Global Advocacy Sites

The scope of this list is those sites that have bicycling, environmental, or possibly pedestrian advocacy content and a global (which might mean "American" or perhaps "not Wisconsin") scope.
You can also find advocacy sites elsewhere at the BCP, such as amongst the various regional pages, and of course our own local advocacy page. Many of the bicycling groups are advocacy related. All of our Critical Mass links are collected on their own page, as is our Car-Free page.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Alternative Transportation: The topic is given consideration by De Clarke.; [Added February, 2002. ]
America Bikes: A collaborative effort of leaders of the bicycle community to advocate for positive outcomes for bicycling in the next federal transportation funding bill. Significant funding for America Bikes is generously provided by Bikes Belong.; road,tour,advocacy,commute,safety,lobby; USA; [Added: December 9, 2002. ]
America Walks: U.S. coalition of local advocacy groups from across the country working to improve conditions for walking; ped; [Added: March 25, 2001. ]
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy: "The ACEEE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection." One of their projects is the Green Guide to Cars and Trucks, an (unfortunately print-only) guide to environmental impacts of the vast variety of cars and trucks one might be tempted to buy, despite the fact that they all spew carcinogenic, life-stealing, poisons that you and your kids then have to breath. The site offers, besides boilerplate, such handy features as Turning Down the Heat, a series of little white papers on energy-saving technologies, legislative alerts, and other information, though nothing specifically on bicycling.; env; [Added May 28, 1998.]
American Farmland Trust: "American Farmland Trust works to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment." Included here on the principle that sprawl development is not bike-friendly development. These folks offer online a study called Living on the Edge: the Costs and Risks of Scatter Development (actually hosted at Northern Illinois University) that analyzes some of the costs of sprawl, using the Chicago metro area as an example. Another is Farming on the Edge, which looks as the loss of farmland to sprawl on a state-by-state basis. Did you know that Texas lost 489,000 acres of farmland to development in the decade between 1982 and 1992? That's got to hurt...; env;land; [Added April 7, 1998.]

Bicycle Inter-Community Art & Salvage: A community oriented shop that sells used bikes. They also allow volunteers to do their own repairs. And, they manufacture bike racks and trash can encloures out of used bike parts for the city of Tucson, as well as the bike repair skills, etc. programs.; advocacy,bikes,used; Tuscon AZ; [Added: March 10, 2002. ]
Bicycle Civil Liberties Union (BCLU): "Get a clue with the BCLU" is their slogan. The abuse reports list the injustices against us two-wheelers, including abuses at critical mass rides.; bike; [Added Dec. 3, 2000.]
Bicycle Federation of America: The Bicycle Federation of America is "the sole national not-for-profit organization working to create bicycle-friendly and walkable communities," (though one wonders what that makes the League of American Bicyclists. There is a notable absence of slickness at this site, and not a great deal of depth yet-- just descriptions of their projects, products (online insecure ordering), background info on the "Bike Fed," and the like.; bike; [Added May 14, 1997.]
Bicycle Law: A section of the MassBike page that lists state laws concerning bicycles for those states for which they are available-- eventually that may be all of them, but as of February 1998 there are about two and a half dozen represented-- including Wisconsin, by virtue of a link back to the Bicycling Community Page (that's us). There's other good law stuff here too, such as information on helmet statutes.; bike; [Updated February 15, 1998.]
bicyclism: A nice collection of rants, links, and factoids about bicyclism from the Red Cedar Bicyclism Collective and Free Bike Store. Promised to be coming soon: The Four Bikemen of the Apocalypse.; michigan; bike; [Added June 5, 1997.]
BikeAbout: BikeAbout is an international organization that organizes and conducts large-scale tours with an educational agenda. This page presents a lot of information on the project in a good-looking and easy-to-read format. At this writing, they are embarked on a "wired" circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea. Check the site for their journal.; bike;tour; [Updated December 18, 1997.]
Bikes Belong: The usual suspects-- the League of American Bicyclists, Bicycle Federation of America, and Rails to Trails Conservancy-- have put up this informative page about ISTEA and its reauthorization.; bike; [Update June, 2001.]; [Added March 6, 1997.]
Bikes not Bombs: A non-profit organization working for alternative transportation and community development. The group operates the Bicycle Recycling and Youth Training Center in Roxbury, MA.; road,youth,community; Roxbury, MA; [Added: December 20, 2001. ]
Blackstone Bike Works: A place for kids to repair bikes.Sadly, their building was destroyed in a fire. We wish them the best in rebuilding this important resource.; advocacy,kids, used; Chicago, IL.; [Added: March 10, 2002. ]
Boone Yellow Bikes: Providing fun, free, and less polluting transportation on the campus of Appalachian State University.; advocacy;yellow; Boone, NC; [Added: December 1, 2002. ]

