Online Resources Here on Bike Walk Montana's Website

We are shifting to a virtual office, simply meaning that we will not have the expense of an office space and that all normal activities will go on with staff and board working from home offices. Once the COVID pandemic has passed, we will utilize various gathering spaces for in person meetings and you can still reach us by phone and of course, on line through email or our website.

Have you looked at our website - www.bikewalkmontana.org - lately? We are building our library of resources and are continually updating and adding new content while keeping all the relevant resources from our old site. Our vision is that walking, bicycling and rolling advocates from all across Montana able to access and use resources that we have developed and to connect with Montana communities and national groups and experts to make things happen in their own community. Here’s just a sampling!

Montana Connections – This is where we highlight our affiliate and business members across the state. You can do some research and make contact if you are thinking of exploring other communities in Montana and learn about our business members who we are so thankful for. Are you in an organization or business that would like to be on this page? Join Bike Walk Montana and show your support for active transportation at our membership page!

Education & Safety -- Stop for People at Every Intersection – a short and entertaining video we made on how to safely respect people crossing at intersections, funded by our friends at the Helena Area Community Foundation

Montana Trails RX – See maps and contact information for the Trails RX program – locations where physicians can prescribe a set walking distance as an alternative to medications to help you heal in a safe way. A joint project with Montana State Parks.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Tips — How to videos for Bicycle Rodeos and Walking School Buses – Learn how to make your children safer, healthier AND smarter in short and informative Prezi videos done by our former Energy Corps member, Claire Marshall.

Understanding Cyclists Position on the Roadway – An eleven-minute instructional video meant for law enforcement personnel by the American Bicycling Association to help understand how bicyclists behave on the road. Show it to your local officials!

Traffic Calming – Help Demonstrate How your streets can become safer - We have been working with communities for years to conduct walk audits and to install temporary traffic calming “pop ups” to experience and quantify ways to slow down or “calm” truck and car traffic. We produced, with our great partners at AARP Montana and the Western Transportation Institute an online guidebook, specific to our Montana experience. The guide takes you step by step through the process. We are glad to provide assistance and also have a trailer full of materials your community can borrow to help with an installation.

If you would like to contribute or have ideas on how to add to our site, contact us at info@bikewalkmontana.org with website in the subject line. We welcome your input and suggestions.

If You Sit A Lot, Here's How Much Daily Exercise You Need to Ward Off Health Risks

IThe World Health Organization has new guidelines on physical activity. We all have heard this but this brings together the latest research. This is great information to have in hand when you are talking to decision makers, or any conversation where you may make a difference in someone’s or some community’s health and well-being. Take a look at the article for more information and links. Research shows that 30 to 40 minutes of daily exercise can undo the damage of sitting all day.

Bike Walk Montana Legislative Candidate Survey Results

As a statewide 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Bike Walk Montana does not endorse or take positions on any candidate. Our mission is to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians, bicyclists, and limited mobility citizens. We work with state agencies and local and state officials to improve laws and policies for those who ride bikes and walk.

Bike Walk Montana recently distributed a survey to general election candidates to help educate our members and the general public impartially and on a nonpartisan basis about the policy positions of candidates for the Montana legislature.

We have received and compiled the results of the survey, and now share them with you to help you better understand your legislative candidates’ positions on Bicycle and Pedestrian issues in Montana.

Here is the list of candidates running for office in November that we surveyed. Those highlighted in RED have responded to our survey and you can review their responses. The un-highlighted candidates did not respond to the survey.

If your candidate did not respond, we encourage you to reach out to them to better understand their position on the issues facing bicyclists and pedestrians in Montana. If you are not certain of your legislative district, you can find it by using the Montana Legislator Look Up Tool.

Here is the list of questions we posed to each candidate:

1. What role do bicycling, walking and accessible travel play in the transportation system in your district and in your own transportation choices?

2. The 67th Montana Legislature will set priorities for the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) through budget levels and legislation. What are your transportation priorities?

3. HB225, passed by the 2017 Legislature, created a funding mechanism for Montana’s 180 miles of Shared-Use Paths on MDOT rights of way. Since the inception of this license opt-in program, over $50,000 has been voluntarily donated by Montanans for this purpose. How would you like to see these funds expended in your district?

4. What are your ideas for other ways to fund shared-use path maintenance and development?

5. In Montana, the five-year average of bicyclists killed is 2 per year and in 2017, 18 people were “severely injured” while riding bicycles. In 2018, 14 pedestrians were killed in vehicle crashes. These deaths and injuries have tragic impacts on families, high costs for medical and rehabilitation, and emotional scars for all involved including the motorists. What actions should MDOT take to improve roadway safety for pedestrians and bicyclists?

6. The Center for Disease Control reports that physical activity maintains health, reduces the risk of developing obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases, reduces feelings of depression and may also improve academic performance. This has become even more evident in these COVID times when so many Montanans are walking and bicycling for exercise as well as transportation. What, if any, role should the Montana government have in encouraging physical activity?

