Bonita Springs' Deputy Mayor Peter O'Flinn recevies FBA 2018 Annual Award for Elected Official Champion

At the March 20th meeting of the Bonita Springs City Council, the Florida Bicycle Association* (FBA)'s Executive Director, Becky Alfonso, presented Deputy Mayor Peter O'Flinn with FBA's 2018 Annual Award for Elected Official Champion.  Each year, FBA presents awards in recognition of outstanding leaders in various categories--from Club of the Year, Citizen Advocate, Law Enforcement Agency, Elected Official Champion, to Volunteers. Congratulations to Deputy Mayor O'Flinn, and thanks to FBA for recognizing his contributions to SWFL.



Deputy Mayor Peter O'Flinn (holding plaque) with Councilman Mike Gibson (L), FBA's Becky Alfonso (R), City Manager Arlene Hunter, and Deputy City Manager Matt Feeney [Mayor Peter Simmons in back]

 In presenting the award FBA's Becky Alfonso made the following comments:

 


 "Deputy Mayor Peter O’Flinn has demonstrated his outstanding leadership both in the City and throughout SWFL to advocate for complete streets as the best way to realize the City's vision of human-scale development and quality of life. He made this issue his #1 priority. As a result of these efforts, Bonita Springs received national recognition (by Smart Growth America) as one of the12 communities in the United States for its exemplary work on implementing complete streets.

Peter has led the effort to educate the public about the value of roundabouts and road diets, which has been critical to bringing these changes to SWFL.  Equally important, since he was elected he has been committed to bringing to reality a rails-to-trails trail to connect Bonita Springs and Estero (10 miles) and make it part of the statewide network, with a vision of how to take these two cities to the next level.

Peter has built strong relationships with the Greenways and Trails Foundation, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Conservation Fund. Through his hard work, leadership and commitment, these leaders are now part of "Peter's team” to make Bonita Springs a complete community.

 It is my honor to present Bonita Springs Deputy Mayor Peter O’Flinn our 2018 Elected Official Champion of the Year award."

 

In receiving the award, Deputy O'Flinn said he was part of a team effort, highlighting the contributions of outstanding staff--City Manager Arlene Hunter and Deputy City Manager Matt Feeney--along with Councilman Mike Gibson who has worked on these issues for many years and is the Council's liaison to the City's Bike/Ped Advisory Committee.

*The Florida Bicycle Association (FBA) is a membership-based 501c3 non-profit whose mission is bicycling education and promotion of smart cycling. FBA is not a bicycle club - we are and always will be people, businesses, organizations and communities working together to build a bicycle-friendly Florida to benefit all.

 

To see the full list of the recipients of FBA's 2018 Annual Awards, click here. 

 

Congratulations to all the award recipients!

 

 

 







BikeWalkLee urges Lee Legislative Delegation to oppose amendments to change Share the Road specialty license plate program

As a follow-up to today's News-Press headline story, "Nonprofits may lose license plate money to private company." BikeWalkLee sent a letter to House Chairman Grant and to the Lee Legislative Delegation urging them to oppose any amendment to change the Share the Road license plate program.

April 25, 2017

Members of the Lee Legislative Delegation:

Below is the letter BikeWalkLee sent today to Chairman Grant re: HB 1375 and our opposition to the attack on the Share the Road specialty license plate.  This amendment was today's headline story in News-Press. 

 As stated below, we strongly oppose the Beshears amendment to HB 1375, and urge you to press for deletion of this provision in the House bill.  We also urge you to oppose any amendment to any other bill (including SB 784 and HB 545) that would attack the Share the Road specialty license plate program.

Thank you for your support.

Darla

On behalf of BikeWalkLee

April 25, 2017​                                                                                                         

Representative Grant:

BikeWalkLee, a broad-based community coalition with 70 supporter organizations, advocates for complete streets in Lee County and promotes policies that enhance the safety and usability of our roadways, and actively participate through our Lee County Legislative Delegation in the annual Florida legislative process.  From our founding in 2009, we have partnered with the Florida Bicycle Association to focus on making Florida a safer place to bike and their safety education outreach supports our local efforts.

