Project: Public Outreach

Public outreach to increase awareness of the multiple benefits of biking—even for people who do not bike—is among the many Bicycling Monterey projects.

Virtually everyone benefits from such things as reduced traffic and parking congestion, improved public health, stronger community relationships, benefits to the economy, and reduced carbon emissions as well as reduced air, noise and water pollution. People who bike, of course, enjoy many additional benefits—ranging from saving money on transportation costs to personal health and fitness benefits and much more. To help bring to public attention the many benefits of more people biking, Bicycling Monterey’s founder has done a lot of public outreach.

Below are examples (not a complete list) of public outreach efforts by the founder since 2009.

Public Outreach

Presentations at meetings and events, e.g., Alliance for Biking & Walking, California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Carmel Valley Rotary Club, Focus the Region Conference at CSUMB, Greenfield Rotary Club, Monterey Green Action, Safe Routes to School-Monterey County Health Department, Salinas Lions Club, Sustainable Pacific Grove, Sustainable Salinas, faith groups, and others.

Tabling at events, e.g, Castroville Tour Solar y Feria de la Sostenibilidad, Día de los Muertos at City of Salinas Closter Park, Middlebury Institute of International Studies Information Fair, Naval Postgraduate School Earth Day Celebration, Presidio of Monterey’s Porter Youth Center, Seaside Police Activities League (PAL) Bike Fair, South County Health & Safety Fair, and more.

Media outreach, including interviews with AMP Media’s “Your Town,” Cedar Street Times, KKUP, KRML, KSBW, the Monterey County Herald, Monterey County Weekly, Radio Bilingüe, Salinas Californian, Women’s International Perspective (The WIP), and more.

Image below © 2011 Monterey County Weekly.

Writing guest commentaries broadcast/published by KUSP, the League of American Bicyclists, Monterey County Weekly, Salinas Californian, Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s See Monterey, and others; and serving as resource for reporters at KION, KSBW, Salinas Californian, and other media outlets.

Outreach via Bicycling Monterey links on other websites, such as California Bicycle Coalition, People’s Climate, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Community Alliance for Safety and Peace, Cruz511 – Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, Hartnell College, Stevenson School, and many more (for a list of examples, click here, then scroll down).

And more public outreach, such as:  direct outreach on the bikeways, including youth education, assisting tourists, distributing posters and fliers; social media, e.g, @bikemonterey on Twitter; and miscellaneous outreach in public places, e.g., Castroville Library and other public libraries.

And of course, the bikemonterey.org website itself serves as a public outreach method, with thousands of website visitors every month.

You may appreciate that the Bicycling Monterey work helps more people realize the impact of transportation choices on climate change, or helps them learn about riding skills, safety, and bike laws, or find Monterey County’s diverse bicycling resources, or other resources. If you value the Bicycling Monterey work, consider making a contribution.

May 2018 starts Bicycling Monterey’s 10th year. The Bicycling Monterey website and other Bicycling Monterey projects are a grassroots community collaboration. Successes are due to the involvement of many people, within and outside of Monterey County. If you would like to volunteer time or contribute project supplies, or if you have questions, contact Mari. Thank you for your consideration and support.

Bicycling Monterey PROJECTS

This post was first published on 21 June 2017.