Get involved, darn it

Good article today in the HooK about bicycle commuting in the Charlottesville area. One thing that struck me was this –

None of the bicyclists interviewed for this article, for example, are members of The Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation, the Charlottesville Area Bicyclists Association, BikeWalk Virginia, or other groups trying to “think globally and act locally” about how automobile transportation affects national and international issues.

Without, therefore, the political muscle of say, the AAA, could muscle-powered transportation be getting short shrift in the political world? Government money for roads and bridges carries a lot of zeroes.

To effect change, it’s important to align with the local groups advocating for change. A bunch of individual voices is just that – relatively ineffective individual voices. Joined together,

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2 Comments

  1. Jennifer May 31, 2007 at 15:12

    You are so right Jim! The article was good, inspiring really. I do hope the $400,000 Safe Routes to School grant the Parks Department just got will go a long way to making the city more pedestrian and bicycle friendly (in addition to beefing up our natural trails). The City has a plan, I want to make sure we implement it.

  2. Jim Duncan May 31, 2007 at 22:51

    If you can get more bike paths in Crozet, I’d appreciate that, too. 🙂