Separated bike lanes on Guadalupe Street in Austin, TX. Photo courtesy of the Plantizen, City of Austin.
In Bikemore’s short history we’ve managed to deliver tangible wins for people who bike. But the bike has always been a tool to tell a bigger story, to do bigger work. We value principles, standards, and policies that make cities healthy, safe, vibrant places to live. The time has come for us to be bolder in our advocacy and think beyond a single bike lane or a crosswalk. We must seek comprehensive policy reform for how we design our streets.
Today we launch our campaign for an improved Complete Streets Policy for Baltimore. Partnering with lead sponsor Councilman Ryan Dorsey, we are building a coalition of diverse stakeholders who believe all neighborhoods deserve streets that prioritize the safety of people over the movement of cars. Complete Streets save lives by preventing chronic diseases, reducing injury and death from traffic crashes, and improving environmental health — while stimulating economic development and ensuring access for all people.
This legislation builds on an existing resolution established in 2010. The previous bill lacked specificity and contained significant loopholes that resulted in little forward progress since its enactment. Millions of dollars were spent on road improvement projects that did little to improve the safety of people who walk and bike. Our new policy does two key things: It creates a framework to distribute resources for Complete Streets through a lens of racial equity, and creates a policy that requires that design solutions consider all modes of travel — not just driving in a car. This means more bike lanes, better sidewalks, safer intersections, cleaner bus stops and more street trees.
How can you help?
Sign on to support our Complete Streets legislation and read our policy brief. This is the best way to get advocacy alerts related to Complete Streets. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for requests for testimony and prompts to encourage your representatives to support this ordinance.
And lastly, consider a donation to Bikemore. Your financial support will determine the scale of our campaign. Complete Streets are better for everyone, regardless of if you choose to walk, bike, take the bus or drive a car. Let’s make sure we have the resources to build widespread support for this common sense legislation.