We understand that the House will be considering HB 1375 shortly.  We strongly oppose with the amendment adopted last week offered by Rep. Beshears ( lines 171 - 201 of Committee Substitution 3 of HB 1375), which is an assault on the Share the Road specialty license plate.  The Beshears amendment not only removes both the Florida Bicycle Association and Bike Florida from any proceeds generated by the Share the Road license plate, it instead gives the proceeds to a newly formed for- profit company, Cycling Association of Florida.

Florida Bicycle Association and Bike Florida have each existed for 20 years or more and have met all the requirements of the current statute pertaining to the Share the Road plate since signed into law in the year 2000 (Statute 320.08058).  This plate came about as a result of the hard work of countless volunteers who made the Share the Road specialty license plate a reality nearly 17 years ago.  It is unfair and unethical to hijack this program for the benefit of another group.  In addition, we believe the amendment violates Florida Statute 320.08056 (10)(a), which prohibits the monies from being used for for-profit activities. 

This amendment was of such significance to our community that it was today's headline story in the Fort Myers News-Press newspaper: "Nonprofits may lose license plate money to private company."

We urge you to remove this amendment from HB 1375 when the House moves to 2nd reading of the bill.  As the most dangerous state in the nation for pedestrians and cyclists, the last thing Florida should be doing is eliminating the valuable statewide bicycle safety outreach program run by FBA.  Much is at stake for Florida's future in making our roadways and streets safer.

Sincerely,

Darla Letourneau

On behalf of BikeWalkLee

Nonprofits may lose license plate money to private company

The News-Press, April 24, 2017
Melanie Payne 

(Photo: Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles)

Nonprofit cycling groups will lose tens of thousands of dollars from the sale of specialty "Share the Road" license plates, if a Florida representative’s amendment is approved.

Changes to the Florida Statute on specialty license plates would cut Bike Florida Inc. and the Florida Bicycle Association Inc.’s share of the extra fees for the license plate and give up to half of the money to a privately held company, The Cycling Association of Florida.

"Share the Road" is one of 123 Florida specialty license plates covering a variety of interests, causes, colleges and universities. The $15 that the 10,000 or so Share the Road license plate holders pay in addition to registration fees contributed about $65,000 to Bike Florida’s annual budget, executive director Becky Afonso said. The money is used for marketing the plate, education and programming she said. But under the amendment filed by Rep. Halsey Beshears, R-Monticello,the nonprofit Florida Sports Association would receive and distribute the money and could use up to 25 percent for administration costs, and The Cycling Association could get up to 50 percent of extra fee revenue.

In addition, the amendment calls for raising the fee from $15 to $25 for a "Share the Road" plate. "I have no idea how this has come to pass this way. It's mind-blowing that its happening," said bicycle consulting business owner and former Florida Bicycle Association board member Dan Moser. "And they're moving the price point up to $25? That's a great way to make sure you don't make your goal," the Fort Myers man said, referring to minimum sales annual sales requirement specialty plates. That too is being considered raising the number from 1,000 to 4,000, but for all plates not just Share the Road.


Nearly one in 10 vehicles in Southwest Florida features a specialty license plate. See which options are the most popular in the five-county region. Video by Dave Breitenstein/news-press.com Dave Breitenstein/news-press.com

The “Share the Road” license plate was signed into law in 1999 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush and sales began in 2000. The legislation called for the fee purchases paid to be distributed to Bike Florida, which could use up to 25 percent for marketing and promotion of the license plate. The remaining funds were to be divided equally between Bike Florida, based in Alachua County, and the Oldsmar-based Florida Bicycle Association, and used for bicycle and motorist safety programs and to promote safe bicycling.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 6,663 bicycle crashes in Florida in 2016 and 137 fatalities. As of April 23, there have been 29 bicycle deaths in Florida this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2015 that Florida had the highest rate of bicyclist deaths of any U.S. state with 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people, double the national average.

Formed to make Florida a “state where bicycling is safe, respected and encouraged as a means of transportation and recreation,” the Florida Bicycle Association was incorporated in 1997 as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. By contrast, Tallahassee-based Cycling Association, state records show, filed as a corporation on April 17. The only officer listed is Kenneth W. Foster, a former employee of Bike Florida Inc. and an officer in a cellphone repair business.

Foster’s LinkedIn profile lists several cycling organization affiliations, including a two-year stint as the executive director of Bicycle Tallahassee and the owner of a bicycle retail store from 1992-2001.

