Back to School with METRO

We’re living the last golden days of a glorious summer.  Before you – or the kids – head back to school, take advantage of one day to try a different mode to get your usual destination(s)!

And please take 30 seconds to  Sign in Here for Green Streets Day – Friday, August 27th.  Sign in now (and every month!) if you plan to walk, bike, take public transit, carpool, and/or telecommute this Green Streets Day.

For special treats for Green Streets Day participants, visit our Green Streets Freebies & Discounts page for offers of free food and drink and various area discounts that day.

Livable Communities for Maine

Greater Portland’s streets need to accommodate all users, not just the automobile, and there’s a bill going through Congress – the Livable Communities Act – that would make sure that happens.

The Livable Communities Act (S. 1619) would ensure that communities working for greener streets can get help from multiple government agencies to build them – e.g. setting up grant programs for bike-pedestrian friendly construction projects. By building streets for all transportation users and enhancing the homes and businesses that line them, the bill helps small businesses, preserves natural land on city fringes, and cuts down on transportation costs and carbon emissions for families in Portland, around Maine and throughout the nation.

But in order to pass, the Livable Communities Act needs your help.  Before Labor Day, please send a letter or call Senators Collins and Snowe – you can help the Livable Communities Act get passed!

• Senator Snowe, Portland State Office: 3 Canal Plaza, Suite 601, Portland, ME 04101; Tel: (207) 874-0883; Fax: (207) 874-7631

• Senator Collins, Portland State Office: One Canal Plaza, Suite 802, Portland, ME 04101; Tel: (207) 780-3575

Read more about the bill and see a sample letter for talking points – you don’t have to be an expert, just share from your personal experience and make your voice heard!

As always, please check out the Portland Green Streets Calendar for exciting upcoming transportation-related events in Greater Portland.

Back to School Specials from METRO

College Students:

Ride FREE with ID from participating colleges August 23 – September 30, 2010. (After September, several colleges continue to offer FREE or discounted transportation.)

Discounted Student Fares (K-12): Beginning in September through mid-June 2011, students can ride METRO buses for 75 cents (regular student fare is $1.25) using a METRO Student Fare Card, available at participating schools in Portland, Westbrook and Falmouth.

For a list of participating schools/colleges, schedules and additional information, visit www.gpmetrobus.com (Services and Programs) or call 774-0351.

REGISTER NOW – Sept 4 – Smart Cycling Basic Course

The League of American Bicyclists’ basic road riding class (Smart Cycling’s Basic Course) will be offered on September 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. To register, please e-mail Jim Tasse, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s education director, or call him at 623-4511.

DUE BY Sept 20 – Healthy Portland and Healthy Casco Bay Grants for Active Transportation and Physical Activity

Two great mini-grant opportunities for non-profits, schools, and municipalities in Portland, Cumberland, Chebeague Island, Falmouth, Freeport, Gray, Long Island, New Gloucester, North Yarmouth, Pownal, and Yarmouth.  Check out the Physical Activity (Active Transportation) Mini-Grant and the  Initiatives for Healthy Living Mini-Grant (also includes physical activity).

October 6/Full Month of October – International Walk & Bike to School Day & Month

Join kids and families around the globe to walk and bike to school in October! In the USA, celebrate Walk and Bike to School Day on October 6, 2010 – or pick another day this fall that works best for your school to celebrate. And promote safe walking and bicycling throughout the year!  Find out how to organize an event, register and order materials, and get other technical assistance from the Maine Safe Routes to School Program. See some inspiration from schools around the state last spring.

Attention Professional/Amateur Photographers: The Bicycle Coalition of Maine Needs Your Help

The Bicycle Coalition still needs a few more bicycling photos for the redesign of their Web site.  One of the photographers whose work is selected will receive a $100 gift certificate to a member bike shop.  They need photos of  someone riding with traffic in a Maine city at night, a 40-something female commuter in professional clothes riding through traffic, a 20-something woman wearing a sundress and flip flops or leggings and kids doing BMX-type tricks.  Find out more.

