Days are getting shorter, so it’s even more important to make yourself visible to drivers when walking, running and bicycling during low light and at night. Even if you’re just walking through the train station parking lot in a dark coat.

Find the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance at the award-winning WW farmers market this Saturday. We sell reflective vests, reflective bands, even USB-rechargeable bicycle lights, all at great prices. Wear a vest while walking the dog or while running ($10 or $5, depending on style). Add a band to your backpack (two for $1). Spin our wheel, answer a biking- or walking-related question and go home with a free reflective sticker.

Remember: Just because you can see a car’s headlights doesn’t mean the driver sees you.

To make yourself even more visible to drivers, hit the button to activate yellow flashing lights when they are available at crosswalks. Not just by the train station.

Celebrate West Windsor’s most historic event that never was — the 1938 Martian landing in “The War of the Worlds” — with our annual Martian bike ride.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, together with the Historical Society of West Windsor, will lead a 9-mile loop ride from the War of the Worlds-themed Grover’s Mill Coffee Shop to 3 Martian “sites” in West Windsor. While the radio broadcast created quite a stir, of course the Martians never landed here. But we will share the true story of what happened that night.

Arrive by 9 am at the coffee shop on Southfield Road (the shopping center with McCaffrey’s), or earlier if you want a coupon for a free cup of coffee and to decorate your bike helmet. Dress as a Martian if you dare!

Although the ride is free, you must pre-register. We will limit the number of participants.

We ride as a group, so that sets the pace. Given the number of participants and stops, please plan on all morning for this event.

This event is part of West Windsor’s Martian Week, running from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1. You can learn about other events here. There’s something fun for everyone!

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance will once again be collecting unwanted bicycles for the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County Bike Exchange, this time on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Bring your unwanted bicycles to our booth at the WW farmers market (Vaughn Drive parking lot, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

Volunteers at Bike Exchange will fix up those bikes for resale. Proceeds go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County. Since Bike Exchange was founded in 2009, it has raised more than $2.2 million through the sale of more than 33,000 bikes. Last year, our bike drive collected 17 bicycles as well as assorted bike-related gear.

Don’t worry if a bike sitting in your garage isn’t in great shape; Bike Exchange can still use it. It will also take any unwanted bike accessories.

Looking to buy a bike?

And if you are looking for a new-to-you bike, especially for kids who regularly outgrow their bikes, consider shopping at Bike Exchange. It’s located in the Capitol Plaza Shopping Center in Ewing (across Spruce Street from Halo Farm and the Trenton Farmers Market).

Inventory changes constantly, and Bike Exchange is currently well-stocked with all types of bikes for people of all ages. You can get a feel for what’s for sale by watching some of their frequent Facebook videos.

Because this is a volunteer-run operation, store hours are limited.

Read this to learn more about Bike Exchange.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance’s newest board member is Prabhat Hegde, a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. A regular bike commuter, Prabhat is passionate about using his operations research skills to make transportation more sustainable and efficient.

He also is enthusiastic about bike buses and how they can help children travel to school together safely while also having fun.

Having lived in India, France, and Germany, he has enjoyed cycling in the Western Ghats, the Loire Valley, and along Germany’s Südliche Weinstraße. He looks forward to exploring more of New Jersey by bike. Prabhat lives in West Windsor with his wife Kate, and they hope to collectively make communities safer for biking and walking.

Prabhat replaces Stephen Foley on the WWBPA board. His term expires in March 2028.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance has an unexpected opening on its board. Are you ready to help make our community a better place for everyone to walk and bike?

Our board members help staff our biweekly table at the West Windsor farmers market on Saturday mornings from May through October. Depending on their interests, they also help organize walking and biking events for the community, maintain our many woodland trails, and interact with township, county, state, and/or school officials. In the past year, we’ve been more active in the schools and have given a number of presentations in the schools.

We meet in person at the West Windsor library on the second Thursday of each month for two hours beginning at 6:15 p.m.

We are proud of all that we have accomplished in our first 20 years and that we were named an advocate of the year at this year’s New Jersey Bike Walk summit.

If you are ready to put up your hand or just want to learn more, email us at wwbikeped@gmail.com by Aug. 31.

