Club Goal for City of Medford Transportation System Plan
The membership, at the Club’s annual meeting, unanimously endorsed having the following goal to be a part of the Medford Transportation System Plan (TSP):
The development of a safe and convenient bicycle transportation system that will serve the needs of youth, adults, and senior cyclists.
The Board, at a follow-up meeting on January 10th, concluded that several additional cycling groups should be listed; including people with disabilities, and families. The additions are important and reflect a growing consensus among elected and appointed governmental officials, cycling advocates and transportation planners that bike facilities should be designed for “all ages and all abilities.”
The underlying rational for this approach is that a person should not have to be brave or have special training to ride a bicycle in urban areas. That is not the case presently and helps explain why fewer than one percent of people, living in Medford and other cities in the Rogue Valley, choose a bicycle as their primary means of travel to work. That compares to 10 to 30 percent of all travel (not just commuting) in other cities where bicycle facilities are “low stress.”
Members are encouraged to review a December 2017 publication by the National Association of City Transportation Officials, Designing for All Ages and Abilities. This document serves as the Club’s vision and basis for more extensive comments on the Medford TSP.