Helping the Homeless with Bicycling

Stephen Miller (RTC) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:19:00 GMT

By Ruby Brunk

As our nation warms to the environmental, health, safety and economic benefits of bicycling, more and more people are choosing to hop on a bike to get where they're going. But for those who don’t have cars and struggle to afford public transportation, biking is not a choice but a necessity.

A number of organizations exist with the purpose of assisting those who need it most with this mode of transportation.

Many groups that assist the homeless refer to those who need their services as "clients." The Community Bicycle Project in Goshen, Ind., bridges the gap between volunteer and client, requiring that clients work for an hour or more in the shop to get a bicycle. Many clients end up as long-term volunteers. Good Karma Bikes in San Jose, Calif., goes a step further with their Certified Bicycle Mechanic job skills training, a program for clients-turned-volunteers. Good Karma founder Jim Gardner counts the personal empowerment he sees in his clients when they learn how to fix something as his greatest reward.

In Portland, Ore., The Community Cycling Center’s Create a Commuter program uses the help of volunteers to provide fully outfitted commuter bikes and bike safety workshops to low-income adults. Wrench Raiders, also in Portland, brings its services directly to the homeless, setting up shop under bridges, and in the downtown area.

The Community Cycling Center maintains that "bicycles are a tool for empowerment and a vehicle for change." Indeed, these organizations are doing more than just providing bikes; they’re building community and empowering the individuals they serve.

Photo: Wrench Raiders at work, courtesy BikePortland.org

Town Connects to Regional Trail Network with Rebuilt "Green Street"

Stephen Miller (RTC) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:41:00 GMT

Edmonston, Md., is a town of a little more than 1,000 people in Prince George's County, just outside Washington, D.C. Its location along the Anacostia Tributary Trail System provides access by bicycle to major destinations, including Silver Spring and the Unviersity of Maryland at College Park. In the future, two planned off-road connections in D.C. will extend the trail network south along the Anacostia River and provide an off-road route to downtown Washington via the Metropolitan Branch Trail.

Despite the town's prime location at the nexus of a growing regional trail network, its streets have been anything but friendly for active transportation. Like many towns, Edmonston is home to wide asphalt roadways prone to speeding and excessive rainwater runoff. Because it is a low point near the confluence of two tributaries running through paved-over suburban areas, the town has suffered from severe flooding. When it came time to rebuild Decatur Street, the town's main road providing access to the trail network, a consensus emerged that it was time for a change, and the concept of a Green Street was born in Edmonston.

Designed to reduce stormwater runoff and improve access for non-motorized transportation, the new Decatur Street includes bike lanes, narrowed vehicular lanes, textured crosswalks, native trees, porous pavement and LED lights. These and other road improvements will not only naturally treat 90 percent of the pollution washed into the river and reduce the total amount of runoff, but they will also provide a safer connection to the trail network along the river banks. Funded by $1.3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the project is being completed in what the town calls an "open source" manner. As a result, planning and engineering documents are available online for advocates, officials and other professionals to use.

At the project's November 2009 groundbreaking, attended by federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Mayor Adam Ortiz noted the town's diversity: a third of the population is Latino, a third black and a third white. "We're diverse in every way, except we don't have rich people," he said. "And if our little working class town can build a sustainable street like this, then anybody can."

Photo: Decatur Street before its Green Street treatment. Photo courtesy the Town of Edmonston.

RTC TrailBlog : active transportation, urban pathways, equity

Helping the Homeless with Bicycling

Town Connects to Regional Trail Network with Rebuilt "Green Street"