Several attempts to reach Foster by phone were unsuccessful. The legislative assistant for Beshears said the legislator was in meetings all of Monday morning. She said he would try to call in the afternoon but if he couldn't she would try to get a statement to The News-Press by email. No call or statement was received prior to publication.

“Florida statutes outline which organization(s) receive the funds and the amount distributed. The organization(s) or amount can change pursuant to a change in statute,” Alexis Bakofsky, press secretary for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles wrote in response to an inquiry from The News-Press. “The monies can be distributed to a for-profit organization, but the monies cannot be used for for-profit activities, per F.S. 320.08056(10)(a).”

But Afonso questions if switching the beneficiary of the money is fair to the organizations that gained approval of the plate nearly 20 years ago, or fair to the 10,000-plus taxpayers who pay extra every year for a “Share the Road” license plate.

“People put their money into that plate,” Afonso said. “And it’s going to go to a company with no track record and no history.”

Cape Coral Council takes actions in support of its complete streets policy and receives award from FBA

Cape Coral's City Council meeting on April 3rd highlighted the City's ongoing progress in implementing complete streets in the Cape.  There were three items on the agenda related to these efforts. 

FBA's Afonso, CM Szerlag, Mayor Sawicki, PW's Zambrano, CCBP's Conant, Swanson, and Aubuchon

First, The Florida Bicycle Association's (FBA) Executive Director, Becky Afonso presented the FBA 2016 Bicycle Friendly Community of the Year award to the City of Cape Coral, recognizing both City officials and Cape Coral Bike-Ped group.  
 
 Second, the Council approved the City's first Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.  Third, the Council approved the project design for the SE 47th Terrace Streetscape Project, which focuses on revitalizing this area by making it a "complete street", making it a safe and welcome place for pedestrians.  Kudos to the City Council, City staff, and the Cape Coral Bike-Ped group for their outstanding efforts, and to FBA for bringing statewide recognition to these local accomplishments.  Below is an article reporting on yesterday's Council actions, along with links to the Master Plan, and previous BWL blogs about these initiatives.

April 4, 2017 CapeCoral.com blog:  5 Things to Know from the Cape Coral City Council Meeting (Apr. 3)  

[excerpts below--#3 and #4]

#3:  Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan approved

The city's first Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan is now official.

During Monday night's meeting, the city council unanimously approved the plan that will add 93 miles of sidewalks, 22 miles of multi-use paths, and 138 miles of on-street bike paths over the next 15 to 20 years.

The plan was created to provide a cycling network safe for bicyclists and pedestrians that will spread throughout the city.

The cost to construct the network is estimated at $63 million.

Alta Planning and Design, the company hired by the city to create the master plan, recommended the city seek state and federal grants, make the improvements part of the city's UEP and Road Repaving initiatives, as well as using future gas tax allocations to fund the projects. According to the firm, with those allocations, 30% of the proposed bike and pedestrian projects would be funded through Fiscal Year 2022.

The city has already utilized an over $3 million grant it received from the state to begin construction of a multi-use path along Kismet Parkway.

In related news, at the beginning of Monday's meeting, the City of Cape Coral and the Cape Coral Bike-Ped organization received the 2016 Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the Florida Bicycle Association.

The non-profit organization was created to promote bicycle safety throughout the state of Florida and annually recognizes contributions to accomplish that goal. Florida Bicycle Association President Becky Afonso was on hand at the meeting to present the city and Bike-Ped the award, and commended both for their partnership to create a network of bicycle paths in the city making it safer for both bicyclists and pedestrians.

#4: Council/CRA approves SE 47th Terrace Streetscape Project design
Before Monday's regular meeting, the city council, acting in their roles as CRA Commissioners held a special meeting to discuss whether or not to approve the proposed design plan for the SE 47th Terrace Streetscape Project.

Called a "legacy project" by City Manager John Szerlag, the $8.5 million initiative will completely revitalize the look of SE 47th Terrace from Del Prado Boulevard to Coronado Parkway.

According to the proposed design, the project will include brick paver expanded sidewalks on both sides of the road, new landscaping, custom street lighting, elimination of on-street parking, and a roundabout at the intersection of SE 47th Terrace and Vincennes Boulevard.

