T H E U n i v E R S i T Y O F T E X A S AT E L PA S O
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EL pASO nEEdS TO BECOME
BiKE-FriEndLY velopaso advocates for bicycling improvements
PhoTo BY michaela roman
By JOSE SOtO The Prospector Bicycling in this city seems to be allocated to merely a few spots that are bike-friendly or on biking trails. Some El Pasoans, however, are advocating to change that. Last year, the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization and Transportation Policy Board approved spending $2.3 million in citywide bicycling infrastructure. They have constructed new bike lanes — mainly in downtown — in support of the El Paso BikeShare program, which would ultimately allow pedestrians to rent a bike with
a swipe of a credit card and use it to venture downtown. Other big Texas cities such as Austin have already implemented a similar program called B-Share. The primary local group who has been advocating to make El Paso bike-friendly is Velopaso, an upand-coming organization of avid bicyclists from across the Paso del Norte region. It is composed of members who previously met during last year’s El Paso Bike Month, which is annually held during the month of May. Velopaso is dedicated to improving bicycling and pedestrian conditions in El Paso.
They helped city council approve a Bicycle Advisory Committee and have been working closely with Bike Texas, a non-profit bicycle education and advocacy organization, to help make El Paso more convenient to bicyclists. Velopaso also recently filed paperwork to become a nonprofit organization. In February 2014, Velopaso, along with city officials, welcomed bicycle specialist Stephan Clark from the League of American Bicyclists, a non-profit organization that promotes bicycle safety nationwide. He toured the east, west and downtowns area of El Paso to see firsthand how the city is going about
implementing bike lanes and looked at what additional plans the city has to further develop bike-friendly conditions. Melissa Lugo, equity advisor at Velopaso, thinks that El Paso can easily become a bike-friendly city. “El Paso has a significant invisible cyclist population, given our demographics, economics and favorable weather year round,” she said. “There are proven economical and simple methods available for making streets safe for all.” Austin has a bicycle advisory committee and El Paso City Council recently passed an ordinance to
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The University of Texas at
El Paso · April 16 , 2013
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BY LORAIN WATTERS
The Prospector
DUST AND ENVIRONM ENTAL CON CERNS
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A Glance at the History of Student Publications
- Rasmiyeh Asam, graduate studentl educationr
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STUDENT VOICE
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Bicycling in el Paso is definitely growing, but it surely has room for improvement