Bikeboard March 2011

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17 participants
38 discussions

Fwd: MD State Highway Administration ~ Your request for information re: "When Main Street is a State Highway"
by Frank Gmeindl 06 Mar '11

06 Mar '11

Roy, Bill, Damien, Maryland has a nice handbook, "When Main Street is a State Highway" that might make our job of realizing complete streets more efficient and effective. Attached is a PDF and I'll have a few paper copies. Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles Begin forwarded message: > From: Philip Troll <PTroll(a)sha.state.md.us> > Date: March 4, 2011 1:58:04 PM EST > To: "'frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net'" <frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net> > Cc: Kirk McClelland <KMcClelland(a)sha.state.md.us>, Dennis German <DGerman(a)sha.state.md.us>, Lisa Choplin <LChoplin(a)sha.state.md.us>, Victor Barreira <VBarreira(a)sha.state.md.us>, Michael Jackson <mjackson3(a)mdot.state.md.us> > Subject: MD State Highway Administration ~ Your request for information re: "When Main Street is a State Highway" > > Good afternoon Mr. Gmeindl, > > Thank you for your kind words about the article in American Cyclist and your interest in the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) publication, “When Main Street is a State Highway – Blending Function, Beauty and Identity – A Handbook for Communities and Designers.” It is a pleasure to share a copy with you and your colleagues on the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board for use and discussions with the Morgantown City Council, City Engineering, Traffic Commission, and WVDOH. > > The approach outlined in this handbook results from numerous case studies and several years of experimentation with community-oriented projects, extensive SHA staff give-and-take, and the contributions of many local communities and citizens' groups. As you requested, please consider three complimentary copies to be on their way to you, at the address listed below. Please confirm that this is the mailing address to use, or if you would like the other two copies sent to other addresses: > > Mr. Frank D. Gmeindl > Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board > LCI #1703 > 491 Wilson Avenue > Morgantown WV 26501 > > To ensure that the valuable information contained in the handbook is as accessible as possible, a PDF version is available on our website for immediate viewing and sharing. I’ve attached a copy of that PDF to this note for your use till the hard copies arrive and here is the link to where it is posted on SHA’s website: > > http://www.marylandroads.com/index.aspx?PageId=244. > > Thank you again for your interest in our publication. If you have any additional questions, comments or requests, please do not hesitate to contact me, or Mr. Dennis German, SHA's Division Chief for the Community Design Division at 1.888.228.5092, 410.545.8900 or, by email, at dgerman(a)sha.state.md.us . > > Ms. Lisa B. Choplin, SHA’s Division Chief for the Innovative Contracting Division, oversees SHA’s companion programs that define, advance and implement bicyclist and pedestrian safety and access initiatives. Ms. Choplin, can be reached at 1.888.228.5092, 410.545.8824 or, by email, at lchoplin(a)sha.state.md.us > > Best of luck and success with your discussions and efforts to enhance safety, > Philip Troll > Community Design Division > Maryland State Highway Administration > ptroll(a)sha.state.md.us > 410.545.8575 > > P Please consider the environment before printing this email > > LEGAL DISCLAIMER - The information contained in this communication (including any attachments) may be confidential and legally privileged. This email may not serve as a contractual agreement unless explicit written agreement for this purpose has been made. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please re-send this communication to the sender indicating that it was received in error and delete the original message and any copy of it from your computer system.

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American Cyclist
by Frank Gmeindl 04 Mar '11

04 Mar '11

Bicycle Board Members, The most recent issue of LAB's bimonthly American Bicyclist magazine is all about bicycle friendly communities. It contains a wealth of information about states, cities, universities and business that have won bicycle friendly awards. Since some of you are not LAB members and so don't get the magazine, I got 10 additional copies from LAB. I wanted to distribute them at last night's meeting but they didn't arrive until today. I strongly encourage you to pick one up and read it. At a minimum, it will show you what can be done to improve the bicycle friendliness of our community. Please go to Wamsley cycles and tell Colin or Chip that you are a Bicycle Board member and they'll give you your copy of the American Bicyclist. Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles

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Getting a peak oil resolution for the city
by director 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Good morning, Saw this article via Treehugger this morning, thought it had good suggestions for raising issues that will give bicycling more of the importance (and potentially funding) that it deserves for the upcoming problems it can solve and prevent. http://transitionculture.org/2011/02/28/ingredients-of-transition- peak-oil-resolutions/ -- Nick Hein LCI# 1705 Director, Positive Spin 803 East Brockway Ave Morgantown, WV ph 304-276-0213 --

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Fear
by Frank Gmeindl 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

