Lindsay,

Following are answers to your questions.  

-Why did Morgantown decide to apply for BFC status?

We first applied in 2007 to establish a structure for making Morgantown more bicycle-friendly.  We applied again in 2012 to gauge our progress.

-What is Morgantown's eventual goal?

Morgantown's vision is that all residents ride their bicycles safely and fearlessly anytime, anywhere for any reason.  Our goal is by 2020 to have bicycles be 5% of all vehicles on Morgantown streets.  Our mission is to get the everyday commuter, student or employee, to look beyond Morgantown’s hilly terrain and see the potential cycling holds for him or her individually and our community. Our city has seen unprecedented growth in the past few decades and a result of that is traffic congestion in popular university and commercial areas. Cycling offers congestion relief as well as personal benefits to body, mind, and pocketbook!

-How has cycle culture developed in Morgantown? How have community members responded?

More people have started using bicycles for commuting.  The bike culture among existing cyclists seems to have grown as well.  At any time of day, at least on nice days, you're likely to see people cycling wherever you look around town.

-Have any challenges arisen in becoming more bike friendly? how can communities overcome such challenges?  How can communities overcome such challenges?

Morgantown's biggest challenges are the narrow, twisty, hilly streets that have little room for cars let alone bicycles and the lack of money in the city budget to implement infrastructure improvements.  Morgantown is not different from other locales in which politics, lack of resources, and general resistance to change play a role. We’ve worked hard to garner small wins in Morgantown—bike rack loops in our downtown area, a successful cycling education course funded with a grant and city funds, and now our designation as a BFC. There’s no switch you flip to become bike-friendly. We want our citizens to see the sum of all of these activities, and eventually draw their own conclusion that seeing cyclists on the road is the norm.  Overcoming challenges requires continuous cooperative effort among all stakeholders in the success of becoming a bicycle-friendly community.

-Why do you believe cycling is important in your community? 

It will ease the traffic burden that increases when the student population is in town as well as the obvious health and economic benefits.  For individuals, cycling improves health and fitness, saves money, makes better use of time and reduces stress.  Community-wide it increases social interaction, makes a quieter and cleaner city and reduces the cost of maintaining roads and traffic services.  Other cities in WV could really benefit from Morgantown's example.  

-Why should other communities work to become more bike-friendly?  

They would achieve similar benefits as mentioned above and make for a more bicycle-friendly nation.

-What is next on the horizon for bike-friendly Morgantown? for cycling advocacy?

To obtain funding to implement our comprehensive bicycle plan.

(Any personal or community anecdotes you might have would be perfect; we'd love for the entire BFA community to get excited about Morgantown's progress and find inspiration for their own communities!)

One local cyclist started commuting and used a tag-a-long to take his daughters to day care.  One afternoon he overheard the other kids talking about how cool it was that her Dad brought to school on a bike!

I hope these answers are useful!  Thanks again for recognizing Morgantown!

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


On May 11, 2012, at 11:52 AM, Lindsay Plante wrote:

Not to worry, that's definitely something we understand.

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 11:50 AM, Frank Gmeindl <frank.gmeindl@comcast.net> wrote:
Lindsay,

Thanks for the prompt feedback.  We'll do our best but we're  all pretty occupied right now preparing for Bike Week.  I'll definitely contact you again Monday.

Frank

On May 11, 2012, at 11:46 AM, Lindsay Plante wrote:

We'd love to begin posting in the first few days of next week, so at your earliest convenience, but responses that come after that will still be featured. In the end we're definitely more concerned with collecting good stories than posting what we have first thing on Monday. Thank you!

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 11:40 AM, Frank Gmeindl <frank.gmeindl@comcast.net> wrote:
Lindsay,

Thanks for contacting me.  We would be delighted to answer your questions.  How much time do we have?


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

On May 11, 2012, at 10:23 AM, Lindsay Plante wrote:

Hi Frank,

I'm contacting you from the League of American Bicyclists. We're so excited about Morgantown's progress in becoming a more bike friendly community! As we get ready to release the Bike Friendly Community awards next week, we're looking to have a few blog posts featuring different BFCs. We would love to highlight Morgantown becoming the first BFC in West Virginia. Any insight you could give on the following questions would be great!

-Why did Morgantown decide to apply for BFC status?
-What is Morgantown's eventual goal?
-How has cycle culture developed in Morgantown? How have community members responded?
-Have any challenges arisen in becoming more bike friendly? how can communities overcome such challenges?
-Why do you believe cycling is important in your community? Why should other communities work to become more bike-friendly?
-What is next on the horizon for bike-friendly Morgantown? for cycling advocacy?

(Any personal or community anecdotes you might have would be perfect; we'd love for the entire BFA community to get excited about Morgantown's progress and find inspiration for their own communities!)

Thank you so much for your help and let me know if you have any questions about the feature!

Best,

Lindsay Plante

---
Communications Intern
Bike Friendly America
League of American Bicyclists