If you haven't yet joined or made your year-end tax-deductible donation to Bike Walk CT, now's the time!

We know transportation is going to be a big focus of Connecticut lawmakers in 2015, and the buzz is already starting. Governor Malloy is widely quoted today as saying "Ultimately, the people of Connecticut, acting through their legislature, need to decide whether they want to continue talking about transportation and the problems associated with it . . . or whether we actually want to do something about it."

Bike Walk Connecticut "actually wants to do something about it."  Do you?

Making Connecticut a better place to bike and walk is good for the economy, good the environment, good for our health, and a great way to get younger people to move here and stay here.  With your financial support, we can really make a difference.  

Help shape Connecticut's future.  Join, Sponsor or Donate to help make Connecticut a better place to bike and walk.  

Click here to become a Business Sponsor, or click here to Join as an Individual, Businesses, Clubs, Municipalities & Other Organizations.

And please, spread the word!  Encourage your friends and colleagues who want Connecticut to be a better place to bike and walk to join.  

Bike Walk CT is pleased to announce that the planning firm of Fitzgerald & Halliday is a Bronze level business/organizational member again for 2015. 

FHI takes pride in building better communities through its planning work, and in helping community organizations like Bike Walk Connecticut carry out their mission of serving the public good.

Additionally, FHI Vice President Ken Livingston has volunteered as Bike Walk CT's longtime treasurer.  Ken has reached his term limits and is going off the board in 2015.  His service and commitment to Bike Walk Connecticut will be deeply missed!

We are pleased to share the good news that the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen have donated $550 to Bike Walk Connecticut and become a Silver level Business/Organizational member.  "Giving Back" is part of the club's philosophy.

The Narragansett Bay Wheelmen were Bronze level backers of Bike Walk Connecticut for 2014. Bike Walk Connecticut sends its hearty thanks to NBW for its generous support!

Since you're reading this, we know you care about biking and walking in Connecticut. But are you a member yet?

Our goal is to get 500 members by the time the 2015 legislative session starts on January 7. Let's do this.  Our current member count is 298 on Dec. 15.

Please become a member of Bike Walk CT if you aren't already.  A bigger, stronger, engaged membership community will hasten the pace of progress toward making Connecticut a better place to bike and walk.   

So please join, donate, or do both at the most generous level your circumstances permit.  Not a joiner?  Please consider a monthly or one-time donation that fits your budget. It makes a difference. Thank you.

CTfastrak open houses are happening throughout central Connecticut! Click here to find one near you. Printable Open House flyer here.
This week:  

• December 15, 2014:  NEWINGTON
  6-8pm, Newington High School, 605 Willard Avenue.  map
• December 17, 2014:  WATERBURY
  6-8pm, Waterbury City Hall, 235 Grand Street.  map
  

Come learn more about Connecticut's new bus rapid transit system.  Find out about:
Planning your trip  *   Buying tickets  *   Exploring new routes  *   Connecting to other bus routes.  A new CTfastrak bus, ticket vending machine and online trip planner will be available at each open house for hands-on demonstrations.

No RSVP needed. These events are free and open to the public. Questions or comments? Contact info@ctfastrak.com. 

'Tis the season for giving!  Do you want Connecticut to be a better place to bike and walk? Then JOIN and GIVE generously to Bike Walk Connecticut.   

We're aiming for at least 500 members by the time the legislature opens on January 7--let's go in strong!

There's Black Friday. There's Cyber Monday.  And now, Giving Tuesday is catching on too.  (It's tomorrow, Dec. 2.)

Everybody's participating.  The National Philanthropic Trust reports that 95.4 percent of American households give to charity.

Please Give to Bike Walk Connecticut to keep making Connecticut a better place to bike and walk. Donate, Join or do both.  You'll be glad you did.    #GivingTuesday #BikeWalkCT

Congratulations to our friends in NEW BRITAIN, NEW HAVEN, and SIMSBURY! 

Connecticut now has two more Bike Friendly Communities! New Britain and New Haven are newly ordained BFCs at the Bronze level, while Simsbury earned an upgrade from Bronze to Silver. Connecticut's other BFCs include South Windsor, Farmington and West Hartford.