This interesting British paper, http://thinkingaboutcycling.wordpress.com/article-fear-of-cycling/ shows how fear may be the major obstacle that we must overcome but ironically, some of the things we're doing can actually create fear. Here are a couple quotations to whet your whistle. " three ways in which cycling is constructed as dangerous, and thus a contemporary fear of cycling is produced; road safety education, helmet promotion campaigns, and the increasing separation of cycling from motorised traffic. The irony, of course, is that these interventions are responses to a fear of cycling, clearly aimed at increasing cycling’s safety. But I will demonstrate how, contrary to intentions, each intervention actually tends to exacerbate fear of cycling, and sometimes literally invokes it in order to promote the ‘solution’. On education: "The transformation of streets for people into roads for cars, perhaps inevitably, produced death and injury. By 1936 concerns about the alarming rise in cyclist casualties had led to the idea of a cycling proficiency scheme, eventually adopted nationally in 1948 (CTC 2005). To stem the carnage, cyclists must be trained to deal with the new, dangerous conditions. But things could have been otherwise. A 1947 book by J. S. Dean, former Chairman of the Pedestrians’ Association, is instructive here. In his ‘study of the road deaths problem’, Murder Most Foul, Dean’s basic tenet is that, ‘as roads are only “dangerous” by virtue of being filled with heavy fast moving motor vehicles, by far the greatest burden of responsibility for avoiding crashes, deaths and injury on the roads should lie with the motorist’ (Peel n.d., 3). Yet road safety education concentrates not on the drivers of vehicles, but on those who they have the capacity to kill. Dean saw how placing responsibility for road danger on those outside of motorised vehicles might lead, by stealth, to placing of culpability on those groups, and Murder Most Foul is a tirade against the placing of responsibility for road accidents on children." Anybody want to discuss this or other related topics over beer at Jay's Thursday after the BB meeting? Frank

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bumper stickers
by Aira Loren Burkhart 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Bumper Sticker slogan proposals: 1. "I share the road with bicycles." 2. "My other car is a bicycle." 3. "Please share the road." 4. Other?? Thanks, aira

