How to make their suburban communities more bike friendly

February 11, 2011.  Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.   On Saturday, over 100 bicyclists will attend a day long conference presented by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to learn about how to make their suburban communities more bike friendly. They will be welcomed by State Representative Greg Vitali and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel will share how cyclists can more effectively influence the legislative and policy making process at the state, county and local levels.

“Bicycling has more than doubled in Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks counties over the last ten years,” according to Alex Doty, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. “But suburban towns are not building the streets that make a town bike friendly: we need wider shoulders, bike lanes and better connections to our growing trail network.” Saturday’s conference will feature breakout meetings with county planners and workshops on new trails planned across the region, making a road safer for cycling and getting more parking racks installed at a public building.

The conference will feature speakers from the Bicycle Coalition, Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. More details at bicyclecoalition.org.

Members of the press interested in attending the conference should contact Caroline Heffernan at caroline@bicyclecoalition.org

Conference Details for Media

What:  Biking the Suburbs Confence  

Where: Montgomery County Fire Academy, Conshohocken, PA (approach from Ridge Pike, i.e. don’t take Conshohocken Road from Conshohocken; the bridge is out.)

When: Saturday, February 12 from 9am to 3:30pm