7/29/08 - Alta planner
Byron Rushing promotes active living in Atlanta on and off the clock. One of his hobbies includes teaching others to ride a bike through the
Atlanta Bicycle Campaign's Confident City Cycling classes. Channel 11 news in Georgia recently featured
this story about the increased popularity of the riding safety and skill classes. Learn more about the projects and programs Byron's involved in on his
staff page.
7/28/08 - The city of Roseburg, Oregon is updating their bicycle and pedestrian master plan with Alta's help. The News-Review
reports on the local interest in the project and what Roseburg's residents hope to see improved in their city. Alta and partner firm Parametrix are using public input forums and city tours to gather this feedback for use in the plan update. See the full article here:
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20080728/NEWS/786568414/1063/7/28/08 - CBS News Sunday Morning featured
"Pedal Power"- a thorough look at the growing popularity of bicycling and the communities and efforts that are encouraging ridership. Everything from joy rides to commuting to education to infrastructure is examined. The segment features several American cities and input from
League of American Bicyclists' Andy Clarke,
Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition's David Watson, Portland Mayor Elect and
Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams, and Alta's own
Mia Birk.
Click here to see the full video clip and transcript.
7/25/08 - The Pearl District, located at the North end of downtown Portland, OR, is undergoing a major revitalization with new residential and commercial developments. An important part of the neighborhood's redesign is its transportation infrastructure which will introduce new streetcar lines, bicycle routes, and couplet streets into an already bustling area. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance published
this article on the challenges, opportunities, and ideas being realized in the Pearl. Alta has been working with the BTA and several other organizations to ensure bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure are safe, accessible, and well designed as the neighborhood continues to reinvent itself. Of particular importance are the cobblestone streets and numerous intersections with streetcar tracks and making these important features of the district more bicycle friendly. Read the full article:
http://www.bta4bikes.org/btablog/2008/07/24/pearl-district-bicycle-update/ 7/22/08 - BicyclePaper.com discusses the demand for singletrack mountain biking trails in and around Portland, OR in
this article. The story features an interview with Jill Van Winkel of
IMBA and lists several organizations, including Alta, involved in making urban Portland singletrack available. Alta
Senior Associate Chris Bernhardt says in addition to singletrack trails in parks, non-traditional concepts such as bike parks and the use of marginal lands are being considered to accommodate this popular activity.
7/21/08 - The Los Angeles Times discusses LA's upswing in bicycle ridership conflicting with the city's outmoded bicycle plan. "It's a citywide issue of people sharing the road, whether on foot, a bicycle, a Vespa or in our cars," says a Mandeville Canyon resident. "Manners have just gone out the window." The article discusses heightened tension on the road as well as the efforts to improve cycling. Alta Planner
Matt Benjamin and Alta's LA Office are currently developing the Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan. Visit
www.labikeplan.org for more information on the project and to get involved. Read the full LA Times article
here.
7/18/08 - The latest edition of the
Alta Update, our eNewsletter, is available in our
News section. Featured articles include the
Vernonia Bike Skills Park and the
North Indian County Greenways Plan.
7/9/08 - On July 1, the
Way to Go Sausalito program kicked off with a bang. Over 35 people attended the kickoff event, featuring remarks from the Sausalito, CA City Council, Marin County, and the Chamber of Commerce. Participants learned about this summer program to help Sausalito residents walk, bicycle, and take transit, and participated in a group walk.
7/4/08 - Guadalajara Mayor Alfonso Petersen is envisioning making the city bicycle-friendly, crisscrossed with connecting bike lanes and supportive infrastructure, and Alta is a front runner among the alternative transportation design firms proposing plans.
In this article the Guadalajara Reporter tells how the city is looking to Portland, Oregon for inspiration as they move forward with their effort to make the city safer and more encouraging for biking.
6/26/08 - Channel 10 news in San Diego featured
this story about the
San Diego Regional Bicycle Plan. The story discusses the city's interest in updating and improving its bicycle infrastructure.