From the League of American Bicyclists' Announcement:

69 Million Americans Now Live in a BFC Today the League of American Bicyclists announced 55 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC). With this new round, 69 million people live in a Bicycle Friendly Community as the program extends to all 50 states.

These new awardees join a leading group of more than 325 communities in all 50 states that are improving health, safety and quality of life in cities and towns nationwide.

● Click here to view the list of all Bicycle Friendly Communities
● Click here to view the list of Honorable Mentions

“Visionary community leaders are recognizing the real-time and long term impact that a culture of bicycling can create,” said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. “We applaud this new round of communities for investing in a more sustainable future for the country and a healthier future for their residents and beyond.”

The BFC program provides a roadmap to building a Bicycle Friendly Community and 
the application itself has become a rigorous and an educational tool in itself. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award – diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze – provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.

To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit www.bikeleague.org/community.

Here's a preview of some of our very special items you'll be able to bid on at our Annual Dinner and Silent Auction on November 24.

South Africa Photo Safari for Two
Back by popular demand!  Experience the magic of South Africa on a photo safari for two in the Zulu Nyala Game Reserve. This package includes 6 days/nights in luxury accommodations, 3 meals per day, and 2 open land cruiser game drives with experienced guides per day.  This package does not include airfare, beverages, side trips, phone calls or gratuities. You have 2 years from the purchase date to use this trip. To learn more about this great adventure, click on the video at left or visit www.zulunyalagroup.com.  Proceeds of the auction of this safari package will be shared equally between Bike Walk Connecticut and Zulu Nyala.    
Certificate    FAQs     Zulu Nyala website

Explore Rhode Island!
Enjoy great biking and beaches during a Monday-Friday stay in Ross and Chris Skelly’s beautiful 3 bedrooms, 3 bath home located in Wakefield, RI.  Walk or ride to Green Hill beach or take a short drive to other beaches, including South Kingstown (donation includes use of parking pass), Charlestown Breach way, Scarborough, Narragansett and others.   Kayak or canoe in nearby salt water pond.  Explore nearby Newport, Narragansett and Block Island by bike, car or on foot.  After a busy day, relax on the screened in deck as you enjoy your dinner and drinks.

Choose any Monday-Friday in June or September, 2015 excluding Labor Day by arrangement with owners, Ross and Chris Skelly 860-561-4530.    Please reserve your week by December 31, 2014.  No pets please.  Click here for more photos of this home at 48 Maple Drive, Wakefield, RI.

Martha's Vineyard Weekend
Beat the summer crowds and spend a wonderful 3 day, 2 night weekend (Fri, May 15- Sun, May 17, 2015) at John & Eileen Leo's beautiful Martha's Vineyard home located in the Katama area of Edgartown, close to South Beach.  Whether your preference is to explore historic Oak Bluffs, the beautiful homes of Edgartown, the scenic fishing village of Menemsha and the cliffs of Gay Head on your bicycle (there are over 100 miles of beautiful roads for cycling) or to walk on the beautiful beaches, there is plenty to do for everyone.  

This 3 BR, 2 bath home sleeps 6 and has everything to make your weekend a memorable one.  For further information and pictures please visitwww.homeaway.com. Use reference # 112078.  The winning bidder should contact John Leo at j.leo@comcast.net or (860) 550-1448 to make arrangements.

Bike, Hike, Ski or Paddle Weekend on Bantam Lake!
Enjoy Bantam Lake, and the beautiful Litchfield area from this direct waterfront home located on Bantam Lake's Deer Island.  Deer Island offers low traffic private roads and passways for family friendly walking and biking, and the lake area and Bantam River are exceptional retreats for canoeing, kayaking, and biking through the Litchfield hills.

The auction winners enjoy a three night, four day, long weekend, and the dates are flexible from November, 2014 through May 17, 2015.  During the winter, the lake is quiet and secluded, and cross country skiers make their way across the lake to the 35 miles of trails at the White Memorial Conservation Center.  During the spring, the bicycles come out, and there are infinite loops from a ten-mile ride around the lake, to centuries meandering throughout beautiful northwest Connecticut.   

The house has four bedrooms, each with queen sized bed, and there are 2.5 baths with a washer/dryer.  Please no pets or smoking.  

The house sits 20 feet from the water, and there is nothing better than a relaxed morning coffee on the deck, as the rising sun colors the lake.  Get your family or group together, and enjoy an active or relaxed weekend on the lake, and bid high to support Bike Walk CT!  

