Have you ever ridden your bike downtown and been told to “get on the sidewalk!”?  Have you ever driven in your car when a cyclist blew through a stop sign without so much as a pause? If either of these things has happened to you, you may be glad to hear about BikeNet’s new endeavor. In partnership with Billings Public Works, BikeNet will be producing a new driver and cyclist etiquette campaign to be publicized in the spring of 2015.
 

“This will be an etiquette campaign rather than a ‘Share the Road’ campaign,” explains Kristi Drake, BikeNet’s Executive Director. “More than just sharing the road, we want to focus on creating a better understanding between motorists and cyclists,” she explains.

“The key is predictability: no driver wants to hit someone on a bike. When they know what the rider is going to do there are fewer conflicts, and this campaign is designed to give drivers and cyclists knowledge of what it’s like to be in the others’ shoes and how to predict their behavior,” she adds.

While the campaign will not begin until spring, the BikeNet office has already been busy preparing and we need your help! Our first step will be to conduct a survey to gain knowledge of drivers and cyclists’ attitudes and perceptions. Next, we will conduct a focus group to help us develop a clear message and address the most pressing issues at hand.  Please share your thoughts by completing this survey, and at the end you will be invited to provide further input by participating in a live group setting in mid-January.  Whether or not you would like to attend the focus group, please complete our survey:

Bicycling and Driving Etiquette Survey

From March 2015 until November 2015, the campaign is planned to include a series of public service announcements and group presentations given by Elyse, our AmeriCorps member. We hope to reach enough people around Billings to create a feeling of goodwill around cycling– which we hope will promote more activity on our trails and bikeways.

If you would like to schedule a presentation at your business or organization, please contact Elyse by calling her at 406-281-1244 or emailing her at elyse@bikenet.org.