SWFBUD -- South West Florida Bicyclists United With Dealers: SWFBUD Will Lobby MPO Board To Support BAM and Causeway Trail

Monday, September 5, 2011

SWFBUD Will Lobby MPO Board To Support BAM and Causeway Trail

Please contact these Hillsborough MPO Board members and tell them you want them to support the the building of the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail and the Tampa Bypass Canal Trail as part of the BAM Network (Bicycle Area Mobility),which also includes the South Coast Greenway and the Selmon Greenway.

There is a MPO Board meeting Tuesday at 9 AM at the County Center on Kennedy Avenue in downtown Tampa and attend to speak out at the meeting foe these trails and the BAM Network.

Your MPO Board
Mayor Joe Affronti, Chair
City of Temple Terrace
P.O. Box 16930
Temple Terrace, FL 33617
813/989-7141

Commissioner Sandra Murman
Board of County Commissioners
601 East Kennedy, 2nd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-5740

Commissioner Kevin Beckner
Board of County Commissioners
601 East Kennedy, 2nd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-5730

Commissioner Lesley "Les" Miller
Board of County Commissioners
601 East Kennedy, 2nd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-5452

Commissioner Mark Sharpe, Vice Chair
Board of County Commissioners
601 East Kennedy, 2nd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-5740

Councilman Mike Suarez
Tampa City Council
315 E Kennedy Blvd, 3rd Fl
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-7072

Councilman Harry Cohen
Tampa City Council
315 E Kennedy Blvd, 3rd Fl
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-7072

Councilwoman Lisa Montelione
Tampa City Council
315 E Kennedy Blvd, 3rd Fl
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-7072

Commissioner Rick A. Lott
City of Plant City
302 W. Reynolds Street
Plant City, FL 33563
813/659-4274

Joseph C. Waggoner
Executive Director
Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority
1104 E. Twiggs St., 3rd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
813/272-6740

Joe Lopano
Executive Director
Hillsborough County Aviation Authority
P.O. Box 22287
Tampa, FL 33607
813/870-8705

Richard Wainio
Port Director
Tampa Port Authority
1101 Channelside Drive
Tampa, FL 33602
813/905-7678

Steve Polzin
HART Representative
CUTR
4202 E Fowler Ave
Tampa, FL 33620

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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