It has been the roundabout that has caused the most publicity since the design plans have been released, with some concerned the roundabout could cause traffic issues on the busy street.

However, city traffic engineer Bill Corbett explained during Monday's presentation that roundabouts provide a safer option for both pedestrians and drivers reducing traffic crashes by 48% than other traffic calming options on the average.

Regarding the size of the roundabout, Corbett also assured the board of commissioners that the city has enough land in the surrounding right-of-ways to accommodate for the roundabout.

In addition to the aesthetic upgrades, the project will also include water and sewer upgrades. The $1.9 million cost for those upgrades will be paid through the city's water and sewer fund. The remaining $6.6 million cost of the project will be shared by the city and CRA. Szerlag says the current plan is for the city and CRA to equally share that cost. However, as time comes closer to pay for the construction that could change depending on the financial health of both entities. Meaning if one fund has a stronger financial setting, it could cover more of the cost burden for the project.

After hearing the presentation, the commissioners unanimously voted to approve the design, and later during the regular city council meeting, council members once again unanimously approved the design moving the project to the next phase.

Szerlag says the goal is to have shovels in the ground later this year to begin the project with a projected construction timeline of nine to twelve months to complete.

 Related Links:

Cape Coral Bike Ped Master Plan--approved 4/4/17

Agenda Pkg for Cape Coral Council 4/3/17 Meeting

BWL 2/17/17 Blog:  Cape Coral selected as 'Bicycle friendly community of the year' by Florida Bicycle Association

BWL 4/22/16 Blog: Cape Coral residents share ideas for improving walking and biking

Florida Bicycle Association helps kick off the touring season

Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, 10/5/2016
 
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com

If you care about the bicycling environment but you’re not familiar with Florida Bicycle Association, you should get to know and support them. It is our one and only bicycle advocacy and education organization representing all of Florida and it works tirelessly to be the voice of anyone who rides a bike. FBA’s mission is “to network and share best practices, to educate and advocate, and to build awareness as a unified voice.”

Its vision is “for Florida to be a state where bicycling is safe, respected and encouraged as a means of transportation and recreation.” Efforts to meet its mission and vision range from representing bicyclists in Tallahassee to providing education and awareness programs, and identifying resources and expertise for those working on local, regional and statewide levels.

As the ride season begins this month, FBA will be conducting its annual membership meeting in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Riders lined up for a ride in Cape Coral last year. October
marks the month that bike events begin in Florida.

The featured speaker is DeWayne Carver, the Florida Department of Transportation’s state complete streets program manager. Mr. Carver had been the state bicycle/pedestrian coordinator, so between the two positions he’s held with FDOT and his private sector transportation planning background, he’ll have plenty of valuable insight to share.

Regional advocacy updates, audience engagement on bicycle laws, infrastructure and education outreach are on the agenda. The event is free to the public.

A week after its annual membership meeting, FBA is partnering with Bike Florida to present the Share the Road Celebration of Cycling 2016 in Gainesville. This two-day event is Oct. 28-29. It includes workshops and the Share the Road annual awards. Programs include discussions by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Active Streets Alliance of Gainesville, Joyride Bicycle Collective of Tallahassee and SUN trail. There will be a demonstration of solar powered in-ground reflectors. The summit if free; the Bike Florida tourism session costs $40, which includes the awards luncheon. For more information, see sharetheroad.org.
On Nov. 19, the day before and in conjunction with one of Florida’s best century rides - The Horrible Hundred in Clermont - FBA presents Florida Bicycle Best Practices Workshop. Group riders, bike club members and those who are part of local and regional advocacy organizations should consider attending this workshop.

According to Becky Afonso, FBA’s executive director, “This year we are happy to have Hugh Aaron of Bike Walk Indian River County and Vero Cycling Inc. to lead the discussion of ‘Best practices for working with state and local officials to make your community more bike friendly.’ Mr. Aaron promises to share his own experiences working with local bicycle advisory committees, community traffic safety teams, county commissioners or city councils, local planners, local public works departments and local FDOT district staff. These experiences have helped Indian River County become a League of American Bicyclists Bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community.”

The workshop is free and open to anyone. Those who register in advance will be eligible for a complimentary entry to the Horrible Hundred the following day.

