Walk and Roll: WSDOT Active Transportation - May 8, 2025

Washington State Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 05/08/2025 02:15 PM PDT

    View this e-bulletin in your browser.

    Active Transportation Division News From WSDOT and Partners

    Connectivity -- Safety -- Opportunity -- Participation -- Partnership

    --------------------

    What you'll find in this issue: 

    • Bike Month news
    • E-bike rebate program updates
    • Recommendations for things to read/watch/listen to
    • Events and trainings to keep on your radar
    • Grants and funding opportunities
    • Surveys to take
    • Opportunities to present and publish 
    • Plenty of useful resources! 

     

    active transportation team crosses bridge

    The Active Transportation Division tours a developing shared use path within the SR 167 Completion Project near Tacoma, Washington.

    The Mobili-Tea Around ATD

    What does Bike Month mean to you?

    Regular newsletter readers will remember that in March we published a preview for Bike Month: the annual May-long celebration of cycling and cyclists, coordinated by the League of American Bicyclists.

    The first week of Bike Month brought lots of celebration. Yesterday, for instance, marked Walk and Bike to School Day, which is close to our hearts at ATD.

    Our division manages two programs (each funded in part or entirely through Climate Commitment Act dollars) which give students access to the infrastructure, bikes and skills they need to ride. Washington state’s Safe Routes to School Program has distributed nearly $200 million in grants over two decades to improve active transportation facilities near schools statewide. We also manage the Statewide School-Based Bicycle Education Program, which aims to provide bicycle skills training to at least 90% of Washington students by 2039. The program is already reaching thousands of students from 3rd through 12th grades.

    There’s a lot of celebrating left. Here’s an updated event forecast:

    Local event resources:

    Bike Month news from around the state:

    When we say Bike Everywhere, we mean Bike Everywhere

    I walked into my area Costco that evening with my member card, a cart and a secret: No one knows I’m wearing bike chamois under my jorts right now!

    Yes, I’ll look for any excuse to visit Costco. There's something mesmerizing about seeing someone buy three kayaks, a fire safe and 500 onions in one trip. But that day I was there on a personal mission: Buying in bulk by bike.

    When I chat with people about how biking is a great way to travel, they’re always on board – for other people. They wish they could bike commute themselves, but they just have to haul too many things during trips!

    Finding a way to haul cargo by bike is the final boss of going car-free. Bikes can haul a lot between baskets, handlebar bags, panniers, trunk bags, and trailers – and some bikes are even designed explicitly to move cargo. E-bikes are making it easier for people of all abilities to accomplish daily errands by bike. I know of people who’ve done entire house moves this way, their trailers piled high with bungee’d sofas and chairs. But I'd like to be able to vouch for the pack-animal strength of a bike myself. 

    What better time than Bike Month to try grabbing deals on wheels?

    electric bicycle with trailer in front of a Costco warehouse at dusk

    Preparing for the journey home, quite a few pounds heavier.

    I attached a second-hand Burley dog trailer to an e-bike I’d bought used a while back, and swept across the flattest route I could find between my house and the nearest warehouse. To my excitement, another person was locking up their bike at the often-lonely bike rack. We shared a laugh about how easy Costco parking can be. I locked up and swiped in with the irrational confidence of every Costco shopper who believes they’ll only buy what was on their shopping list. I made it to the register with more than I’d planned to buy but not enough to overload the trailer. Thankfully the trailer’s 75-pound weight limit helped me avoid purchasing some things ‘just in case.’ 

    I braced for the worst on the ride home. However, between the availability of smooth shared-use paths and separated bike lanes, I only needed my lowest power mode to flatten most of the ride. I managed to do both legs of the trip and still have 80% of my e-bike battery left. I’m a confident rider, but I did have to navigate some fast roads with sharrows and no shoulders that I still felt uncomfortable on; I inadvertently ended up on a highway on-ramp but decided to backtrack to a better route. Most people driving gave me space when they passed, and I wondered as I often do whether the bright-yellow bike trailer made them think twice about getting too close. (Many people put their kids in bike trailers).

