WHAT WE WILL DO:

Engage the cycling community and create a cycling voice in Cleveland by…

How?

Building a refocused advocacy organization that inspires Cleveland to become a healthy and safe city for bicycle riding.

Recommendations

This report was implemented in response to a call for change within the cycling advocacy community in Cleveland by city officials, county officials, and various funding entities.

This summary represents the findings and recommendations from 25 one-to-one interviews with various stakeholders, information gathered from the Rust Belt Biketivism master thesis written by Gregg Culver, and three months of collaborative meetings with key organizations.

Main Theme
We need to “normalize” cycling in Cleveland.

Justification of Need
While cycling continues to grow in Cleveland there is no unified voice that unites cyclists. This leaves cyclists marginalized in policy planning and transportation planning, and leaves the region viewing cycling as an afterthought. Prime example: The Innerbelt Bridge

Problem

1.) Fragmentation exists so deeply within the existing cycling organizations that it is hindering Cleveland’s ability to build a successful social movement for cycling.

“If advocacy is to be an odious process in which internal-organizational conflict is constant, it is not likely to engage and compel participants to action.”

One interviewee stated that they view their relationship with other cycling organizations as something that is on an “as-needed basis as opposed to ongoing.”

“I think one of the challenges I have with the bicycling community is their diverse views. I’m not saying that’s unique to Cleveland, but just that there doesn’t seem to be just one voice that says here is the plan, and here is what we should do. It’s a fragmented community depending on what kind of cyclist you are, you identify with. Someone needs to have some strong leadership to pull all those different forces together, and just say listen, we’re all out there riding bikes and we all can benefit, whether you’re on-road or off-road.”

2.) Funders and politicians do not view cycling as a legitimate form of transportation, and so cyclists are often marginalized in funding, policy and transportation planning.

“Success is measured by the things we will be able to produce and being able to earn the confidence of elected officials and staff to know that if they make a decision for cycling, that there is a constituency to support their decision.”

“Current bicycling advocacy organizations create a false hope because they have a small following that voice their opinions in the 11th hour, not through the process.”

Solutions suggested from interviews
The majority said Cleveland needs a full service organization that organizes people around policy, infrastructure projects, and events, and keeps them organized so they are ready to mobilize when needed. To do this we need an organization with a clear mission, strategy, and dedicated staff.

“We need to normalize cycling in Cleveland.”

Another interviewee suggested not needing to create a new organization or to merge the existing,

“We just need to create a network to facilitate better communication of events.”

“Having a shared vision, and a shared list of priorities that included all the different aspects of the sports; for example better access for mountain biking, better bike lanes and make sure you hit all the areas it could be successful. You have to make sure all types of cyclists can see what they gain from being a part of this shared vision or else you will have a hard time being successful.”—CAMBA

“Cycling can take all different sorts of forms and we have to get to the point where we want to advance everybody…Even if we advance a smaller segment of the cycling community, that’s a wonderful plus and would exceed the value you would get from offering a larger part of the community a smaller, negligible benefit. We need to find a way to be helpful to everybody in an effort to make the cycling community larger.

Additional suggestions

• Build Capacity- staff (Executive director, programming and promotion, policy)
• Region wide educational marketing campaign (for cyclists and motorists)
• Comprehensive Website (that would include information about all cycling initiatives)
• Build Confidence (and in turn membership)- this can be done by getting a quick win

Our recommendations

• Build an organization with a mission that is inclusive of all types of cycling. Model ourselves after successful advocacy organizations to develop a proper mission and strategic plan that the new organization would follow (i.e. BikePGH). The new organization needs to be one that “inspires cyclists to follow.”
• Engage a variety of stakeholders in the development of the board of directors for the new inclusive organization.
• Hire a dedicated staff that would address the prevailing needs of the cycling community: Policy, Infrastructure Projects, and Events and Promotion.
• Develop an advisory committee that consists of city, county, NOACA, and other entities with vested interests that would assist in building a powerful organization.
• The new organization would collaborate closely with OCBC, CAMBA, Rays, OCC, Pedal Republik, and the Cleveland Metroparks to promote and build capacity for their agenda as it fits with the defined mission.

Updates

In November, 2010 Cleveland Bicycle Alliance was awarded $10,000 to implement an organizational development and strategic planning process that will unite our cycling community and organizations. The process will be led by the Alliance for Biking and Walking. You can learn more about the Alliance for Biking and Walking by visiting their website.

To make this process effective and successful we need your input. To receive updates and to be notified of the larger strategic planning event in early 2011 send an e-mail to Jacob VanSickle at jacobv@slavicvillage.org.

Roles of existing advocacy organizations

Ohio City Bicycle Co-op (OCBC)- Education is already addressed adequately by the OCBC. OCBC wants to focus solely on education and community programs as they are essential components to building a strong social movement for cycling. New organization would work with OCBC contractually to expand cycling education in the region

Walk+Roll Cleveland- Lois Moss and the Walk+Roll initiative have successfully taken on the task of marketing cycling in Cleveland, this can be seen through the number of articles, large events, and other media coverage she receives. It is recommended that Walk+Roll be contracted by the new organization and is the lead on events, promotion, and marketing.

ClevelandBikes- Kevin Cronin would be shifted to the board of the new organization. Kevin would be essential in helping recruit new board members and developing the mission, especially the policy side.

There are enough common activities that are not being done well, but are crucial to the organization like tracking membership and handling book keeping, those things increase with efficiencies in numbers. When you pull all the common interested together you do have the potential to be that bigger animal. There is better value with having everyone involved. You just have to make it attractive to everybody.

Learn more or get involved by contacting:

Jacobv@slavicvillage.org

Organizational and Individual Stakeholders

• Slavic Village Development
• Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association
• Ohio City Bicycle Co-op
• Ohio Canal Corridor
• ClevelandBikes
• Neundorfer, Inc.
• Cleveland City Planning Commission
• Earth Day Coalition
• Health Impact Consulting, Inc.
• NOACA
• Walk+Roll
• Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Department
• Cuyahoga County Planning Commission
• Clevelanders in Motion
• GreenCityBlueLake Institute
• David Pauer, Cleveland Clinic
• Bob Hudacek, Cleveland Cyclist
• Michael Hudacek, Cleveland Cyclist
• Fred Thomas, Cleveland Cyclist
• Phillip Brekke, Cleveland Cyclist
• Jeffrey Sugalski, Cleveland Cyclist
• Brian Griggs, Cleveland Cyclist