I plan to be at this PSA meeting today (and miss out on free pizza at work!). Before that meeting, I'd like to put an idea out there to think about.
I suspect we mostly agree that the PSA should strive to nudge Madison's culture a little closer to a place that provides more respect for us bicyclists. I also suspect that the first inclination would be to simply create a message that reinforces the rules of the road that we would like to see adhered to more. While I agree that better compliance with the rules of the road would be great, I am not so sure that a direct appeal (similar to a few I have seen in my mailbox recently) is the most effective way to get us there in the long run. The best I believe a direct appeal could achieve is that a few people _might_ be a little more considerate to bicyclists for a few weeks. I don't believe the direct appeal is the most effective use we can put this PSA opportunity to. Instead, I would suggest we take this PSA opportunity and create a compelling message to get more people on their bikes this spring. There are plenty of good arguments for getting on a bike now - the economy, next round gas price spikes, as well as the physical and environmental reasons. Once people start riding a bicycle more, they start to think differently about transportation - I have seen it happen again and again. In the long run, having more people who think differently about transportation is worth more in terms of changing the culture than a simple educations message most people will forget in a few weeks. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
