The BTA’s Kristie Perry (right) and Evan Manvel (center), had a good time chatting with the Texas Bicycle Coalition‘s Claire England (left) when she visited Portland earlier this week.
Our friends down south are doing well, with a $1.2 million annual budget, and 23 staff members in 7 cities. Most of this (74%) is through grants and contracts, and less of it from membership contributions (14%) than the BTA. They partner with folks across the state, including the Austin Cycling Association, Bike Houston, and Bike DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth).
They’ve managed to capitalize on the popularity of Lance Armstrong, and his mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly, has been the spokesperson for the TBC for the past six years. They’ve managed to pass a license plate program with Lance’s image, that says “Share the Road Y’All” (the BTA is helping to work on a Share the Road plate for Oregon). And they’ve been national leaders in safe routes to school efforts.
We shared various ideas, from advocacy to membership, as we usually do, through the national Thunderhead Alliance, a coalition of bike groups across the country. Interestingly, the TBC members don’t get the discount to bike shops that BTA folks do (thanks, BTA-supporting bike shops!)
We have some work to do to catch up to Texas — from license plates to large government contracts. Oh, and the TBC owns an RV for long-distance work across that huge state. Let’s get to it!
Note: Claire didn’t say “Yee-haw!” but she did use the phrase “y’all” a few times
