Thursday, March 18, 1999

Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Jesse Ferraro, Tim Garry, Landon Hilliard, Theresa Johnson, Tom Powell, Russ Rickert, Carole Wheeldon, David Young, Kip Thomas (Police Dept.)

Staff present: Maria Harris

I. CALL TO ORDER

Tim Garry called the meeting to order at 5:08p.m.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 18, 1998

Garry said his name is misspelled. Minutes were stated approved as corrected.

III. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

Bicycle/Pedestrian/Transit Commute Day

Hilliard summarized what was done last year on Ashland Free Ride Day. He said it was difficult to quantify participation in the event. Garry said it is important to quantify. Hilliard described the Pledge Not to Drive Campaign from last year. He asked if the effort that was put into it worth it. He and Ken put a lot of work into it, and he said he wasn't sure if there was a noticeable difference. Ferraro asked how long the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission has been doing the event. Rickert said it was before he got on the Commission. Rickert said the level of effort put into the event depends on what results are expected. He said he didn't think a muffin and coffee is going to get people out of their cars. Powell said he think it is important to promote nonautomotive forms of transportation. Rickert said he thinks each time Bike to Work Day is done there is an incremental improvement. However, Rickert said he believes that there will be basically the same level of participation whether there is a basic amount of work put into the day, or a massive amount of time, energy and resources used toward the event. Powell said he thinks the Pledge Not to Drive idea is good.

Garry asked if the Commission should do more than one day, and if RVTD would run the buss for free for a week. Hilliard said he didn't think RVTD would be willing to do it for a week. Young said we need to answer, "Why are we doing this?" He said he thinks the breakfast stop should be eliminated - he said he knew people last year who drove with their bikes on their cars and then rode their bikes from their parked cars to the stops. Young said he thinks the focus should be on education and consciousness raising. Rickert said in the past, they had participants fill out a survey and everyone who filled out a survey was entered into a raffle.

The commissioners went around the table and listed off the reasons why the Bike/Walk to Work Day is done.

• •To get a few more people out biking/walking.
• •To raise awareness, develop camaraderie.
• •For exposure, publicity.
• •It is an event to highlight biking/walking.
• •To gather information. In the past, participants gave commissioners at stops info about problems around town.
• •To give people a nudge.
• •To create global awareness.

Harris asked the Commission to take a step back and think about all the options that are available for doing the above. She said there is an immediate assumption that Bike/Walk to Work Day is the way it should be done, and then put all of the resources towards that one event. Rickert said the day was never intended to have a huge effect. It was more like Darrell Gee and himself putting in a couple of hours. Rickert said he believed they had the same participation results putting a limited amount of time and resources into it as last year when a great deal of time and resources were spent. Hilliard said it is hard to measure home many people were affected last year. Harris handed out a budget for the event last year. She said approximately $1,400 was spent on advertisements, postage, poster layout and materials. Staff time for the Pledge letter preparation, mailing and logging responses in was not tracked.

Garry said he thought there was consensus on three issues. First, that the day/event should be continued. Second, the expectations should be realistic. Third, it should be done cheaper. Young said he wasn't sure there is a consensus. Garry corrected himself and said there is a growing consensus. Young said the Commission never has stepped back and talked about if the day should be done. Wheeldon said there is a sense of urgency because the event is in May. Hilliard said Julie Brown at RVTD is doing a "Try Transit Week" for May 10-14. He added that Thursday is the best day for free bus rides. Harris said she checked the League of American Bicyclists web page and it says Bike to Work Day is May 21. Young asked Hilliard what he needed? Young said he assumes Hilliard is going to be the point person. Hilliard asked who else would be in the group working on it

Young said he liked the idea of a letter to the editor writing campaign suggested by Carole. Garry suggested printing one advertisement after the event, and printing names of participants in it. Then it could be tied into participants filling out a survey and entering raffle. Ferraro said he liked the idea of a questionnaire. Rickert suggested having a map of the bike path and greenway. And also info about bike lanes on Siskiyou. Wheeldon suggested having a petition for Siskiyou bike lane redesign. Young said the natural allies should be the bike shops. Wheeldon asked if for the next meeting, if the commissioners could bring a letter to the editor, and then they can be sent in as packets. Wheeldon, Hilliard and Garry agreed to work on preparation. Wheeldon suggested that the group could come up with a task list and delegate at the April meeting.

Group Organization/Goal Setting

Wheeldon said she is in favor of mapping out what the Commission will do for the next year. She said the mission needs to be kept visible. Johnson said she would like to have a place where people can go to work on bikes. Garry described the shop opened by the Green Bike Program in the bottom of the Old Armory. Rickert said Johnson's not doing about the co-op bike shop shows there needs to be an info source out and around town - just a one page flyer. Hilliard said that might be accomplished by a column in the Tidings as discussed by Garry. Young said the Commission should be affiliating with other groups. Rickert suggested printing a simple handout and distributing at bike shops. Hilliard said their really needs to be a bike map of Ashland. Young said the group needs to forge relations hip with bike shops. Harris suggested that she would write all of these ideas on big sheets of paper, and the Commission could chose goals at the next meeting.

IV. COMMENTS: Commission or Spectators.

There were no comments.

VI. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.