Thanks to YOU, and hundreds of your neighbors, our city took a major step this week towards making our streets safer for all!

At Monday’s City Council meeting, over 50 local residents – many of them with bike helmets and signs in hand – stood with us as we asked City Council to support our #ibikeCLT campaign for a protected bike lane through Uptown, connecting the Little Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek greenways.

Our Bicycle Director, Jordan Moore, provided each Council Member a copy of our petition – signed so far by over 3,000 residents – and explained why protected bike lanes are a critical investment in our city’s future.  Click here to read Jordan’s remarks. Here’s an excerpt:

"Tonight you have the opportunity to do something much greater than build a bike lane.  Tonight you can steer our city in the direction of equality. So many of our residents who live under the weight of being disadvantaged live in neighborhoods that this would benefit...

Safe places for people to use their bicycles means a positive turn for social and economic mobility...

Tonight we speak for over 3,000 people in our community who have aligned their voices to ask you for this lane. [Because] the benefits are endless when we design for safety, beauty and equality..."

And because YOU spoke up, THEY took action!

Typically, the council does not respond to citizen requests during the Citizens’ Forum portion of their meetings. However, Mayor Roberts pointed out that she and the rest of Council received a large number of emails in support of our campaign and that it therefore deserved a brief response. 

Council Member Kinsey expressed support and made a motion to refer this request to the Transportation and Planning Committee.  Council Member Autry also requested that funds be allocated specifically for bicycle and pedestrian projects when the City drafts their budget for next year!  Council Members Eiselt, Lyles, and Phipps also expressed their support for our request.

Then, unanimously, they voted in favor of Kinsey’s motion. The Transportation and Planning Committee will discuss this further and make budget and implementation recommendations by the end of the year.

We want to thank all of you who wrote City Council and came to the meeting to show your support! And special thanks to our donors who make this work possible! We truly could not have done this without you!

We encourage you to email City Council and thank them for their support as well.

Volunteers from Sustain Charlotte’s Community Corps have partnered with CrossRoads Corporation and Grier Heights neighborhood leaders to install 40 laptop computers in the Grier Heights Community Center!

This computer lab will provide job readiness and computer literacy classes to neighborhood residents.

Frank Segal, a Community Corps volunteer who organizes the team’s technology partnership with Grier Heights, facilitated the donation of laptops from Skanska, an international project development and construction company. 

Skanska employee Donnie Malpass was the driver behind the project. According to Donnie, “I heard about Sustain Charlotte’s technology partnership with Grier Heights through a friend. Once I learned the history of the Community Center and its mission, I was excited to be able to contribute my time and effort to this important project.” 

Click here to read more!

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Today's the day you've been waiting for. Tickets are now on sale for Biketoberfest! 

For just $10 (or $25 if you'd like an awesome event t-shirt), you can participate in this unique, family-friendly event that highlights the excitement and ease of exploring our beautiful community on bike!

Last year was our first annual Biketoberfest, and this year the event will be even bigger and better!

Join in on the fun as hundreds of people explore the streets, local shops, and breweries of South End and Center City Charlotte without driving!

• Bike, walk, or ride transit to sponsoring businesses while collecting stamps in your official Biketoberfest passport!
• Redeem your stamps for raffle tickets and a chance to win many fantastic prizes!
• Gather for an after party celebration with live music and an exciting raffle!

Is your organization interested in sponsoring this event? Click here to learn more about how your organization can support this event and showcase your commitment to our community's sustainability. 

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Great news! The ReTire pilot program was a success!

In December 2014, a local bike shop manager approached Mecklenburg County’s Business Recycling Programs looking for an outlet to recycle [or reuse] bicycle tires and bicycle inner tubes. 

Research confirmed the lack of viable recycling/reuse options for these two materials, which led Mecklenburg County’s Business Recycling Programs design a cost effective pilot program that would address the needs of local bike shops.

Click here to read more about the ReTire program's success!

Local residents like you play a critical role in ensuring we have the resources to carry out our work in the community to inspire choices that lead to a healthier and more vibrant community for generations to come! Click below to learn how easily you can support our mission and your community via membership. 

*Membership at the $5/month level includes a free Sustain Charlotte T-shirt (made of 100% recycled material by our Gold Partner Recover)!*

Are you or is someone you know interested in interning with Sustain Charlotte this fall?

We have two new internship openings! We're looking forward to welcoming two bright interns to our team next month who will help us advance our mission to create a healthier, more vibrant Charlotte region for generations to come!

Share your preferences for housing, living, working and getting around in the Greater Charlotte Region! 

New Report Finds Increased Cycling, Reduced Risk With More Protected Bike Lanes & Bike Share Systems [Clean Technia]

"How can cities get more people using bikes for transportation, while also reducing the risk of injuries or death? It turns out that it might not really be that complicated, and that by combining bike sharing systems with protected bike lanes, cities can boost bike transportation rates and increase bicycle safety, especially for low-income and minority communities." 49% of people who bike to work earn less than $25,000 per year. Protected bike lanes protect people of all income levels!

The Philosophy that Has Pitted Cars Against Cyclists for the Last 40 Years is Finally Dying [Los Angeles Times]

"In his influential 1976 book 'Effective Cycling,' Californian John Forester argued that cyclists 'fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.' Other countries, however, took a different approach — one which, over time, has proved far superior...Amsterdam and Copenhagen responded to a grassroots movement against the motor-vehicle takeover of their streets by building separate lanes for bikes, blissfully segregated from bus and auto traffic by a physical partition. The result wasn’t just more people riding bikes, it was more people of different types riding bikes: not just the courageous and athletic who tended to embrace vehicular cycling, but children and the elderly." Charlotte needs to follow the example of bike-friendly cities like Copenhagen in order to improve the safety and convenience of biking as a form of transportation! We're working hard to bring Charlotte's first protected bike lane through our #ibikeCLT campaign!

San Diego Council OKs Adding 9 Miles Of Bike Lanes Downtown [KPBS]

"The San Diego City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan for downtown San Diego that will add nine miles of new bike lanes and more than five miles of widened sidewalks...The plan would set up so-called 'road diets' — meaning reducing a car lane or parking — on several downtown streets." This is great news and we hope to have Charlotte's first protected bike lane approved in the next year as a result of our #ibikeCLT campaign! We've made great progress since City Council referred the construction of a protected bike lane in Uptown to the Transportation and Planning Committee!