In response to the cyclist ticket outrage at UGA last fall, BikeAthens worked with several community partners to find a solution for effective bike travel through the heart of campus. Board member Jason Perry, our UGA Liaison, worked with Jimmy Williamson of the UGA Police Department, Lara Mathes of the UGA Office of University Architects, and Kevin Kirsche of The UGA Office of Sustainability to detail the reasons for the increased distribution of tickets and figure out possible solutions. Several board members contributed ideas and worked with Josh Koons of Koons Environmental Design. With the input of hundreds of BikeAthens, UGA, and community members, Koons Environmental Design developed the UGA Bicycle Facility Study recommending a contra-flow bike lane for Sanford Drive. Soon after, UGA implemented the suggested design changes for the intersection of Sanford Drive and Baldwin Street. UGA installed the new bike lane over the 2011-2012 winter break, and so far it is working wonderfully! Thank you for all of your input in helping us win a victory for bike and pedestrian safety and infrastructure! In conjunction with The UGA Office of Sustainability, BikeAthens will be leading a ride to showcase the new Sanford Bike Lane along with several proposed bike facility changes in February.

GOOD and CLIF Bar are holding a bike story contest and Bejan Abtahi entered on behalf of BikeAthens. His story, “One Last Mile,” has made it to the top 15. Please follow this link to vote for “One Last Mile” and help BikeAthens win $5,000! And, thanks Bejan! Deadline: 9/23/11.

The Traffic Calming Solutions manual describes in easy to understand language how to navigate through the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP).  This program is the city’s method for obtaining safer street infrastructure within your neighborhood.  Prepared by Katie Goodrum for BikeAthens, it illustrates the vast array of traffic calming solution options, in order to improve pedestrian safety and create more pleasant neighborhoods for the citizens of Athens.

Download the manual [PDF, 3.4 MB]

Update: BikeAthens and Athens Transit have selected Ellen Walker (EL Walker Design) as the winner of the Bus Route Map Redesign Contest.  Thank you to all who submitted proposals!  Keep your eyes peeled for new bus route maps late summer/early fall.

BikeAthens has received funding from the ACTION, Inc. “Building Community Services that Grow Local Economies” grant to facilitate the redesign of individual Athens Transit bus route maps. BikeAthens has determined a need for this redesign in order to encourage more people to use the bus system through increased user-friendliness.

Project concept

• Contest among local graphic designers/geographers
• BikeAthens & Athens Transit will select winning design on June 15
• Winner will be contracted to complete redesign of 15 bus route maps, to include all required components by July 22 (with drafts to be turned in July 8)
• Contest winner will receive a prize of $600 upon receipt of the original project files
• BikeAthens will advertise the new bus route maps and credit the designer upon completion of the project

Submission requirements

Submit the following items as one PDF to chair at bikeathens dot com by Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 5:00pm (late submissions will not be accepted):

• Mock-up layout of a new bus route map (pick up current maps on any Athens Transit bus or at the Multi-Modal Transportation Center at 775 E. Broad Street for reference); mock- up may be created digitally, hand-drawn, etc., but the final project must be created using Adobe software (Creative Suite)
• Text description (250 words or less) of how your proposed bus route map design will best serve the needs of the Athens community
• Resumé and/or statement of qualifications

Required components of redesigned route maps

• 8.5 x 11 tri-fold brochure
• Grayscale or black & white for ease of reprinting
• One route map design for each individual bus route (15 in total); click here for route details
• Created using Adobe suite (original files must be submitted at project’s end)
• Geographic accuracy of route map
• Timetables and timepoints
• Intersecting UGA Transit routes
• Incorporate summer schedules, where applicable
• Fare information
• “How to Ride ‘The Bus’”
• How to secure your bike to the bus

Athens-Clarke County recently received a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designation from the League of American Bicyclists. In the latest round of BFC awards, kicking off May as National Bike Month, there were 45 new applicants with 21 communities receiving awards. With the cooperation from local non-profit BikeAthens, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government made its first application for BFC status in February of this year. Athens will join Tybee Island, also first time recipient, and Roswell, to become one of only three designated Bicycle Friendly Communities in Georgia.

The BFC program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. The rigorous BFC application is an audit of the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation efforts in a municipality. Every community that applies receives feedback on how to improve the community for cycling. BFC staff will continue to work with awardees to encourage continual improvements. After review, an award of platinum, gold, silver or bronze status is designated for four years. Athens-Clarke County was selected as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the bronze level, recognizing a strong commitment to cycling, responsive to the needs of cyclists, and with bicycle usage above average for U.S. communities. When it is time to reapply for BFC status, Athens-Clarke County will have the chance to become the first silver, gold or platinum community in Georgia.

Athens-Clarke County is home to 18 miles of bike lanes, 6 miles of multi-use paths, and 54 miles of “shared road,” building an average of two miles per year. Bike racks are required to be installed at all new businesses which add to the nearly 4,000 existing bicycle parking spaces, making bike parking accessible all over town. Upcoming projects include construction of the Milledge Avenue Extension Multi-Use Trail, a 1,500 feet path connecting Milledge Avenue to the UGA campus, design of the 1st mile of the Rails-to-Trails program, and design and construction of bike lanes on both sides of College Station Road between Research Drive and Barnett Shoals Road, completing connectivity between East Athens, UGA, and downtown. Athens-Clarke County is also home to BikeAthens, a non-profit that has been spearheading bicycle education efforts since 1992. The BFC program recognizes communities that promote bicycling and provides technical assistance in the form of a roadmap to help cities build great communities for bicycling. The League identifies projects, policies, programs and plans that most effectively improve cycling conditions and make up the foundation of a bicycle-friendly community. To date, the League of American Bicyclists has received 452 applications and designated 179 Bicycle Friendly Communities in 44 states. Athens-Clarke County is proud to join the ranks of these other communities and will continue to strive to maintain its status as a Bicycle Friendly Community.

The Bicycle Friendly Community, Bicycle Friendly State, Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly University programs are generously supported by program partners Bikes Belong and Trek Bicycle’s One World, Two Wheels Campaign.

We would like to thank Neal Crumb of Athens ReTool for donating 10 sets of wrenches to the Bike Recycling Program shop. These wrenches will be put to good use as we reconfigure our workshop to accommodate more volunteers with complete tool sets at individual workstations.