Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Word back from the World Herald

I had a conversation this morning with a reporter with the OWH. My pitch to the Herald was to have an article printed about bicycle transportation around Omaha and the growing number of bike commuters and the safety issues we face. To make this story even more appealing was the stimulus package and the billions set aside for alternative transportation infrastructure. Nebraska is rumored to get roughly 300+ Million. Also playing a part in this story would be Activate Omaha's work in developing a 20-mile "bike friendly" east/west route from Midtown to downtown. The last tempting tidbit was a snippet about EB and his year-round pedaling and delivery for JJ's. The reporter I spoke to said the story does sound interesting but would be better suited for Spring print. I was told I would be contacted if/when the time was right. Fingers crossed we'll get some print on what we're doing out there. Until then I suggest we follow EB's advice and start sending in more articles to the Public Pulse. Squeaky wheel theory.

12 comments:

EB said...

OMAHA!

Cannot wait for cyclists out in droves pedaling the streets.
Thanks Douglas, for getting the word out, thanks also to all of you still reading these comments and posts, send me an email contribute, comment, we need your voices.

Lets come together and celebrate our differences, because we all have a secret that needs sharing and we all pedal.

Have a killer day!

theunicycleguy said...

what's the name and email of the reporter that we can send our comments to?

theunicycleguy said...

what's the name and email of the reporter that we can send our comments to?

theunicycleguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RD said...

east/west trail/bike lanes are desperately needed in my opinion. What happened to making 11worth and 13th bike lane streets does anyone know?

Douglas said...

T.U.G. (the unicycle guy)
The reporter's name is Mike O'Conner. I've worked with him on a couple of other stories. He may not be the actual writer who takes this story if/when they do one. He passes this info (with my contact info) onto his superior who reviews then is assigned to whatever "branch" of the OWH who will cover this piece (midlands, lifestyle, world, etc).
I would not contact or email O'Conner directly. He won't be able to help us any more than he has. I would direct any further stories/issues to the Public Pulse, like EB suggested. Hopefully with enough press and national news on the state of transportation we will be contacted and a local story ran.

EB said...

Excellent site I found amidst a day of research.

Check It-

http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/sciencepolitics1/page7.html

RD said...

EB,
Are you getting Bicycle times?

Douglas said...

EB:
This article was spot on. This needs to reach everyone we know who rides and is involved in Omaha's cycling future (activate omaha board, officials, etc).
I'm going to print this article and mail it to each bike advocacy committee member.

It's about time they understand we [cyclists] are not looking for paths or trails, but inclusion in roadways.

Good stuff man!

EB said...

RD: I'm a subscriber and soon to be contributer.

ShamWow!

RD said...

ooolalala that's awesome...

Scott Redd said...

I've seen several winter commuting features in other publications. Maybe the OWH will write up a story on winter commuting at some point in the future.

I agree a general commuter cycling article is more suited to the spring and summer months, but I bet some people would be interested to learn about the all-season riders.