Atlanta Bicycle Coalition

The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is Atlanta's non-profit active transportation advocacy organization. The group's vision is "an Atlanta where everyone moves safely, easily, and sustainably throughout the city"[1] with a mission to "reclaim Atlanta's streets as safe, inclusive, and thriving, spaces for people to ride, walk, and roll."[2] Atlanta Bicycle Coalition champions all sustainable mobility modes including biking, public transit, walking, wheelchair use, scooting, skateboarding, etc. The organization collaborates with community members and local organizations to achieve effective sustainable transportation solutions, centering racial equity and social justice guided by The Untokening's Principles of Mobility Justice[3] through prioritizing Atlanta's High-Injury network[4] communities.

History

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition was founded in 1991 by Henry Slack and Dennis Hoffarth as the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign to improve biking conditions for people in Atlanta. In 2009, the organization changed its name to Atlanta Bicycle Coalition to represent the collaborative nature of its advocacy efforts across Atlanta communities and organizations.[5] In 2019, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition developed a new strategic plan which expanded its advocacy efforts beyond biking only to include walking, wheelchair use, riding public transit, and other forms of micromobility.

Rebecca Serna has served as the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition's Executive Director since 2007. Naoya Wada (Managing Partner, Never Without) currently serves as president of the organization's governing board. Notable past board presidents include Barbara McCann (led US DOT Complete Streets policy), Atiba Mbiwan (Executive Director of the Zeist Foundation, BRAG Dream Team), David Southerland (Atlanta Chapter American Institute of Architects Executive Director), and Cynthia Searcy (Associate Dean and Clinical Associate Professor, Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies).

Programs

The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition's free programs include bicycle education and safety courses, community-led safe streets advocacy training, and open streets activations:

  • Bike Family partners with elementary school children and their families to provide equipment (such as bikes, helmets, and lights) and bike safety training for kids and their families to safely bike to school and around their neighborhoods. Schools participating in Bike Family are located along High-Injury Network[6] corridors.
  • Shifting Gears provides bicycle education and safety training courses to second graders in the Atlanta Public Schools system.
  • City Cycling offers bike safety and education instruction in a group ride setting for people to gain the skills and confidence they need to bike throughout the city on their own.
  • True Beginners is designed for people who are brand new to biking--this bike safety and education course goes over all the basics of riding a bike.
  • Kids Bike is a beginner's biking class tailored specifically for children to learn the basics of biking--students receive important bike safety training such as rules of the road, fitting a helmet properly, bike equipment safety check, and more to get them started on their biking journey.
  • Safe Streets Committeesare community-powered committees that advocate for significant safety improvements to a specific street or corridor in their neighborhood. Safe Streets Committees are focused on High-Injury Network corridors.[7] The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition organizes the committees, administers safe streets advocacy training, and provides a stipend to committee members.
  • Community Advocates Network is a group of community members from all over Atlanta that champion safe streets for people utilizing active transportation throughout the city. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition facilitates meetings and trainings, and also provides resources for this group.
  • Atlanta Families for Safe Streets is a chapter of the national organization, Families for Safe Streets. Atlanta Families for Safe Streets are a group of people whose family members or loved ones have died or been seriously injured as a result of dangerous road conditions. Their goal is to advocate for safe street solutions (such as Vision Zero) so that people do not have to experience the loss of a loved one to traffic violence.
  • Atlanta Streets Alive is an open streets activation that closes City streets to cars so people can make full use of the street as a valuable public space to walk, ride bikes, scoot, skateboard, play, etc. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition launched Atlanta Streets Alive in 2010 with the first-ever activation occurring on Edgewood Avenue.[8] In 2020, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition celebrated Atlanta Streets Alive's 10th Anniversary.

Recent Major Advocacy Accomplishments (2018 - 2020)

Resources

See Atlanta Bicycle Coalition resources page.

See also

References
  1. "Atlanta Bicycle Coalition". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  2. "Atlanta Bicycle Coalition". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  3. "Untokening 1.0 — Principles of Mobility Justice". The Untokening. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. August 17, John Saxton | 356sc; 2018. "Why We Can't Ignore Atlanta's High-Injury Network". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-29.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "Atlanta Bicycle Coalition". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  6. August 17, John Saxton | 356sc; 2018. "Why We Can't Ignore Atlanta's High-Injury Network". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. August 17, John Saxton | 356sc; 2018. "Why We Can't Ignore Atlanta's High-Injury Network". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. "Atlanta Bicycle Coalition". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  9. March 13, Rebecca Atlanta Bicycle Coalition | 976 20sc; 2020. "Media release: Legislation for Vision Zero, 25 mph speed limit on some streets". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. March 13, Rebecca Atlanta Bicycle Coalition | 976 20sc; 2020. "Media release: Legislation for Vision Zero, 25 mph speed limit on some streets". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. November 14, Rebecca Atlanta Bicycle Coalition | 976 20sc; 2019. "New City Transportation Department Gains Momentum with New Strategic Plan and Leadership". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. August 17, John Saxton | 356sc; 2018. "Why We Can't Ignore Atlanta's High-Injury Network". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. November 20, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition | 140sc; 2020. "What's happening on DeKalb and Cascade?". Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Retrieved 2020-12-31.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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