Funding Our City's Conservation Efforts (BIKES!) (10. June 2009, 19:34 by Derek Young) ~ Are We There Yet?
In today’s Environment and Public Works Committee meeting we heard from the Sustainable Tacoma Commission and the “much heralded and anticipated” Sustainability Manager, Kristi Lynette, about the proposed projects that would be funded using an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant provided by the federal government.
These formula grants are provided to municipalities to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy use, and reduce fossil fuel emissions in their communities. The City of Tacoma’s portion of the $2.7 billion comes out to $1.947 million. So … how do we use it?
The Sustainable Tacoma Commission came up with four broad categories: Energy Conservation Retrofits, Transportation Demand Management Programs, Increase Recycling Efforts, and Business Education & Technical Assistance. City staff then looked toward the opportunities already identified and found those projects that met the overarching categories.
While some of you may be excited by the potential for an HVAC Replacement at Fire Station One ($250k) or the changing of traffic signals and street lighting to LED technologies ($200k), it’s the bike stuff that gets us most excited. Under a heading of Going for the Bronze as a Bike Friendly City is a line item for $500k. The money would be spent to implement the mobility master plan set to be finalized in June 2010 – think bike lanes, road diets, and the creation of a generally more pedestrian friendly environment. Plus, 20% of the budget is set aside for education and encouragement programs meant to reduce the potential tension between the folks in cars and the folks on bikes.
Some in the room wondered why we’re aiming for Bronze. Go for the Gold! Well, it starts by implementing Bronze. Then Silver. Then Gold. We have to start somewhere.
(If someone would like to explain the nuances of the designations – go for it in the comments.)
Here we go?
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This sounds like good news! Maybe this Kristi gal will pay off, eh?
1 | Posted by Jesse | Jun 11, 06:36 AM
As a year-round bike commuter, this makes me smile. I do have to say that I’ve never seen as many bikes on the roads as I have this summer. Further proof that more bike friendly efforts could be a real tipping point.
2 | Posted by Tom Llewellyn | Jun 11, 06:44 AM
Good news all around – there was a large menu of projects to choose from, and this seems like a great starting point. Although after the last posting on this position’s portion of Tacoma’s sustainability work, I’m wondering how long it will be before someone notices that “Bikes!” got a lot of money and Ms. Lynett headed home on hers after the meeting (there must be a conspiracy there somewhere!)
I see that Washington is the #1 state in the country according to the League of American Bicylists, who dole out the “Bronze” rating we’re aiming for (to begin). But forget about Gold (Seattle is already there) – Washington doesn’t have a top-rated Platinum designation yet…
Here’s a link: www.bikeleague.org/p…
3 | Posted by Happy Taco Man | Jun 11, 09:17 AM
To achieve “Bike Friendly” status a jurisdiction must address the five Es for bicycling: Education, Engineering, Evaluation, Enforcement and Encouragment. Cities need to demonstrate marked achievement and improvement in these categories to move up the scale of precious metals. It will be a celebratory day for Tacoma when we first receive Bike Friendly recognition and platinum is a healthy dream.
4 | Posted by Diane | Jun 11, 01:18 PM
To achieve the bronze medal we would need better roads (no potholes), more bike lines and no cars at Point Defiance Park 5 miles loop.
5 | Posted by Olvido | Jun 11, 02:43 PM
I’ve been commuting by bike year-round since I moved to Tacoma in 2007. It is true, I’ve seen a big increase of cyclers this summer. This is exciting new for all in the cycling community.
Im curious as to what the rest of the grant is earmarked for.
When deciding which roads to establish biking lanes on, I hope whoever considers factors, such as lighting and incline. Visibility, yeah!
7 | Posted by dawntown | Jun 16, 03:48 AM
Am I the only person that thinks this is a waste of funds and effort? I’ve never put this in writing before, but let me try: Bicycling is currently in distant last place in the list of how people commute to work. We live in a really hilly city. It kind of rains a lot. Not to mention that bike commuting requires a state of physical fitness that not all of us possess. And then you get sweaty/rained on on your way to work, requiring you to have a change of clothes. Our roads are already built for cars, and retrofitting them to make them safe for bikes is really expensive. I’m not saying this is how it SHOULD be, but this is how it is. I’m proud of Tom and dawntown and others who say they bike commute. But efforts at increasing bike commuting are never going to serve more than a tiny fraction of this city’s residents. If we want to decrease fossil fuels, we could serve way, way more people by expanding the light rail lines and making bus service free. In terms of the social justice aspect of this proposal, supporting bike commuting at the exclusion of mass transit is downright exclusionary. Anyone pickin up what I’m puttin down?
When I was in Santa Cruz, either the university or the city had a subsidy program for electric bicycle retrofit kits that provided assistance on hills. It was a very cool deal and literally hundreds of people participated, you’d see bikes with the kit zipping all over. At $120/kit, subsidizing half the price with a pledge to bike to work twice a week would be well worth it.
9 | Posted by Squid | Jun 17, 01:57 PM
I’m not sure what “place” bicycling is in as far as commuting, but this is not just about commuting. And it is certainly not just about commuting year round. There is that tiny fraction of people (0.5%?) who will always bike commute, but most of the rest of us may use it as an option when/if it is convenient, safe, and encouraged. For some this is going to work, the grocery store, the park, friend’s house, church, etc.
This does not mean mass transit can or should be excluded. Actually, I’d love to see a free bus zone or shuttle loop in downtown to help people move up or down the hills. If we can encourage split-mode trips (bike-train, walk-bus, even car-bike) we will make big strides. For this reason any planning efforts should consider how these interact. Lucky for us, the City has someone focused on all of these together.
As far as the money goes, $100,000 can go a lot further towards making facilities bike/ped friendly than adding transit. The upkeep on that stripe of paint is a lot less than on that bus too.
Riding a bike at 20+ mph does require a certain level of fitness, but is not what everyone should be striving for. Riding a bike at 8-10mph can be done by almost anyone – including an overweight co-worker who rode ~5 miles to work on nice days here in Tacoma.
10 | Posted by DavidS | Jun 18, 06:51 AM
Forgot to mention Seattle’s Bicycle Advisory Board in response to #6. They have been critical in helping Seattle create a bike friendly city since they were created in 1977. Seeing that it’s taken 32 years of government recognized advocacy to move Seattle to where it’s at today, we’ve got some catching up to do.
Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board link
11 | Posted by DavidS | Jun 18, 07:01 AM
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