Thanks to good weather, and even more to the growing ranks of bike-friendly residents, we had an awesome turnout for Bike to Work Day 2013! Thanks to every single one of you who participated, and thanks to Mayor Segarra, Commissioners Esty, Smith and Redeker, and Senator Beth Bye for leading by example. And thanks to Fox CT and Colin McEnroe for helping us get the good word out! Special thanks to Sandy Fry and the whole Bike to Work Committee for all your planning and generous dedication. After adjusting for a few duplicate entries, we had 687 people pledge to bike to work on May 17, and our estimates are that twice as many people probably participated. Bike to Work Day celebrations were held at 25 locations across the state -- up from 14 last year. Some 150 - 200 people attended the Hartford Old State House event alone! CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS! Total Pledges: 687 Individuals at 176 different employers
Total Miles Ridden One Way, by all pledgers: 4,949. That's a whole lot of savings on emissions and gas! Longest Commute Award: Chris Adams, 65 miles one way from Old Saybrook to Hartford! Top 20 Organizations - Ranked By Participation 1. Dept. of Children & Families: 215 participants, 800 miles 2. Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection: 37 participants, 367 miles 3. Pratt & Whitney: 27 participants, 261 miles 4. Dept. of Transportation: 26 participants, 229 miles 5. Dept. of Public Health: 20 participants, 181 miles 6. Travelers: 19 participants, 223 miles 7 (tie). Hartford Steam Boiler: 14 participants, 116 miles 7 (tie). Cycling Sports Group/Cannondale Bicycles: 14 participants, 125 miles 8. Aetna: 13 participants, 128 miles 9. Trinity College: 11 participants, 41 miles 10. United Technologies Aerospace Systems: 10 participants, 136 miles 11. Dept. of Developmental Services: 8 participants, 82 miles 12. Yale University: 8 participants, 30 miles 13 (tie). Prudential: 6 participants, 60 miles 13 (tie). UConn Health Center: 6 participants, 31 miles 13 (tie). Cigna: 6 participants, 37 miles 13 (tie). UnitedHealth Group: 6 participants, 44 miles 13 (tie). Dept. of Motor Vehicles: 6 participants, 26 miles 14. ESPN: 5 participants, 87 miles  Connecticut leads the nation (again) in the number of Trails Day events happening on Saturday, June 1st and Sunday, June 2nd. That's right - Trails Day is such a big deal in Connecticut that we now need to make a whole weekend out of it. Thanks to our friends at the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) for leading this effort. Through the involvement of land trusts, watershed associations, conservation commissions, CFPA volunteers, and many others, there are 259 events that will be held in 152 towns over that weekend. There are walking, biking, paddling, equestrian, trail-work, and other events scheduled to celebrate and preserve the many truly amazing outdoor recreational opportunities we have in Connecticut. The big question is, what will you be doing? For more information:
The Alliance for Biking and Walking is bringing its Winning Campaigns Training to White Plains, NY from August 2-4. Led by longtime advocates and national experts, the training teaches participants how to:
DOT Attorney Judith Almeida raised spirits with her common-sense May 20, 2013 decision to keep Flower Street, Hartford open to cyclist and pedestrian traffic. The street is at issue because of CTfastrak construction and train traffic. Bike Walk Connecticut is gratified by Attorney Almeida's thoughtful decision. Bike Walk Connecticut's VP, Chris Brown, a Frog Hollow resident, was an ardent supporter of maintaining bike and pedestrian access at Flower Street. Read the DOT decision here, and the Hartford Courant story by Don Stacom here. Bike Walk Connecticut recognizes Hartford's Flower Street as a crucial north/south route for safe bike and pedestrian travel between Capitol and Farmington Avenues. As such, we support the DOT Hearing officer's October 2012 decision that Flower Street should remain open during and after construction of CT Fastrak. Subsequent proposals to reverse this decision and re-route bicyclists and pedestrians