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Join our board!

Want to become more involved in local bicycle advocacy? Consider joining the Madison Bikes board of directors.

Madison Bikes is looking for people who are dedicated, passionate, strong communicators, good compromisers, organized organizers, and able to commit time and energy to promote biking as a priority in the city of Madison. We do not have paid staff and everything we do—from advocacy to organizing to communications to events—is driven by our 15-member volunteer board and volunteers.

We will have several seats up for election on our Board of Directors, with elections taking place in December.

If you are interested in joining our board, please complete this application form by October 7 Deadline extended to October 14. If you would like to nominate someone other than yourself, please forward this post/email to them and ask them to apply.

In the application, we ask for your availability for our November board meeting. All applicants are invited to that meeting for a brief Q&A with our current board members.

Our organization is committed to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic board committed to equity and anti-racism in our work. We strongly encourage applications from people of color, women, and other groups who are underrepresented in bike advocacy.

The Madison Bikes board is an all-volunteer working board. At a minimum, we expect board members to:

  • Attend our monthly board meetings (6-8 pm every third Monday of the month, virtual for the foreseeable future), and our community/work meetings (6-7:30 pm on the fourth Monday of the month; sometimes virtual, sometimes in person)
  • Commit to doing work outside of meetings, for example organizing Madison Bike Week, attending public meetings, or writing for our blog.
  • Have a passion for our organization’s vision: Making Madison a city where anyone can ride a bicycle conveniently and comfortably to any place in the city and neighboring communities year-round.
  • Be committed to be on the board for at least one year (terms are for 3 years)

Other examples of things our board members do:

  • Write for our blog
  • Moderate our Facebook community group
  • Plan, organize, and promote events like Madison Bike Week, Winter Bike Week, or the Winter Bike Fashion Show (online or in-person events when those return)
  • Attend city-held meetings (public input meetings, City Council meetings, local and regional transportation committee meetings)
  • Write email templates and action alerts
  • Mobilize the community to advocate for bike projects
  • Meet and liaise with community partners (neighborhood associations, non-profits, other bike advocacy groups)
  • Contribute to fundraising and organizational development efforts

Are you unsure whether being on our board is right for you? We’d be happy to answer questions by email or schedule a Zoom chat with one of our current members! Just email harald@madisonbikes.org. We will also host an in-person board member candidate open house on September 26. Stay tuned for details.

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Bike News E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

School’s Back, Vision Zero Action

UW band students on their bikes transporting their instruments
Expect to see a lot more of this (Cyclists of Madison)

This Week

It’s a quiet week on the schedule but I suppose that with school starting up many will be busy with new schedules and new bicycle routes.

Presumably the University will be wrapping up many of their summer-long projects and closures that have been so disruptive to navigating through campus. Of course, you still have a month-long closure of a segment of the path on the north side of University Ave to look forward to. Expect that in later September.

As part of the Vision Zero program, this week the city is reducing speeds to 35mph along the stretch of Mineral Point Rd from Whitney Way to the Beltline. This includes the location where Taylor Dunn was killed on his bicycle in early June.

Vision Zero is getting a lot of attention from Madison Bikes, the City of Madison, and the press. Now you can explore and visualize different aspects of the data driving these discussions with the Madison Vision Zero Dashboard created by Harald. This complements and expands upon his work in the Twitter bot sphere.

Finally, on Sunday, maybe bisect your a long Labor Day weekend with a late summer classic, the Wright Stuff Century presented by the Bombay Bicycle Club. This year it’s free for everyone with route lengths ranging from 35-100 (hilly) miles.

Last Week

If you’re looking for more immediate engagement, there are plenty of discussions on the Madison Bikes Community forums. A quick glance over the last week and you’d find topics such as:

  • The increase in bike thefts in Madison and bicycle locking strategies
  • Repeated attempts to sabotage and (presumably) injure users of the Southwest path by stretching cables across at a bike bridge
  • A call to action to get the City of Monona to consider bicycle lane improvements on the Atwood/Monona Dr corridor

Something for everyone!

Other Stuff

You might be interested to read this article from Streetsblog USA titled “Three Common Types of Bike Laws That Are Overdue for an Overhaul.” As referenced in the article, much of the data from this sourced from this paper.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

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Newsletter Weekly Update

Bikes Meet Up, Military Ridge Trail Input, Hawthorne Truax Neighborhood Plan Input

Cyclists enjoining one of the many multi-use paths in Madison. #CyclistsofMadison


Monday – Madison Bikes Meet Up

Brittingham Park Shelter @ 6pm. Come join us to chat about all things bikes! This is an informal social event, all are welcome to join. We look forward to talking with you about bicycling, advocacy, repair and pedestrian safety, and more. Light food and refreshments will be provided and you are welcome to bring your own.

