2006 Wisconsin State Pedestrian and Bicycle Summit: Sept 6-9, 2006 Madison, WI

in conjunction with the 2006 Pro Walk/Pro Bike International Conference

for information on the national conference, or to register, visit: http://www.bikewalk.org/conference/index.html

or for information on the Wisconsin portion of the conference or scholarships, visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's site at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/news/events/bikeped.htm

It's time for the 14th International Conference on Walking & Bicycling, also known as Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2006. This year's conference will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, from Tuesday, September 5, through Friday, September 8, 2006 at the Monona Terrace.
 
Conference participants include federal, state and local agency staff; engineers; planners; transportation officials; educators; public health specialists, park and recreation managers; and advocates who range from executives of international organizations to lay people with an interest in improving the quality of life and health in their community.

Planet Bike's Thunderhead Alliance/Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Advocacy Party

Wednesday, September 6.  7-10pm. 2402 Vondron Rd, Madison
Snacks courtesy of Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/madison/index.html), beer by local microbrewery Tyranena Brewing Company (http://www.tyranena.com/), ping-pong, and live music by The Motor Primitives pro-bicycling band (http://www.motorprimitives.com/) and opening act Chicago's Illinois First! (http://illinoisfirstband.com) playing accordion-fueled rock songs about Illinois history. Special short presentation by Chicago spoken word group, The Spoke Nipples. All bike/ped advocates welcome (you do not have to be registered for the conference to attend the party...but if you are not registered for the conference...might we suggest a nominal donation to the Bicycle Federation to help defer the costs of the party?). Bicycle bus (bring your own bike) leaving at 6:15pm and ped shuttle at 6:30pm from Monona Terrace. A pdf general biking map from the conference to Planet Bike is here and details on other forms of transport is here and detail Madison bike maps will be provided at the conference

ACCOMMODATIONS
See http://www.bikewalk.org/conference/travel.html

Those with a need for a homestay during the conference should contact Dar at dar@bfw.org with the subject line "PWPB homestay".

For those on a budget, besides home stays, there is a hostel just 3 blocks from the conference. www.madisonhostel.org. Very pro-biking and walking, very clean, safe, convenient, friendly, etc. Car parking is essentially non-existent on-site, so people with cars may find this more difficult. Private rooms are $44. Share rooms are $21. Discounts for HI members.

Madison Metro (bus) home page so you can plan your trip
http://www.mymetrobus.com/

Madison Bicycle Map - to see if there's a good route from the hotel - it's a large file
http://www.cityofmadison.com/transp/Bicycle/BikeMap/BikeMap.html

SCHOLARSHIPS
The Wisconsin DOT has partial scholarships available. You must contact them by August 17th! Visit http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/news/events/bikeped-scholarship.htm to apply.

A limited number of partial scholarships for the conference were available to BFW members (courtesy of the Weston Wood Foundation).  All of these scholarships have been granted.

TRAVEL
To get to Madison you can
1) fly directly into the Dane County Regional Airport
2) fly into General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee and take the Badger Bus (
3) fly into Chicago O'Hare or Midway and take the Van Galder Bus
Public Transit in Chicago info at  http://www.transitchicago.com/

BIKING TO PRO WALK/PRO BIKE FROM AIRPORT
If you are biking to the conference from the Dane County Regional Airport or one of the bus stations, you may first want to look at one or more of the maps listed below. 

One route from the airport, the easiest to explain but not the most direct (there are many POSSIBLE routes, of course) is to
1.       exit the airport on International Lane
2.       Take a left onto Anderson St
3.       Take Anderson St Wright St and turn right
4.       Continue on Wright St. It will cross E. Washington Ave and become Fair Oakes Ave.
5.       Take Fair Oakes Ave to the entrance to the bike path (you will pass Milwaukee St.  If you get to Atwood Ave/Monona Drive intersection, youve gone half a block too far)
6.       Turn right onto the bike path.  This is the Capital City Trailpopularly called The Isthmus Path locally.  This will take you all the way to the Monona Terrace Convention Center (warning that there is a short portion of the route that is on-street on low-volume residential roads, perhaps 10 blocks or less, and then the trail picks back up.)