MDOT Hires New Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator

We, and many other advocates across Montana, have been asking MDOT to fill their Bike/Ped Coordinator with an employee dedicated solely to advancing the opportunities, safety and cause of active transportation in Montana for several years. These duties have been spread over a number of employees, including Sheila Ludlow, who has been covering the position part time. We are so pleased to welcome Karen Grosulak-McCord as the new coordinator and to Montana.

Here’s Karen’s bio: “Karen comes to MDT with a background in travel and tourism, non-profit marketing and communications, and is finishing up a BS in Geography and Geospatial Science at Oregon State University. Originally from Oregon, she is excited to be a new resident of Helena and is committed to fully understanding Montana’s unique walking and biking needs. As a one-car household between she and her spouse, Karen has a personal connection to pedestrian concerns. She is also a recreational cyclist, Portland Trail Blazers fan, and spends her free time with her husband and two cats.”

Karen will be integral in working with the working group, along with other MDOT staff. She can be reached at kgrosulakmccord@mt.gov or 406-444-9273.

We thank Sheila Ludlow for her efforts in providing great information, support and her quiet enthusiasm for bicycling and walking in Montana. We know she will remain supportive of Montana’s non-motorized travelers! Thank you Sheila!

Montana Legislative Interim Transportation Committee Releases Report

We have been working with the Montana Interim Transportation Committee in finding ways to help support maintenance and expansion of our shared use path (SUP) system in Montana. There is over 180 miles of SUPs on Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) rights of way and the 2017 legislature passed the Montana Shared Use Path Act to provide for that system.

This act set up a funding system through vehicle registration and to-date, $50,000 has been donated by Montana citizens to the fund. The funds are allocated by MDOT District and funds education and maintenance as priorities. It’s not a large amount of money but has real potential to grow. The Committee, with leadership by Representative Denley Loge of St. Regis, is seeking additional methods of funding our SUPs. There has been a great increase in bicycling and walking since COVID has kept us socially distant and craving exercise and more options for commuting to travel to work, essential shopping and school.

During the 2019 session, the Montana Legislature passed HJ45 which directed the committee’s effort over the interim which they diligently did resulting in an excellent report detailing options and ideas for the next session. The final report is available here.

We will be part of a working group meeting on October 7th to further explore the possibilities for reinforcing the current funding approach as well as additional options. This is being set up and organized by MDOT at the direction of the committee. We want to thank all the members of the interim committee for their work over the last two years.

Bike Walk Montana Seeking Interim Executive Director

We are now advertising for an Interim Executive Director (IED). The successful applicant will work alongside current Executive Director Doug Habermann through the next legislative session, and beyond, to advance our many current projects, efforts and initiatives. This will double our efforts to grow a walk, ride and roll able Montana. The IED will work with Doug, Outreach Coordinator Kris Bergman, our great board members and volunteers. A primary initial focus will be to pursue project and general operating grant support. We are looking for someone passionate about active transportation, willing to learn as well as to contribute, with experience being an advocate and working with diverse partners in a positive and outcome driven organization.

See the full job announcement here, including how to apply.

Bike Walk Montana and Montana Healthy Communities Mini Summit October 8

Our 2020 Bike Walk Montana Summit – Connected Communities Summit was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bike Walk Montana has partnered with the Montana Healthy Communities to present a FREE mini summit on October 8th, running from 9:30 am till 5:00 pm. This follows up on an introductory session on September 10th – Healthy Design for the Triple Bottom Line with Dan Burden and Mark Fenton. Mark and Dan have agreed be the featured speakers on this session as well – if you don’t know about these nationally known transportation pioneers click on their names above to find out more about each of them.

Following a general keynote by Dan at 9:30 am, we will have a chance to dive deeper in three focus sessions. The focus sessions will last an hour and a half starting with a presentation by Mark and Dan as well as lightning rounds (see below), discussion, and question and answers from Mark and Dan and participants. There will be breaks between each session and participants are welcome to stay online and visit – as you would in the hallways during a real Summit – or take a break for the rest room or to refill your coffee. We love seeing you in person but this is our best option these days!!

The sessions will be:

• Being an Effective Change Agent – intended for citizens – Bicyclists, walkers, trail users, parents, advocates, non-profits, NGO’s. 11:30 am - 1:00 pm

• Leading for Change – intended for elected and appointed officials and boards, mayors, clerks, Chambers. 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

• Best Practices in Cost Efficient Design and Implementation – intended for engineers, planners, developers, public works, realtors. 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

We invite you to participate in the “lightning” rounds which will be very quick (2 minutes) presentations by both experts and citizen advocates relating to each of the focus areas. Consider sharing a success, challenge, idea, or inspirational message. We will allow 4 slides or 1 video, again, the sessions will be limited to two minutes. Please email doug@bikewalkmontana.org by noon on October 6 if you are interested with a short description, which focus session you prefer to be a part of and whether you will have any slides or a video – we be limiting the lightning rounds to 10 per focus session. We would like a wide variety of ideas within the general focus topic and we’d like to fill these up soon! If you know anyone that might want to participate, please have them contact us at doug@bikewalkmontana.org.

