Mid July Update

  • by B' Spokes

One Less > Car

ONE LESS CAR (OLC) MID JULY UPDATE

One Less Car works throughout Maryland to reduce automobile congestion and pollution by decreasing car usage. Our goal is to help people get to where they need to go efficiently. OLC works to increase walking, biking, carpooling, public transit, telecommuting, and flex scheduling opportunities. These smart transit choices promote physical activity, emotional and physical well-being, social interaction, livable communities, equity and environmental stewardship.

--Thursday July 23rd, 2009 6:30PM - Volunteer Event Planning Meeting
--OLC Advocacy Task Force Meeting Update 
--Maryland's First Annual Motoring Report Card
--Tour du Port Registration is Open 
--Study Suggests Active Commuters Reap Health Benefits
--The Fall Forum - October 7, 2009
--Sponsorship/Donations 

 

Thursday July 23, 2009 6:30PM - You're Invited
Volunteer Event Planning Meeting

Our last volunteer event planning meeting was a huge success!  Pizza was served and lots of social networking and outreach ideas were discussed.  Are you interested in volunteering? One Less Car is a non-profit organization and we need your help. We want to meet you!  Thursday's meeting discussion will focus on the upcoming Tour du Port bicycle event. If you have an interest in volunteering, please attend this meeting. 

Date: July 23rd, 2009 Thursday
Time: 6:30PM
Location: The Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation; 3904 Hickory Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 Click for directions.
Food: Pizza and drinks

Please RSVP to Chantel Jackson. Later this year, we will focus on developing the Fall Forum, the Annual Transportation, Bicycle and Pedestrian Symposium and Cycle Across Maryland or a new spring bicycle event.

Tour du Port is OLC's only fundraiser - we expect 2000 people to attend. Event registration is free to volunteers.
 

One Less Car Advocacy Task Force Update

Last week, Martin Harris, Maryland Department of Transportation State Legislative Officer, discussed useful tips and strategies with the OLC advocacy task force with a goal of increasing opportunities to win campaigns.

Some next steps are meeting with representatives, experienced lobbyists, police and other legislative liaisons to discuss 2010 bills. 

The task force decided that the following bills would be 2010 priorities: 

To learn more about these bills and other legislative initiatives click HERE.

The advocacy task force will meet:

The Maryland General Assembly meets in Annapolis each year for 90 days to act on more than 2300 bills including the State's annual budget. The General Assembly has 47 Senators and 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The 427th Maryland Legislative session is 90 days in length and starts January 12, 2010. Learn more.

 

What Motoring is doing to us in Maryland: First Annual Report Card 

Air:

Our region’s Air Pollution is among the worst in the Nation (Straight ‘F’s in Ozone pollution and nearly the same for dangerous fine particulates)
www.stateoftheair.org/2009/states/maryland/

Traffic:

Our region’s Traffic Congestion is our Nations second worst (Baltimore/Washington area drivers waste 62 hours and 42 gallons of gas, or about $1,700 out the window a year just sitting there. (That's on top of the average annual operating cost of over $8,000)
mobility.tamu.edu/ums/congestion_data/tables/national/table_1.pdf

Obesity:

Obesity is increasingly linked not only to poor diets and lack of exercise, but to the time spent sitting inside motor vehicles- take a look at this animated map - amazing!
www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Accidents:

Our region wins the absolute worst Traffic Accident Rate award in the country. This is truly breathtaking: We rank 192 and 193 out of 193 regions in crashes.
assets.bizjournals.com/cms_media/atlanta/pdf/2009_Drivers_Report.pdf

Deaths:

Speaking of crashes, Motor Vehicles are the Number One killer of our young ages 3-33, by far, in the USA. Our region ranks in the middle nationally. Perhaps because we're mostly sitting in traffic and hitting each other at lower speeds…..?
[Baltimore Spokes: Maryland ranks the 8th worst in pedestrian fatalities per capita and 6th worst in the percentage of traffic fatalities involving a pedestrian or cyclists.]
www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810936.PDF

Meanwhile, we build more roads and provide more parking… that’ll fix it.

Get INVOLVED and make a difference! 

Tour du Port - Register Now for Baltimore's Premier Bicycle Event 

To register CLICK HERE.

GET the early bird rate: $35 for pre-registered adults; $15 for children under 13.

The 16th annual Tour du Port (TdP), Baltimore’s Premier Bicycle Event, takes place October 4th, 2009. Bring your family and friends to experience the charm of Charm City. Join thousands of riders at Baltimore's Canton Waterfront Park to kick off the 2009 Tour du Port. Routes range from 12 miles to a new half century-50 mile ride! The route travels through twelve historic neighborhoods, waterfront areas and beautiful parks. This fully supported tour includes lunch, refreshments at rest stops, map and sag and a post-ride celebration at Tour's end. All fees go directly to advancing the programs and advocacy efforts of One Less Car, a non-profit dedicated to walking, bicycling and mass transit in Maryland.

OLC's sponsorship and advertising options are a significant & unique way to market your organization. The benefits are fantastic! Formalizing your sponsorship early allows us to maximize recognition of your company with marketing and public relations activities within and outside of the bicycling community. Click here to learn more.

Study Suggests Active Commuters Reap Health Benefits

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that adults who walk or bike to work are more physically fit than their counterparts who commute by other means, United Press International reports. Using data from 2,364 participants enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers and colleagues determined that 16.7 percent of the study participants engaged in some means of active commuting to get to their work place. After controlling for age, race, income, education and tobacco use, the researchers found that men who actively commuted to work were less likely to be obese and had lower relative body mass indexes, triglyceride levels, blood pressure, fasting insulin levels and cardiovascular disease risk than peers who did not actively commute to work. According to the data, fitness gains were observed in both men and women. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend that "active commuting be investigated as a modality for maintaining or improving health." (UPI, 7/13/09; Gordon-Larsen et al., Archives of Internal Medicine, 7/13/09 [subscription required]).

The Fall Forum - October 7, 2009

One Less Car is sponsoring the Second Fall Bicycle Forum on Wednesday October 7, 2009 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (JHAPL) at the intersection of Route #29 and Gorman Road in Laurel, Maryland. The Forum will take place from 6:00 to 9:00PM. Over 80 Bike Advocates/Planners/Elected Officials attended this well received Forum last year. Attend this Forum to find how to make and keep Maryland Bike Friendly. This is an important opportunity to inform leaders about your concerns and ideas!

Let us know what you think should be a 2010 legislative priority. We are expecting advocacy groups from many counties all over the state: Howard, Montgomery, Prince George, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, St. Mary, Baltimore City and Washington DC to attend and show/tell what they are doing in their areas. Additionally, we will discuss bike legislation for the 2010 Annapolis Session. Mark you calendars and plan to attend.

SUPPORT ONE LESS CAR THROUGH SPONSORSHIP AND DONATIONS - LEARN MORE. 


 

Comments (0)

Baltimore Spokes
https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20090721031002842