Street roots
Aug. 31, 2012
To build support for bicycling, you need to tell a good story
BY M ARGAUX MENNESSON
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
enny Anderson has been working and
riding his bike on and around Swan
Island for over 20 years. He recently
retired from his position as director of the
Swan Island Transportation Management
Authority. The
first time I met
Lenny was when
this photo was
fiSi
taken. He went
Bicycle
out of his way to
Transportation
arrange for us to
Alliance
be able to enter
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the shipyard on
the island (it’s
normally closed to
the public) and give me a tour of bike
facilities.
Elizabeth Quiroz is the BTA’s newest
employee. In her position as Bike Commute
Challenge Program Coordinator, her job is to
encourage people to try riding bikes during
the month of September and teach bike
commute 101 workshops. She lives in East
Portland and had never tried bike commuting
until this year.
Lenny and Elizabeth are two people I’ve
only known for a few months, but both have
made a big impression on my work as a bike
advocate. As the communications director of
the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, I know
that emotions are far more powerful triggers
than facts when it comes to building public
support for bicycling. But I also know how
comfortable and easy it is to stay safely
within the realm of rational arguments and
be on message.
That’s why SR Executive Director Israel
Bayer’s column in the Aug. 23 edition of
Street Roots struck a chord with me. He
wrote:
“It makes more sense to Tweet 100
pictures of people getting an apartment with
a key in hand over the course of six months
L
'fSVgt
Healthy Streetbeat is a
monthly column for
Street Roots written by
the Bicycle
Transportation
A lliance (BTA). O ur
contributors are Rob
Sadowsky, executive
director, and Margaux
Mennesson,
communications
director.
than trying to explain to the public in one
shot why $1 million dollars will house 100
people they don’t have any connection with.”
As advocates, our success comes from
understanding the system, knowing the
politics, and being able to make a compelling
case for funding. Cities need funding to do
almost everything we want them to do: build
more bikeways, fix unsafe spots on the road,
teach bike safety education to kids in
schools, support events like Sunday
Parkways.
As communicators trying to build a
movement for bicycling, the problem with
numbers, especially numbers with dollar
signs in front of them, is that they never tell
the whole story and they are easily taken out
of context. It’s harder to take a photo or
story of a real person who just discovered
Lenny Anderson
she can bike eight miles to work and back
with his bike on
and say, “that’s not true.”
Swan Island.
We need help from people who live and
P H O T O BY M A R G A U X
ride on the streets every day to tell real
M ENNESSON
stories and make our voice that much
stronger.
Bicycling is an amazing way to get
connected to the streets you live and travel
on every day. September is the best month
of the year to try it.
If you have a story about riding your bike
this September - good or bad - tell us. Your
story will help us make Portland’s streets
safer and more accessible for everyone who
lives here. The BTA is on Twitter @
BTAOregon, on Instagram @BTAOregon,
and on Facebook at facebook.com/btaoregon.
Find us on YouTube at youtube.com/user/
btaoregon.
good, local, food.
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503.287.4383
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