There's a lot being done statewide to make walking and biking in Vermont safer, more visible, respected and fun. Join your friends and colleagues inBurlington on Saturday, March 29th for the 2014 Vermont Walk/Bike Summit! The Summit will be held at the Burlington Hilton from 8:30am - 4:00pm.
Registration is $20 in advance ($30 at the door), and includes access to over ten dynamic presentations, interactive workshops, breakfast, a plated luncheon with an excellent keynote, and much more.
Click below to view the agenda, summit workshops, and to register! Learn More & Register
Air pollution is about as romantic as wilted flowers, chapped lips, and corked wine, so the record-setting smog that has settled over the City of Love in the past few days is definitely dampening the mood.
Unseasonably warm weather has triggered unprecedented air pollution levels in Paris. Over the weekend, the city responded by offering free public transportation and bike sharing. (Similar measures were taken throughout nearby Belguim, which also reduced speed limits.) But that wasn’t enough to fix the problem, so Paris and 22 surrounding areas are taking more extreme steps, banning nearly half of vehicles from their roads.
Private cars and motorcycles with even registration numbers will be barred from the streets on Monday. Unless the air quality improves quickly and dramatically, odd registration numbers will be banned from the roads on Tuesday. Electric vehicles and hybrids will be exempted, as will any cars carrying at least three people. About 700 police officers will be stationed at checkpoints, handing out $31 (€22) fines to violators.
Ecology Minister Philippe Martin said he understood the “difficulties, the irritation and even anger” over the move, adding: “But we just had to take this decision.”
Martin said similar measures in 1997 “had yielded results”, adding that he hoped that the number of vehicles on the roads would be “significantly lower” on Monday, without giving a figure.
Trains and buses will remain free while the car restrictions are in place, giving Parisians yet more public places where they can nuzzle and talk excitedly about government policies until the ugly smog burns off.
25 exhibitors, 22 speakers, 20 workshops, 500+ attendees and a good workout with our Expo Computrainer Challenge
This is going to be a very exiting and dynamic event and we hope you can join us.
Sign up today general admission tickets include access to all workshops and seated lunch, Computrainer Challenge registration bring your own bike, simulated course on high def big screen, 3 rounds throughout the day, prizes for top 3 men and top 3 women.
Due to the late wintry weather, we decided to postpone our outdoor demo and Fondo ride to next year. Already some requests for a 3 days weekend with a lot more outdoor activities for everyone. It will be later in the season, probably in May.
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From VBPC This past Thursday, March 13, the VT House of Representatives took a roll call vote on H.501. The result of the vote was 138 "yea" and 2 "nay" with 9 members absent. The VBPC is very encouraged by this strong showing of support in the House and attributes much of this to the email messages and phone calls made by bike/ped advocates to House reps. Thank you!
H.501 is a bill that will help law enforcement keep impaired drivers off Vermont's roadways because it eliminates the discrepancy between how drivers impaired by alcohol are treated vs. how drivers impaired by other drugs are treated.
Reps. Branagan of Georgia and Donahue of Northfield voted against the bill.
Please thank the reps you contacted who voted for the bill.
H.501 now must pass the Senate if it is to become law. Please stay tuned.
Thanks for responding to the VBPC's past action alerts!
From the Burlington Free Press After a daylong vote on Wednesday, bus drivers with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority unanimously declined a contract proposal — the CCTA management’s last best offer, the Teamsters Local 597 bus drivers’ union announced Wednesday night. “The Union and it’s membership are preparing to move forward with their strike action against CCTA,” Teamsters business agent Tony St. Hilaire wrote in a news release shortly before 9 p.m. Even though it was business-as-usual at work for drivers during the day, the drivers voted in between or after their shifts on the final contract proposal that had come out of a 19-hour negotiation session between CCTA management and the union this past weekend. The CCTA management and the union have been embroiled in contract negotiations since April 2013. Passengers on the College Street shuttle bus were quiet Wednesday afternoon as the bus driver navigated his way up and down a snowy, slick hill. As passengers got off the bus at each stop, they thanked the driver or said, “Great job,” before hopping down the steps.? Matt McGrath of the Vermont Workers’ Center said earlier in the day that he heard from various drivers that the proposal was similar to the one presented and rejected in February. McGrath said the management did not seem to budge much on issues important to the workers — discipline, shift lengths and part-time workers. “The sentiment, from folks that I’ve talked to, is that this is no different than any of the other offers that they’ve resoundingly rejected,” McGrath said. “It’s hard to see that they would not reject this as well.” CCTA General Manager Bill Watterson said earlier Wednesday that he could not comment on specific elements of the proposal until the vote was over “to avoid any perception that CCTA is attempting to impact the driver vote.” A solidarity meeting will be held at the University of Vermont at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Dudley H. Davis Center to discuss further ideas for showing support to bus drivers.
From the VBPC H.501, a bill that treats all impaired drivers alike, whether they are impaired by alcohol or other drugs, has cleared a major hurdle. It has been voted out by the House Judiciary Committee and now will be read three times before the full House. The readings will likely take place today and tomorrow. Now is the time to contact your House reps and urge them to support H.501. The vote will be a voice vote and the bill will pass if there are no objections. The bill will then will move to the Senate. This "crossover" must happen to all non-money bills prior to this Friday, March 14, or the bill is dead.
H.501 will help law enforcement keep impaired drivers off Vermont's roads, thus making Vermont's roads safer for vulnerable roadway users such as bicyclists and pedestrians. If you don't know who your reps are, go to www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/findMyMember.cfm
This bill has momentum. Let's keep it moving. Thanks.
, the Teamsters Local 597 bus drivers’ union announced Wednesday night.