One Street News
January 2009
Vol. 2, Issue 1
1. Bed and Bike America Launched
2. Velo-city in Brussels May 12-15 - Time to Plan Your Trip
3. Resources Highlights - Exaggerated Perception of Cycle Helmets
4. Hot Topics - On-street Car Parking: Good or Bad for Bicyclists?
5. Supporter Spotlight - European Cyclists' Federation
Bed and Bike America Launched
Very exciting news - we've launched our Bed and Bike America program and accommodation vendors are already signing up on the website! Below is our press release we're sending out today. If you know bike-friendly vendors or others who might be interested, please pass this on.
Prescott, Arizona - January 29, 2009 - One Street, an international bicycle advocacy organization, has just launched Bed and Bike America, a new program bringing more sustainability into the tourism sector by creating an international network that helps bike tourists find welcoming places to stay. Accommodation vendors that meet the program's requirements can sign up at http://www.bedandbikeamerica.org . The program appeals to all kinds of accommodation vendors, primarily in the US, Canada and Mexico, whether they are hotels, hostels or campsites - fancy or budget.
"We want to make cycling tourism in America more attractive - and therefore launching this website is a first step - but definitely not our last," says Leonhard Sobottka, Project Coordinator for One Street's Bed and Bike America program.
A wide range of bike tourists will use the network - visiting a single place, touring long distance or riding as athletes. Vendors attract them via the Bed and Bike America website by fulfilling basic criteria to be bike-friendly. This means for instance that they can provide lockable rooms for the bikes, laundry facilities and a nutritious breakfast. Most accommodations already do which is why One Street expects many to sign up.
As people become more physically active and accommodation vendors realize that cycle tourists want high quality accommodations, bike tourism is growing all over the world. In Europe, Bed and Bike programs have been succeeding for more than a decade and in some places bicyclists are sought after as guests. Sustainable tourism, including cycle tourism, is conserving our planet's resources. By recognizing the economic potential of cyclists, the vendors as well as the tourist regions and communities are boosting the spirit of sustainability and attracting customers who value sustainability.
Some vendors have already developed their own unique Bed and Bike America programs. For instance, the two Marriott Hotels in Prescott, Arizona will receive their cycle guests with special cyclist welcome baskets. One Street encourages each of its Bed and Bike America vendors to create their own enhancements, even above the requirements.
One Street serves organization leaders around the world because in order to increase bicycling worldwide, all organizations working to increase bicycling must operate at the highest level. Our programs include on-call support, web resources and workshops for these leaders as well as proactive, replicable programs such as Bed and Bike America. Find out more at: http://www.onestreet.org
For more information, please contact Leonhard Sobottka, Project Coordinator · leo{at}onestreet.org· 
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Velo-city in Brussels May 12-15 - Time to Plan Your Trip
Velo-city, the premier conference for cycling initiatives in Europe and around the world, is conducted by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), one of One Street's supporting organizations (see Spotlight below). This year ECF has chosen Brussels for their conference. Not only is Brussels the capital of the European Union which will draw high-level officials and influential policy discussions, but the city itself has become one of the most inspiring examples for increasing bicycling. Local officials are eager to demonstrate to conference attendees how they have reached these accomplishments.
In the words of Manfred Neun, ECF's president, "Bringing the 15th edition (of Velo-city) to Brussels will be a recognition of what this city has done to promote cycling over the past few years, and will certainly give it a major boost to continue on this way. The conference at the heart of European politics is also the perfect opportunity to put cycling on the agenda of the European Union. European policies relevant to cycling will therefore be key issues at this conference."
Start planning your trip now so you can participate in this gathering that will make lasting changes for Brussels and throughout Europe, and will inspire cities and regions around the world. Registration is now open on the Velo-city site: http://www.velo-city2009.com/homepage-en.html
Resources Highlights - Exaggerated Perception of Cycle Helmets
In this recent paper, author Richard Burton takes a hard look at the question: Do cyclists have an exaggerated perception of the effectiveness of cycle helmets and the risks of cycling? His conclusions underscore many of our concerns regarding the negative impact that overblown helmet promotions are having on efforts to increase bicycling around the world. Set aside some quality time to consider Mr. Burton's discoveries: http://www.onestreet.org/documents/Helmetperceptionpaper08England_001.pdf
Hot Topics - On-street Car Parking: Good or Bad for Bicyclists?
In the U.S., bicycle and pedestrian advocates have been singing the praises of on-street car parking for years and, until recently, we were singing right along. Just a few of the benefits include:
- A buffer between pedestrians and traffic
- Perceived friction similar to street trees and bulbouts that causes drivers to slow down
- Lowers the need for off-street spaces allowing for more beautification
- Merchants are comforted knowing people can park right out front
But even in the U.S., the escalating issues involved in our current, destructive policies for all types of car parking (see http://www.onestreet.org/car-parking-regs.html) has brought on-street car parking into the fray. For instance, many cities have found that unless proper charges are imposed on on-street car parking spaces, employees of nearby businesses will park there for the day, eliminating the benefit to merchants. The perceived convenience of on-street parking is another factor in "induced driving," the increase of car trips attributed to making driving more convenient than all other modes of travel. Also, without careful design of the street, cars pulling in and out of spaces as well as opening their doors can cause serious dangers to bicyclists - one of the most common issues we encounter when coaching leaders for street design campaigns.
In recent discussions with our European partners, we have found a much more extreme view regarding on-street parking in some progressive European cities - they're removing it! In a report by the European Commission, http://www.onestreet.org/documents/ReclaimingCityStreetsforPeople.pdf , case studies of eight cities that took drastic steps including removing car parking, revealed surprising results. They dubbed one unexpected phenomenon "traffic evaporation" when they discovered that traffic congestion was actually reduced rather than the predicted increase after they replaced traffic lanes and car parking spaces with space for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit.
These discussions and results have caused us to rethink blanket support of on-street car parking and look instead to opportunities to dramatically reclaim space in our cities for bicycling, walking and transit. If you have thoughts about this please email them to Sue Knaup at sue{at}onestreet.org . We are eager to broaden our minds even further on this fascinating topic.
Supporter Spotlight - European Cyclists' Federation
Because the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) is so effective at connecting European bicycle advocacy organizations and staying abreast of European bicycle campaigns, they are a very important partner for One Street. We participate in ECF's Helmet Working Group to assist with their campaign to counter misleading propaganda about bicycle helmets that is hindering the increase of bicycling. And each year, One Street's executive director, Sue Knaup, attends ECF's Annual General Meeting. These personal connections help One Street to inform leaders of organizations in other parts of the world about the latest bicycle initiatives in Europe. This is why ECF's financial support of One Street is all the more special to us. We look forward to assisting ECF with their bicycle campaigns for 2009 and to catching up with our ECF friends at their AGM and Velo-city in Brussels this spring. To learn more about ECF, please visit: www.ecf.com
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