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Tampa Baycycle celebrates national bike month

Tampa BayCycle is an initiative to encourage bicycling as a mode of transportation in the Tampa Bay area. The initiative kicked off during May to celebrate National Bike Month.

Congratulations to Lesli Burke of Hillsborough County and Lee Opplinger of Pinellas County, winners of the Tampa BayCycle “Words for Wheels” contest! Their winning 100-word essays were chosen from over 45 entries submitted focusing on “How a Bicycle Would Change My Life.” They each won a new Trek bicycle donated by Oliver’s Cycle Sports and Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium.

The first Proclamation Relay Ride on May 1 was a huge success. Bicyclists carried Proclamations declaring “May is Bike Month” already signed by the mayors of Zephyrhills and Temple Terrace to downtown Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and collected Proclamations signed by Mayors Pam Iorio, Rick Baker, and Frank Hibbard respectively. Riders covered over 52 miles throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Tampa BayCycle events will continue through the month of May. There is still time to join the initiative and take part as an Elite 100 or 1,001 Friends of Cycling. To become an Elite 100, you must pledge to recruit five friends, colleagues, acquaintances, or anyone you can to try cycling once during May and sign them up as a Friend of Cycling. Both the Elite 100 and 1,001 Friends of Cycling pledge forms can be found on the website. Every Elite 100 that recruits their five Friends will receive a bicycle light. Friends have a chance to win random drawings for bike lights, cyclometers, helmets, bicycle pumps, water bottles and more.

The Business and Individual Challenge is taking place during the entire month. Businesses and individuals are currently competing for most miles ridden, most days ridden, best stories from the road and best photo from the road. Prizes include MiNewt LED Nite Riders ($160 value), wireless cyclometers ($50 value) and more! To take the challenge, go to www.tampabaycycle.com and click on Log Your Miles, then on GoLog Calendar. Once you sign up, you can then start logging your miles.

Check the Events page of the website for more information on events taking place during the month. If you have an event you would like to promote, contact Julie Bond at bond@cutr.usf.edu.

Bicycle commuters save money and gas, stay fit, reduce traffic congestion, and most importantly have fun. Go to www.TampaBayCycle.com and see what all the excitement is about!

temple terrace mayor elected mpo chair

Temple Terrace Mayor Joe Affronti was recently elected chair of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) by a unanimous vote of the MPO’s 15-member Board of Directors. The Hillsborough County MPO is a transportation policy-making board comprised of representatives of Hillsborough County (4 members), City of Tampa (3 members), City of Plant City, City of Temple Terrace, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, and the Tampa Port Authority.

The Hillsborough County MPO’s key responsibilities are the creation of the twenty-year Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and the five-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Mayor Affronti replaces outgoing Tampa City Councilperson Shawn Harrison.

usf receives value pricing pilot program grant

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently announced that the University of South Florida was awarded a Value Pricing Pilot program grant for a Dynamically Priced Carsharing program proposed by the Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF.

Carsharing is a service that provides members with access to a fleet of vehicles on an hourly basis. Zipcar, Inc. will provide the vehicles, technology, fuel, reservation system, marketing materials and insurance.

This project proposes to reduce the number of vehicle trips generated by the USF and surrounding areas and to increase the use of transportation options, such as transit, carpooling, bicycling, and walking. The value pricing research proposed will examine changes in travel behavior based on time-of-day pricing, demand pricing, congestion pricing and incentives.

For more information, contact Julie Bond at 813-974-9799 or bond@cutr.usf.edu.

Want to save money & make better use of your time by carpooling or vanpooling-
but don't know anyone to share the commute with?
We may be able to help! Join the regional rideshare database by following the link on the Commuter page of our website, www.newnorthalliance.org,  or by calling 813-974-9799 to speak with a New North Transportation Alliance representative.