Promoting People Power through Media & Interactive Activities

At the beginning of the quarter, I promoted and participated in the Sneak Routes and Secret Places Bike Ride. This 10 mile group bike throughout the lesser-known routes on the Westside of Santa Cruz took place on a beautiful sunny day and drew in a cool crowd of all ages.

A week before the sneak bike ride event, I was inspired to make my own laser cut version of a bike route sign for a secret bike route.

This is the digital design I created in Adobe Illustrator. The thickness of the lines instruct the laser machine where to cut and where to engrave.

The smaller squares from the digital designs were cut into dozens of People Power key chains!

Before the Sneak Routes and Secret Places Bike Ride, we reviewed saftey guidelines and helpful riding tips.

Instead of using the main street, we took the sneaky route!

We stopped by the railroad near Wilder Ranch to talk about the Rail Trail, a recently funded project to build a bike path along the rail road that will connect San Mateo County to Watsonville. You can read more about it on People Power's website.

The MAH organized a Pop Up Museum event at hub where People Power coexists with other organizations like the Bike Church, Computer Kitchen, and Sub Rosa. A Pop Up Museum is an open event for all community members to set up related exhibits and workshops in one space.

People Power set up a fun an interactive spin art station where participants could pour paint or pedal the stationary bike to create a cool splatter effect.

We also set up a helmet decorating and spoke care making workshops. We had reflective stickers participants could cut out to make their gear unique and visible!

Some sample spoke cards.

After adding reflective stickers of my initials "HA" on both sides of my helmet, I went for a bike ride along West Cliff. It was definitely noticeable! HAHA

Here's a glimpse from the Santa Cruz Bike Party on Valentines Day. We had a gang of over 50 people biking around town under the full moon. It was so roll-mantic!

An awesome glowing tandem bike with speakers and a couch trailer!

Some sisterly love!

Dancing in San Lorenzo Park!

We set up some spin art again for the "What the Cruz?" event at the MAH.

Here are some submissions for the Bike Week poster from high school students across Santa Cruz County. Instead of hiring a graphic designer to create the poster, there was a contest among local teenagers and the entrees were impressive! 

We met at the pirate themed bike party a few months ago. We were laughing because we both arrived at the meet up spot late with our pirate buddies and couldn't find the official group so we ended up forming our own bike party like true pirates!

We also set up a station for helmet decorating and spoke card making workshops. This time we had a legitimate laminating machine!

Crafters creating spoke cards with reflective stickers.

I made this spoke card using one of the unclaimed splatter paint papers from the previous event we held with spin art. People Power!

Currently, I've been helping promote upcoming free Bike Commuting Workshops that will be held at the People Power headquarters on Pacific Avenue. I walked around downtown  Santa Cruz with my classmate Maryam talking with local businesses about posting these eye-catching posters in their window for the next few months. The majority of businesses we spoke to were very supportive!

I look forward to continuing my work with People Power in the Spring and participating in more informative workshops and interactive events!

*A big thanks to Tawn Kennedy and volunteer photographers from the MAH for capturing many of the photos included in this post*

Bicycle Outreach at UCSC Earth Summit (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

Last Thursday, our team joined a number of other student organizations in tabling at the Campus Earth Summit at UCSC. The event featured not only tabling, but also inspiring speakers, spoken word performances by the incredibly inspiring duo Climbing PoeTree, and workshops throughout the day. There was also free food and music powered by a bicycle generator! 

Fellow bicycling enthusiast Alex Hoffman (co-teacher with Melissa for the winter quarter People Power: Engaging Sustainable Transportation Solutions class) joined Aly and Melissa at the BTPT table. We promoted bike riding in Santa Cruz, as well as encouraged visitors to the table to take a survey about their bike riding habits. We also had a map of Santa Cruz that visitors could pin their routes on using tacks and rubber bands.

We were able to tell attendees about our project, answered bike-related questions, handed out materials for safer and more informed riding (provided by Transportation & Parking Services--thanks!), and asked visitors to our table to fill out a survey designed specifically for Earth Summit. Only 13 people filled it out, so we aren't counting the results as statistically accurate by any means. But if you're curious what folks said, check out the results below. Click the image for a larger view.

Mostly students, which we expected.

Because most of them are students, most are 18-24.