eastward to Broad Street put these vulnerable users at too high a risk of injury for these to be considered responsible alternatives. Bike Walk Connecticut's support of the goals of CT Fastrak continues. But rather than build transportation infrastructure that will again separate and divide the city, we believe that a solution that allows Flower Street to remain open is imperative. Let's summon up our collective yankee ingenuity to craft a thoughtful, visionary solution that supports the people who live, work, and do business in the neighborhoods around Flower Street. After all, this is about making Hartford a more bikeable, walkable, liveable city. Thanks to good weather, and even more to the growing ranks of bike-friendly residents, we had an awesome turnout for Bike to Work Day 2013! Thanks to every single one of you who participated, and thanks to Mayor Segarra, Commissioners Esty, Smith and Redeker, and Senator Beth Bye for leading by example. And thanks to Fox CT and Colin McEnroe for helping us get the good word out! Special thanks to Sandy Fry and the whole Bike to Work Committee for all your planning and generous work. We had 690 people pledge to bike to work today, and our estimates are that twice as many people actually participated. Bike to Work Day celebrations were held at 25 locations across the state -- up from 14 last year. Some 150 - 200 people attended the Hartford Old State House event alone! Make Sure You're Counted Too! If you biked to work today but didn't pledge ahead of time, please let us know here so we can include you in the count! Here are the stats we have so far: Total Pledges: 690 CT.Gov participation: 354 (51%) Private Sector participation: 336 (49%) Leader Board! DCF: 217, yes, really! across many locations DEEP: 38 DOT: 26 --- Pratt & Whitney: 27 Travelers: 17 Cannondale/CSG: 14 --- Trinity College: 11 Yale Univ: 8 UConn: 6 Share your photos! Post photos from your Bike to Work event and journey to our Facebook wall, on Twitter with #biketoworkct, or send us the embed code from your online album. Bike to Work Day participation continues to build across Connecticut with two days to go. Friday's weather is looking quite nice, so if that's what has kept you from pledging, you're in the clear! Here's how Bike to Work Day participation looks as of Wed. morning, May 15. The private sector got more on board yesterday, but CT.gov still maintains a very narrow lead... Government employee pledges: 50.4% (215) Private sector employee pledges 49.6% (212) CT.gov Leader Board The CT Department of Children and Familiesremains WAY out in front, with 127 pledges. Looks like they're in it to win the Commissioners Cup! DCF - 127 DEEP - 24 DOT - 22 DPH - 10 DDS - 8 DECD - 3 Educ - 3 DAS - 3 AG - 1 Judicial - 1 House, Senate, Legis Mgmt - 1 Private Sector Leader Board Pratt & Whitney - 18 Travelers - 14 Cannondale - 13 Aetna - 10 UT Aerospace - 6 Hartford Steam Boiler - 6 Yale Univ - 4 Prudential - 4 United Health Group - 3 Trinity College - 2 The Hartford - 2 GE - 2 Cigna - 2 Pitney Bowes - 1 Phoenix - 1 We know lots more of you are planning to ride on Bike to Work Day -- please enter your pledge so we can count you! If you already pledged to Bike to Work, thank you! Keep spreading the word, and forward this message to your friends and coworkers who might need a little nudge! We'd love to get at least 1000 people to pledge then ride on May 17. Last year we had nearly 700 riders, so 1000 is definitely do-able.
We know lots more of you are planning to ride on Bike to Work Day -- please enter your pledge so we can count you! If you already pledged to Bike to Work, thanks! Keep spreading the word, and forward this message to your friends and coworkers who might need a little nudge! We'd love to get at least 1000 people to pledge then ride on May 17. Last year we had nearly 700 riders, so 1000 is definitely do-able. Check out this great video from our friends on the Left Coast! Bike to work from Imagery with Impact on Vimeo. | Bike Walk Connecticut
NEWS Get News posts by email:
Send newsSend us your bike walk related news and we'll do our best to post it.
TopicsAll ArchivesMay 2013 |
RSS Feed