JERUSALEM FOR BICYCLES
Registered Amuta # 6-613-028-58
"Our aim: to promote bicycling in Jerusalem"
http://bike.org.il/jm

Critical Mass Ride this week for March -- Hol HaMoed

In this mailing:

1. Critical Mass bike ride reminder and message from the Chairman
2. Update on projects: status at City Hall and the Ministry of
Transportation
3. We need your bicycle pictures
4. Send in those "Successful Struggle" entries
5. If you know of someone who's not getting the e-mail

Note: All rides currently advertised by the Amuta in our newsletter or on
the Internet are only suggestions. The Amuta takes no responsibility for
these rides or their participants. People come and ride spontaneously.

1. Critical Mass bike ride reminder and message from the Chairman

This month's CM ride is this Friday 29 March 2002.

CM REMINDER: Fri., 29 Mar 1pm. Meet in front of the HaMashbir in the city
center. Critical Mass, last Friday of the month demonstration for cyclists'
rights. Bring the kids. Ride single file. We don't disturb the traffic. We
are the traffic. We will be polite to everyone including motorists. Come
early and get sign for your bicycles 1/2-hour before the CM.

Further CM questions? Call Leon (053) 801-867.

Remember we have a CM on Friday. I think that the issue of the bomb in
K.George str. should be a strong reason for cyclists to make a deliberate
full scale appearance on Friday.

I would also like to suggest that our association can play a small part in
doing rounds on our bicycles in the centre of town. We could have a kind of
rough roster that will ensure one or two of our members in town at any given
time. With all due respect to the police I think that we can make an
important contribution by being extra pairs of eyes in the centre of town.
If someone wants to carry a weapon I say good for him. Still, I personally
don't know how to use one and don't think that this should be a criterion
for our patrols. Either way, I think that everybody who is interested in
this campaign should just go ahead and do it.

If a person is interested, s/he would just decide on a day and time to
devote to patroling K.George, Jaffa, Ben Yehudah, Mahane Yehudah. If you
like, let me know the time you've chosen and I would try to get volunteers
to fill in the gaps. Each one would choose his/her own time and place. I
would like to see us keep a rough coordination and just do it. We are
citizens and can do our duty like any good citizen of any decent city in the
world that is threatened by these kind of people. I will try to get the
police to give us a lecture some day on what we should look for and how we
should act if we find anything suspicious.

Have a good day. See you. Leon.

2. Update on projects: status at City Hall and the Ministry of
Transportation

Here's an update from our coordinator for contacts with city government,
Ohad Greiner. (Hebrew version attached.)

Greetings to all the members !

The difficult situation the country is in takes its toll on all of us and on
our organization. There have been fewer participants at Critical Mass rides
and similarly at other activities, but in spite of everything, the
activities continue as usual for all who wish to participate.

Bike Route around Jerusalem

Budget cuts in the city threaten to delay construction of additional bicyle
routes that we have been promised, particularly the plan for the circular
route around Jerusalem. That path is to begin at the Central Bus Station and
run via Gan Sacher, Valley of the Cross, Talpiot, Baka, Downtown, and back
to the bus station. This route, most of which can be arranged immediately
via wide sidewalks and open public spaces without the need to ride in the
street (according to Ministry of Transportation guidelines), had been
approved by the appropriate parties and only budgetary constraints had stood
in the way. Recently, those budgetary constraints, which themselves had been
removed, have been raised again. City Councillor Yossi Talgan, a strong
supporter of Jerusalem for Bicycles, has once again been pressed into
service and we hope that with his help we will be able to start moving the
bike path plan forward toward quick construction.

Bike Racks on Buses

The project for bike racks on buses has been halted by the Ministry of
Transportation which refuses to go forward with the trial, even given that
we succeeded in finding a private company which agreed to rent them for the
project. In light of this unexpected interruption in the project at this
stage, with no expectation that the situation will change, we were forced to
return the NIS 20 000 grant that we got from the Ford Foundation. Our
appeal, in February of this year, to the Minister of Transportation for
intervention on behalf of the project, has yet to generate a response, but
it doesn't seem that there is much reason for optimism.

Bike Racks (parking) around the City

In light of the many appeals from members, we gathered and organized the
requests for centrally located bicycle parking racks, and turned to the City
with a detailed proposal including specific locations, recommendations for
type of rack, cost estimates -- in short, everything needed for quick
implementation. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there is no serious
movement on this issue either. Perhaps if every one of those lion statues
around town were exchanged for a multi-bike bike rack, we would have a
perfect city-wide bicycle parking system.

