"Sharing the Road": From the Coalition for More Responsible Transportation

What is the Coalition for More Responsible Transportation? 

CMRT is a coalition that shares a vision of bettering transportation in Wisconsin through making it efficient, convenient and clean for all members of our state. CMRT believes that transportation should improve our quality of life and contribute to making Wisconsinites both healthier and happier.

Summary of the CMRT Webinar "Sharing the Road": 

Featured speakers Gregg May, from 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Caressa Givens, from the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation, and Peter Skopec of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group discussed the benefits of walking and biking more in our communities. They talked about ways transportation agencies could change their design approaches, why sharing the road is important and barriers with Wisconsin’s “Complete Street” legislation. Challenges of biking during the COVID-19 pandemic were also discussed, as well as ways to stay active while social distancing. 

Key takeaways: 

  • Too much street infrastructure is dedicated to motor vehicles, but bikes are vehicles too! We need to adopt different design approaches to make travel safer for everyone. 

  • Sharing the road positively impacts our health, our environment and our economy

  • Wisconsin’s “Complete Street” law was enacted in 2009 and modified in 2015 by Gov. Walker

  • Due to COVID-19…

    • City trail counts are up, car miles are down and bikers need more space.

      • The Street to Trail Campaign requests a formal “partial street closure” plan 

      • The Wisconsin Bicycle Federation has created “Safe Routes from Home” lessons that they want Wisconsin families and children to have access to. 

Video Link: https://www.facebook.com/CMRTWI/videos/2811821572279981/

Written by Mackenzie Christman, Organizing Project Aide with the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter. Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk.