Seattle biking walking and other thoughts

Next week I'll be in Seattle with my wife. She's doing the conference thing and I'm out and about meeting with the leaders of the Bike Alliance of Washington to talk about items like their Transportation Advocacy Day and their extensive membership program. Hope to make time to meet with King County Metro Transit on elements like their Bike+Bus Program. These excursion are one way I find out what is working with communities and organizations in the bike/ped world and always return with fresh ideas to share.

Our last venture was in Quebec around Montreal and Mont Tremblanc areas where we rode parts of the 4,000km Le Route Verte and met with organizers of Velo Quebec who have encouraged the use of the bicycle, whether for tourism purposes or as a means of clean and active transportation, so as to improve the environment and the health and well-being of citizens.

Two years ago we were fortunate enough to visit in Wales, UK and get to know the incredible Sustrans organization. This UK-wide charity supported network's vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. Riding and walking in the rural areas and villages was the common mode of transportation and we learned how transport planning can effectively integrate alternative modes of movement in a highway and road system. Paths and trails criss-crossed the country and access to these is protected by law.

We have a lot to learn in Tennessee and borrowing models from other areas is to me one way to enrich the quality of life in our state. I'll be blogging along next week as the journey continues.