(editor's note: I just wanted to give everyone a head's up that in order to both cover and participate in all of the Bike Summit events over the next four days, posting may end up being somewhat less regular than you've grown used to. Rest assured, this is temporary, and we'll be back to normal posting next week.)
While the Bike Summit is scheduled as a conference from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. on Saturday, the events surrounding the summit begin tomorrow morning and extend through Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow morning, cyclists and our guests will be meeting with the press at 8:30 A.M. at LA Trade-Technical College before heading downtown for a separate meeting with city officials. Included in tomorrow's press event are many of the keynote speakers from Saturday's Summit including New York based advocate Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, and Elly Blue from BikePortland.
Afterwards, Blue, Budnick and other local advocates will pedal to a 9:30 meeting at the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition's offices to discuss national transportation issues as well as what needs to be done locally. They will be joined by other keynote speakers from the event, Bernardo Baranda Sepúlveda and Dhyana Quintanar Solares from Mexico City. If you are interested in attending this meeting, please contact Ron Milam at rpm@ronmilam.com
While tomorrow's events were just announced earlier this week, we've known the rest of the schedule for awhile. For a complete listing of the rest of the weekend's events please visit the Bike Summit website or check out this Streetsblog story from February 24. If you're just interested in reading more about tomorrow's events, read on after the jump.
For Immediate Release
For more information,
contact:
Ron Milam, BikeSage,
323-793-0591, rpm@ronmilam.com
Robert Gottlieb, Occidental
College, 323-259-2712; 310-617-0657 (c); gottlieb@oxy.edu
David Ysais, Los Angeles
Trade-Technical College, (213) 763-7063, YsaisDP@lattc.edu
What Can Los Angeles Learn about Bicycling
from New York City, Mexico City and Portland?
Bike Summit Keynote Speakers Meet with
Local Leaders
(March 4, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA) - Southern
Californian residents will come together for the first Los Angeles Bike Summit
on Saturday, March 7, 2009. The Los Angeles Bike Summit will feature
workshops, panels and films from 9a.m. to 4p.m. The weekend full of events and
activities begins on Thursday, March 5, 2009 at an 8:30 a.m. press conference
where summit speakers will share their experiences in making their cities more
bicycle friendly.
Who: LA Bike Summit organizers will join keynote speakers and
bicyclists to kick off a series of meetings with local elected officials,
agency staff and advocates working on transportation reform.
- Noah Budnick,
Transportation Alternatives, New York City, NY
- Elly Blue, BikePortland,
Portland, OR
- Bob Gottlieb, Urban and
Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College
- Jennifer Klausner, Los
Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
“New York City has made great strides
over the last few years and we want to share some of our success stories with
leaders in Los Angeles and inspire change here,” says Noah Budnick of
Transportation Alternatives.
“Portland is one of the most bike
friendly cities, but the great year round weather in Los Angeles makes it an
ideal place to encourage bike riding as a form of exercise and an alternative
mode of transportation,” says Elly Blue of BikePortland.
“Riding in Los Angeles is easy compared
to Mexico City. Even with our challenges, we’re planning major
investments in bicycle infrastructure and education,” says Dhyana
Quintanar Solares from Secretariat of Environment, a Summit keynote speaker.
Bernardo Baranda Sepúlveda from the Institute for Transportation and
Development Policy in Mexico City is also a keynote speaker. Both
speakers from Mexico can’t make the press conference but are available
for interview over the phone.
“Los Angeles has a lot
to learn from each of these cities,” says Jen Klausner, Executive
Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.
When: March 5, 2009 at 8:30am
Where: LA Trade-Technical College, 400 W. Washington Blvd, 90015, taking
place near the bike racks at Building E. Park on Grand Street between
Washington and 23rd St.
Visuals: Press conference participants will bicycle to their
first meeting after the speaking concludes.
More information about the LA Bike Summit on
Saturday, March 7, 2009 is at www.labikesummit.org.
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