Two Round Trip Coach Tickets for Domestic Travel
Need a getaway? This auction item is for two round trip coach tickets for any domestic travel destination. Start packing! Donated by Aetna. 

Here's a Sneak Peak at Some Other Auction Items!

1. "Romantic Interlude Package" donated by the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, CT.  Package includes a 1 night stay, cocktails, dining discount and breakfast.
   
2. CT Forum-2 tickets to Explorers & Adventurers (March 13, 2015) at The Bushnell.
   
3. CT Forum-2 tickets to a Conversation with David McCullough & Stacy Schiff at The Bushnell.
   
4. Four tickets to Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford for the 2014-2015 season shows.  Visithttp://www.playhouseonpark.org/ for a complete listing of shows.
   
5. 2 UConn men's basketball tickets vs. University of South Florida on Jan 25, 2015 at the XL Center in Hartford.
   
6. 2 people will enjoy a 2015 Tanglewood event of their choice accompanied by a picnic dinner and a bottle of wine.
   
7. Be seen as you ride in style wearing your woman's and unisex SUGOi jackets donated by REI.
   
8. Stay warm and comfortable in your men's or women's Snap T pullovers or Quarter zip jackets donated byPatagonia.
   
9. Enjoy a custom bike ride and photos planned in consultation with noted cyclist and route planner Pete Salomone.
   
10. Been meaning to visit The Mark Twain House & Museum-now you can with 2 one year individual memberships.
    
11. Browse the Berlin Bike shop as you figure out what to buy with your $100 gift certificate. 
    
12. Take the whole family, as often as you want, with your one year family membership to enjoy the wonders found at the New Britain Museum of Art.
    
13. Limber up with a one-month membership to West Hartford Yoga.
14. Two UConn Women's Basketball tickets at XL Center vs. Houston on Feb 17, 2015.
15. Foursome with carts at Stanley Golf Course for 2015 season.
16. Family portrait session with 12x12 portrait by Matthew Wagner.
17. Bicycle tour of West Hartford by Town Historian Tracey Wilson.
18. 2 one month CT Transit passes.
19. 4 day passes to KidCity Museum.
    
20. 10 passes to Real Art Ways.

... And there'll be more waiting for you when you get there!

Bike Walk Connecticut's big Annual Dinner and Silent Auction is coming up on Nov. 24 at Central Connecticut State University.

Bike, walk, bus or carpool!  The 2014 Bike Walk CT Annual Dinner and Silent Auction will be held at:

Central Connecticut State University
Student Center/Alumni Hall
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, CT 06050

• Driving Directions 
• CCSU Online Campus Map  or Download pdf
• Bike racks are located outside the Student Center.
• Free parking is available in the Student Center parking lot.  

The Farmington Valley Trails Council will hold its Annual Meeting on Friday, November 14th, at 7:00 pm. It will be held at the Avon Senior Center at 635 West Avon Road, (the Sycamore Recreation Area) Avon, CT 06001. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. The program will consist of FVTC President Bruce Donald giving the year-end business report and updates on trail construction and other initiatives and news. Mr. Donald and the Officers and Directors will take any questions from the public.

Following the business portion of the program we are very excited to present a talk by Nicole Freedman, the "Bike Czar of Boston" and a former professional cyclist and member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team.

A Massachusetts native, Freedman attended Stanford and MIT before cycling for the Shaklee, Charles Schwab, Credit Suisse, RONA and Basis professional racing teams. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she competed in the women's road race. That same year she won the U.S. National Road Race. In 2007 she became the head of the "Boston Bikes" initiative for the City of Boston under then Mayor Thomas Menino. After a brief hiatus in Maine, she returned to her position as Director of Bicycle Programs for the City of Boston in early 2013.

Boston Bikes was launched in 2007 with the goal of transforming Boston into a world-class bicycling city. At that time, Boston had been rated three times as the worst cycling city in the country by Bicycling Magazine. Today, Boston has officially gained recognition as one of the great cities for cycling in the United States, heralding in a new era for bikes in Boston. Nicole's leadership has increased ridership and safety and initiated a myriad of projects that will fascinate interested listeners. 