Light Rail

In the area of cooperation with the Light Rail system construction, no news,
except that they have so much unexpected opposition that the construction
may be delayed through 2008, giving us more time to get our changes into the
plans (to better include bicycles).

Hoping that soon we'll see better days,

Ohad

3. We need your bicycle pictures

Send pictures to our e-mail address so that Dan can get them on the Website.
We need your bicycle pictures.

4. Send in those "Successful Struggle" entries

Leon also writes:

Please remind our members of the competition to see who can bring about
improvements in riding conditions in the city. We will give a prize at the
end of the year at our annual general meeting to the one who has brought
about the most impressive improvement. Some possible topics:

Bicycle parking at the Central bus station

Getting the municipality, Egged and the ministry of transport to allow
bicycle carriers to be fitted to certain busses coming into town from
distant suburbs, like Mevaseret.Pisgat Zeev, Gilo etc.

The Ford Foundation gave us a grant of $4000 to implement this plan. We had
to return the money to the Ford Foundation until such time as we can show
that we have approval to put the plan into effect. It's a great idea. The
one who gets this done deserves a prize.

Extending the bicycle path. At the moment the bicycle path only goes,
approximately, from the central bus station to Tzomet Pat. We want it to
continue to the Canion and to the Zoo and on to Talpiot via the railway
line. (See map on the amuta website)

All entries to be sent to "Successful Struggle" at

e-mail: jbike@...

or post to: Jerusalem for Bicycles, P.O. Box 8294, Jerusalem 91082

5. If you know of someone who's not getting the e-mail

We will soon process the updated membership list, that includes people's
latest declared e-mail addresses, into the yahoo e-mail system. Meanwhile we
hope everyone is getting these announcements. If you know of someone who
isn't, you can help in two ways:

a. Let us know yourself at jbike@... (send us their name and e-mail
address)
b. Let them know that they can sign up themselves by writing (even a blank)
e-mail to

jmbicyclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com


= = = = =
REGULAR (no fee, free) RIDES CALENDAR:

Critical Mass
The last Friday of every month at 1:00 PM in front of the HaMashbir in the
city center. Demonstration for cyclists' rights by circling the city center
for 45 minutes.
Details: Leon (053) 801-867.

Mountain Biking Sat.
Every Saturday at 7:00 am. We leave from the Binyanei Ha'Uma (Convention
Center) parking lot. This is a fun and challenging 3-hour ride in the
Jerusalem hills. No prior registration required. Details: Benny van Vlymen
phone: 561-9416 e-mail: belavi@...

WOW:
Women on Wheels (WOW) women only, once a month around Jerusalem (20 km).
Confirm ahead of time with Laurie: 652-1541.

Road Bikes: Sat.
Every Shabbat at 7:00 am from the Binyanei Ha'Uma (Convention Center)
parking lot. This is a two-hour light ride on streets and paths around
Jerusalem, for fun and exercise. No prior registration required. Details:
Benny van Vlymen phone: 561-9416 e-mail: belavi@...

Road Bikes: Fri.
Friday at 7:00am leaving the "Mifletset" sculpture in Kiryat HaYovel and
heading westward; return at about 12:00pm. Covering about 90km. Details:
Mike 02-679-0018

JERUSALEM FOR BICYCLES
Registered Amuta # 6-613-028-58
"Our aim: to promote bicycling in Jerusalem"

website:
http://bike.org.il/jm

Address for membership dues (NIS50 for individuals; NIS40 for youth,
students, retired; NIS100 for families):
POB 8294, Jerusalem 91082
TEL/FAX:_02-540-1641
e-mail: jbike@...

Chairman Leon Gork
Tel/fax 02 5810732 e mail
leongork@...,leongork@...

Rakaz: Promotion and Local Authority and Government contacts:
Ohad Greiner. Tel: 054 501511 e mail: ohad2@...

Treasurer: Shaul Porrat Tel: 052 531667 e mail: porrat@...

Committee: Menachem Ben-Or, tel: 643-3816, e-mail: benor_1@...

Committee: Ro'i Golan Tel: (H) 02 6790533, 053 840870

Committee: Yossi Feibish Tel: (058) 613643


Contacts with Society for Protection of Nature and Keren Kayemet.
Roi Golan. Tel: (H) 02 6790533, 053 840870

Bicycle paths and transport regulations. Menahem Ben-Or
Tel: (H) 02 6433816, 054 433816

Email list:
Tom Harris jbike@...

Webmaster:
Dan Velber dan_vel@...

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else's behalf, email to jbike@...

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