Wednesday – Military Ridge Trail Input

The Madison Metropolitan Sewer District (MMSD) is planning a sanitary waste facility upgrade near Verona which could temporarily close the Military Ridge Trail during construction. On a positive note, one of the proposed options for reconstruction after the upgrade, includes connecting the Badger Mill Creek Path and the Military Ridge Trail. If this is a path you use, please make an effort to attend this meeting and ask that the Military Ridge Trail be kept open during construction and voice support for connecting the trails. MMSD is seeking public input Wednesday, Aug 24th at 5:30 held via Zoom; register here.

Thursday – Hawthorne Truax Neighborhood Plan Dialogue and Night Out

August 25, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Hawthorne Elementary School. The City of Madison invites community members to review initial concepts and recommendations for the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan covering future land use, new street connections, pedestrian and bike improvements, parks and open space enhancements, partnerships for community programs and services, and more. This is a perfect opportunity to advocate for long term bike facility investments at a relaxed family friendly setting.

Bike Theft on the Rise

Many community members on the Madison Bikes Facebook group have recently posted reports of attempted or successful bike thefts. In particular, e-Bikes are frequently targeted due to their high resell value. The likelihood of theft can be minimized with a few reasonable steps like investing in a good bike lock, registering your serial number on BikeIndex and storing your bike in a secure area (when possible). In addition, e-bike owners can remove their battery to make their bike less attractive to theft.

TC and MPO meetings cancelled

Both the Madison Transportation Commission and Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) meetings on August 24 are cancelled.

Tyranena Oktoberfest Ride Cancelled

Unfortunately, the annual Oktoberfest Ride hosted by Tyranena Brewery in Lake Mills was cancelled this year and probably indefinitely. A number of factors lead to increasing costs and dropping participation, made this event non-longer viable.

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Action Alert

Ghost Bike Dedication on August 17th for Will Cummings

William Cummings was killed on August 1st in a traffic crash while riding his bike on Pflaum Road. Join the Madison Bikes community and his family to dedicate a ghost bike in his memory and to show support for building a city where everyone can ride a bike safely and without fear. Join us tomorrow (August 17th) at 5:30 pm on the corner of Pflaum Road and Mustang Way.

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Newsletter Weekly Update

Peak summer means great biking… and construction

What we’re talking about this week

McFarland BCycle station

The new BCycle station in McFarland’s McDonald Park has gone live. This is right at the other end of the Lower Yahara River Bridge from Lake Farms Park, so it will provide an important connector for those who want to commute into Madison or just borrow a BCycle to enjoy a ride on the bridge and around the parks on either end. 

Stewart Tunnel
Letter from Department of Natural Resources (Image: Friends of the Badger State Trail)

Some great news came out about the currently-closed Stewart Tunnel on the Badger State Trail. The DNR has chosen an alternative for fixing the tunnel based on considerable public input and analysis of cost alternatives. While we don’t have a date for when you can avoid the hilly detour caused by the closure of the tunnel, funding will be requested in the next DNR budget. 

City wayfinding survey

And a reminder to take the city survey about which style of wayfind sign you prefer on the multiuse paths. On our Facebook Community, many people have questioned why these signs are needed or if the information will be useful. Don’t pedestrians and bicyclists already know how far things are and how long it takes?

Not necessarily. 

We get a lot of out of town visitors, new residents, and people just trying out the paths for the first time. Cues as to where you are don’t always exist on the paths, especially parts of the SW Path, Cap City, or Cannonball Trail that have fewer cross streets or are in less developed areas. If you didn’t know how close Monroe St was — with all the amenities it offers — you’d never guess riding on the SW Path. And studies have shown that giving people a time reference to nearby destinations encourages walking and biking. They may see the sign and think, “Oh, it’s only ten minutes to walk there? It would take me that long to find a parking space!”

The week ahead

Monday

The Transportation Planning and Policy Board meets at 5:00 pm online. They will be discussing the Complete and Green Streets plan for the city. This plan will eventually create a modal hierarchy that will change the transportation planning assumptions for the city to prioritize walking, then transit, then bicycling, and finally driving. Parking is even below driving in use of the public right of way. Needless to say this is very different from the conventional way transportation decision making has been in most U.S. cities. The plan will also create street typologies to recognize that a neighborhood residential street will function differently than a street where offices and big box stores are the dominant land use.

The TPPB will also be discussing the Transportation Demand Management plan for the city, which will require new developments to offset their predicted traffic generation with actions and amenities that incentivize not driving (providing transit passes, bike share stations or memberships, improved connections for walking, paying for parking separately from rent, etc.)

The TPPB will not be making a final decision on these, but the discussions should be interesting.

Construction updates

The intersection of North Shore Drive and John Nolen Drive will be closed later this month so that the railroad tracks can be replaced. Bicycle access through the area will be maintained either by the path (with possible delays or brief closures) or via a lane on the road. The work doesn’t start until Aug 26, but it might be a good plan to start thinking of alternative routes. 

