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AUGUST 2010 UPDATE Dear Green Streets friends,  We
hope you're being active and enjoying the green transport opportunities
that abound in our communities, whether at the beach, in the city, or
in the country! We've been on trains, bikes, buses, all kinds of scooters and boats, for fun, sustainable, community-building transportation!  Thank you all for your involvement and support. We have great news to share with you in the coming weeks, including details of some major grants.
In the meantime, please keep spreading the word about Walk/Ride Days in
your schools, offices, religious organizations, and elsewhere. We hear
from folks from across the country, and beyond, who are interested in
doing the same!As
you plan for your upcoming September kick-offs of Walk/Ride Days, here
are a few tips from some of our most successful Walk/Ride Day sites:
Read more here, and let us know your thoughts!  "10 in '10" Cambridge Bus Challenge Continues! Coordinators
across the city are invited to spread the word about this fun
challenge! Ride 10 of the 30 MBTA bus lines that are in or pass through
Cambridge in 2010, record them online or in our printed "Bus Passports,"
and join us for an awards celebration in January 2011. Often, those who
live near MBTA bus routes don't even know where the buses go! Once
people find out, they ride buses more frequently. Click here for more information and for the 2-for-1 Walk/Ride Day incentive! Somerville has completely revamped its Somerville Avenue artery, and the city has created updated maps that families can use on Walk/Ride
Days. The maps will be available online in time for September's
Walk/Ride Day! Also, more Somerville schools will be celebrating
Walk/Ride Days in the 2010-11 school year. Click here to get involved in the fun! From
Tufts University's Child Development Association to bat mitzvah kids,
from the online "BuyWithMe.com" to local merchants, to supporters in
other states, all kinds of people have been supporting Green Streets
through their individual contributions, funding our outreach, and
enabling us to continue spreading the word about Walk/Ride Days.  WISE ARTICLE ABOUT SHARING THE ROAD Click here
to read a good article about motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists
sharing the road. Steve Miller, a former Green Streets board member and
ongoing advisor, offers his insights. Click here here to read yet another article about how public transportation makes you skinny! If you participate in this week's Walk/Ride Day and check in online
or sign in at one of Green Streets' visibilities for this Walk/Ride
Day, you will be entered into a raffle for a $40 gift card at Eastern Mountain Sports. Pictured
at left: Amy Lewis, July Walk/Ride Day check-in winner of a Petsi Pie.
Amy is Senior Manager, Web Marketing, at Forrester Research in
Cambridge, MA. Read more here. A Reminder: Please check in now or on Walk/Ride Day! If
you already check in regularly, thank you. If not, please do. It lets
us, and those who help us, know you're out there. And don't forget to
share your thoughts and ideas while you're at it! Thanks! Janie Katz-Christy, Director Green Streets Initiative, Inc. www.GoGreenStreets.org walk-ride-days@comcast.net |
Congratulations and thanks for participating in Walk/Ride Days to Amy Lewis, Senior Manager, Web Marketing at Forrester Research in Cambridge!
"My fiancé and I choose not to own a car — we live in Arlington and both work in Kendall Square, so it’s an easy commute via bike, T, walking, bus, or some combination of those. I’ve been participating in Walk/Ride Day since my employer first announced it. I’m happy to support anything that raises awareness of — and use of — alternate means of transportation."
Forrester Research began inviting its Cambridge staff to participate in Walk/Ride Days a few years ago. Since then, they've gone international with it, inviting staff at their foreign branches to participate as well. Each year, Forrester raffles off a high end bicycle; the number of times staff participate in Walk/Ride Days determines the number of raffle entries they receive.
1. Get support from the top
It's amazing to see the impact of a senior person's personal participation on an organization or community. From mayors and company heads to school principals, we have seen that their support of Walk/Ride Days encourages others to respect the movement and to consider trying it themselves.
2. Include everyone in at least some of the fun
Coordinators have tried it both ways - just giving out snacks or stamping hands of those who actually go green OR doing that for all staff, students, customers, etc. It turns out that including everyone wins! By including them in these small celebrations, those who don't normally go green consider it and ultimately do it. Rather than alienating them, getting some of the goodies of the day enables them to feel part of the movement and "holiday", even before they try their first bus, bike or train.
3. Reward some a bit more
Of course, it's great to give some special recognition or opportunity, within the "include-everyone" context, for those who do something special and go green. They and their green commutes can be profiled, they can be entered into participant-only in-house raffles, or they can be eligible for other rewards like free coffee or other treats, at cafeterias, etc.
4. Do surveys
Sometimes the best way to spread the word about Walk/Ride Day coming up is to conduct a very simple transportation survey the day before. Check our website for samples, or let us know (walk- ride-days@comcast.net) if you'd like more resources for this. It may feel like a hurdle, but it can be quite easy and interesting, and the resulting data are invaluable.
5. Have fun
The idea is that Walk/Ride Days are supposed to be fun, so don't forget that part! Having them be tasty, with yummy snacks, always works. Some places have found that it's great to combine music with Walk/Ride Days... at arrivals, lunch, end of the day!
6. Don't worry about perfection
It's best to just do it! Don't wait until all the ducks are lined up, everyone's on board, or anything. Just do it, and if you have an impact on just one person, that's good enough! You will find that surprising, helpful things happen once you start.