High bike rate among this crowd--they did, after all, approach a table proclaiming to be about bicycles. Future surveys we conduct will be at our bike commuting workshops where we imagine there will be a number of bicycle riders, too. We conducted the survey at Earth Summit as a way to identify any confusing questions and also see what kinds of habits UCSC bike riders have.

The campus bike shuttle is fully subsidized by Transportation & Parking Services through parking fees. Yes, you heard that right. Parking fees. So to continue to subsidize and make sustainable transportation methods cheaper for us all, people need to keep driving to campus and paying for permits. Hmm... Let's envision another model for funding, shall we?

Woah, we got some experts in the house! We still want those kinds of folks to attend our workshops if they're inclined to do so--they can share stories, tips, and maybe they'll realize they could learn a thing or two themselves!

With our stellar bus system in Santa Cruz to get to campus, it's no surprise that a lot of people bus it.

Mostly split between never and every weekday. 

Did you know that about half of all trips in the U.S. are three miles or less? Three mile trips are totally manageable by bike. I call that opportunity for change!

0 means no concern, and 5 means great concern. The following questions are all in response to "What keeps you from biking to work and/or school more?"

Given the high rates of bike theft in Santa Cruz, this is interesting. Get a good lock, use a bike locker, or park your bike in high visibility locations.

Bike racks with bags on the side are the way to go, especially with our hills. It's incredible how much easier it is to carry things when they're on your bike and not your back.

Leave earlier so you can ride slower and not break too much of a sweat. If you're going up to campus, there are showers available for bike commuters in Kresge College and Kerr Hall. Check out Janet Lafleur's blog One woman. Many bicycles. for more tips like this.

You don't need the most expensive bike in the shop to bike commute. Search Craigslist or ask friends who bike. 

If you're really far away, consider taking your bike on the bus!

Time management is key, and it is possible! Besides, if you bike to work, you can reduce your daily exercise routine and you'll inevitably feel more refreshed in the mornings. Daily exercise like this is really healthy for you, and it can soon become something you look forward to.

Weather-proof your commute! It's all about getting the right gear, some fenders, and waterproof clothing. 

Such great reasons to bike! Are you still on the fence about biking to work more often? Our workshops are designed for encouraging you to get out there more and feel empowered by your decision to bike to work instead of driving. Have questions? We have answers.

Workshops begin this Monday, March 17, from 6-7 PM in the People Power Office, 703 Pacific Ave. Learn more and register here for our free workshops!

Thanks for reading about experience at Earth Summit! We hope to see you Monday!

Hasti's Project Challenges & Progress

Last week, I downloaded a digital version of the Santa Cruz County bike map from SCCRTC's website.

I plan to use this file to highlight recommended routes to share via People Power's Facebook page.


Amelia Conlen and I discussed a route that starts downtown on Pacific Avenue and heads South ending at Seacliff Beach. I took a screen shot of the section of the bike map that I wanted to highlight but the image was too low resolution when I tried to edit it in a simple editor. I'm planning to use a more sophisticated editor tomorrow on campus in the Porter Lab. Using Adobe Illustrator, I think I can just import the entire pdf file then crop the section I would like to highlight.

Sharing images of highlighted routes through social media encourages people staring at a screen to go outside and get active. I would also like to encourage people that take the recommended route to share a picture from the destination or somewhere along the way.

I have a meeting at the People Power headquarters tomorrow to discuss promoting People Power's upcoming bike commuting workshops. We will be receiving a batch of posters to distribute around town. I will put up posters around campus and also talk to local businesses like bike shops about posting them. We plan to discuss some ideas for promoting the workshops online.

So far, I have really enjoyed participating in bike related events ranging from group rides to helmet decorating with reflective stickers. I feel as though events have been one of the most effective methods of advocacy in action. With the group rides we are encouraging individuals to bike in a group and enabling them to do so safely by taking turns to stand at intersections. With the helmet decorating workshop, we cut reflective stickers to make ourselves much more visible at night in a creative way.