Also, towards the end of this month a more significant closure will happen. As part of the ongoing University Ave reconstruction, the Campus Dr Path will be entirely closed for about a month from Marshall Ct to Highland. This includes the crossing of University Bay Dr as well as the portion of the path that runs next to the VA Hospital parking lot. There will be no way to get through on the path, so plan your detour now. There will be a marked detour starting at Shorewood Blvd (if you are headed east), but depending on your destination, you may want to choose a different route. 

We’ll keep you updated when the closure will actually happen.

In order to keep up with construction, subscribe to the city’s Bike Madison updates.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Categories
Newsletter Weekly Update

Queer bike ride; S Pinckney at TC; a second biking death; driving subsidies

South Pinckney bike lane

Plan drawing of proposed S Pickney St bike lanes

Wednesday’s Transportation Commission has one bike-related item on the agenda: A new cross-section for South Pickney Street between the two blocks of the Judge Doyle Square development. The design puts two five-foot wide bike lanes each in the center of the roadway, with bike boxes at Wilson and Doty Street. No additional materials are available yet, but I suspect putting the bike facilities in the middle is an attempt to reduce conflicts with cars dropping off and picking up guest at the hotel that will be at this location. The City is seeking feedback from the commission and the public. If you want to submit public comment, you can email TransportationCommission@cityofmadison.com or sign up to speak on Zoom here https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule/register

First monthly queer bike ride

It was supposed to happen during Madison Bike Week, but this Wednesday it is finally time for the inaugural queer bike ride. Every second Wednesday of the month the “party-paced” ride will depart in Law Park at 6pm. This month’s route follow the Cap City Trail and make a stop at the Great Dane in Fitchburg. Follow @madisonqueerbikeride on Instagram for the latest updates and details. All bodies are welcome.

Another person biking killed

After Taylor Dunn’s death in June, another person was killed while they were biking. The crash took place last Monday in the afternoon on Pflaum Road and involved someone driving a box truck.

Pflaum Road has bike lanes, but they lack physical separation from motor vehicles.

We are in contact with the family of the victim to organize a memorial and ghost bike dedication. Stay tuned.

Every person killed or injured while biking is one too many, and we must continue to do whatever we can do to reach Vision Zero: No more death or injury on our streets. But as for the injured, they can rely on products like those CBD Capsules to alleviate their pain.

How the City subsidizes driving

Bike activists have long pointed out the many ways in which driving is subsidized, at the federal, state, and local level. Don’t believe us? Well, the listen to Tom Lynch, the City’s Director of Transportation. At last week’s meeting of the Transportation Policy and Planning Board he presented a stark local example of these subsidies: The new Wilson Street garage in downtown. One parking stall in the garage costs the city about $450 in debt service and operations. The revenue from parking fees, on the other hand, is merely $212. This leaves a gap of $240 per month per stall that goes to people who drive their cars downtown!

Screenshot of a slide with a bar chart comparing the cost and revenue per parking stall in the Wilson Street Garage. Costs are about $450; revenue about $212, leaving a $240 gap.
Screenshot from TPPB meeting
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Newsletter Weekly Update

Leopold Pump Track Dedication Party, Pedestrian and Bicyclist Funding, Bike The Barns

Local youth utilizing one of Madison’s low-stress routes. Source: Cyclists of Madison Twitter

Last Week

Funding for N Mendota Trail: Dane County announced it will award Middleton $1 million for construction of the next segment of the North Mendota Trail, from the Highland Way / Century Ave signal to just past city limits near Century Drive. This trail is a multi-year project to help regional bike routes like HWY M safer for bike riders and pedestrians.

This Week

New Legislative Advocacy Tool: People For Bikes released this year’s Bicycle Friendly States rankings, and they weren’t pretty. Wisconsin fell to #29 in overall bicycle friendliness, and down to #49 in spending per-capita on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. This week, the WI Bike Fed released this tool to help concerned citizens tell relevant state legislators to invest in bicyclist and pedestrian safety. Wisconsin can do better, and we will.

Bike the Barns: FairShare CSA Coalition’s Bike the Barns ride is open for registration, event link here. The event is FairShare’s largest fundraiser, and helps fund the Partner Share Program that supports low-income families in accessing locally grown produce. The event needs volunteers, if you are interested sign up here.

Monday: Transportation Policy and Planning Board is meeting virtually at 5pm, agenda here. Tuning in to TPPB meetings is a great way to learn more about how bike and pedestrian infrastructure is planned in Madison. One interesting agenda item this week is approval of Madison’s application to the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Discretionary Grant Program, designed to repair some of the harm caused by mid-20th century highway expansion and associated destruction of low-income urban communities.

Tuesday: The Aldo Leopold Park Pump Track is being dedicated with a big community party, from 1-7pm! See here for details, including the inspiring story of how local kids inspired a host of private and public investments that made this project possible.

Wednesday: At 6:o0pm, Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is meeting virtually. Link to agenda and participation details here. Following the MPO is a great way to stay up-to-date on pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure affecting Dane County.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.