For a full listing of bike rides and tours around Florida and the Southeast U.S., see FBA’s Bicycle Touring Calendar at floridabicycle.org.

In Southwest Florida the first big ride of the season is Coastline Cyclery’s Epilepsy Awareness Rides, 15-, 30-, and 62-mile options, on Sunday, Oct. 23. See www.facebook.com/CoastlineCyclery. ¦
 


- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334- 6417.

Sanibel Bicycle Club receives Florida Bicycle Association 2015 Club of the Year Award

FBA's Afonso (R) presents award to SBC team (L)

Congratulations to the Sanibel Bicycle Club on being named the Florida Bike Club of the Year by FBA. A big "Thank You" to the Florida Bicycle Association for recognizing their accomplishments.

At its monthly potluck this week, the Sanibel Bicycle Club (SBC) was honored as Florida's Bicycle Club of the Year by the Florida Bicycle Association (FBA). FBA's Executive Director Becky Afonso was on hand to present the award to Club President Diane Olsson, VP Patti Sousa, and Tom Sharbaugh. Vice-Mayor Denham and City Manager Judie Zimomra were in attendance to celebrate SBC's honor.

In presenting the award, Afonso highlighted the outstanding "Cycling on Sanibel" safety video, along with the Club's overall safety education initiative. "The Sanibel Bicycle Club's 'Cycling on Sanibel' video is a high quality product that communicates the safety message using a "fun" approach. It is one of the best bike safety videos I've seen," said Afonso.

The video project was initiated by the Club In 2014, when they proposed to the City of Sanibel that it apply for a Tourist Development grant to support the development of a tourist-focused "Cycling on Sanibel" safety video. The City applied for the TDC grant, and received a grant of $4,000 in November 2014, which served as seed money to get started. SBC was made the project manager by the City, and Tom Sharbaugh and Patti Sousa led the project on behalf of the Club. Its team first went door to door to businesses and organizations on island to raise over $20,000 to pay for the production of the video, which they successfully raised by January 2015. This fundraising effort also got community buy-in and support for the project. The SBC team selected a top notch video company to do the project and worked closely with them on the development of the video. The finished video was rolled out in May to widespread critical acclaim by local officials, residents, the business and tourism industry, and media, both locally and statewide. The SBC team then got to work on making sure the video was receiving the broadest distribution by all travel related organizations and businesses.

"Cycling on Sanibel" video


Building on this success and the relationships developed through this You Tube video project, the SBC team pursued a second safety education opportunity--developing nine key messages on how to be safe on Sanibel's shared use paths and displaying them on electronic displays in island and businesses, in partnership with Blue Ash Media Group. These messages have been running in 14 popular locations on Sanibel and Captiva since August 2015.

"Not only are these two innovative projects improving the safety and the biking experience for visitors on Sanibel, they are serving as models for other communities throughout Florida. The Sanibel Bicycle Club received the FBA's 2011 Club of the Year award, and it's gratifying to see this outstanding Club continue to serve as a model for other Clubs in Florida," Afonso said.

SBC has a long tradition of building successful public/private partnerships to improve the island's shared use path system and this latest effort is yet another stellar example of what can be accomplished through this approach. Congratulations to the Sanibel Bicycle Club, and a big "Thank You" to the Florida Bicycle Association for recognizing their accomplishments.

Report by Darla Letourneau 


Related Links:

• Cycling on Sanibel video

• Bike Safety Slides for Blue Ash media, created by SBC 8/4/15  

• Santiva Chronicle 3/15/16: Bike Club Named 2015 Club of the Year by Florida Bicycle Association

• BWL Blog: March 4, 2016: Sanibel's successful promotion of biking and walking as a way to get around the Island provides ideas for other communities

• BikeWalkLee Blog, January 24, 2016: FBA Board Impressed by Sanibel Bicycle Club's Bike Safety Programs

• BWL Blog, January 2, 2016: Santiva Chronicle's 2015 top stories:#3--Shared Use Paths and Bicycle Safety

• BWL Blog, September 21, 2015: Sanibel Cycling Safety PSA

• BWL Blog, August 4, 2015: Sanibel Bicycle Club Initiates New Digital Safe Biking Messages

• BWL Blog, June 11, 2015: BWL Column: New video will get you safely biking Sanibel like a pro

