| Minutes
The Curb Your Car Coalition Meeting was held at 3:30 p.m.
on September 26, 2005 at the Old Jail House on Court Street.
Present: Jennifer, Jan, Kent, Sue, Lois, Margot, Nicole,
Roxy (Scooter Commuter group), Lauren, Wayne
Scooter Commuters: Roxy spoke to the
group about the Ithaca Scooter Commuters, the benefits of
scooters, and the potential for collaboration between CYCC
and the Scooter Commuters.
- There's a new scooter shop opening in town, in addition
to the Honda and Kowasaki dealerships that sell scooters.
- Most scooter commuters drive a scooter because they like
them, not because of fuel efficiency (although scooters
get 70-100 mpg)
- For example, it costs $30 to get to Bath using a truck,
but only $3 using a scooter.
- During the winter, special tires and/ or a sidecar can
make scooters safer.
- Issues with scooters include: security, can't park
on sidewalks, chaining to racks...
Bicyclist Ticketed for Speeding: Recently,
a bicyclist was ticketed for speeding in a school zone.
This raised questions about bicycle safety and enforcement.
- There's a need for uniform enforcement of traffic laws
- Education for police officers on bicycle issues, as well
as education for bicyclists
- Educational projects (letter to editor, etc) in lieu of
fines could be a good method to raise awareness
Walk to School Week/ Safe Routes to School Discussion:
The group discussed Walk to School Week and/ or Safe Routes
to School outreach ideas at length. The following are
the notes from the brainstorming sesson:
- Walking school bus @ Cayuga Heights Elementary School
(by P.E. teacher)
- Healthy Steps: state program, awards for most walking
(established program)
- P.E. teacher in question is very involved in these issues,
very excited
- see http://www.ltd.org/sws/tips.htm
- Healthy Generations - have seniors "drive" bus
- Passport stamped to be turned in for prize?
- Possibility of leveraging funding from most recent transportation
bill
- Need to acknowledge students who already walk
- Thermometer to show progress
- Competition between middle schools - gold, silver, and
bronze shoes
- Morning v. afternoon activities
- Drop off points farther from school, walk the last few
blocks with friends
- Workshop to promote walking
- Safe Routes to School easier to promote than Walk to School?
- Public relations v. P.T.A. approach. Address parental
concerns RE: traffic safety
- Surveys (large number of students) v. interviews (smaller
sample, more in-depth)
- Wayne: can do announcements, posters. National
Junior Honor Society has an active chapter @ DeWitt Middle
School; they could be involved. Boynton Middle School
has morning news in each classroom.
- Phrase two ways: "Walk more" v. "Reduce
pollution."
- Connect to big picture issues
- Weekly contests
- Jan will find someone at the paper to do a feature
- Certificate from the Common Council as a reward?
- Potential contest questions: Who goes the farthest
(walking v. bike riding)? (or, How much gas is saved?
How much money? How much pollution?)
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