Cars Suck: This page is for an "as-yet-unnamed" project based in New York City that strives to work against the "gigantic theft of public property" represented by the domination of our cities by streets, and of the streets by ill-mannered, homocidal motorists. "Stand on any corner in midtown," they point out, "and you'll see a dozen dangerous crimes a minute." Their manifesto spells out the solution: "traffic engineering for people, not for machines," and enforcement of existing by massively ignored traffic laws. There's a lot of good essays here, the kind that get your blood a-boiling. I enjoyed reading the account of an artist charged with developing a bike-to-work-week ad for NYDoT, only to find that he couldn't even hint that a bicycle was, say, a less polluting transportation choice-- or anything else that dissed automobiles, or mentioned a public figure that wasn't a supporter of the Guliani administration. They are putting together an online database of victims of automotive homocide, to put a face on the 250 or so New York City residents who each year give their lives for the convenience of their motorized fellow citizens.; car; [Added May 15, 1998.]
Chainguard Online: Bicycle Advocacy: Lots and lots of stuff on the national bicycling advocacy scene-- such as up-to-date information on the mangling of ISTEA. Good links to other resources targetted at advocacy, and a collection of rants from John Forester. One of the premier advocacy sites in existence. Sponsored by the Georgia Bicycle Federation.; bike; [Updated June, 2001.]; [Updated March 6, 1997.]
Climate Solutions: Their mission "is to stop global warming at the earliest point possible by helping the Northwest become a world leader in practical and profitable solutions." Practical solutions including bicycling and walking.; climate change; Seattle; Pacific northwest; [Added: August 22, 2002. ]

EarthPledge: The Earth Pledge was authored by EarthPledge founder Theodore Kheel for the occasion of the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development:
Recognizing that people's actions towards nature and each other are the source of growing damage to the environment and to resources needed to meet human needs and ensure survival, I pledge to act to the best of my ability to help make the Earth a secure and hospitable home for present and future generations.
The Earth Pledge Foundation was founded in 1991 with this mission:
The Earth Pledge Foundation promotes the principles and practices of sustainable development-- the need to balance the desire for economic growth with the necessity of environmental protection.
The gist of this outfit (in my words) is to seek out the common ground between business and a sane ecological consciousness. Kheel, by the way, was the founder of Punta Cana, the prototypical ecotourism resort, which lends credibility to the claim that we aren't talking about fuzzy-headed red-faced detachment from reality here-- they partner with such radical organizations as Con Edison. Also at this site is the Business Coalition for Sustainable Cities, which features a feast of white papers on sustainable cities. That's where the content on transportation-- such as Public Transit: The Key to Better Cities-- is most likely to be found. Another relevant theme at this site is Sustainable Media-- which focuses on bringing internet technology to non-profits, both by hosting a number of them, and by providing tutorial information. Personally, I found the design of the site in itself to be a source of some inspiration-- keen eyes will detect shameless copying of some of their techniques at this site in the near future. Hee hee!; env; [Added June 5, 1997.]
Energy and Equity: "In this essay, [Ivan] Illich examines the question of whether or not humans need any more energy than is their natural birthright. Along the way he gives a startling analysis of the marginal disutility of tools. After a certain point, that is, more energy gives negative returns. For example, moving around causes loss of time proportional to the amount of energy which is poured into the transport system, so that the speed of the fastest traveller correlates inversely to the equality as well as freedom of the median traveller." Full text of the essay, first published in 1973 in Le Monde, is here; also, a "facts and figures" summary titled Social effects of motorized transport. The essay is also published in Illich's book Toward a History of Needs.; env; [Added November 18, 1998.]
Environmental Working Group: These folks specialize in mining data, often using the Freedom of Information Act, to learn interesting things about environmental issues. Recently, they've delved into bicycle and pedestrian fatality and injury statistics, and come up with some interesting numbers, which have been published as reports. At this site, you can download PDF versions of their reports (free), view HTML versions of the executive summaries thereof, and read about the organization. When appropriate, there are separate documents for each state-- that includes Share the Road, their very recent work in the area of bicycle accidents, for which they partnered with our friends at the Bicycle Federation of America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project.; env; [Added May 14, 1997.]