Farmington Valley Trails Council 
www.fvgreenway.org 

Register To Attend Creative Cities Conversation 

There's an iQuilt Partnership Creative Cities Conversation with Leslie Koch, President and CEO of the Trust for Governor's Island, on Wednesday, November 12, at TheaterWorks at 6 pm, with a reception at 5:30 pm. 

Please register to attend.  The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Free parking is located behind TheaterWorks.  The lot can be accessed from Ann Uccello to Hicks Street.

Doug Suisman, architect of the iQuilt Plan, will lead the discussion.  Learn more about Leslie in this New York Times article. 

To register for this iQuilt Forum click here.

When Governing magazine starts running feature stories on active transportation, you know we're making some headway on raising the profile of walking and biking. 

Governing ran this story on November 4 about the recent Governors Highway Safety Association report, which called attention to an increase in cyclist deaths.  


While bicyclists killed in motor vehicle crashes increased in 22 states between 2010 and 2012, six states – California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Michigan and Texas – represented 54 percent of all fatalities.  In 2012, Florida had the highest proportion of motor vehicle related deaths that were bicyclists (5 percent), followed by California (4.3 percent) and Massachusetts (4.3 percent).


Governing says the GHSA analysis caused an uproar among bike advocates. Read Governing's coverage here.

Bike Walk Connecticut issued a measured response when asked for a CT by the Numbers story:

"The nationwide increase in cyclist fatalities on the road is tragic, but unsurprising, given the growth of the driving population and the number of cars on the road. Add to that the very real problems of distracted driving, aggressive driving, and street designs that put cyclists and pedestrians at risk. This us why we need complete streets, much better enforcement of speeding, distracted driving, and share the road laws, and the vulnerable user law that Connecticut just enacted." 

CT By the Numbers story
Governing magazine story
GHSA’s Spotlight on Highway Safety: Bicyclist Safety report

If we want to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, encourage people to get more exercise, help people save money, and foster lively communities, then promoting biking and walking is smart policy. To see what some Connecticut residents are saying about why biking and walking is important to them, please click here.

We hope you'll work with us to get better, safer places for biking and walking all across Connecticut.  

Best wishes to you on the final stretch of the campaign trail!

Kelly Kennedy, Executive Director
Bike Walk Connecticut
www.bikewalkct.org


... By the way, if you're not familiar with our work, here are some of our accomplishments so far this year:

• In May we launched a new  "Complete Streets" initiative and on July 1 released a first-of-its-kind survey and Scorecard ranking of the state's cities and towns on how bike- and walk-friendly they are, and how well they are implementingConnecticut's 2009 complete streets law.

• We held a filled-to-capacity Complete Streets Leadership Forum on June 30, bringing together planners, engineers, elected officials and citizen activists from all over the state to start sharing ideas on what has worked, and what hasn't, in implementing complete streets in their towns. 
   
• With more cars on the road, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities have been on the rise.  We worked with state legislators to finally get the Vulnerable User Bill, Public Act 14-31, passed in Connecticut--after four years of trying. This new law imposes a fine of up to $1000 on reckless drivers who kill or injure a pedestrian or cyclist.  At a minimum, this new law is already getting people to think and talk more about sharing the road, and that's a step forward.
   
• We organized and actively promoted Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 16th. Despite the rain we had 600 people pledge to Bike to Work that day, and more employers were represented this year compared to last year. 
   
• We also continue to offer educational classes for bicycle safety, and we are very pleased to be gearing up for a Share the Road campaign in partnership with another organization. 

Remember these guys?  Read and be proud of Trinity College students' op-ed in today's Hartford Courant.

Hartford Must Join Bike-Friendly Cities
Making Hartford's streets friendlier for bicycle riders would improve capital's image, especially among young

October 29, 2014 - As Trinity College students from different parts of the country, we care about the environment and its condition. We haven't been around long enough to cause climate change, but we inherited the responsibility to create a solution. That sentiment led us to take a seminar on "Cycling, Sustainability and the City of Hartford."

In addition to our classroom work, we've been getting to know Hartford by going on group bike rides on weekends. Unlike the metro areas we're from — Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York — we were surprised to find a cultural stigma associated with cycling in Hartford that keeps it from becoming bike-friendly, which would help to alleviate traffic, climate and demographic problems.  Read the full article.