Bike BetteR
14
Louisiana Bike Coalition
In November of 2014, Bike BetteR had the privilege of being a part of the Louisiana Walk/Bike summit - held at the Shaw Center - which gathered thirty bicycling lovers, advocates, and enthusiasts from around the state. Communities from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette and more were all represented, and this particular meeting has helped sow the seeds of what should be the next great evolution in Louisiana bicycle and pedestrian advocacy.
Since 2010, according to Mark Martin and Larry Reilly of Bike Baton Rouge, there has been talk, discussion, and rumors of the local Louisiana bike advocacy organizations, such as Bike Baton Rouge (then known as B.R.A.S.S), Bike Easy (New Orleans) and Bike Lafayette joining forces in a statewide bicycle advocacy coalition. The purpose of such a coalition, according to the League of American Bicyclists, is to “promote best policies within Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and the state Department of Transportation, work with MPOs to improve the quality of bike/ped project applications, raise public awareness and support, and provide technical assistance to local advocacy groups.” In the 2014 edition of the League’s Bicycle Friendly State rankings, Louisiana was recognized as the only state in the country to not have a statewide advocacy organization. (http://bikeleague.org/content/ranking)
While it may be fair to feel some disappointment about this fact, the reality is that although Louisiana bicyclists may be a step behind every other state in the country, the direction that must be taken is, for us, clear and the decision to move forward is easy to make. For more mature bicycling communities, the improvement of bicycling conditions may be a tedious process of minor improvements, but in Louisiana we have the opportunity to make a giant step forward with the formation of this organization. We at Bike BetteR believe that the formation of this statewide organization could have the greatest impact of any one single action in the history of bicycle advocacy in Louisiana. Indeed, given our status as the last of fifty states to implement a statewide organization, we have the additional (and perhaps unenviable) opportunity to complete a major chapter in national bicycle advocacy.