Greener by Design: Edwin wants to 'Redesign Everything' to make it greener, including bikes. Lots of interesting designs here.; env;bike; [Added February 25, 2001.]

International Bicycle Fund: "The International Bicycle Fund is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, promoting sustainable transport and international understanding. Major areas of activity are urban planning, economic development, safety education and a cross-cultural travel program in Africa." The page has sections on each of their projects, plus a list of their publications, a list or relevant international conferences, and so forth. More. They also have information on community bike programs.; bike; [Updated January 8, 1997.]
International Bike Route Directory: The concept is to have a clearinghouse of user-contributed bicycle routes in various categories. This is a project of the National Bicycle Greenway folks, and is in fact subtitled "the NBG in action." At this writing, there are few bike routes in the directory, but there is a grab bag of advocacy-oriented articles and, apparently, plans for such additional features as a ride partners bulletin board.; bike; [Added October 30, 1996.]
Intersection Online: "Car free space on the information highway... Intersection is a storefront resource, meeting and office space for folks interested and involved in sustainable transportation." Offices are in Toronto, but it has a broader focus than just local. Home of Transportation Options, Community Bicycle Network, Detour Publications, the Better Transportation Coalition, and the Toronto Centre for Appropriate Transport.; bike;trans; [Updated October 30, 1996.]
ISTEA Reauthorization: All you ever wanted to know about ISTEA-- the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act-- and it's successor-- TEA-21-- from the point of view of people who really like the Enhancements and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality programs: the Surface Transportation Policy Project. The full text of the bill is available at the site.; bike;trans; [Updated June 12, 1998.]
International Mountain Bike Association: The advocacy group for off-road enthusiasts.; bike;; [Added May 2001.]

John Forester: John Forester is the originator of the Effective Cycling concept, the author of several books on traffic engineering and Effective Cycling, the author of many journal articles, and an expert witness. This site offers a bunch of John's strongly-put articles on various topics, such as studies of the effectiveness of Effective Cycling and critiques of such regulatory "accomplishments" such as the one that specifies the requirements for reflectorization of bicycles sold in the United States. You can also read the fee structure for his expert witness business, and the bicycle componentry he has developed and markets.; bike;; [Added June 22, 1997.]

League of American Bicyclists: The League of American Bicyclists is, of course, the premier bicycle transportation advocacy organization of the United States, and this is their brand new home page. Information on the League, merchandise, Pedal for Power bike tours, and so forth.; bike;; [Updated May 14, 1997.]
Learn to Let Go: UK site aimed at weaning motorists from their habits. Video clips of their ad compaign. Very well done.; car-free; [Added: August 21, 2002. ]

Natural Resources Defense Council: Notable for its section on the 1997 global warming treaty conference.; env; [Added December 18, 1997.]

1,000 Friends of Oregon: These folks have been working for years to keep the Portland metropolitan area liveable-- and bikeable-- and they've been famously successful, serving as a model for many other places in the country that, like Portland, have been faced with the spectre of rapid growth. Recently, for example, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin was formed, a group that's hoping to mimic their approach and acheive their success in Dane County and in Wisconsin overall. The big resource at this site is a section on LUTRAQ-- Land Use, Transportation, and Air Quality-- the name for a project that succeeded in killing the "western bypass" suburban freeway project in the Metro area. That project generated a series of technical reports, most of which are available from the site as PDF.; env;land; [Updated June, 2001]; [Added March 20, 1998.]

Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.: "A clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement and access and mobility. " Chock-full of good stuff, like bike and ped plans from real cities, bike lane design guide, and ped/bike image library.; advocacy,commute,planning; USA; [Added: March 2, 2003. ]
Pednet: Pednet is mostly a mailing list for pedestrian advocates; this site-- based in Ottawa-- maintains an archive of the mailing list, plus a pretty good list of "links of interest to Green transportation advocates."; ped
Planning Commissioners Journal: "The Planning Commissioners Journal is a quarterly publication designed for people who serve on local planning and zoning boards-- and for all citizens and government officials interested in land use planning issues. We make every effort to ensure that what we run is clear & understandable to non-professionals. We have also put considerable effort into ensuring that the PCJ is attractively designed and easy-to-read." Chock full of useful articles such as Sprawl Is Like the Weather. Now with a giant section called Sprawl Resource Guide.; land; [Updated January 10, 1998.]
The Preservation Institute: Transportation and Development Politics on the Internet: This is the transportation/land use section of PreserveNet, the online project of the Preservation Institute-- a Berkeley-based group that beleives in such things as the end of economic development. This section is largely an annotated links list broken into such areas as New Urbanism, Limiting Automobile Use, and so forth. They also run a sort of free web for organizations working in related areas that don't already have a site of their own. That's a nice offer!; land; [Added September 9, 1997.]
Psycho Cycles: This rather free-form site is fun (if sometimes difficult) to read. opions are pro-bike and strongly-held, just the way we like'em.; bike; CUYAHOGA FALLS, OH;; [Added: April 22, 2001. ]

Rails to Trails Conservancy: These folks have been advocating the creation of recreational trails for about ten years now, often partnering with the Bicycle Federation of America and the League of American Bicyclists on various projects. This site offers background information on the RTC-- including membership information-- and the U.S. Trail Information Center, with information on 700 (!) rail trails around the country. Each trail listing has information on location, length, surface, amenities, and contact information. It's all done in a framed presentation that's easy to use and without gratuitous glitz.; [Added September 6, 1997.]
Road to Ruin: "Twenty-two unneeded new highway projects that would waste $10 billion, harm our communities and hurt the environment." Everybody knows that departments of transportation worldwide are pouring money and the environment down the toilet at an unprecedented rate, but we may not know the specifics of the most egregious cases. This page fills us in at the same time-- if read on a full stomach-- emptying us out. Them DOTs will fill our ears with lies and empty our pockets. The projects will fill the countryside with cars and empty the cities. You get the idea. One of the projects is Wisconsin's very own State Highway 12 widening project, part of the planned Chicago-to-Wisconsin Dells expressway. The page is a joint project of Taxpayers for Common $ense and Friends of the Earth.; [Update June, 2001.]; [Added December 6, 1996.]
The Roadhogs Info Trough: The environmental group Friends of the Earth puts up this site, which is devoted to spreading the bad news about sport utility vehicles. What bad news? That they suck up enormous quantities of fuel (and funds!), that they are three times more likely to kill the driver of another vehicle in which it is involved in a collision, and so forth. They've collected the information here, as well as links to related sites and primary sources, and offer membership in the Roadhog Information Campaign, which arms citizens for the battle against the monster wheels.; [Added May 28, 1998.]
LaurenJo's Chris Robertson Page: Extensive information about Chris Robertson, a San Francisco cyclist who was killed 11/17/00 by an 18-wheeler. Also lots of miscellaneous info about cycling safety.; memorial;safety; San Francisco, CA; [Added: December 10, 2001. ]