    I’m glad I not only proved to myself that my bike could handle what I thought it could, but that I got to experience the highs and lows of the best available route (and see a lot of cute dogs).

    Not everyone will feel easy breezy making a trip like this because of the route itself. WSDOT staff use the same networks we design and build, so we know that there is a lot of work left to help people cycling travel from A to B efficiently and comfortably. (I know how stressful it can be to ride directly next to people driving at high speed because the bike lane just… ended.) We’re working with our partners statewide to both improve the quality of active transportation routes and help more people use e-bikes and ‘acoustic’ bikes. The better we commit to making our streets work for every Washington traveler, the easier it will be for all of us to safely and easily accomplish most errands by bike.

    And the catch is: I still have access to a car. If I ever really need to bring home more than 100 pounds of groceries at one time – the reasonable combined capacity of my trailer and bike – I could. But I've never needed to, and I’d miss getting to lightly exercise on the way to and from a slice or three of Costco pizza.

    We'd love to highlight more ways that bikes can help Washingtonians accomplish tasks and errands. What is the most interesting thing you've been able to haul by bike? Let us know at WSDOTActive@wsdot.wa.gov (photos encouraged!) using the subject line, "bike cargo." 

    E-bike rebate update + listserv signup 

    We expected lots of interest in WE-Bike, the state’s new e-bike rebate program, when its two-week application window opened April 9. Washingtonians had been calling and emailing to speak with people involved in the program ever since the Legislature announced future funding in 2023.

    But your interest in the program providing $300 and $1,200 instant rebates has been remarkable. More than 33,000 people successfully completed applications.

    We'll have additional information about this pilot round of the program to share in the coming weeks. If you would like to keep up with WE-Bike updates as they happen, please share your email address with us in this survey.

    If you receive a rebate, we’d love to know what your new bike and this program mean to you, and how having an e-bike affects your life. Please send any thoughts or photos to WSDOTActive@wsdot.wa.gov over the coming months with the subject line, “E-bike rebate recipient.”

    Five+ Things to Read/Watch/Hear

    Trainings, Conferences, Webinars

    We add new trainings as we find them, so the list changes with every issue. Some of these offer continuing education credits. All times are shown in Pacific Standard Time.

    All items are webinars unless a location is noted.

    May

    May is National Bike Month!

    June

    Save the Date

    Grants and Funding Opportunities

    Planning, Projects and Surveys

    • Bicycle Connectivity Strategy: Thurston Regional Planning Council is gathering perspectives of residents in the county (which includes cities of Lacey, Olympia, Rainier, Tenino, Tumwater and Yelm, two tribe's reservations, and town of Bucoda). Story map and survey.
    • State of Public Space Survey: Project for Public Spaces is seeking participation in effort to understand current challenges and opportunities for public spaces in the United States. Providing a response enters participants in a drawing to win a book.
    • Washington State Dept of Commerce and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency are currently conducting a joint survey seeking feedback to inform the Washington state and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (CCAPs). Public feedback is critical to guiding the priorities for CCAP development, as well as topics for further engagement in your region over the next year. Complete the Washington CCAP Survey to offer GHG reduction measures, sectors of focus, and co-benefits of climate action that are important to you and your community.

    Have an upcoming project, open house, public comment opportunity? Construction projects people should know about as they relate to biking/walking? Compliments on a project? Send to WSDOTActive@wsdot.wa.gov .

    Present, Publish, Participate

    Calls for Papers/Presentations/Abstracts: 

    Call for Applications/Nominations:

    Call for Members/Reviewers:

    Research and Resources

    We share new papers, established databases, thoughtful essays, and even older research that was ahead of its time. If these are helpful to your existing work or spark a new project: Email WSDOTActive@wsdot.wa.gov to let us know! 

    If you read this far, thank you! You're finding something of value here and you know someone else who should receive this kind of news. Forward WSDOT Walk and Roll to others and share the subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).

     

    Hannah Weinberger
    Communication Lead, WSDOT Active Transportation Division
    hannah.weinberger@wsdot.wa.gov