One Less Car December Update

It saddens me to say that I will be leaving my post as Executive Director of One Less Car this month. It's been a great twenty-two months and I've had a wonderful time working with all of you.

One Less Car is a very small non-profit and I would be lying if I said its been easy juggling a full schedule of events, advocacy and administrative minutiae. But looking back I see a lot for OLC members to be proud of - Bicycle racks on all MTA buses, the repeal of the state ban on bikes and peds on MdTA bridges, the OLC BRAC report, the Fall '08 Bike Summit, the Baltimore transit summits and, of course, CAM and Tour du Port.

I know that OLC will continue on a path where advocacy will be a central focus. Marylanders need a strong advocate for bike and pedestrian issues and OLC can certainly fill that role.

Carol Silldorff, a former consultant for Baltimore Green Week, will be the Interim Executive Director of One Less Car starting in Mid-December. I hope you will all join me in wishing her the best of luck.

Richard Chambers, Executive Director

A Message from One Less Car President, Greg Cantori As you all know, One Less Car has been very lucky in having Richard work with us. His passion for alternative transportation shows by his literally walking the talk by busing and biking around Baltimore since he came on board. His efforts in getting 100% of MTA buses fitted with bike racks was a real win for those who need to make a bike/bus transition. And his efforts to strengthen the voices of bicyclists and transit riders has been a genuine success. We wish him well! Some organizational updates - We want to welcome our newest board members: Tom Taylor, John Purcell and Bruce Herman. They each bring vital experience and interests that will surely help One Less Car in aggressively pursuing our dream of less cars on our roads. Towards that end, our board will begin a planning process to not only look at viable ways to reduce car use, but to measure our success with goals and outcomes that will hold all of us and our public officials fully accountable in making our roads less crowded. Welcome Tom, Bruce and John!

Support the CYCLE CLAUS RAFFLE! HELP MAKE THIS A VERY SPECIAL HOLIDAY SEASON FOR 12 BALTIMORE CITY CHILDREN BY GIVING THEM NEW BICYCLES! BUY YOUR $5 RAFFLE TICKETS ONLINE - Just go to http://www.onelesscar.org/support_donation.php and make a donation based on the number of tickets you want (i.e. a $50 donation = 10 raffle tickets). With the proceeds from the Cycle Claus raffle One Less Car will be buying 12 bicycles (or 24 if 5000 tickets are sold!) for Baltimore City children from lower income homes. One Less Car believes that every child should have the joy of riding a bike. It is also our way of promoting healthier living by helping to fight childhood obesity. Not only will OLC be buying 12 bikes (including all safety equipment) for the children, but their families will receive a gift certificate to a local grocery store to go towards their holiday meal. And the winner of the raffle gets his or her choice of either a Fisher X-Caliber Mountain Bike or a Trek 2.3 Road Bike, courtesy of Joe's Bike Shop of Mount Washington! Want more info? Contact David Schapiro at dschapiro@onelesscar.org