Wednesday is National Bike to School Day, but leave it to Maine to pedal harder and faster than the rest of the nation.
“In Maine we’ve gone to looking at the whole month of May as walking and biking to school month,” said Darcy Whittemore, program manager for the Maine Safe Routes to School program. “We’re hoping that people get in the habit and like the idea of walking and biking to school daily.”
A first-in-the-state Walking School Bus program in Portland has hit the ground running, evidence that kids and exercise do mix, even if it’s in the morning en route to school.

Officials with Maine’s federally funded Safe Routes to School Program are promoting a raft of biking- and walking-related activities at local schools.
And Wednesday afternoon at City Hall, the city hopes to attract residents to a meeting about a proposed Bikeshare initiative, a program in which bicycles are made available for shared use for short-distance trips as an alternative to motorized public transit or private vehicles.

 

There are other signs that young and old alike are open to stretching their legs rather than riding in cars. The Bicycle Coalition of Maine reported one of its most successful Great Maine Bike Swaps ever. Held April 28 at the University of Southern Maine, the swap attracted more than 2,000 people; and 700 cyclists walked away with new bicycles, the coalition reported.

 

“We hear all this stuff about how it’s hard to get kids outdoors, but there’s tons of kids who still want bikes, and it’s just magical just watching them jump on,” said Nancy Grant, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.
“We had absolutely every type of bike imaginable at this event,” Grant said in the final hours of the swap, noting that “lots of families with kids” attended. Clark reported “as many bikes as ever, we sold almost everything,” with roughly 1,000 bikes on the floor. For the first time, anybody who wanted to sell a bike could register the bike online, a “huge improvement,” Clark added.

Walking School Bus program

A pilot program started with Reiche School and East End Community School, the Walking School Bus program is “growing in interest every day,” according to Whittemore. Maine Safe Routes to School program is one of the partners who launched this walk-rather-than-ride alternative for school children last month.

 

Portland became the first city in Maine to have a coordinated and regularly operating Walking School Bus program, and with strong response, the plan is to expand to additional Portland elementary schools beginning next fall, organizers noted. The program, a collaboration between the Portland Public Schools and the Maine Safe Routes to School program, is funded through a federal Safe Routes to School grant and closely involves the Portland Police Department and the Healthy Portland Let’s Go! program.

 

The idea is simple: A Walking School Bus is a group of students, supervised by a trained adult volunteer, who walk along a designated route to and/or from school on a daily basis. Children can join the Walking School Bus at stops along the route near their homes. Families can also drop off their children at a collection point, such as a nearby park, to join the procession.

 

Program director Betsy Critchfield said response since the program started on April 24 has been “fabulous,” and she said the benefits have extended beyond exercise.

 

“I’ve had parents tell me this has been life-changing,” Critchfield said, pointing to “touching and sincere emails and phone messages” she has received from parents at both schools “who have expressed what a great difference this has made in their children’s lives.”

 

“We’ve got close to 60 kids walking now from the East End alone. Reiche, it’s a smaller group, it’s just as consistent,” Critchfield said Monday.

 

“We’re running five days a week in the morning, which to start out is quite a success. We’ve got lots more volunteers trickling in, and we’re gearing up to hopefully start offering some afternoon routes as well,” she said.
Participating children “look forward to waking up and going to school,” and they are able to connect with neighbors along the route, Critchfield noted.  Whittemore said volunteers are key to the program’s success since many supervisors can assure the children’s safety.