6/22/08 - Aside from helping to sponsor this year's
Carfee Cities conference, many Alta employees attended and contributed to the events & programs. Senior Associate
Steve Durrant sat on the Building Urban Greenways panel and Senior Planner
Eric Anderson was part of the Building Better Bikeways presentation. Planner
Rory Renfro led the Transportation Geeks Bike Ride developed by Program Manager
Jessica Roberts (see the SF Bay Guardian's
ride report). Roberts and Principal
Mia Birk exchanged insights and ideas at the international level with a visiting delegation from Mexico. Birk was also part of Tuesday's keynote presentation. Designers
Karen Vitkay and Melissa Olson were among the 400+ attendees.
Benjamin Doyle has been with the World Carfree Network's Portland conference team since the fall of 2007. Learn more about this year's conference at
www.carfreeportland.org 6/20/08 - Lee Cullum, Dallas journalist and host of the Dallas television program "CEO," contributed
this article to the Dallas Morning news on the redevelopment of the
Katy Trail . "The Katy Trail-Arts Loop is not only brilliant but doable," says Cullum, "It's exactly the sort of imaginative effort we need to keep Dallas alive and jumping, fed by the innovation, energy and youth drawn to cities endowed with the joys of everyday." The Katy Trail feasibility study and designs are being conducted by Alta Principal
Mia Birk and designer
Robin Wilcox .
6/19/08 - Alta Principal
Mia Birk was a guest speaker at this week's
Toward Carfree Cities international conference . Mia spoke on behalf Alta's efforts for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure as well as the City of Portland's advancement as a bicycling leader in the United States. "We’re not anti car," she noted, "but we’re trying to create a system where walking and biking are viable transportation options." Mia introduced keynote speakers Andy Clarke, executive director of the
League of American Bicyclists , and Gil Penalosa, former Commissioner of Parks, Sport, and Recreation for the city of Bogota, Colombia and Executive Director of
Walk and Bike for Life . The San Francisco Bay Guardian ran
this article about the presentations and bikeportland.org went into more detail about Clarke's announcement of the
Bicycle Friendly Business Program and Penelosa's rousing
reality check about Portland's efforts.
6/13/08 - The Spokane Regional Transportation Council recently selected Alta to help with their grant process seeking $50 for transportation projects encouraging people to walk and bike as an alternative to driving. The Spokane Journal of Business ran
this article about the Council's decision. The city's goal is to create programs similar to those Alta has developed for the
Non-Motorized Pilot Communities such as Marin County's
Walk Bike Marin effort.
6/10/08 - Columbus, OH City Council voted to adopt the Columbus Bicentennial Bikeways Plan produced by Alta. Business First of Columbus ran
this story on the plan and what's next for the city.
6/5/08 - Alta’s work in Bozeman, Montana is highlighted as a national model program by the
Safe Routes to School National Partnership in a recent report on "how SRTS programs are resulting in the implementation of infrastructure improvements that close gaps in the non-motorized transportation network." The report, prepared for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also discusses SR2S programs in Miami, FL; Knoxville, TN; and Avondale, AZ.
Click to download the full report. [3.4 MB PDF] Learn more about Alta's Safe Routes programs in our
Programs & Training section .
6/4/08 -
This bikeportland.org article discusses the City of Portland, the City of Vancouver, and the Oregon Department of Transportation's effort to improve cyclists' access and ability to cross the Columbia river between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Jonathan Maus describes the current: "With a disorienting combination of sidewalks, a freeway on-ramp and off-ramp, and several high-speed streets that access hotels and the Janzten Beach shopping center, it seems like it was designed and planned before bicycles even existed (or clearly before they were considered a viable means of transport)." Alta has been contracted to develop a new map for the troubled area as the improvement process begins. The draft version of the map is available in the article:
http://bikeportland.org/2008/06/03/new-map-improvements-will-make-i-5-bridge-crossing-easier/6/2/08 - Treehugger.com
shows an interest in Alta's recently completed Columbus, OH Bicycle Master Plan, comparing the city's efforts to that of New York, Seattle, Chicago, London and Copenhagen. The article mentions the importance of education of cyclists and motorists in the plan and highlights a few other key components. See the article here:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/columbus-ohio-unveils-bicycle-master-plan.php