• BikeWalkLee Blog, June 3, 2015: Sanibel Bicycle Club Releases New Bicycle Safety Video

• BWL Blog, January 23, 2015: Video will help market bike safety on the islands (Sanibel/Captiva

• BikeWalkLee Blog, November 18, 2014: Sanibel awarded "Silver" Bicycle Friendly Community Status

• BWL Blog, July 24, 2014: BWL Column: Bikers focus on Sanibel

• BWL Blog, April 23, 2013: Sanibel’s Weekly Newspapers Publish “Cycling Safety Notes” To Promote Bike Safety

• BikeWalkLee Blog: April 15, 2011: Sanibel Bicycle Club Honored by Florida Bicycle Association

FBA Board Impressed by Sanibel Bicycle Club's Bike Safety Programs

The Sanibel Bicycle Club's presentation on their bike safety initiatives, including a recent highly acclaimed "Cycling on Sanibel" video, greatly impressed the FBA Board and provided ideas that other communities can adopt for using the Internet and social media to get out the word on bike safety. Great job, SBC, and thanks to FBA for giving us an opportunity to showcase one of the many exciting initiatives happening in SWFL.

Background
The Florida Bicycle Association Board (FBA) meets quarterly in rotating locations, and this quarter they held their meeting in Fort Myers on Jan. 23th, with a "meet and greet" event the previous night for local advocates. At each Board meeting, they invite a local bike club or advocacy organization to make a presentation to showcase a local project or advocacy effort. For the Fort Myers meeting, the Sanibel Bicycle Club (SBC) was invited to make a presentation on their Bike Safety Programs.

Introduction: The County-wide Context
BikeWalkLee's Darla Letourneau (also a Sanibel resident and SBC member) introduced the SBC presentation by putting it into the context of what BikeWalkLee is trying to accomplish countywide. One of BWL's strategies is to speed up the process of bringing complete streets and improved bike/ped infrastructure to Lee County by taking advantage of emerging digital media as well as traditional media, using tools such as blogs, email groups, and social media and newspaper columns. BWL’s participation in countywide committees, and its involvement in each local jurisdiction (6 municipalities) through its local BWL representative, has created a network that allows quick sharing of information, best practices from around the country, and innovative local projects. BikeWalkLee is particularly focused on sharing information about local initiatives in a way that provides a practical and helpful idea source for other municipalities and agencies and an aid to rapid adaptation to their communities. "Our goal is to get "further faster" through this approach," said Letourneau.

  

"Sanibel has been a good example on many fronts--from how to become a Bicycle Friendly Community; how to develop a master plan that is fully implemented; to how to develop public/private partnerships that can provide significant leverage for achieving bike/ped enhancements," said Letourneau. In its presentation to the FBA Board, SBC demonstrated innovative ways to bring the bike safety message to visitors and residents, ideas which have applicability to the other municipalities in Lee County and elsewhere in Florida, " said Letourneau.

PowerPoint presentation

Sanibel Bicycle Club's Bike Safety Programs Presentation
A team from SBC made the presentation to the FBA Board: Tom Sharbaugh, the co-leader (along with Patti Sousa) of the video project and the lead on the Club's safety initiatives; along with Bill Sartoris and Mike Miller who focused on the history of the Club and its successful advocacy partnerships with local government. Click here to view their PowerPoint presentation.

 

SBC's Sharbaugh talks about the video project

As Bill Sartoris explained, the Sanibel Bicycle Club (SBC) has been around since 1994, welcoming those who like to ride, socialize and break bread with other cyclists. Clusters of SBC’s “screaming yellow” jerseys can be spotted on the island during their Saturday morning group rides to breakfast, and during their frequent Club treks to explore other interesting areas of southwest Florida by bike.

Mike Miller reported that over the last 10 years, SBC’s bright jerseys have also become a fixture at Sanibel City Council meetings, where members regularly show up to advocate for issues affecting Sanibel’s cycling facilities and infrastructure. The Club has gradually built a positive working relationship with Sanibel’s City leadership and staff, earning it a well-deserved reputation as a champion of Sanibel’s shared use path and as a go-to resource regarding safe cycling conditions and practices.