Call 511 for Transportation Info

Now it’s easier than ever to find the transportation help you need, thanks to the newly launched 511 services. Whether you’re stuck in traffic in your carpool and need an alternative route – or want to find a bus that’ll take you where you need to go – 511 has the help you need. 511 is an automated toll-free phone line and internet service that provides 24/7 on-demand updates on Maine traffic, transit routing, park and ride lots and more. Just dial 511 from a cell phone or landline. You’ll automatically be connected with 511 service in the area where you’re traveling.  Choose from voice-responsive prompts or, if you prefer, just tell 511 what you want to know, like “traffic on I-295″ or “find a park & ride lot.”  511 will get you the answers you need or guide you to the right resource. Prefer to get your transportation information online? Visit 511 on the web at www.511maine.gov where in addition to traffic, bus/rail, you can also access driving directions, interactive maps of real time traffic conditions, toll-road information and more. It’s interactive and easy to navigate.

Employers – Check Out METRO’s Bus Incentive Program for Employees

The METRO Bus is introducing an incentive program that encourages Maine employees to choose transit instead of driving to work.  They are offering employers fully or partially subsidized monthly passes to their employees.   By not driving, you can save hundreds of dollars per year…extra money that you can use for mortgage payments, college tuition, vacations, or anything you want. Whether you have five employees or over 5,000 employees, it just makes good business sense to participate.  This transit benefit not only encourages employees to use public transit to commute to work, it also reduces the need for available employee parking and helps reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Now there are incentives to make participating in METRO’s plan an even better deal for employers and their employees.

• Tax Savings
• Promote “Green” Transportation
• Save $$
• Free up valuable parking spaces

Next Sunday, August 8, from 12-3pm the 2010 Back Cove Block Party takes place right on Baxter Boulevard and Back Cove.  Baxter Boulevard will be closed to auto traffic from Vannah Avenue to Payson Park.

Hosted by the City of Portland and the Back Cove Neighborhood Association, the Back Cove Block Party is an opportunity for people to enjoy three hours of car-free quiet and:

• Walk or jog
• Bike or rollerblade
• Picnic or meet neighbors
• Loaf and linger

The BCNA, set up near the Vannah Avenue intersection, is providing provide free refreshments, but everyone is invited to bring a picnic lunch or dessert to share.  Some are calling it “the city’s biggest potluck.”

To help out, or for more information, contact John Spritz, 773-0872,
jspritz@maine.rr.com. Tell your friends and neighbors: they’re shutting down
the Boulevard for you to enjoy!

This in from Summer 2010 Green Streets intern, Michelle Boisvert:

“Munjfest [the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood festival that this year celebrated the bicycle] was a blast! Green Streets, the Portland Bike Commuter Meetup, and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM) teamed up to offer alternative transportation and bicycling advice, free bike tune ups, Green Street T-shirt stenciling, and a plethora of information about what each group is up to. Thanks to Jim Tasse from BCM, who brought a bike stand and equipment to provide the tune-ups – they were in high demand! Thanks, too, to Green Streets volunteers Maryann Welsch, Kevin Donoghue, and Jake Hoffman for helping out at the table! We met a lot of great people and printed a lot of Green Streets shirts. They’ll look great out on the street this Friday. One Green Streeter said she planned to wear her Green Street shirt on the days that she walks to her elementary school.”

Please take 30 seconds to  Sign in Here for Green Streets Day – Friday, July 30th.  Sign in now (and every month!) if you plan to walk, bike, take public transit, carpool, and/or telecommute this Green Streets Day.

For special treats for Green Streets Day participants, visit our Green Streets Freebies & Discounts page for offers of free food and drink and various area discounts that day.

The City of Portland, Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) and the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) are hosting a public meeting this Wednesday, July 28 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, at the East End Community Center (195 North Street, Portland) to discuss two (2) specific topics:

1. 5:30 – 6:45pm -  To receive feedback on the Scope of Work for the Franklin Street Phase II Study
2. 7:00 – 8:30pm – Discussion of Exit 7 improvements and the evaluation steps needed to ensure that a bike/pedestrian connection at Marginal Way to Back Cove will be created safely

Phase II of Franklin Street and Exit 7 Bike-Ped Connections (a fully implemented pedestrian connection the City has requested be built between the Back Cove Trail and the intersection of Marginal Way and Franklin St. – when MaineDOT uses a federal earmark to widen the I-295 south-bound Franklin St. exit to two lanes) are important topics to speak up about – so come on out and pass the word to others you think might be interested.

To RSVP and ensure adequate space please call or email Melissa Graffam of the City’s Public Services Department at 874-8823 or mag@portlandmaine.gov.

Franklin Street Study – Phase II

All parties invite your review and comment on this Proposed Scope of Work for the Franklin Street Phase II Feasibility Study in advance of the meeting.   Send any comments to the Co- Chair of the original Phase I Study Advisory Group, Markos Miller at markosmiller@hotmail.com.

