AUGUST 2009 - WEEK 2 - ONE LESS CAR (OLC) UPDATE

One Less > Car

AUGUST 2009 - WEEK 2 - ONE LESS CAR (OLC) UPDATE

--Tour du Port Registration - Get the early registration rate!
--OLC Advocacy Task Force Meeting This Thursday
--Volunteer Event Party Thursday August 20th
--Separating Myth From Fact on “Cash for Clunkers”
--Matching Funds - Double the Benefit


TOUR DU PORT - REGISTER NOW - reduced rate until Aug. 15th!

Register here: http://onelesscar.org/page.php?id=156
Tour du Port – October 4th 2009 – Baltimore's Premier Bicycle Event. Join thousands of riders at Baltimore's Canton Waterfront Park to kick off the 16th Annual Tour du Port! Routes range from a 12 mile ride to a new half Century, 50 mile ride! The Tour route travels through many historic neighborhoods, waterfront areas and parks. This fully supported Tour includes lunch, refreshments at rest stops, map, SAG and a post-ride celebration at the Tour's end. Tour is One Less Car’s annual fundraiser - all fees go directly to advancing the programs and advocacy efforts of One Less Car, a non-profit organization dedicated to walking, bicycling and mass transit in Maryland.

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


Advocacy Meeting- Do You Want Increased Bicycle Safety and Additional Commuter Choices?

Learn more at this Thursday's One Less Car Advocacy Task Force Meeting

Meeting date: August 13th, 2009 Thursday
Time: 6:00PM (meeting will last approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours)
Location: Maryland Department of Transportation, 7201 Corporate Center Drive, Hanover, MD 21076.
To join the conversation via teleconference - call 410-865-1020
Please rsvp.

Local advocacy experts expanded on the legislative process at the last task force meeting. Now it's time to organize meetings with legislative representatives, police and governmental leaders and other organizations to form partnerships and achieve a successful legislative session. Please join us. We may have a surprise speaker - to be announced later on the website.  The task force meets before and during the legislative session to develop a time-line, clearly define and assign tasks, prioritize legislative matters, strategize and more. 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.

One Less Car sponsors the Second Fall Bicycle Forum on Wednesday October 7, 2009. If interested in participating/volunteering at the Fall Forum please attend the Volunteer party (announced above), the Advocacy Task Force meeting or contact us.
The Forum will take place on October 7, 2009 from 6:00 to 9:00PM.
Fall Forum Event Location: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (JHAPL) at the intersection of Route #29 and Gorman Road in Laurel, Maryland.

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.


We are Having an Event Planning Part -  August 20th - You're Invited!

Have some pizza, meet new friends and volunteer for Tour du Port - One Less Car's annual fundraiser! We have fliers to distribute - please attend and take some. Our last volunteer event planning meeting was a huge success! If you like social networking we would like your assistance. How about contributing to our community outreach and marketing efforts. Can you help us recruit additional volunteers for the day of the Tour du Port? Thursday's meeting will focus on the upcoming Tour du Port bicycle event.

Date: Thursday August 20th
Time: 6:30PM
Location: The Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation; 3904 Hickory Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 Click for directions.
Food: Pizza and drinks and more

Please RSVP to Chantel Jackson.
Later this year, we will focus on developing 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. 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.


Separating Myth From Fact on “Cash for Clunkers”

As debate rages on in the Capital over whether to keep assisting the auto industry by giving out more "cash for clunkers" rebates, two assertions are becoming commonplace: the program is helping diminish U.S. oil consumption, and the program is not paid for with new money. 

This program has been wildly popular, with 250,000 clunker trades in the first week and last-minute action from Congress to fund another 500,000 trades. The program's primary purpose is economic stimulus but, according to figures released by the Department of Transportation last week, it's had real fuel-efficiency benefits, as well:

-- The average fuel efficiency of trade-ins was 15.8 mpg.
-- The average fuel efficiency of new vehicles purchased was 25.4 mpg.
-- 83 percent of the trade-ins were trucks.
-- 60 percent of the new vehicles purchased were cars.

"It has proved to be a highly successful vehicle marketing tool," said Tim Evans, energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. "But you would need a microscope to see the demand impact for gasoline from this program because it involves a relatively small number of vehicles."

But the DoE loans in question were approved to encourage the development of alternative energy and bio fuels, two "green job" creators that have influential allies on Capitol Hill. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is already criticizing the shift as a raid on the clean-energy pot, and Renewable Fuels Association chief Bob Dineen said he wants Congress to promptly put the $2 billion back home at the DoE.

If you're curious about how much money you'd save by trading up to a more energy-efficient vehicle, check out our Cash for Clunkers calculator, which gives you the answer in gallons of gas, carbon emissions, and cash.

Read more.  Or, you can listen to the story on NPR's All Things Considered.

Photo Credit: http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/


Matching Funds - Double the Benefit!

Due to a generous donation from a local bicycle advocate, the next $4,000 in donations will be matched!  Please consider a contribution now as it will be doubled.  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 stewards.

Please support One Less Car - LEARN MORE.



 

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