Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
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DELAWARE VALLEY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION

New Jersey Bicycle Advisory Council

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers University
33 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

AGENDA

1. Introductions

• Self-introductions of new and returning group members.

2. Previous meeting recap

• Brief overview of the November 14th, 2002 general meeting.

3. Inviting Brent Barnes
Discussion and plans for inviting Brent Barnes in the spring of 2003 to a combined meeting with the Pedestrian Task Force to welcome him and introduce both groups. Outlining goals and objectives for the meeting.

4. Current and Future Tasks/ Action Items

• Bicycle Education Subcommittee
  Integrating bicycle education into the school curriculum for NJ schoolchildren, and/ or developing other comprehensive programs and initiatives to teach schoolchildren safe riding and traffic skills (e.g. after-school programs). Brief update from John Waltz, John Madera, Ted Semegran and Petra Staats.
• ‘Safe Routes To School' for New Jersey
  Status update on NJDOT/ RBA Work Program for the statewide Safe Routes to School initiative; the outline is expected to be complete soon and the Bike Council will be able to review the proposal and provide input.
• Communication with AARP
  The idea was to develop an education program on walking and bicycling, as many older drivers do not seem to know how to respond to cyclists in traffic; Update from John Madera who was going to make an initial contact with AARP and AAA.
• Review of State Access Management Code and Commercial Site Improvement Standards
  Update from Mike Dannemiller with the RBA Group on how the new/ proposed chapters of the NJDOT Roadway Design Manual address the access management issue.
  
  As the Council found out, there are no immediate plans either by DCA or DOT to update the Commercial Site Improvement Standards or the Access Management Code therefore the group came to the consensus that tackling the issues would require more time and effort than group members could contribute. Thus, it was decided that if at some point in time the standard and code revisions were proposed, the Council would look to have representatives on the Committees, review plans and proposals and provide input. Both issues are possible considerations for future research tasks of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Resource Project. The project addresses legislative issues as they relate to walking and bicycling in the State of New Jersey.
  
  For the time being, the group also decided to start a photo collage of inefficient, unsafe, poorly designed pedestrian access and circulation around malls and other commercial development sites. The images will provide a resource later in the process and may help to create a mandate for the commercial site improvement standards. Please bring your pictures to today's meeting. (Also take pictures of good examples at commercial developments in N.J.)
• Emergency Response/ Post 9/11
  Letter to NJOEM; Also, potential issue for discussion in ‘Transportation Security' panel at TransAction?
• LAB Bike-Friendly Community Campaign
  Update from VTPI on award qualification requirements (or check for yourself if you think a community in NJ may qualify @ http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/apply.cfm); Discussion on developing our own award to recognize communities that have been actively promoting bicycling in NJ.
• Road Rage
  Update from Ted Semegran and others. Background: Recent reports from Bikc Club members included a number of road rage incidences against cyclists. Ted Semegran suggested the Council consider developing a ‘share the road' public outreach/ education campaign thru media sources (news bulletins, articles…). Council members suggested collecting more stories/ data through outreach to the Bicycle Clubs to get some more consistent documentation of incidences; based on the results the Council would consider developing a report/ news article/ public campaign. It was further suggested to look into state statutes concerning hit-and-run and incidences related to road rage.

Additional Issues to be discussed:

• Bike Lanes on 21 County Road System
• Bike Parking
• Design Standards and the adherence thereto
• River Crossings, NJDOT feasibility studies and assessment versus actual consideration and implementation

5. Interagency Updates

• NJDOT
• NJ Transit
• Office of State Planning
• Division of Highway Traffic Safety
• MPO's

6. VTPI Report

• TransAction 2003
• Pedestrian & Bicycle Resource Project Update
• NJ Bikes and Walks

7. Reports from other Council Members

• Significant projects/ policy developments/ breakthroughs

8. Housekeeping

• Status of the NJBAC logo

9. Scheduling the Next/ Upcoming Meeting