7. Keep it up
Some months can feel less successful than others, but stay with it. One of the keys to Walk/Ride Days' success in getting people to change modes is the fact that they happen EVERY MONTH, month in and month out. You may not realize the impact that your emails, flyers, surveys, or snacks are having until you hear later that, indeed, they did! Consistency really works, and people will thank you for getting them to do something they'd been meaning to do, or to learn something they needed.
And thank you so much for all you do! Of course, we welcome your thoughts.
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JULY 2010 UPDATE
Dear Green Streets friends,
We have been feeling the heat this steamy summer and it is inspiring to hear your stories and green "escape routes" to ponds, rivers, and the ocean by train, bus and bike. Start planning your August routes and keep sharing your stories. We look forward to celebrating this Friday's Walk/Ride Day with our friends and fellow travelers! Visit our website and find new sponsors, ideas, challenges, and events, plus our latest news. We look forward to hearing from you!
This month, Green Streets founder and director Janie Katz-Christy has been doing some family train travel, meeting new friends and sharing the green message of Walk/Ride Day with people from all over the world and communities across the Amtrak span. So many have been intereted in joining and expanding the Walk/Ride Day / Green Streets efforts already taking place in the Boston area, ME, NH and the UK!
NEW
MONTANA SPONSOR!
If you get the chance to visit beautiful, big sky Montana, please stop in to say hello and get a Walk/Ride Day reward from the lovely family-owned Wolf Point Café, the Rocky Mountains’ first Walk/Ride Day supporting business.
Celebrate July's Walk/Ride Day all day
(and night) long!
Start off with a free breakfast at City Hall Plaza (and say hi to Green Streets folks who will be tabling), get rewarded all day at many new sponsors (listed below), visit us and get a bike tune-up at the Ashmont T Station farmer's market, and top it off with a free movie!
End your day at t
During the day, visit some of Boston's many new -- and our ongoing -- Walk/Ride Day sponsors. Visit our website for the full list, and here are some of the new ones:
Lorenz Island Kuisine -- a great Jamaican restaurant in Codman Square is offering 10% off for Walk/Ride Day.
South Boston Running Emporium 10% off.
Stitch House in Dorchester: A free Stitch House measuring tape is avilable to all Walk/Ride customers.
Back Bay Bicycles offers a generous 20% off all accessories on Walk/Ride Day. Just go green, wear green, and mention this newsletter.
O2 Yoga: Free yoga class on Walk/Ride Day (Also in Somerville!)
3 Million Dollars For Boston Bike Share Program! U.S. Department of Transportation will fund a new bike
share system in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. Read
press release for details. Thanks to Nicole Freedman of Boston
Bikes and congratulations to us all!
Plans are in the works for a wonderful Walk Ride FOLK DANCE FRIDAY on August 27th in Harvard Square. Join the Folk Art Center of New England for free instruction and dancing on Forbes Plaza, Holyoke Center 1350 Mass. Ave from 7:30 – 9:30 – additional Walk/Ride Day treats to be revealed soon! Please visit www.harvardsquare.com for more info.
Thank so much to our friends at Greenward and BuywithMe.com, who donated $300 to Green Streets from a recent joint promotion. Walk/Ride Day participants in Newton can continue to get rewarded from BuyWithMe.com & Gymnasium. Check it out here.
Youth Films for Active Transit! Shape Up Somerville, Groundwork Somerville, and SCAT are teaming up this summer with Somerville teens to make youth-produced documentary short-films; each segment will promote walking, biking, and other forms of active transit in the community to inspire more independence, movement, activity and experience among their peers. You can see their progress here and we’ll be sure to link the film footage in time for August Walk/Ride Day.
New Sponsor: There is a new breed of Walk/Ride Day fans in Somerville walking on all fours, thanks to new sponsors at Stinky’s Kittens & Doggies Too.
PIE IN JULY! THIS MONTH'S RAFFLE CHECK-IN PRIZE
Walk/Ride Day Winner: David Clemens
Cambridge resident David Clemens was picked as this month’s Walk/Ride Day raffle winner and he is choosing the MassBike membership has his prize. At first learning that he won, David felt a bit guilty because: “I take the T three stops every day-- all I have to do on Walk/Ride Day is wear green and tell people about it. But of course it doesn't have to be a sacrifice to be green! Living in Cambridge makes it so much easier...” Read more about David Clemens...
"Getting Slim Just By Riding the Subway" by Susan Dominus: Click here to read about how switching to using public transit leads to weight reduction.
Safer Roads for All: Click here to read about current efforts in MA to clarify how to share the roads and to reduce urban speed limits.
A Reminder: Please check in now or on Walk/Ride Day! If you already check in regularly, thank you. If not, please do. It lets us, and those who help us, know you're out there. And don't forget to share your thoughts and ideas while you're at it!
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Nicole Rioles, Somerville Walk/Ride Day Coordinator and
Coordinator of Shape Up Somerville (Guest Writer, substituting for Janie
Katz-Christy, Director)
www.GoGreenStreets.org
walk-ride-days@comcast.net
However, to make safe, vibrant, healthy, green and sustainable
communities, we also support good policies, legislation, and green,
urban infrastructure.
Like public transit systems, another green
asset is safety. We support MassBike's safety campaign, "Same Roads. Same Rules", and also agree with their efforts to reduce speed limits from 30 to 25 mph in urban areas, to make our roads safer and friendlier to all. You can let MA Representative Charles Murphy of the Ways & Means committee know that you support this measure by emailing Rep.CharlesMurphy@hwm.state.ma.us or call 617-722-2380.
THIS MONTH'S RAFFLE CHECK-IN PRIZE
