That might be our name.  Maybe.  Other contenders, winnowed from a long list, are:

• Walk Bike Lewisburg
• Walkable Bikeable Lewisburg
• Lewisburg Local Motion
• Lewisburg Ped Power

I have to admit I switched it around.  The original rendition was Bike It! Walk It! Lewisburg, but I like saying WIBI Lewisburg better than BIWI Lewisburg, plus the latter looks vaguely like an airport ID.

We also have established our mission:   To encourage and improve the walking and biking experience in the Lewisburg area

We've been considering our structure, our options, our priorities, our name, our mission...  And earlier this month we also did a SWOC analysis.  SWOC stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges.  The idea is to consider the positives and negatives of your entity from an internal perspective (S and W) and in terms of external forces (O and C).  Sometimes Challenges is termed Threats instead.  Same idea.

Here's what we came up with as a snapshot of our local fledgling effort:

Strengths

1       People passionately committed

2       People consistently show up, participate

3       Different perspectives, here for different reasons

4       Many in group are active walkers and bikers (“walking the walk”)

5       Information SP brings - what was done in past, what has happened since last meeting

6       Connections of members to other community structures, networking

 

Weaknesses

1       Lack of clarity

2       Lack of authority (need PennDOT)

3       No budget/funds

4       Lack of agency/power connection-not part of decision-making structure

5       External communication needs to broaden. Limited reach

6       Keep needs of frail, slow moving folks in mind. Lack of physical/ability diversity in group

 

Opportunities

1       Increasing number of people and families locally who want to decrease their dependence on cars or are car-free

2       Growing national awareness of advantages of walkability and active lifestyles for real estate, health, business, environment

3       State bike/ped coordinator in place with PennDOT finally

4       State has some money for assessment, studies - LTAP (Local Technical Assistance Program)

5       Changes to local landscape – Penn House Commons, Miller Center, rail trail

6       Interest in connecting to Riverwoods, - Safe Routes for Seniors is a possible funding source

7       Safe Routes to School federal program

8       High School repurposing

9       Bucknell partnership

10    Rethinking parking. Could be incentive to walk/bike

11    Susquehanna Greenways Partnership and Trail Authority

12    Rail trail

13    Unmet demand - (e.g., blind residents who are crossing 15 to get to CVS)

14    Health care/wellness increasingly important, generally. Strong health care organizations in area

 

Challenges

1       In a car culture where people always think of cars first

2       PennDOT and municipal structures – no clear mechanism for input; lack of authority

3       Limited buy-in from municipalities involved

4       Committed core group in a larger indifferent demographic

5       District school strategy to respond to hazardous road conditions is to bus rather than address hazards – incentives are built in with state funding policy that make this a reasonable response

6       School relocation

7       Location and relocation of businesses to Rt 15

8       Large numbers of student cars

9       Parking cannot be reduced without push-back

10    Area a way point for through traffic, including many trucks

11    Population can be resistant to change

12    ADA requirements -- can pull funds into redoing curbs and ramps rather than larger picture improvements

13    Route 15 crossing

14    Training drivers and pedestrians about crosswalks

 

How does this look to you?  Are we missing anything major?  Weigh in by email or in the comments or show up to the next meeting, generally first Fridays, at 8am at the Borough Building (so April 1).