An open fundraising appeal for Climate Ride

Photo by Richard Stowe
Taken on Sunday September 7, 2008 while riding Transportation Alternative's New York City Century.
Its time for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to be open to cyclists 365 days per year.

Dear cycling friends:

Thank you all of you have donated to Climate Ride to date. Donations have come in as recently as a few minutes ago. The following fundraising letter is to encourage those of you haven't donated yet to do so.

At this late date, the most ideal method to donate is via credit card online. The link to seamlessly do that is toward the end of this e-mail.

I hope to join bicyclists in the 320-mile (New York City to Washington D.C.) "Brita Climate Ride 2008” http://www.climateride.org from September 20-24. The challenge between now and then is for me to raise $2250, the minimum necessary contribution to qualify as a "climate rider." With your help I will be participating in that bicycle ride.

Climate Ride’s goal is to donate 60% of the money raised to two 501-c-3 non-profits: New Canaan-based "Clean Air-Cool Planet" and "Focus the Nation."

The purpose of “Brita Climate Ride 2008” is to encourage members of Congress to craft and pass legislation that addresses the ominous threat of climate collapse by reducing petroleum consumption and shrinking the supply of coal-fired electricity. Also needed is a sensible Federal energy policy driven by conservation, efficiency and investments in low-impact renewable energy.

‘Climate Ride’ participants will hear presentations from the following speakers: Betsy Talyon (President 1 Sky); Randy Swisher (Director, American Wind Energy Association); Michael Eckhart (president American Council on Renewable Energy); Wood Turner (Executive Director, Climate Counts.org, & PointCarbon); Janet Larsen (Director of Research, Earth Policy Institute); Mike Tidwell (Executive Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network); Keith Laughlin, (President, Rails to Trails Conservancy.)

At the end of the "climate ride" from New York City to Washington D.C. we will have the opportunity to meet with members of Congress such as Senator Maria Cantwell (WA), Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN), Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA) & Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR).

Please let me know if there is any message you would like me to forward to our elected officials.

While in Washington D.C., I will make every effort to speak to members of Congress about climate collapse, peak oil, the need for investments in energy conservation and efficiency, low impact renewable energy, bicycling as transportation, commuter rail, rail freight and transcontinental high speed rail.

I hope you will contribute to my goal of raising $2250 so that I may become an official ‘climate rider.’ Your contribution to ‘Brita Climate Ride 2008’ will be tax-deductible.

It's very easy to donate via credit card online. Just go to this 'Donation Page' link:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=272731&lis=1&kntae272731=5A2A08454DDD486FB7B7985B4824B32B&supId=232014988

Please call me at (203) 594-9097 if you have questions, encounter difficulties, or would like to contribute via check.

Thank you,

Richard Stowe
http://ecoman.wordpress.com

Senator Perkins to Governor Paterson: support bikes-on-trains-at-peak hours!

After meeting with four New York City cycling advocates: Ken Coughlin (Transportation Alternatives), Steve Faust (5 Borough Bicycle Club), Neile Weisman (New York Cycle Club) and myself on July 31st, Senator Perkins sent the following letter to Governor David Paterson in the first half of August:



The Honorable David A. Paterson
Governor
State of New York
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

RE: Bicycle Access on M-8 Rail Cars
Metro-North Railroad

Dear Governor Paterson,

Over the past few weeks my office and various bicycle advocacy groups have been working on achieving the goal of allowing bicyclists access to Metro-North Trains during peak hours, and to equip the new Kawasaki M-8 trains with adequate space for the placement of bicycles aboard the trains without sacrificing space for other riders.

Here in New York, an engaged community group, Rails Trains Ecology Cycling, has joined with similar statewide organizations to advocate for specific changes to the design of the M-8 cars, as well as retrofit modifications to existing cars. These organizations have put forward a thoughtful plan to allow for example, vertical storage of up to four (4) bicycles replacing a 4-seat section on every other car.

Likewise, we need to work together to change existing Metro-North policies related to bicycle access to trains. Metro-North currently has a permit process as well as peak-hour restrictions in place. Both policies put an undue burden on those wishing to bring their bicycles on trains. We have made great strides as a state, welcoming bikes on our public buses and on our streets. It is well past time to take the next important step and create a welcoming, design-appropriate rail system for the state’s cycling community.