The Phase II Study Scope outlines the process by which the Franklin Study Committee’s work will be moved forward. The Study will carefully evaluate the three (3) preliminary alternative design concepts the committee identified to address challenges and opportunities for the Franklin Street corridor. The goal of the Study, which includes a broad and comprehensive public input process, is to make a recommendation on which concept should be implemented. The three (3) alternatives are:

1. Multi-way Boulevard with four through lanes in center and two side access lanes providing parking and bicycle use;
2. Urban Street with bicycle lanes and parallel parking; and
3. Urban Parkway with landscaped median limited parking and parallel bicycle path.

In addition to the three (3) build alternatives described above other improvements such as intersection roundabouts, restoring side street connectivity and transit, was identified by the committee as needing further study in Phase II.  At next week’s meeting, officials from the City of Portland, MeDOT and PACTS will present background about the goals and objectives of the Phase II Study, answer your questions and hear suggestions on anything that may have been missed.

I-295 Exit 7 Expansion & Bike-Ped Connection

Part two of the meeting will focus on I -295 Improvements at Exit 7 and the Pedestrian Safety Evaluation Process. A briefing will be provided on what the Exit 7 improvements will include and the steps needed to provide a safe bike/pedestrian connection to Back Cove Trail from Marginal Way. Program managers from MaineDOT will be on hand to present and answer questions about this improvements project.

Please note: Members of the Portland Bike-Ped Advisory Committee and the League of Young Voters set up a Yahoo Group to facilitate work on the Exit 7 Bike-Ped Path issue.  This July 28 Public Meeting is in part due to public advocacy from the bike-ped community!  Other folks who want to work on or hear directly about this are encouraged to subscribe to the group by e-mailing Exit7BikePedPath-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I’ve been hired by Portland Green Streets to make improvements to the Green Streets incentives program (the freebies and discounts offered to folks who participate in Green Streets Day).  This project has been funded by a Community Putting Prevention to Work grant through Healthy Portland.  Our goal is to develop improvements to the incentive program to make being a Green Streeter easier, more convenient, and more attractive to more people.  We’re aiming to see a 15% increase in participation as a result of the incentive program improvements.  Here are some of the things we’ve been up to:

First, we are working with our local business sponsors to document usage of the incentives program and Green Streets participation.  Thank you to all of our business sponsors who are helping out to make this project possible.  We couldn’t do this without their generous support!

Another way we will be guiding the incentive program is through feedback from our business sponsors.  We have distributed a survey to assess what works and what doesn’t.  This will guide the actions we take to make the incentive program work better for both our business sponsors and you, their Green Streeting customers.  Again, a HUGE thank you goes out to the fabulous businesses in the Greater Portland area who’ve contributed their valuable feedback.

We’ll also soon be surveying Green Street participants for your feedback on the incentive program.  We want to understand if the incentive program works for you, what you love about it, what could improve, and what other kind of incentives motivate you to try new modes of transportation.  Your feedback will inform how we move forward in improvements to Portland Green Streets.

Some of the improvements we’re currently working to implement include:

• production and distribution of a “This is a Green Street business” decal to boost visibility for Green Streets Day and the support of our business sponsors.  The decals will be placed in the windows of businesses that provide incentives to Green Streeters.
• production and distribution of a Green Streets membership card for participants to present on Green Streets Day — to make accessing incentives a more convenient experience for both participants and business staff.
• featuring “Green Streets Business Profiles” in our monthly newsletter and on our website — these would feature pictures and descriptions of supporting businesses and would advertise the incentives they offer on Green Streets Days.

Don’t forget to be on the lookout for our Green Street participants’ survey!  And I’ll see you this Friday on the streets for Green Streets Day!

Michelle

Green Streeter & Bike Coalition rep Jim Tasse does bike checks at Munjfest 2010

Portland Green Streets Calendar

As always, please check out the Portland Green Streets Calendar for exciting upcoming transportation-related events in Greater Portland.

Ride the Bus, Borrow a Book – Youth Escape this Summer to Local Public Library

Children and teens, ages 18 and younger, receive a FREE ride ticket to ride METRO or South Portland City Bus (www.southportland.org) when they borrow a book from participating libraries in Portland, South Portland, Westbrook and Falmouth during July and August.  For more information, visit www.gpmetrobus.com

Bike Commuter Education Program on the Move

The Bike Commuter Education Program, a joint effort of GO MAINE, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and MaineDOT, is off and running. Or should we say off and riding? And they can come to your workplace too.

