Eric said: > I leave it to the reader to determine whether or not the primary cycling organization in Wisconsin, BFW, should be an organ of general "social change" or one of following the narrower interpretation of cycling advocacy. >
To do cycling advocacy successfully, BFW needs to become an organization that promotes change, social change included. There is nothing wrong with promoting social change. The status quo (no change) is unacceptable. The status quo is resulting in excessive motor vehicle driving in Wisconsin, and in the U.S. as a whole. This is why most of our larger metropolitan area are so congested. Much of that congestion comes from too much driving, especially by commuters just drive there to work everyday and then drive home again. Excessive driving and governmental attempts to accommodate it -- through expansion and improvement of the highway system, and through approval of major oil pipeline projects such as the Enbridge Oil Pipeline Project through Wisconsin <http://madison.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/54448>, has already severely damaged Wisconsin's landscape, caused air and water pollution, loss of species habitat, needless loss of life and global warming. Increased VMT will bring more degradation of the state's resources, including its air, land and water resources. If millions of people would reduce their driving levels, by just 10% yearly, just think of the amount of pollution and highway costs that could be avoided. But most people will not reduce their driving unless the price of gasoline becomes cost-prohibitive. What if they were offered incentives to drive less? No, I didn't mean free bus tickets. What if they were offered a new bike? Would they then be more likely to bike to work, shop, get a book from the library, etc.? Maybe. What if they were offered a new really good bike if they reduced their driving mileage over the next 6 months? Of if they already don't drive, if they continued to not drive for the next 6 months? Would they then be more likely to commute by bicycle rather than car, or maybe take transit more often, carpool and, heaven forbid, walk? If enough people were offered this and reduced their driving levels, maybe we won't need to rebuild the Beltline highway around Madison to make it 8 lanes instead of 6? The saving from not having to do that would more than justify the cost of the driving reduction incentives offered. One has to wonder what the DOT plans to build with all the extra money that it will make from increasing the cost of a motor vehicle license by $25, the cost of a motor vehicle title by $20, the cost of a drivers license renewal by $10? Anyone know how much money will be generated by those actions that the governor has signed and will soon become effective? I wonder how many bicycles that would buy? There is nothing wrong with promoting social change, as long as your employer goes along with it. Read more at: "VMT Reduction: An Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Method of Eliminating Highway Congestion" http://www.danenet.org/bcp2006/trans/neuman_vmt.html http://www.danenet.org/bcp2006/vmr.pdf Mike Neuman "The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems which cannot be solved by the same level of thinking in which they were created." -- Albert Einstein _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
