Bike/Walk Friendly Venice!
Bike/Walk Friendly Venice is a group within VABI that is dedicated to making bicycling and walking safer and more enjoyable in Venice and the surrounding area. Our first initiative is based on the process to achieve Bicycle Friendly Community status for Venice.
The two major bike/walk attractions in Venice are The Legacy Trail and The Venitian Waterway Park. Please click here to open a PDF map of these trails.
Bicycle Friendly Community Program
The Bicycle Friendly Community program is administered by the League of American Bicyclists. The League awards communities the designation of platinum, gold, silver or bronze based on the results of their application review process. An application was submitted by Venice in 2008 and the result was an Honorable Mention. The BFC application provides a comprehensive picture of a community by asking questions across five categories often referred to as the Five E's. These are Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation and Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories in order to be considered for an award.
There are currently 190 communities in 46 different states that have achieved BFC status. The three cities with the highest platinum designation are Boulder, CO, Davis, CA and Portland, OR. There are 6 Bicycle Friendly Communities in Florida including Sanibel, Boca Raton, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.
Benefits of striving to become a Bicycle Friendly Community
• Boost the economy by creating a community that is an attractive destination for new residents, tourists and businesses.
• Improve the health and well being of the population by promoting routine physical activity.
• Reduce congestion by shifting short trips (the majority of trips in cities) out of cars. This will also make Venice more accessible for public transport, walking, essential car travel, emergency services, and deliveries.
• Save lives by creating safer conditions for bicyclists and as a direct consequence improve the safety of all other road users. Research shows that increasing the number of bicyclists on the street improves bicycle safety.
• Improve the environment by reducing the impact on residents of pollution and noise, limit-ing greenhouse gases, and improving the quality of public spaces.
• Enhance recreational opportunities, especially for children, and further contribute to the quality.
• Increase opportunities for residents of all ages to participate socially and economically in the community, regardless of income or ability.
• Greater choice of travel modes also increases independence, especially among seniors and children.
Bicycle Friendly Venice Application Process
The BFC application provides a roadmap to improve our community’s commitment to bicycling. The BFC application consists of 87 specific questions. The majority of the application is an audit of the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation efforts. The most complete applications come from communities where city officials, public agencies and local cyclists work on it together.
The application process will result in incremental Bicycle Friendly improvements as portions of the program are implemented. Completed applications are accepted for review in February and July of each year. The earliest that we believe that we could be prepared to submit the Venice application is July 2012.
Bicycle Friendly Venice Action Plan
We have assembled a small group of volunteers to work on defining the Bicycle Friendly Program requirements. The Mayor and the
City Council of Venice have given us their enthusiastic and unanimous support. In order to implement the program, we will need
the support and assistance and the advocacy of the area’s bicyclists. Ultimately, for the program to be successful we will need
the support of the entire community.
For more information or to find out how you can get involved in our bicycle and pedestrian friendly initiative, contact us at: BikeFriendly@vabi.org.