Tom Sharbaugh talking about the digital media messages

As a popular family beach vacation destination, Sanibel gets lots of visitors, and a growing number of those vacationers want to experience the island’s sights and sounds by bike. Sanibel has 25+ miles of paved shared use path, and in peak season there can be as many as 3,000 riders on the path at any one time. Complicating matters is that many of those path users are inexperienced riders who don’t know the basic rules for safe cycling. They include everything from small children to grandparents who haven’t been on a bike since the Nixon administration.

"To address this need for educating path users, SBC has put its energies into a series of bike safety education programs, "said Tom Sharbaugh. These programs started in 2008 with a series of posters, print ads and bike rack signs, and have continued into the present with digital media messages placed on websites, closed circuit TV systems and youtube.com. To pay for these efforts, SBC created a Club-directed 501(c)(3), the Sanibel Trails In Motion Fund, managed by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, which has so far collected more than $50,000 for path improvements and safety education.

FBA listens intently to SBC presentation

In 2015 the Club partnered with other local civic and business organizations to underwrite an educational video that visitors can watch at home about cycling on Sanibel, designed to deliver safe biking tips in an entertaining package. The FBA Board watched the 7 minute video and was extremely impressed by the quality of the product and the "fun" approach to getting the safety message across, with several members saying it was the best safety video they had ever seen. See the video below or click this link:

SBC team: Mike, Mary Miller; Tom, Bill Sartoris

Tom Sharbaugh reported that the video is accessible on youtube.com, as well as on websites run by the Club, the City of Sanibel, Lee County Visitors & Convention Bureau, island bike rental businesses and numerous resorts. In addition, links to the video are being placed on travel sites visited by people planning trips to Southwest Florida. Debut of the new video has brought an increased focus on bike safety on the island, which the club has leveraged with a companion slide show adaptation for digital messages boards.. These are being run as a PSA at local restaurants and businesses. They are also being run at the City Rec Center and on its Facebook page. FBA Board members were very interested in replicating this approach in other communities. Click here to view the 12 slides being used around Sanibel to amplify the "Cycling on Sanibel" video.

Sharbaugh also talked about what the City of Sanibel is doing to encourage safe cycling as part of its larger effort to reduce traffic congestion on the island. One of the City's three recommendations is to "travel around the island by foot and bike". Click here to see the City's overall traffic campaign, of which the "Cycling on Sanibel" video is a part (on homepage of City website); and here for the Traffic Message from the Mayor of Sanibel (video)

While the Club's approach might have a distinctive Sanibel flavor, there are lots of great ideas here that can be used by other communities in their efforts to promote safety. Thanks to the Sanibel Bicycle Club, which has, over its 26 year history, accomplished an effective balance between the social aspects of their club and the all important role of advocacy. The only way to expand and improve the biking and walking infrastructure in our communities is through citizen involvement , on the part of bike clubs, advocacy organizations, other stakeholders, and citizens. There are great benefits for the biking and walking community, well as for the community at large, from this type of sustained commitment and involvement. Sanibel provides a good example.

Report by Tom Sharbaugh and Darla Letourneau

Links to SBC Presentation Materials:

• Sanibel Bicycle Club: Bike Safety Programs Power Point presentation to FBA Board 1/23/16 
• Bike Safety Slides for Blue Ash media, created by SBC 8/4/15  
• Cycling on Sanibel video  
• City of Sanibel website (has new city traffic message info plus the Sanibel cycling video at top of home page.)
• Traffic Message from the Mayor of Sanibel (video)

Previous BWL Blogs on SBC Bike Safety Initiatives:

• BWL Blog, January2, 2016: Santiva Chronicle's 2015 top stories:#3--Shared Use Paths and Bicycle Safety 
• BWL Blog, September 21, 2015: Sanibel Cycling Safety PSA  
• BWL Blog, August 4, 2015: Sanibel Bicycle Club Initiates New Digital Safe Biking Messages BWL Blog, June 11, 2015: BWL Column: New video will get you safely biking Sanibel like a pro  
• BWL Blog, January 23, 2015: Video will help market bike safety on the islands (Sanibel/Captiva
•  BWL Blog, July 24, 2014: BWL Column: Bikers focus on Sanibel
•  BWL Blog,April 23, 2013: Sanibel’s Weekly Newspapers Publish “Cycling Safety Notes” To Promote Bike Safety
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