Corin's Project & How to advocate for sustainable transportation

   One of the biggest problems I have faced in my project is showing people that it is relevant. Some people that are already involved with bike advocacy don't realize how much more they can do. They just think that they should keep doing what they know and that other endeavors are not worth the trouble. I understand the difficulties that they are talking about, but I think that gaining more knowledge about the cyclists on campus could be put towards making it easier for them to ride and encourage others to ride as well.
    An approach I have seen work well is to just take the time to talk to someone and get to know their perspective. A lot of advocates  try to do this, but people can become intimidated or even bothered when somebody with fliers is waiting for them outside a store and starts firing questions at them or a lot of information. This is why I don't think talking to people on street corners and stuff while they are trying to go about their business is necessarily the right way to spread the word in all cases. To relay the information you want too, they need to come to you in interest and on their own terms.
    Getting people to come to an event or a regular meeting can be difficult, but making a chain of friends to spread the word can be a great help. Friends with interests in common will tell each other about these things because they think they're cool or interesting. Obviously, this might seem like a really slow approach for something big, but the internet has really sped up the process and I think a concerted and active effort by some people with the internet as a tool could work well.
   I was recently pleased with myself for helping a friend of mine back home fix up a bike through the internet. I didn't even do that much step-by-step help with fixing things. I really just gave him some resources on researching/parts/advice on places to get service  and some knowledge. Now he has this bike that he mostly fixed up himself that he is super stoked on. He's always on the internet writing about his bike rides and asking people if they want to ride too. Hopefully, it could develop into a chain reaction, (no pun intended)

Project Challenges/Advocacy

My project thus far has been smooth going! I’ve been getting some great footage from Tawn and have started putting it together—it’s coming together nicely. Going on the ride that Tawn put together in Aptos produced some great footage as well. We took high school kids up into Nisene Marks and rode some really fun trails. It was most of the kids’ first time mountain biking which was a blast to see and I got some really fun footage all over the trails.

Putting together the video for Green Ways to School hasn’t evoked any problems and has been a lot of fun so far. The only thing I have some concern over is how far the video will reach via the internet. We’ve talked a lot in class about the audience that our advocacy actually reaches which is often those already involved in the bike community.  The video that I’m making for Green Ways to School will go up on their website, which means that the only people who will see it are those actively searching for Green Ways (meaning that they have a prior interest in the organization and thus, in bicycling). I want the video to reach kids and parents who are interested in contributing to an eco-friendly community or who want to engage in sustainable forms of transportation but might not have the resources or might not be comfortable sending their kid off to school on a bike or on foot. I would really love to find the resources to reach this audience. I’ve reached out to the public access station here in Santa Cruz but haven’t heard back (perhaps because they’re under renovation right now?). I know that Tawn has worked with them before so that’s a great connection to have, and I’ll contact them again soon or talk to Tawn about ways of getting the video on air. Of course, posting the video to blogs and internet communities (like this one!) always helps, but again, probably won’t reach the local demographic that I’m interested in reaching. I’d be interested to hear suggestions as to how to reach this audience! Included is a sneak peek photo of the Nisene Marks ride last President’s Day weekend.

Carbon Emissions in Camille's Project

My project in creating a promotional video for Green Ways to School doesn't interact directly with the idea of reducing carbon emissions. However, the goal of the video is to encourage kids to find sustainable ways to get to and from school. The more kids who do decide to ride their bikes, walk, skateboard, scooter to school, etc., the less carbon emissions they will contribute to the atmosphere. It may seem like a miniscule improvement but getting the word out through video means that there is the potential for reaching a wide audience--not just locally but nation, even worldwide.
Of course, expecting kids in Japan to see my video and be inspired to ride their bikes to school is a stretch. To get enough people on bikes to noticeably reduce carbon emissions would mean a systemic change nation-wide and worldwide. That said, the foundation People for Bikes says on their website that "half of U.S. schoolchildren are dropped off at school in the family car. If 20% of those living within two miles of school were to bike or walk instead, it would save 4.3 million miles of driving per day. Over a year, that saved driving would prevent 356,000 tons of CO2 and 21,500 tons of other pollutants from being emitted."
But starting with kids means future generations of bike commuters or walkers who've learned from their parents. And in schools, fads travel fast. The more kids get on their bikes or walk to school, the more potential there is for the fad to spread.
Seeing kids advocating for stuff seems like one of the most persuasive ways of arguing for something that you want to happen. Getting that future generation to ask for a better, cleaner world provides a solid argument that really can't be disputed. In my project, the kids that are excited about riding their bikes become advocates of the sustainable transportation movement. Though there aren't any concrete stats for understanding the extent that this project will reduce carbon emissions, the potential reach it has in affecting the community could be exponential. Included is a graphic of the