Madison's Platinum Biking Plan

Thursday, July 02, 2009

From the City of Madison's Web site:

In the fall of 2006 Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz formed the Platinum Biking City Planning Committee with the overall goals of

1) achieving the Platinum designation level through the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Communities program, and

2) putting forward a roadmap - or bike path - for Madison to become the best city in the country for bicycling.

The Committee's report was adopted by the Common Council on April 8, 2008.

From the report:

A. Vision Statement
Make bicycling an integral part of daily life in Madison, thereby making Madison a model for health promotion, environmental sustainability, and quality of life.

B. Goals

• Madison will ensure a safe and well planned bicycle friendly transportation network that allows connections to all destinations. The network will include bikeways, off-street paths, on-street marked lanes and low volume/low speed local roads, adequate bike parking, and adequate links to public transit. The network will be accessible to riders of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
  
• Madison will promote a bicycling culture that supports experienced riders and brings new riders safely and comfortably into cycling.
  
• Madison educational institutions, businesses, health care providers, and government will actively support bicycling as a transportation choice.
  
• Madison will build social capital by encouraging bicycling as a social norm for all of Madison’s diverse population.
  
• Madison will facilitate a mutual respect among drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians by promoting knowledge, acceptance, and consistent enforcement of traffic laws.
  
• Madison will collaborate with surrounding municipalities, Dane County, and colleges and universities to develop complementary bicycle transportation plans and a seamless network of bikeways in the Madison area.
  
• Madison will take advantage of the unique resources in our area (UW-Madison and other educational institutions, bicycle industry, other businesses and nonprofit organizations) to engage in public-private partnerships to develop innovative bicycle facilities, educational programs, outreach efforts, and funding mechanisms.
  
• Madison’s bicycle plans will be incorporated into other city plans (such as transportation plans, land use plans, neighborhood plans, the Comprehensive Plan, Climate Protection Plan, etc.) to promote bicycle use as part of a multimodal, environmentally-friendly urban transportation network designed to benefit all citizens of the Madison metropolitan area (including persons unable to walk or ride, and in cases when bicycling is not feasible).
  
• Madison will create an on-going mechanism for cooperation and cross fertilization on bicycling issues across city department disciplines including Traffic Engineering, Engineering, Public Works, Police, Health, Parks, Madison Metro, and Planning.
  
• Madison will increase its bicycle mode share (the percent of the traveling public that uses a bicycle for transportation).