City of Madison interactive Map
http://www.northwoodmap.com/madison.htm

Downtown blow up Map
http://www.northwoodmap.com/dwtMadIn.htm

City of Madison Bike Map (may be out of date and missing some key trail segments…large pdf)
http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/transp/Bicycle/BikeMap/BikeRtMapMaster2006.pdf

City of Madison Transportation Options Map (may be out of date and missing some key trail segments
http://www.madisonmap.com/

Dane County, Wisconsin Bike Map
http://www.madisonareampo.org/MAPPDF/public_bike_map_2001.pdf

http://www.madisonareampo.org/MAPPDF/public_bike_map_2001_legend.pdf

Online Wisconsin Bike Maps by County
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/bikemaps.htm

Paper Wisconsin State Bike Maps
The Wisconsin Bicycle Map highlights the most favorable bicycling conditions and rates all roadways. The map is split into 8 panels printed on 4 separate "maps". Each quarter section map may be purchased separately, or all four may be purchased as a set. The most recent version of the maps were updated in 2005.  You can call the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin to order the maps (a portion of sales goes to making Wisconsin a better place to bicycle)
One quarter: $3.00 BFW members $5.00 nonmembers
Set of 4 maps: $10.00 BFW members $18.00 nonmembers
To become a member (and receive one free map), visit http://www.bfw.org/membership/index.php

BICYCLE RENTALS

Bicycle Rentals in Madison, WI
Listed in order of approximate distance from conference center

Machinery Row Bicycles www.machineryrowbicycles.com
601 Williamson St 608-442-5974 (4 blocks from Monona Terrace via multi-use path)
~ 40 rental bikes, but their sister store, Budget Bicycle Center, has ~100 rentals plus a very extensive stock of hundreds (really - hundreds) of used bicycles, see Budget Bicycle Center, below.

Williamson Bicycle Works & Fitness www.willybikes.com aka Willy Bikes
640 West Washington Ave 608-255-5292 (9 blocks from Monona Terrace)
~30 rental bikes, including ~7 road bikes; (~15 will be transferred from E Wash location)
(Willy Bikes also has a location at 3729 East Washington Ave, but the rental bikes there will be transferred to the West Washington Ave location for ProWalk/ProBike 2006 - the East Washington Ave location is not in a pedestrian friendly location, and too far to walk to from downtown)

Yellow Jersey www.yellowjersey.org
419 State Street 608-257-4737 (9 blocks from Monona Terrace Convention Center)
6 rental bikes available, NO RESERVATIONS – first come, first served ONLY

Budget Bicycle Center (no website, but worth the phone call)
930 Regent Street 608-251-1663 (about 12 blocks from Monona Terrace)
(930 Regent St is Budget Bicycle Center’s Used Bike Sales & Bike Rental location; Budget has other locations on Regent St for clothing & accessories, new bikes, etc).
~100 rental bikes; will also negotiate long-term rental on hundreds (really) of used bikes

Madison’s Red Bike Program (run by Budget Bicycle Center)
Budget Bicycle Center
930 Regent Street 251-1663 (about 12 blocks from Monona Terrace)
Budget Bicycle Center (at their 930 Regent St location) runs the Red Bikes Project. They loan out bikes for a $40 deposit for the bike and a $20 deposit for a lock. The user is responsible for the bike. When it is returned, the deposit is returned. If the key to the lock has been lost, there is a $5 charge.
(from: http://dir.civc.wisc.edu/view.asp?cat=15&cat1=135#1097 )

Thunderhead Alliance Retreat
For more information or to register, visit http://www.thunderheadalliance.org/retreatmoreinfo.html

Wisconsin Pedestrian/Bicycle Breakfast
A breakfast will be provided as part of the Wisconsin Bicycle and Pedestrian Summit.

Here are the important facts:
When: 6:45am to 8am on Thursday, September 7th
Where: Nolan Shores with two addresses that can be used: 329 W. Wilson Street and 350 S. Hamilton Street (just three blocks down from the Monona Terrace Convention Center). Folks on foot should use the West Wilson connection (through a townhouse). Bicyclists and motorists use the 350 S. Hamilton address.

The breakfast will be served in a shared meeting room/terrace on the second level adjacent to the green-roof terrace in between the mid-rise tower and the bank of row houses on Wilson Street. Volunteers will be stationed around the development to help you find the terrace. The complex is the first certified Green Built Home condominium development in Wisconsin and a fine example of new urbanism type developments.

Why: This will be the best opportunity to "make connections" (conference theme, right?) with other Wisconsinites. It will also may be your only form of sustenance for the morning since the ProWalk/Bike Conference will not be providing breakfast. The facilities are beautiful, with an incredible view of Lake Monona. This is well worth the 3-block walk. Plan on being there! The Wisconsin Bicycle and Pedestrian Summit is supported by the Wisconsin Departments of Transportation and Natural Resources as well as the Governor's Bicycle Council.

For the summary report on the 2004 Wisconsin State Pedestrian and Bicycle Summit in Stevens Point, click here