again collaborate with many different transportation interests and we can’t thank our dedicated volunteers, including Washington Bikes board member Bob Duffy who coordinates the facility logistics and makes participants’ experiences enjoyable with copious refreshments and lunch. His yeoman’s work goes back years when we hosted Bicycle Advocacy Day in Olympia.

If you haven’t met her already Transportation Advocacy Day will also be a great opportunity to meet Washington Bikes’s new Executive Director, Barb Chamberlain. She’ll be welcoming advocates at the commencement of the day’s activities.

So join us February 12 for Transportation Advocacy Day. It’s a great opportunity to grow bicycling statewide, to meet your state elected officials, and to tell your stories and to make your case for why Washington’s transportation priorities need more balance in Olympia.

And, again, thanks in advance for your support and advocacy in 2013!