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Fwd: Course participation
by Frank Gmeindl 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Begin forwarded message: > From: Jonathan Rosenbaum <freesource(a)cheat.org> > Date: March 3, 2011 12:41:20 AM EST > To: Frank Gmeindl <fgmeindl(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Course participation > > See my response below each of your embedded questions and comments. > > On 2/10/2011 10:21 AM, Frank Gmeindl wrote: >> >> Jonathan, >> >> Your suggestion is innovative, rational and practicable. Please see my questions and comments embedded below. >> >> On Feb 10, 2011, at 4:54 AM, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: >> >>> I have read through this whole thread, and while I observe some good thinking going on, there really isn't anything earth-shattering about the approaches being discussed. Targeting businesses has been discussed in the past, but what I mostly hear being suggested is that we change our jingle. >>> >>> News alert. I don't think that we have failed in our marketing efforts at all. In fact, I think the results we are getting are typical for the particular media approaches we are employing. >>> >>> In general, it is pretty common for media marketing to produce very small percentage returns. While it's a great approach for large companies who are targeting large populations, it is probably not in the BB's best interest. I am sure all of you receive spam mail, and I suspect that 100% of you absolutely hate it or completely ignore it, but alas, probably about 0.00001% of people who do receive it become repeat customers which makes it a very lucrative business for its proprietors. But ironically, it also means none of you probably become the customers. These stats tend to be true with many types of media marketing. >>> >>> Lets do some numbers. Let's say we have a $70k budget and we spent about $25,000 last year, and Morgantown's MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) population is 118,506. Let's say 40 people took our course last year. That means, our costs were $625.00 per each individual, and our market penetration was 0.00034%. Note: I am guesstimating some of these numbers. >>> >>> Just for demonstration, let's say that after everything is said and done, we are paying $525.00 in marketing costs for each person we are bringing into our program What's wrong with this picture? A lot. >>> >>> Here is the solution I suggest. Let's employ a traditional sales approach. Initially, we will find people who are interested in marketing our program. >> >> What approach do you recommend to "find people who are interested in marketing our program" and who would implement your approach? From your writing below, it seems people that have completed TS101 or that have demonstrated that they know the material would qualify as marketers. I ask who would implement your approach because it won't happen unless somebody does it so the first job would seem to be to find somebody(s) that will take this on. > > A person who took the course should in theory be the best marketer if they can share their excitement, and inspiration with other people; we should reward them for making an effort in bringing new folks to the program. However, sales do take skills, and we shouldn't rely only on people who have taken the course to accomplish this task, but rather on people who have expressed an interest in marketing the program. These people could be located via help wanted ads, job agencies, WVU, etc. People who have responded to our marketing opportunity could be required to take the course to understand our product and/or they could be provided with a marketing kit. Ideally, we should find a sales manager who could establish what the best practices would be. The sales manager in turn would find and train sales associates. The sales manager would be commiserated for their work by receiving a percentage for each successful sale completed by a sales associate. It would behoove the Bicycle Board to initially find a person who would serve as a sales manager. A sales manager could be located via help wanted ads, job agencies, WVU, etc. First, I would suggest going to WVU, because a student may want to do this as part of a project or one of WVU's work-learning programs. Contracts will need to be drawn up. In the case of a Sales Manager contract I would recommend that they be required to train an assistant sales manager who would take over the Sales Manager's duties if the Sales Manger can't continue their duties. > >> >>> This is the fun part because we wouldn't have to pay them $525 for each person they successfully get to enroll in our program, we could pay them $50 or $35 or maybe even $25 for their effort. I could see this approach being really successful at WVU. First we would ditch offering free courses to WVU students. If you were a WVU student and you could make $600 by convincing 12 of your friends to enroll and successfully complete the course, wouldn't that motivate you to market our program? Yes! >> >> Do you mean that the City would pay our "marketers" $25 for each person that they got to sign up for the course? > > This payment would be a commission to the marketer for every person they bring into the program who successfully completes the course. The amount that a sales person would make per commission should be determined based on a cost analysis along with the expert advice of a sales manager (see earlier response). > >> >>> >>> Now here's a creative approach building on Aira's concept of raising our price. Let's raise the price to $100, but lets give our marketers coupons with their sales ID written on it. If their friend brings the coupon when they enroll, they will receive a 60% discount or maybe even a 100% discount! Once they complete the course we will offer them a sales ID which they can use to invite all their friends and associates. But, because good marketers aren't necessarily people who have taken our course, we could open up the marketing program to anyone who is a good marketer, i.e., we would interview them first, and if approved, hire them as an independent contractor and provide them with instructions on how we want our program presented to the public. >> >> Are you personally willing to manage this? >> > > No. > >>> >>> I say, let's get a good paid sales force because that's how the Bicycle Boards Education's 7,000,000 pennies from its Grant will be most effectively utilized to successfully build a large program that will produce a nice population of enthusiastic bicyclists. >>> >>> -Jonathan >>> >>> >>> Gunnar Shogren wrote: >>>> >>>> On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 8:46 PM, Ryan Post <rpostwvu(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Ya, we got Old, Young, Woman and Cantankerous. Frank and Gunnar can fight >>>>> over which 2 persona they are. >>>>> >>>>> I'm really liking the idea of getting word out to businesses. I'm thinking >>>>> it'll be a better bang for the buck, and also is probably less time spent by >>>>> BB members than working up a new commercial. As much as I'd love to be in a >>>>> 4th cycling commercial! >>>>> >>>>> I'm expecting that word of mouth will be the most powerful advertising once >>>>> a bunch of people have taken it. >>>>> >>>> >>>> Oh, and how do we get to this "bunch of people"? >>>> >>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: bikeboard-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org] On >>>>> Behalf Of Elizabeth Shogren >>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 8:15 PM >>>>> To: Alice Vernon >>>>> Cc: Jim Rye; chip wamsley; Elizabeth Shogren; Bicycle Board; Frank Gmeindl >>>>> Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Course participation >>>>> >>>>> Thanks, Alice! >>>>> >>>>> I am thinking the commercial could "introduce" our LCI instructors. >>>>> Sometimes people are more apt to sign up for something if they can see >>>>> that it is not taught by some scary hard-core freak. Establish a >>>>> connection and all that... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On second thought, this idea could backfire. HAHA!! Just kidding!!! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Alice Vernon <vernon.mail(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I think Betsy is right about the commercial and people not reading the >>>>>> paper. >>>>>> Alice >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 6:08 PM, Gunnar Shogren <gshogren(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 5:59 PM, Elizabeth Shogren >>>>>>> <elizabeth.schauer(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I say let's make another commercial! Tons of people saw our PSAs, >>>>>>>> while I am not so sure that many people actually read the newspaper >>>>>>>> that often (especially students and other active types). >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> And the commercial that Betsy is talking about is one that promotes >>>>>>> the CLASS and not just safe riding in general. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> Bikeboard mailing list >>>>>>>> Bikeboard(a)cheat.org >>>>>>>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> Bikeboard mailing list >>>>>>> Bikeboard(a)cheat.org >>>>>>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Bikeboard mailing list >>>>> Bikeboard(a)cheat.org >>>>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Bikeboard mailing list >>>>> Bikeboard(a)cheat.org >>>>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Bikeboard mailing list >>>> Bikeboard(a)cheat.org >>>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard >>>> >>> >> >

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poster quotes from mpb -- attached
by Aira Loren Burkhart 02 Mar '11

02 Mar '11

4 color front, one color back = $1950.00 per 2000 copies at 24" by 24" aira

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Agenda for this Thursday's BB meeting
by Frank Gmeindl 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Bicycle Board Members, Please find attached a suggested agenda and read-aheads for our meeting this Thursday. Our agenda is very full so please come prepared. Frank

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Bikeboard March 2011