The new bike commuter program is designed to assist businesses that want to promote cycling within their organization and help the cyclists who want to commute by bike, and it’s all FREE.

To support businesses, the program offers guidance on creating a bicycle friendly culture in an organization, understanding the needs of a cyclist who rides to and from work, and outlining what facilities a cyclist would typically want at the workplace. While having all the facilities like showers and lockers is nice, it’s not a deal breaker. When an organization understands the cyclist’s perspective, many different options are possible. This program offers that type of guidance to businesses.

To support the cyclist, the program offers on-site training seminars by qualified cycling instructors. These sessions are adapted to the time available to employees during the day or scheduled after hours, at the business’ and employees’ convenience. Through these, existing or would-be cyclists can learn the realities of cycling to and from work and the hard skills that go with it. Topics include setting realistic goals, managing a work out on your way to work, bikes and other equipment, riding techniques, route selection, night riding, and general traffic safety. These classes are taught by instructors who speak from experience and are trained in safe cycling practices. Classes are for novice to intermediate cyclists of all ages.

For more information about the program and to schedule a visit to your place of business, please contact Erik West at ewest@gpcog.org or at 207-774-9891.

Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MaST) has Launched New Website

The Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MaST) – of which Portland Green Streets is a member – has officially launched our new website! MaST was spearheaded by the League and has some great groups working to increase access to affordable, reliable and sustainable transportation option.  Check MaST out and find out how you can get involved!

Maine Lighthouse Ride to Benefit Eastern Trail Alliance

September 11, Southern Maine Community College, South Portland – Come take in the view, tour a lighthouse, and cycle to support the Eastern Trail Alliance, an organization dedicated to building a 60-mile greenway from Kittery to South Portland. There are several ride options ranging from 25 to 100 miles.

Hike & Bike with MaineShare

Participate in MaineShare’s annual Hike & Bike event and support their work to provide funding to groups working for a clean, healthy, and prosperous Maine. This is the 3rd year of the smaller footprint “virtual” Hike and Bike: you choose the day and time for your hike or bike, then register and collect donations online, saving time, paper, and fuel. The first 15 people to register will receive a FREE pair of tickets to MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair in September! For more info about the Hike & Bike, click here.

Please take 30 seconds to  Sign in Here for Green Streets Day – Friday, June 25th.  Sign in now (and every month!) if you plan to walk, bike, take public transit, carpool, and/or telecommute this Green Streets Day.

For special treats for Green Streets Day participants, visit our Green Streets Freebies & Discounts page for offers of free food and drink and various area discounts that day.

I’ve been working at Preble Street Resource Center for the last four years and doing farm work the last couple of summers.  In May, I graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a bachelors degree in Environmental Policy and Planning.  This summer, while I’m fulfilling the internship requirement for my degree program, I’ll be doing a little bit of everything — including helping with a signage and mapping project at Portland Trails and working on a community visioning project in the Town of Waldoboro.

I should probably tell you about my own green streeting.  I sold my car in 2004 and have been getting alot of exercise ever since.  Mostly, I’m a year-round bike commuter, but I love a good spontaneous conversation with other public transit riders in icy weather or when I have too much to carry.  (Although, I have a knack for bungee cords and have transported everything from cross country skis to camping gear on my bicycle)  I’ve found alot of creative ways to get around Portland and beyond including the bus systems, a temporary car share for an out-of-town job, carpooling, Go Maine’s services, the Portland’s U Car Share program, and USM’s shuttle buses.  If you’ve been curious about using any of these modes of transportation, feel free to ask me anything.  My email address is greenstreetsvolunteers@yahoo.com.

I’m excited for this opportunity to participate in the excellent work Green Streets has been doing to increase awareness for the many modes of transportation we have available, promote healthy and active lifestyles, and create a more vibrant, people-friendly city — by getting folks out from behind the steering wheel!  Some of the work I’ll be doing for Green Streets will include:

• surveying our local business partners about the our incentive program
• developing and implementing improvements to the program to make being a Green Streeter even easier and more convenient
• developing and implementing the “This is a Green Streets Business” decal project
• recruiting new local business sponsors.

Your input is welcome!

I’ll be hanging out at the North Star Cafe on July 20th from 5:30 -7:00 for Green Street’s monthly volunteer social.  Come by to say hello, find out more information about Green Streets & how to get involved, or come share a cookie.  Happy Green Streeting, All, and I hope to see you on the streets on the last Friday of this month!