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2005 |
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Big Bucks. Big Challenges, Too Safe Routes to School Wins Federal Funding Durbin's 'Conserve By Bike' Will Convert Car Trips to Bike Biking Builds Relationship with Ward for New Generation of Aldermen Record Turnout for Chicagoland Commuter Challenge Gala Art Show a 'Gallery in Action' Miles and Miles of Fun, Every Sunday |
‘Conserve By Bike’ Will Convert Car Trips to Bike There’s at least one good conservation program in the new federal energy bill: Conserve by Bike. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois developed the program with the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and successfully guided it through a tumultuous four-year legislative process. Conserve by Bike provides $5.2 million to 10 pilot programs throughout the U.S. to use education and marketing to convert car trips to bike trips and document the results. The program also provides funding for National Academy of Sciences Research based on the pilot programs. The research must: • document the results or progress of the pilot projects • determine the type and duration of motor vehicle trips that people in the United States may feasibly make by bicycle, taking into consideration factors such as weather, land use and traffic patterns, the carrying capacity of bicycles, and bicycle infrastructure; • determine any energy savings that would result from the conversion of motor vehicle trips to bicycle trips;• include a cost-benefit analysis of bicycle infrastructure investments; and • include a description of any factors that would encourage more motor vehicle trips to be replaced with bicycle trips. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is excited about the possibilities for a Chicago area pilot program and working to make Conserve by Bike a success of which Sen. Durbin and the whole country can be proud. Randy Neufeld is chief strategy officer of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and director of the Healthy Streets Campaign
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