 

“We really emphasize safety first,” she said. ”Our main goal is to offer a safe form of transportation to school for kids, that’s active,” Whittemore said. ”Thirty kids coming from Kennedy Park and crossing Washington Avenue” requires attention of motorists as well, a common element to all of the state’s bicycling and walking initiatives. Drivers need to pay attention, organizers noted. ”One of our routes started with 10 kids and it’s grown to almost 30,” Whittemore said.
Leaders will follow a route of up to one mile, picking up children along the way at designated stops. “The program offers volunteers a way to get regular exercise and to interact with young people in the neighborhood,” Whittemore noted. Parents benefit as well, she agreed. ”It relieves a big burden for people who are juggling multiple kids and early work, it’s a benefit to the parents that their kids are getting to school safely, but also the people who have volunteered say it’s a wonderful thing for them,” she said. ”Hopefully it’s a model that we can replicate and adapt to different neighborhoods,” Whittemore said, noting that Lyseth Elementary and Riverton Elementary are candidates to start in the fall. The program continues to welcome volunteers this spring. All volunteers receive an hour of training, and a criminal background check is required, at no cost to the volunteers. To learn more, visit www.portlandwalkingschoolbus.org, or contact Critchfield, at betsy@bikemaine.org or 200-5287.

Maine Safe Routes to School grants

Mini-grants for up to $250 can give a nudge for healthier transportation options, Whittemore said.
“It just adds enough of a carrot so that a teacher or maybe a school nurse or someone who is working with the Healthy Maine Partnerships, as long as they put a team together and plan several activities for biking or walking to school, it’s a fairly easy thing to accomplish in a short amount of time,” she said. Maine’s federally funded Safe Routes to School Program is a program of the Maine Department of Transportation, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and communities throughout the state. This spring, 15 schools, municipalities and organizations from across the state were picked to receive up to $250 to support projects designed to encourage students and their families to safely walk and bicycle to school and after-school activities. The mini-grant activities, some led by students, will occur this spring.
Those include, in Portland, Lincoln Middle School, which plans: Walk and Bike to School Week; the start of a year-round, student-led Safe Routes to School group with adult facilitator; and Student Travel Tally. Portland’s Lyseth Elementary School, which plans: Bike rodeo; distribution of new helmets and used bikes to students in need, with assistance of the Multilingual Center and a local bike shop; Bike to School Day on May 8; installation of a much-needed bike rack for upper elementary wing; and Student Travel Tally. ”For not a lot of money, you get a lot of things happening,” Whittemore noted. ”It brings more awareness to the program and to safety,” she said, noting that children can buy reflective zipper-pulls and vests among the accessories.  ”We’ve seen, beyond Portland, there are more and more schools who are developing in-school fleets of bicycles so they can teach biking during P.E. class,” Whittemore said. Kennebunk Elementary School is one example of a school with a bike fleet. After-school bike clubs also are popular.  ”I think more and more parents are understanding that they would like their children to be more active, and walking and biking to school is one way to accomplish that,” Whittemore said.  For more information, visit MaineSafeRoutes.org.

Wednesday, May 8

Lincoln Middle School — Walk and Bike to School Week, May 6-10; Lyseth School — National Bike to School Day on May 8; Walk to School Day and Bike Rodeo; Ocean Avenue Elementary — Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days all year, Bike Rodeo in June. 

Communities already registered to participate in walk and bike activities this spring include: Bangor, Bath, Biddeford, Bridgton, Camden, Fort Kent, Gray, Hampden, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Lincolnville, Madawaska, Madison, Milford, Monmouth, Naples, New Gloucester, North Berwick, Oakland, Pittsfield, Portland, Rangeley, Raymond, Saco, Scarborough, Sebago, South Portland, Topsham, Winterport and York. For events across Maine, visit www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=DOT_bikeped_news&id=519541&v=full.