In the midst of soaring energy prices, and mounting concern over carbon emissions, it is more important than ever that New York invest in alternatives to the automobile.  Successful multi-modal transportation will play an increasingly important role in New York’s economic success in the coming decades.  Bicycles provide an excellent way to reduce congestion, oil dependency, and emissions, all while promoting public health, but this potential can only be realized if bicycles are integrated seamlessly with the rest of the transportation infrastructure.  Your request for the inclusion of bicycle storage on the new M-8 cars and allowing bicyclists on trains during peak hours is an important step in this direction.

Peak hour restrictions currently prevent many people from using their bicycles in conjunction with Metro North to get to work, leaving them either to cycle very long distances or to abandon cycling in favor of driving. The result of this is more cars on New York’s already overburdened highways, and increased traffic congestion and parking demand around train stations.

While providing adequate storage on the new M-8 rail cars for bicyclists, Metro-North should not pit rail car user against rail car user over adequate space, in this case, bicycle riders against disabled riders. In pursuing that end, the bicyclists' advocacy groups and I suggest two design options to allow for dedicated bicycle parking areas on trains.

• Set aside an area adjacent to the vestibule in every other car separate and distinct from disability space, in which up to three bicycles may be parked vertically. We believe this to be the most space-efficient method, which in turn minimizes loss of seats per car.

• Use a section of the M-8 bar cars for bicycle parking, while retaining the 28 seats planned for the M-8 bar cars (no loss of seating.)

¬ Bar cars will be more fully utilized with the inclusion of bicycle parking since beverage service on bar cars does not commence until noon.

I would appreciate your direct involvement in this matter. I understand time is of the essence, but Metro-North officials indicate there still is time to affect a positive outcome. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Bill Perkins
Senator, 30th District

Nelson Harvey receives a lead from Eco-chick

Mixing Modes: Bikes on the Metro North Railroad
by Nelson Harvey



With the price of gas hovering around $4 a gallon, driving a car looks increasingly unattractive for environmentally and economically minded folks alike. But even if you already commute by rail into NYC, you may face obstacles to making your trip 100% car free.

Currently, the Metro North Railroad does not allow bikes onto trains at peak travel hours, when most people are commuting to work. And since the trains feature no bicycle storage space, cyclists who ride at other times are required to stand with their steeds near train doorways, making entry and exit awkward for other passengers.

Recently, a group of activists calling themselves “Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling” have been campaigning to change all of this. Metro North has contracted to purchase at least 300 new train cars by 2011, and advocates of so-called “inter-modal” transit want to see at least four bike parking spots in every other car, according to Richard Stowe, the group’s leader and a longtime bike activist and transportation wonk.

If Stowe is the face of support for expanding bike-on-train access, then the most public opponent of the idea has been Jim Cameron. He chairs the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, a Metro North advisory body that voted against a resolution favoring increased access and storage. Cameron laments the potential crowding and remodeling costs that more bikes could bring. “Right now, it's standing room only at rush hour,” said Cameron, a retired news anchor. “We don't have enough seats the trains for passengers now, and allowing bikes on could mean even less room for passengers.”

Stowe counters that installing the storage his group desires would only require removing two seats from the 100 currently contained in every car, and he said that complaints about the cost of new storage “ignore the avoided cost of building a new parking space for the car that you’ve taken off the road.”

There is also contention over the level of demand for increased access. Cameron claims he has “never had a commuter come to me and say they wanted to take their bike on the train." Stowe, who cut his activist teeth campaigning to get bikes on trains in California, says that the current ban on bikes at peak hour artificially suppresses demand. “Lack of demand was the same argument used with [California rail agency] Cal Train,” he says. But after Cal Train installed bike storage cars and allowed cyclists to ride at all times, “the number of riders with bikes grew to 8 percent of its total ridership.”

According to Stowe, getting bikes allowed on at peak times is “the backbone” of his effort, in part because when commuters see people riding with bikes, they will be encouraged to try it themselves, or at least to ride their bikes to the train station.

Cameron, by contrast, favors simply increasing bike storage at stations. As he wrote recently on his blog “Talking Transportation,” "If bikers really wanted to build support for their cause, I have a suggestion. Rather than rant against those who reasonably argue against bikes on trains, the bikers should instead lobby for bike racks and lockers at rail stations."

Stowe and his allies are due to meet with Metro North officials this month for a second time, and he says Metro North has expressed a desire to resolve the issue by July or August. The first of the agency’s new train cars should arrive by August 2009, with delivery continuing monthly through 2011. Stowe’s goal now is to commission a letter to Metro North from Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, who has voiced her support for increased bike access.

“For me it is all about taking a bike a using it as a car, said Stowe. “Bikes get the equivalent of 3000 miles per gallon.”

Connecticut residents can email Governor M. Jodi Rell at