Indy Bike Organization Receives Grant

June 20, 2012

News Release

Indianapolis, Ind. -- INDYCOG, the bicycle advocacy group serving Indianapolis, was one of eight organizations nationally to be awarded a $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong.

INDYCOG is partnering with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to help five underserved urban neighborhoods develop bicycle infrastructure plans that improve current bike routes and add more infrastructure to serve key destinations. When implemented this bicycle infrastructure will help improve connectivity in and through the neighborhood, while improving transportation options and quality of life. The City of Indianapolis has committed to incorporating the results of these community-led events into their master bicycle planning document and our hope is that, by engaging the community early in the process, the planning to implementation timeframe will be considerably shortened.

“The Bicycle Planning Summits help to engage residents that have been historically disenfranchised and allows them to have a say in the infrastructure changes within their neighborhood,” said Kevin Whited, INDYCOG Executive Director.

“These Neighborhood Bicycle Planning Summits help the city save time and money while shortening the planning cycle by up to year.” Andy Lutz, Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works Chief Engineer

About INDYCOG

INDYCOG’s mission is to promote bicycling as a safe and viable means of transportation and recreation in Indianapolis. It is a membership-based nonprofit which began in October 2010, and is Indy’s only bicycle education and advocacy group. In addition to organizing community building and fundraising events such as “2 Wheels, 1 City” and “Pedal Indy,” INDYCOG serves on the “Multi-Modal Task Force” for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Office, the “Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council” for the Department of Public Works and the “Policy and Education Committee” of Health by Design. Visit theindycog.com, on Facebook, or follow @theindycog on Twitter for more information.

About LISC

LISC Indianapolis is the local office of a national organization that helps resident-led, community-based development organizations transform distressed communities and neighborhoods into healthy ones--good places to live, do business, work and raise families. LISC supports the development of local leadership with a mission to help neighbors build communities. Visit www.liscindianapolis.org to learn more.

About Bikes Belong

Bikes Belong Coalition is the U.S. bicycle industry organization dedicated to putting more people on bicycles more often. We work to increase federal bike funding, award grants to support innovative bike projects, promote bicycling and its benefits, and back crucial national
efforts such as Safe Routes to School, Peopleforbikes.org, and the National Bike Summit. Through the affiliated Bikes Belong Foundation, we focus on improving bicycle safety and enhancing bike programs for children.

Source: INDYCOG