Proposed travel changes in Libbytown

5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Long separated by I-295, the Libbytown neighborhood is emerging as an important entryway to the city of Portland and an integral link between the downtown and the Portland Transportation Center. However, multiple highway ramps and side streets confuse travelers, and with Congress Street a major traffic corridor, the area is difficult to navigate, especially for bicyclists and pedestrians. The four proposed sets of changes include various combinations of eliminating exit and entrance ramps to I-295 and making Park and Congress Streets one or two-way. All scenarios include improving the area for bikers and walkers. The study will also make recommendations for better lighting, landscaping and other streetscape elements. To give people more options in terms of opportunity to comment, individual displays illustrating the proposed changes will be available from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for comments, with staff available to answer questions. A more formal presentation on the neighborhood conditions and the proposed changes will also take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is welcome to come to the entire meeting or any portion that is convenient. Portland City Hall, Room 24, 389 Congress St. For more information, visithttp://www.portlandmaine.gov/libbytowntrafficcirculation.htm or contact Carol Morris atcmorris@morriscomm.net. Diagrams of the proposals can be seen athttp://www.portlandmaine.gov/libbytowntraffic/libbytownalternatives042213.pdf. Public comments can also be made online at the city’s website, http://www.ci.portland.me.us.

Bikeshare Public Forum

5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The city of Portland will host a Bikeshare Public Forum at City Hall. The public is invited to participate in the conversation about establishing a Bikeshare program in the city, share their thoughts and ideas and ask questions. The meeting is a component of a technical assistance grant the city received in February from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The EPA selected the City of Portland as one of five communities nationwide to receive technical assistance to explore the potential of establishing a Bikeshare program. City Hall, State of Maine Room, 389 Congress St., Portland. Visit http://www.ci.portland.me.us.

Sunday, June 2

Ride for women in Freeport
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ride for women in Freeport, LL Bean’s Casco Conference Center, Casco Street, Freeport. This all-female ride is suited for girls and women of all ages and fitness levels, with distances of 10, 25, 50 and 75 miles.  The ride offers beautiful views of the countryside and coast. Begin or end the ride with a free massage. The pre-registration fee is $35 (members) and $45 (public rate, including a six-month trial membership in the Bicycle Coalition of Maine), with a $10 discount for children 12-17 and seniors (over 65). Children under 12 ride free.  Proceeds benefit the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s work to improve bicycling in Maine. For more information, a video about the ride and online registration, go to http://www.bikemaine.org/events/womens-ride or call 623-4511.

Tuesday April 30, 2013 | 09:30 AM

Posted by Karen Beaudoin kbeaudoin@mainetoday.com

BRIDGE MEETING: THE PUBLIC will be able to see new bridge designs and ask questions at 6 p.m. Monday in the State of Maine room in Portland City Hall.

PORTLAND (WGME) — A program just getting under way here in Portland is putting a different kind of school bus on the street, and getting kids to exercise in the process. It’s called the Walking School Bus program.

If you’d like more information, click here

So far, the program is in the Reiche School and East End Community School. Kids walk with adult volunteers along set routes to their schools each morning, and along the way they make stops at various points to pick up more kids. Just like a traditional school bus. 

The program accomplishes two goals: getting kids to school safely and promoting exercise too.

Program coordinator Betsy Critchfield says, “A lot of parents have concerns about letting their kids walk to school by themselves especially kindergarten and first grade and so we just wanted to enable that to happen in a safe environment.”

“Physical activity is one way to set kids up for learning, to be open to learning so this is one way to do that,” says Peter McCormack, assistant principal at East End School.

The program needs your help.  They are looking for more adult volunteers so that they can allow more kids to join in the fun.

PORTLAND, Maine —Maine bicycling enthusiasts are gearing up for the riding season ahead with a bike swap in Portland.
    
The Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s Great Maine Bike Swap is being held at the University of Southern Maine’s Sullivan Gym from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
    
Hundreds of people attend the event each year to seek out used bicycles at affordable prices or to sell bikes they no longer need. The coalition held another bike swap in Orono earlier this month.
    
Admission to Sunday’s event is $3, but it’s free for students at USM, the University of Maine, the University of New England and Southern Maine Community College, as well as children 12 or younger. Last year’s swap attracted more than 1,600 people.

Balancing act: Bikes, cars compete for Portland Streets

PORTLAND — It’s a sure sign of spring: bicycle riders, from kids wobbling on their first two-wheelers to Spandex-clad athletes on high-tech racing machines, once again occupy city streets.

