C y c l e * D a l l a s: You are on notice.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

You are on notice.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments’ (NCTCOG) newly restructured Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) is set to hold its first meeting on June 17, 2009 from 3:15 pm to 4:30 pm in the Transportation Council Room at the NCTCOG offices. I apologize for the inactivity of the BPAC in recent months, but with the emergence of many new bicycle and pedestrian projects, our goal is to become a more active body within the region. We are planning to hold three BPAC meetings for the year 2009; the dates for the last two meetings of the year will be announced at the BPAC meeting on June 17.

Representing the BPAC as Chair for the 2009 term will be Don Koski. He is a Senior Planner with the City of Fort Worth Transportation and Public Works Department, and is the principal planner for Bike Fort Worth, the City’s updated comprehensive bicycle transportation plan. Fulfilling the role of Vice Chair for the BPAC 2009 term is Ms. Renée Burke Jordan. Renée is the Trail System Planner for the City of Plano’s Parks and Recreation Department, and the planner responsible for the 2009 update to the City’s Bicycle Transportation Plan.
The agenda for this meeting will include a review of the restructuring of the BPAC, an update on the 2009 Sustainable Development Call for Projects funding program, status of the Regional Veloweb updates, and an update on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG). We are also designating time for presentations on bicycle and pedestrian initiatives and/or projects occurring throughout the region. For this meeting we will focus on the Cities of Fort Worth and Plano. Future meetings will include presentations on bicycle and pedestrian projects from other Cities.

In addition, NCTCOG is offering a FREE webinar hosted by Peter Lagerway on Bicycle Master Plans before the meeting from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, also in the Transportation Council Room. Come early and learn the step-by-step process of how to create and implement a successful bicycle master plan in your city. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

To RSVP for the meeting and webinar, please respond to this e-mail by June 12, 2009.

A map to the NCTCOG offices can be found here.

Deborah Humphreys

Transportation Planner | Bicycle and Pedestrian Program

North Central Texas Council of Governments

616 Six Flags Drive | Arlington, TX 76011

Direct: (817) 608-2394

Fax: (817) 640-3028

dhumphreys@nctcog.org

These are public meetings. Everyone is invited.

5 comments:

velociped said...: "...newly restructured Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)" is a misnomer ...and misleading. This is an entirely new committee, replacing the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Task Force (BPTTF). Of the latter I have (had?) been a member for over a decade. This new committee is likely to be nothing more than an ego stroking, affirmation entity designed to showcase local projects built with State and Federal tax dollars.

The BPTTF was an open consortium of representatives from transportation, county, municipal and "interested parties (advocacy groups and individual advocates) - each with an equal vote. This new advisory panel will provide official status and franchise only to the governmental representatives and four, so-called "Regional Focus Groups". The latter quartet is comprised of Texas Bicycle Coalition, Texas Trails Network, BikeDFW and TCEQ. Any other "interested parties" are free to attend, but have only commentary input.

Glaringly obvious is the fact that only two of the Regional Focus Groups could be construed as having any representation of transportation cycling (only then if one squints really hard and crosses one's fingers). Recent support for specious legislation gives pause for one to seriously question the legitimacy of TBC and BikeDFW as representing vehicular cyclists.

Oh, did I mention that both the BPTTF and the BPAC are supposed to be advisory groups to the Regional Transportaion Council (RTC)? How can a trail group advise the RTC regarding the use of a bicycle as a vehicle and support thereof? Worse yet, how can an air quality sentinel provide useful input? While the opinions of the latter do have weight regarding transportation in general and they do have a place at the RTC table, giving them voice through the filter of a bicycle and pedestrian sub-group is ridiculous.

I plan to attend this meeting, if only to hold the new group accountable to the spirit of their supposed mandate and the legacy of their predecessor. Any useful insights and warnings will be forthcoming in a review.; 10:01 AM
Steve A said...: That's a Wednesday, right? I think I have some vacation time accumulated. I'm still waiting for that Traffic 101 course to start that I paid BikeDFW for...; 7:14 PM
PM Summer said...: Give 'em my regards.; 9:13 PM
Steve A said...: Just seen over at "Bike Friendly Oak Cliff:"

http://www.nctcog.org/trans/sustdev/bikeped/

Interesting document, if somewhat lacking in specifics. It makes me feel a little squeamish, I must admit...; 11:11 PM
velociped said...: Not sure I follow your meaning, Steve. The link you provided leads to the NCTCOG Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation page. What aspect made you squeamish?

What I find intriguing is the apparent pride in showing those BTW Day totals. Of that 616 miles traveled by bicycle, a little over 36 were logged by me. If one divides the total by my average, daily, round trip distance, there were only seventeen bicycle commuters in North Texas who logged their commute mileage. Assume a more likely, but still liberal, average trip distance of six miles each way and the number jumps to fifty. Pretty respectable, if it is true.

Of course, as we have already discussed in another thread, that logging system does not provide for mixed mode travel. How many of those cyclists took a train, bus or personal car for part of their trip?; 10:13 PM