ThinkBike Workshop │Save the Date

Save the Date: June 18th and 19th                                                                               ThinkBike Workshop: Consider what Philadelphia can learn from the Netherlands by attending public sessions and/or joining a design team

The Dutch Embassy, in cooperation with the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, is sponsoring a two-day ThinkBike workshop on June 18 and 19, 2012 at Temple University’s Main Campus.

The ThinkBike workshop will bring together Dutch bicycle transportation experts, local trans­portation planners, engineers and cyclists to plan and discuss how Philadelphia can become more bike-friendly.  The workshop will address bike safety, commuting by bike, biking to school, bike parking, bikes and public transport and law enforcement.  Successful ThinkBike workshops were recently held in Chicago, Washington, DC, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Attend Public Sessions:
Monday, June 18 – 9 AM to 10:30 AM and Tuesday, June 19 – 5 PM to 6:30 PM
Opening and closing sessions will be open to the general public. The opening session will showcase innovative ideas used in the Netherlands to improve traffic safety and support high cycling rates.   At the closing session, two design teams, led by the Dutch bicycling experts, will present their findings for how Dutch methods could be applied to address bicycle circulation in two areas:

• Area 1:  Streets surrounding Temple University’s Main Campus, including connections to Center City and Fairmount Park, and methods of addressing the interface between the street network and the campus – how to manage bike parking and how to control conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians on campus.
• Area 2: Penn Square (City Hall), John F Kennedy Blvd and Market Street between 15th & 20th Streets   

Expect an e-mail in the next day or two with details on session locations. 
To register for the opening session, Monday, June 18: click here.                                   

To register for the closing session, Tuesday, June 19^th: click here.              

Join a Design Team
Each of the two workshop design teams will have about twelve members consisting of at least one Dutch expert and eleven local members. The idea of this ‘mixed’ team is to encourage information sharing, relationship building, holistic problem solving and a spirit of cooperation.  Each team will also have at least one general urban or road planner not specifically assigned with bicycle planners. Each team should include planners and engineers from the City of Philadelphia, PennDOT, engineering consultants, SEPTA, Temple University, community groups, various other institutions, business groups, and members of the public.

To join a design team you will need to be able to commit for the full two days, including both the opening and closing sessions. Most design team members should also be able and willing to ride a bicycle and be able to bring his or her bicycle to the workshop.  Lunch will be provided.  There is no cost for participants.  The workshop will go forward rain or shine, so be prepared to ride in bad weather if need be.  

If you are interested in participating, please contact:                                       Aaron Ritz – Aaron.Ritz@phila.gov / (215) 686-9000

We expect that this workshop will produce some great ideas for making Philadelphia a better place to bicycle.  Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn bicycle planning and design directly from Dutch experts, and bring that knowledge back to their jobs and communities. 

Selection for a design team is not guaranteed; we need to assure diverse backgrounds of participants to balance out the teams.  The number of available slots is limited, so if you want to participate you should let us know soon.