In February, the city was one of five communities in the country to receive federal assistance for creating a bike-sharing program, which would offer the public free or low-cost access to a shared pool of bicycles for short trips. A forum to gather public input on the idea is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

In December, the city adopted a “complete streets” policy, which calls for designing roadways to accommodate all users, including cyclists. It was recently named one of the country’s 10 best such policies.

And Portland has begun creating a network of “neighborhood byways” – secondary streets with traffic-calming signs, medians and other infrastructure designed to create safer, more enjoyable routes for cyclists and pedestrians.

The network, recently piloted with five miles of byways in Deering Center, could someday stretch for 29 miles throughout the city, according to Bruce Hyman, Portland’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.

The byways are one part of a new plan to promote cycling and walking in Portland. The plan, under development for more than a year, was added to the city’s Comprehensive Plan in December.

No wonder that local cyclists – and even the city’s website – tout Portland as a great place to ride.

But with the city welcoming more and more cyclists, some people wonder if there will be greater problems on the road. Indeed, other cities may already be experiencing more accidents and road rage as they become bike-friendlier.

In New York City, which has added nearly 300 miles of bike lanes since 2002 and started bike-sharing last year, concerns about added traffic have led neighborhood groups to oppose some of the new bike-friendly measures. And the city’s comptroller released a report claiming that the bike-sharing program would lead to more accidents, injuries and potential lawsuits.

In Boston, an accident that killed a cyclist prompted the Boston Globe to publish an editorial in February about increasing hostility toward bicycle riders.

“Sharing the road with increasing numbers of cyclists can be frustrating for drivers. But disregard for the safety of cyclists has reached pathological levels among some drivers,” the Globe opined.

In Portland, there is little evidence of increasing dangers or road rage. Still, accidents happen.

From 2005 through 2010, there were 208 collisions reported between cyclists and motorists, Hyman said, an average of about 35 a year. In 2012, there were 56 accidents involving cyclists, according to information obtained from police.

And many cyclists report scary near-misses.

“I was riding here today and a driver blew past me, honking his horn and screaming something out the window,” said Chris Sawtelle of Portland, as she left the Great Maine Bike Swap at the University of Southern Maine on April 28. “I guess I was moving too slow for him. He nearly side-swiped me.”

Motorists have said that cyclists can be a safety hazard, too. That worry prompted former state Rep. Ralph Sarty, R-Denmark, to introduce a bill in the Legislature two years ago that would have placed a 2 percent tax on bike sales, with the proceeds used to build new bike lanes.

“In recent years, recreational bicycling has put thousands of new bikes on our highways, increasing the potential for accidents,” Sarty wrote in 2011. ” … The current laws regarding bicycle use on public ways place little if any responsibility or liability on the bicyclists. Almost all the responsibility and liability is on motorists.”

The legislation was killed, but concerns about sharing the road remain.

Jim Tasse, education director for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, noted cyclists are allowed to ride on all Maine roads, except interstate highways and a portion or U.S. Route 1 between Brunswick and Bath.

“Motorists should expect cyclists to be on the roads, and they have every right to be there,” he said.

Motorists must leave at least 3 feet between their vehicles and cyclists, according to state law, and are allowed to drive in the opposite lane when necessary to safely pass a cyclist.

Cyclists, for their part, must obey the same traffic rules as motorists, and must ride as far to the right as “practicable.” But the law also allows them to ride two abreast, and to ride in a road’s travel lane when making a left turn or to avoid a vehicle or safety hazard.

Tasse acknowledged that it’s easy to get frustrated when driving behind a slower-moving cyclist or a large group of riders that is difficult to pass.

“But the conflicts often arise because (a motorist) feels a need for speed,” he said, noting that drivers should obey the speed limit and be patient.

Most of all, he said, motorists and cyclists should “exercise some restraint and courtesy” and realize the dangers a two-ton vehicles poses, regardless of who is at fault.

“When cars and bikes get too close,” he said, “it’s like juggling a loaded gun.”