Please consider attending some or all of these sessions – they will be free and you can register and get more information on “A Virtual Journey to Bridge the Gap Between Economic Vitality and Growth” at http://healthinfo.montana.edu/mt-healthy-communities/index.html . You register for the whole series but can attend any. Past sessions are archived there as well which have been both informative and inspiring.

This will be a great session, full of information and inspiration with nationally known presenters and hopefully – you!

A Look at Our Neighbors to the East: The North Dakota Transportation Alliance

The mission of the North Dakota Active Transportation Alliance is to make active transportation an easy, healthy, and safe choice for residents and visitors of North Dakota through the implementation of educational, encouragement, enforcement, engineering and evaluation activities in cooperation with federal, state, regional, local and tribal entities. LEARN MORE

Walk Audits for Wellness Project

Have you ever walked to the grocery store a few blocks down the street and thought to yourself, “I wish there was a streetlamp here”, or “I wish that the crosswalk light would last a little longer so I could comfortably make it to the other side…”? If so, it sounds like you may have performed a walk audit!

Walk audits are trips we take around our communities to measure the walkability and/or bikeability of our streets. They are great tools for bringing community members together to find ways to make improvements to our built environment. Walk audits can be as informal as a few neighbors getting together and walking down the road, or can be as formal as hosting a community-wide walk audit event where city engineers, planners, and other decision makers are invited to follow along.

Bike Walk Montana will host several walk audits in the month of June, 2020. Thanks to Montana Geriatric Education Center who provided a grant for this project, there will be a twist: the main purpose of this project is to inspire our aging populations to get exercise and to interact positively with their environment! We will invite other community members, such as city planners and engineers, to participate as well. We will lead participants on a “Walk audit” of routes that lead to common destinations such as retail centers, churches, parks, and schools. They will be actively involved by being instructed on how to evaluate and record the positive and challenging aspects of the route they follow.

Along with St. Peter’s Health, and other community partners, through this project Bike Walk Montana will bring awareness to the importance of physical activity/healthy lifestyles as it relates to brain health in aging populations, while simultaneously creating a discussion on walkability and accessibility of public transportation for all community members. As the nation’s aging population continues to rise, the provision of safe and accessible transportation options remains a top concern of older adults, caregivers and communities where they live.

The Walk Audits for Wellness program will include two events outside of the walk audits themselves: one orientation prior to the walk audits, and one gathering after each of the walk audits have been held. For the orientation prior to the walk audit, organizers will distribute information, such as the Alzheimer's Society “United Against Dementia” exercise and physical activity fact sheet, regarding physical activity and its correlation to dementia and other cognitive diseases, as well as Alzheimer's Society “10 Ways to Love Your Brain.”

Following the educational component of the orientation, Bike Walk Montana will provide details of a walk audit, the process for performing a walk audit, and benefits gained by completing walk audits. To conclude the orientation, community members will discuss target routes for areas near retirement facilities that will be audited over the next month. AARP’s Walk Audit Tool Kit will be distributed for every walk audit attendee.

After each walk audit is completed, community members will gather at a coffee shop or other accessible location along the route where participant’s observations will be discussed and compiled. Bike Walk Montana will collect these and compose a Community Improvement Plan from the suggestions. The group will present the plan to City of Helena officials and staff upon completion. Bike Walk Montana will also create a finalized toolkit to be used nationwide, showing the step-by-step process on how to get aging populations actively engaged in their community and increasing walkability, while improving their physical and mental health.

We are so excited to bring this unique project to Montana, and would like to once again thank our partners at Montana Geriatric Education Center for helping make this project a reality. If you have any questions, or want to learn more about the Walk Audits for Wellness project, contact info@bikewalkmontana.org.

Resources

• Alzheimer's Society

• Montana Geriatric Education Center

• AARP

BWMT Lays Out Priorities in Letter to MT Dept. of Transportation

In a letter to Montana Dept. of Transportation director, Mike Tooley, Bike Walk Montana laid out goals to make bicycling and walking safer and more accessible across Montana. This is one of our most important roles as a statewide advocate!

Read the letter to director Tooley here, and be sure to voice your ideas to your local representatives as well!

Sunday FUNday at Bozeman Brewing Company

Come out and grab a beer with Bike Walk Montana on Sunday, February 2, from 2 - 8 pm at Bozeman Brewing Company! Every pint you purchase will put 50 cents toward the important work of Bike Walk Montana! Plus we will be raffling off great products/services from local bicycle and sporting stores including:

• An REI Bozeman Goodie package

• Sweaters from Owenhouse Cycling in Bozeman

• A Private Pilates Lesson Gift Certificate from Body In Balance Pilates Studio

Come and join the fun and support your statewide advocacy group for cyclists and pedestrians. We will be there to greet you!

More info is available at Bozeman Brewing Company.