“How to Overcome the Opposition and Win a Bike Lane” training recap
I helped bike activists from 7 states up their game yesterday. Fun times!
Yesterday I hosted an online training “How to Overcome the Opposition and Win a Bike Lane” which had activists tuning in from Alameda, CA; Ann Arbor, MI; Berkeley, CA; Houston, TX; Littleton, CO; Los Angeles, CA; Newington, NH; Richmond, VA; San Francisco, CA; and South Orange NJ. Attendee’s level of experience crossed the entire spectrum– some were people who run advocacy work for an existing bike organization and some were people who are just about to move to their new community and want to help make it a friendlier place to bike around. But they all want to make their communities places with greater mobility options, lower carbon emissions, and safer places to be.
The training started with a ~45-minute presentation and ended with a very interesting Q&A where folks talked about the specific obstacles and opportunities, they are facing in their efforts to bring safer biking to their communities. Questions and conversations hit on issues like:
How to use “candidate questionnaires” to shape the discussion during election season
How to work the “inside” and “outside” game in which activists collaborate with lawmakers on strategy, messaging and tactics
How to get started when you’re new in a community
In terms of the presentation itself, we took a look at how “the opposition” gets and uses its power; how to counter and fracture that; and some strategies for boxing the opposition in. And throughout there was a strong emphasis on how there will always be opposition– the goal isn’t to eliminate it– the goal is to overcome & outmaneuver the opposition so that you get what you want.
I’m looking forward to putting on more general (and free) trainings as well as providing personalized trainings to individuals and small groups looking to make their communities easier to get around by foot, bike, bus, or wheelchair!
Want a personalized training session to help you through the issues you need to overcome to win the change you want for your community? Email me at Carter@carterlavin.com and let’s schedule a session!
How I’m walking the talk these days:
I’ve been trying my hand at making Instagram videos to 1) spread the word about the Oakland Street Safety petition in a different medium 2) raise awareness about street infrastructure as a whole and 3) learn a new skill! You can check them out here– let me know what you think!
(Want help branching out into a new medium to help reach more people about your issue? Book a training session and we can talk through the promises – and pitfalls – of different mediums and how to effectively use them to help you reach your goal.)
Upcoming Free Training-- “A beginner's guide to getting a protected bike lane in your community.” Tuesday March 28th @ 5:30pm PT on Zoom. Register here.
Action/activist of note: Berkeley, California recently approved a wonderful bike lane that will make the city more climate-friendly, safer, vibrant, and more accessible to all– but as always there is opposition, and they are trying to pressure the council to cancel bike lane. Walk Bike Berkeley has been leading the charge to make sure the project goes through, and they will be hosting a “Kidical Mass” which will “show everyone how much it matters for kids and families to create safe routes to schools in our city”. Hosting a family & kid-centric ride is excellent strategy for lots of reasons and one of my favorite ones is that it helps draw a clear contrast between the pro-family, pro-children, pro-fun bike lane people….and the opposition. It invites the question, “whose side do you want to be on?” and I think the answer is clear!
Meet your fellow transportation advocates at the March Open Discussion Zoom Happy Hour! This month’s topic: "What's going on with Slow Streets in your community, what's next and how do we build on their success?" Come share your thoughts, hear from allies, and make some friends. Join the conversation on March 22nd
Correction/lesson learned: There were some technical difficulties at the start of the webinar yesterday where my slides weren’t fully visible– which I was able to fix during the presentation, but still– a bit clunky. I had done a very brief tech check the day before, but it was a good reminder that tech checks are not something to only briefly– lesson learned!
Thanks for reading, thanks for forwarding this along, and most importantly– thanks for working to make the world better!
Sincerely,
Carter Lavin
www.carterlavin.com
"Protected" bike lanes aren't safe. Don't believe me? Study the severe injury and death rates in the Netherlands and Denmark. Formulate the per capita. Compare with cities like Berkeley. We are much safer with bicycle boulevards. And, P.S. cyclists in these countries don't shop. Poison for commercial if you remove parking. Study the studies...