The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
Are they city wide or state wide organizations?
Statewide
Are they membership organizations or coalitions of bicycle organizations?
It is a membership organization. “Our members are commuters and recreational cyclists, environmentalists, transit advocates, bike shops, clubs, manufacturers and local advocacy groups throughout the state” Some members are local advocacy groups, but they don’t have organizational unity that I would call a coalition.
How are they funded? Dues? Grants?
Membership dues and grants
Do they have paid staff?
Yes. Offices in Madison and Milwaukee and around 9 paid staff
Are they independent of government so they can lobby government?
Yes. They have “state lobbying efforts in order to protect our state trails, reinstate funding for bicycle facilities, and move forward an agenda that will benefit the bicyclists of the state. BFW regularly participates in public hearings and on committees to represent the needs of bicyclists. BFW currently has a representative on the state’s Transportation Enhancements Committee and on the Governor’s Bicycle Coordinating Council.”
Do they also advocate for pedestrians?
No, except for helping coordinate Bike/ped conferences.
Are they non profit 501c3 organizations?
Yes
Misc comments
BFW has several projects it continually works on/ or is invovled in:
- legislation (see above)
- publications: a quarterly newsletter titled the Wisconsin Bicyclist that lists current activities of the organization and bicycle events around the state and an annual Wisconsin Bicycling Events Booklet and Resource Guide listing more than 400 bicycling events throughout Wisconsin.
- Education (in conjunction witht the League of American Bicyclists). Courses are available for children, adults, families, bicycle commuters, and motorists.Police officer training on bicycling issues. Safe Routes to School programs which encourage children to bicycle to school and provide them with the information and training that they need to do so safely.
- Bike to Work Week BFW provides support to communities interested in organizing bike to work activities.
- Bikes on Buses. BFW is currently working to get racks on busses in several Wisconsin cities.
- BFW offers a full range of services including:
- Bicycle master planning and policy development
- Bikeway planning and design
- GIS network analysis and mapping and map production/printing
- Bicycle education and safety programming
- Bicycle-related technical assistance
- Bike rack siting and installation