SWFBUD -- South West Florida Bicyclists United With Dealers: Send Pro-Causeway Trail Emails To The Florida DOT

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Send Pro-Causeway Trail Emails To The Florida DOT

SWFBUD asks you to write to these emails at the Florida DOT and tell them you support the proposed Courtney Campbell Causeway multi-use bike/ped trail.

Many people are writing to oppose this vital project.

The emails are:

ming.gao@dot.state.fl.us
robin.rhinesmith@dot.state.fl.us
Lori.Snively@dot.state.fl.us

Bicyclist Glen Gulickson, who works part-time at SWFBUD member store Bicycle Outfitters in Seminole, wrote this email in favor of the causeway trail.

Dear Ming Gao and Robin Rhinesmith,

Aas a follow up to my email yesterday, I would like to submit the article attached below. It is the word for word presentation, before Congress, by John Burke, CEO of TREK Bicycle Corporation.

You can take what you will from the article, but there are two things I would like to point out.

The first is that, if anything, the pendulum favoring bicycle/pedestrian
infrastructure improvement should be swinging our way. Everything about
non-motorized transportation is a plus-better health,documented economic
benefits, less wear and tear on the roads we already have, less reliance
on foreign oil and much less expensive infrastructure development and
maintenance costs.

The second is the example of Portland, Oregon. Here is a city that is
split right down its' heart by the Willamette River and stays connected by
five bridges. (Additionally, there are two interstate bridges) These are
OLD BRIDGES and I'm sure took some significant engineering to accommodate
cyclists and pedestrians, but the thing that caught my eye was that
Portland has spent, over the last TWENTY YEARS, the equivalent cost of ONE
MILE of urban, four lane highway. ONE MILE!!!! And bicycle ridership has
sky-rocketed!

I know you have a tough job and a lot of folks are weighing in on all
sides, but now is NOT the time to waiver on this issue-now is the time to
step forward boldly and take the step that will be a legacy to our
grandchildren!

The Greater Tampa Bay area needs the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail and
I urge you, once again to press forward with its' implementation and
completion.

Thank you for you time,

Glen A. Gullickson

No comments:

WHAT IS SWFBUD and HOW DID IT START?

SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is a Tampa Bay bicycle advocacy alliance of 12 bicycle store dealers and four law firms committed to raising the profile of bicycling in the Tampa Bay market, getting more people on bicycles and drawing more public resources for bicycling.

The 12 bike shops are: ABC Bicycles, Bicycle Outfitters, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Chainwheel Drive, Just Ride Bicycles, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Street Fit 360, Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa and Clearwater, Trek Bicycle Store of St. Petersburg, The Ironman Store, University Bicycle Center and Velo Champ. The four law firms are Tom Singletary, J. Steele Olmstead and the Mark Roman Law Group.

The SWFBUD members enlist Alan Snel, a bicycle advocate and former metro newspaper reporter, to lobby local governments to provide more bicycle resources and to put on the Bicycle Bash festival.

SWFBUD is a play on words of Swiftmud, the Tampa Bay water district agency.

SWFBUD traces its roots to the summer of 2006, when then-Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium owner David Luppino (who now owns Just Ride Bicycles) hired Snel for promotions, marketing and to help put on the Bicycle Bash festival. At the start of 2007, Luppino believed it was appropriate that other Tampa Bay bike stores get involved in promoting bicycling, so Snel recruited other store dealers to get involved.

The Bicycle Bash was first held in October 2006 on the St. Pete Times Forum plaza before a Tampa Bay Lightning afternoon hockey game before SWFBUD moved the Bicycle Bash to St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park in 2007 and 2008 and to North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg in 2009. In 2010, the Bicycle Bash was moved into Hillsborough County's Flatwoods Park on Nov. 7 so that bicyclists can enjoy the Bash's exhibitor village and also have fun doing live biking in the park. In 2011, the Bicycle Bash will be held again at Flatwoods Park on NOV 6.

SWFBUD won national retail bicycle advocacy awards in 2009 from the Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN) and the Trek Bicycle Corporation. The Bicycle Bash won the Florida Event of the Year in 2007 from the Florida Bicycle Association.

SWFBUD's Snel attends many public meetings in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, plus the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. to lobby political leaders and governing agencies to commit more resources to bicycling. SWFBUD believes communities that embrace and invest in bicycling become more successful and sustainable.

Flatwoods Park Ranger Thanks SWFBUD For Saving Park and Jobs

SWFBUD Wins National Bicycle Advocacy Award

The national magazine that covers the bicycle industry in this country honored SWFBUD with the 2009 Bicycle Retail Advocacy Award at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, Calif. SWFBUD is deeply honored by this national recognition and I received the award from Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, and Tim Blumenthal, executive editor of Bikes Belong Coalition. Click photo for more info and check SP Times story, too: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article996595.ece