Bicycle Friendly Communities come to Ontario
Ontario Municipalities to Benefit from Advice on Building Bicycle Friendly Communities
Bicycle Friendly Communities" Program Launching at Annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference
Windsor, Ontario – August 17th, 2010 -- Communities across Ontario will receive a boost tomorrow in their efforts to create healthy, livable and safe communities through active transportation enhancements.
Media are invited to attend the launch of the Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) Program in Ontario, at the AMO Annual Conference in Windsor. The Bicycle Friendly Community Program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling.
The Share the Road Cycling Coalition, an Ontario-based organization which promotes bicycling as a mode of transportation, recreation and fitness through advocacy, is bringing the BFC program to Canada for the first time since its launch in the U.S. in 1996 by the Washington-based League of American Bicyclists.
The League is the largest bicycling advocacy organization in the U.S. and represents the interests of the nation's 57 million cyclists. With a current membership of 300,000 affiliated cyclists, including 25,000 individuals and 700 affiliated organizations, the League works to bring better bicycling to communities across the U.S.
The announcement follows a session with AMO delegates (8:00 a.m.) where Mayor Dave Cieslewicz from Madison Wisconsin will outline how Madison has achieved Gold status in the program, and highlight the benefits of the BFC. Mayor Cieslewicz will be joined at the media launch (10:00 a.m.) by League of American Bicyclists CEO Andy Clarke, representatives from Trek Bicycles (Waterloo, Wisconsin) and the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC), both of whom sponsor the program. AMO Board Member Diane Freeman will moderate the session.
Who:
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
Andy Clarke, CEO, League of American Bicyclists (Washington, D.C.)
Diane Freeman, Councilor, City of Waterloo, Board Member, AMO
Krsyta Rettig, Director of Government Relations, Trek Bicycles (Waterloo, Wisconsin)
Janet O’Connell, Executive Director, Bicycle Trade Association of Canada
Mike Parent, Owner and Trek Dealer, Ambassador Bicycles, Windsor, Ontario
Where: Media Room (Martis Room, Meeting Level), Caesars Windsor
When: 10:00 a.m. Wednesday August 18th, 2010
Find out more about the Bicycle Friendly Communities initiative in the Programs section of our web site.
