Trailnet to Expand Advocacy with Walk/Bike Ambassadors

Over the last decade, Trailnet has played a leading role in improving biking and walking in the St. Louis region. Our successes include working with over 40 communities to create plans and policies for improved biking and walking, helping secure the city’s first buffered bike lanes and bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, and collaborating with seven municipalities, including St. Louis City and County, to pass Complete Streets policies that assure streets are designed for all users. In pursuit of our goal to make St. Louis one of the best places to walk and bike, we will increase our advocacy capacity through the launch of a Walk/Bike Ambassadors program.

Walk/Bike Ambassador programs are a national best practice for doing effective, broad-based advocacy. For the past two years, Trailnet has been gearing up to establish a Walk/Bike Ambassador program, which involves research into other effective programs as well as meeting with Trailnet members and volunteers to inform program design.

Thanks to a grant from the William A. Kerr Foundation, Trailnet will begin working to create a Walk/Bike Ambassadors program this fall. Trailnet will recruit and train up to ten Walk/Bike Ambassadors who will work at the grassroots level to ensure alignment between unique neighborhood needs and Trailnet’s advocacy campaigns. Walk/Bike Ambassadors will raise awareness, increase knowledge, organize residents, and facilitate communication between all parties.