Scientific and Cultural Aspects of the Bicycle: An international project that emphasizes teaching, learning and cultural exchange. Faculty and students focus on the bicycle - an application of technology utilized in almost all cultures.; science, culture; -; [Added: April 23, 2003. ]
Sierra Club: Sprawl: "Poorly planned development is threatening our environment, our health, and our quality of life. In communities across America "sprawl" - scattered development that increases traffic, saps local resources and destroys open space - is taking a serious toll. But runaway growth is not inevitable. Hundreds of urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods are choosing to manage sprawl with smart growth solutions."
Forward-looking people, like the Sierrans, recognize that transportation is an essential component of sprawl; [Update June, 2001.]; [Added October 12, 1998.]
Sprawl Watch: A clearinghouse for information on good and bad land use practices. "Our mission is to make the tools, techniques, and strategies developed to manage growth, accessible to citizens, grassroots organizations, environmentalists, public officials, planners, architects, the media and business leaders. "; spawl;; [Added February, 2002.]
Por un ciclismo seguro: (for safe biking) A Spanish bike advocate.; Madrid, Spain; [Added: April 23, 2003. ]
Sprawl-Busters: "Is your community threatened by a MEGASTORE? Who ya gonna call? SPRAWL-BUSTERS! We help communities stop the big box bulldozers!" They do that with consultancy, with their monthly newsletter, with a resource bank, and with this web site.
Now, all of this might seem like good clean fun, a viewpoint somewhat supported by the light Ghost-busters theme of the site, but in fact it's a deadly serious business. Anybody who's driven past a Wal-Mart outside a rural Wisconsin town on the way into the boarded up downtown, or who's taken a trip down to the corner hardware store only to find that the owners have finally taken the hint and closed up shop, or had to face a five-mile drive to get a dozen eggs because all the neighborhood grocery stores folded, knows well that the price we pay for convenience is a very high price indeed. If you think that big-box economics-- with the corresponding impact on transportation and land use-- don't sow a crop of dead bicyclists for the grim guy to reap, you haven't thought it through yet. They might have cartons of cheap bicycles inside the Wal-Mart, but it's no coincidence that they don't bother to put a bike rack outside the thing.; [Added June 12, 1998.]

Texas Transportation Institute: This major transportation think tank, based at Texas A&M University, distinguishes itself by producing the annual Mobility Study.; [Added June, 2001.]
Transportation Action Network: An outstanding site brought to you by Surface Transportation Policy Project. Browse seemingly unending array of references, links, and articles at this site. Of particular interest is the archive of back issues of Transfer, STTP's newsletter.; [Updated March 6, 1997.]
Transportation for Livable Communities NETwork: These folks have put this web site up as "a resource for people working to create more livable communities by improving transportation... through traffic calming... public transit... by retrofitting streets for bicycling and walking." They have a New England focus, but their resources are of much more than regional interest. They host discussion groups (WWW-hosted newsgroups, really), listserves, provide links to relevant sites, and host a bunch of resource documents such as the wonderful Take Back Your Streets: How to Protect Communities from Asphalt and Traffic. TLCNet is a project of the Conservation Law Foundation.; [Added March 7, 1998.]
TransCycle: "This Web site promotes cycling as an environmentally acceptable form of transport and looks at positive steps being taken to reduce our dependence of the motor car. There is also information on tricycles and tandems." And walking. Rather a grab bag of stuff, but an interesting one. Based in the UK.; [Updated February 17, 1999.]
Travel Matters: the website for those interested in learning more about how travel habits and transportation choices affect global climate change. TravelMatters offers a trio of resources - interactive emissions calculators, on-line emissions maps, and a wealth of educational content - to emphasize the close relationship between more efficient transit systems and lower greenhouse gas emissions."; advocacy; -; [Added: March 2, 2003. ]

Walk Austin: This isn't a biking site-- it's for a regional pedestrian advocacy group-- but bicycle transportation advocates have much common ground with pedestrian advocates, and this site's too good to pass up. I enjoyed the Declaration of the Right to Walk. Also neato is the Database of Pedestrian Problems, with an online entry form-- we could use something like that.; ped; Austin,TX; [Added March 1, 1997.]
Walk To School: Promotes walking to school as a healthy activity for schoolkids. Organizes the national 'Walk to School Day'.; advocacy,ped,youth; USA; [Added: December 1, 2002. ]

Youth Bicycle Education Network: " YBEN links, supports, and strengthens organizations that use the bicycle as a vehicle for youth development and community building. " Lesson plans, publications, and other good stuff. Madison's own Wheels for Winners program is a member.; advocacy,kids; Indianapolis, IN; [Added: March 10, 2002. ]

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