This term will expire in March 2028.

West Windsor’s BikeFest, put on by the Recreation Department with help from local volunteers, is back for its 22nd year.

This time it’s happening on Sunday, Sept. 13.

Choose one of four routes — everything from 1.5 miles to 40 miles. Decorate your bike. Join in the scavenger hunt. Have lunch. It’s all part of this community tradition.

Sign up your family. Bring friends.

For more information and to register, click here.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance’s hardworking trails maintenance crew has been busy improving the trails at Rogers Preserve (between Clarksville Road, Landing Lane and Berkshire Drive.) Not only have they cleared trails but they have installed new signage and refurbished the kiosk.

Join us in thanking this all-volunteer crew on Sunday, Aug. 23!

We will gather at Van Nest Park (218 Cranbury Road) at 10 a.m. for a guided family-friendly walk through the historic Grovers Mill neighborhood and the Rogers Preserve — about 1.2 miles. There is an optional walk through more of West Windsor’s trail network for a total of about 2.25 miles.

The ribbon-cutting will be at the kiosk off Clarksville Road.

This event is jointly sponsored by the WWBPA, the Historical Society of West Windsor and Friends of West Windsor Open Space. Please pre-register here so we can bring enough free reflective armbands, gardening gloves and snacks for all.

West Windsor has applied to be a silver-level bicycle-friendly community. Our township became New Jersey’s first bicycle-friendly community (bronze level) back in 2011. Now we want to move up to silver and catch up with Princeton.

The League of American Bicyclists, which is reviewing West Windsor’s application right now, wants input from everyone so it can better understand the experiences of those who ride a bike in our community.

Please fill out this short survey ASAP.

The WWBPA has played a big part in the application and hopes you agree that West Windsor has done the work to become a silver-level community.

Those pedestrian-activated yellow flashing lights are being installed at 6 more crucial crossings around town.

They are:

– Penn Lyle Road and Canoe Brook Drive, where a 63-year-old was hit in the crosswalk in January 2023;
– Penn Lyle Road and the popular Trolley Line Trail;
– Alexander Road and Harris Road, improving a popular walking route between High School South and the Windsor Plaza shopping center;
– Village Road East at Dutch Neck School;
– New Village Road and Shannon Way, which creates a safer crossing to Village Elementary School;
– New Village Road at Southfield Road, which creates a safer crossing for students attending Grover Middle School.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance is a big fan of these lights (the technical term is rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, or RRFBs). We have long advocated for them to be installed at many of these locations as well as other spots in town.

Township officials had flagged plans to install these flashing lights at a budget meeting several months ago, and the WWBPA is pleased to see the follow-up happening so quickly. The township council approved the contract on Monday night, and the contractor will have 45 days to do the work.

We look forward to seeing the work finished before school starts again so that many more students can feel safe walking to school.

The WWBPA will continue to advocate that RRFBs be installed in several other locations, including at the intersection of North Post Road and Municipal and Courtney drives, where a 73-year-old was struck by a pick-up truck in December, and at Rabbit Hill Road and Abbingdon Lane/Bennington Drive, where a 12-year-old was killed in the crosswalk in 2023. In May, the council approved a contract for a safety demonstration project at Courtney Drive.

Finally, don’t forget to hit the button whenever you are at a crossing with an RRFB so that you alert drivers that you are there. Always make sure motorists have stopped before you step into the road.

Rhea Biswas, center, with with WWBPA board member Susan Conlon and WWP High School North Principal Lamont Thomas.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance is pleased to award a scholarship to Rhea Biswas, who is graduating from High School North.

Working with other high school students as well as residents of Millstone Road in West Windsor, Rhea sought to persuade West Windsor and Plainsboro officials to build a sidewalk on each town’s side of the Millstone Road bridge. The goal is to create a safer walking route to schools, parks, and the train station.

Although both townships have yet to agree to build a sidewalk (which then could take years to build due to funding and other constraints), the WWBPA appreciates how Rhea engaged with the local neighborhood and her continued dialogue with West Windsor’s government officials. We encourage Rhea’s Sunrise Movement colleagues to pursue working toward the goal.

You can learn more about the WWBPA’s annual scholarship program here.