Bike to Work Day is back this year! Metro Transit, Trailnet and our partners are hosting hospitality stations across the region where bike commuters can stop and refuel on their way to the office! Click here to see the current location of commuter stations. We will add more so check back for updates!
Imagine being able to move around our city without needing a car. What if you could bike, walk and take public transit to all the places you need to go?
Join us for a free, family-friendly celebration and show of support for a car-free or car-light lifestyle.
This joyful bike parade will demonstrate the demand for multi-modal transportation options while showcasing the infrastructure and amenities we have in place currently. Stay after the ride for a resource fair where you can learn about how to get around St. Louis without a car and how you can stay involved in the movement for Streets for All!
In the heart of National Bike Month, Trailnet is hosting our second FREE public screening of The Street Project—an inspiring documentary about the global, citizen-led fight to make our streets safer.
This event will take place at the SLPL Central Library Downtown from 6-8 pm on Wednesday, May 10.
We will air the full 52-minute documentary followed by a panel on the state of our streets in the St. Louis region. More details to come. Pre-register today: https://runsignup.com/TicketEvent/TheStreetProject
Join us for a basic bike maintenance course! We’ll cover: how to fix a flat, brake adjustments, shifting adjustments, fitting a bicycle, and any related topics that come up in questions from participants.
These classes follow the League of American Bicyclists’ Smart Cycling curriculum.
The clinic will take place at Kingshighway library (SLPL) 2260 S Vandeventer Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110. It will last no longer than 2 hours. With questions or to reserve your spot email sarah.heyman@trailnet.org
From intern to Programs Director, Taylor March left a lasting impact on Trailnet and the St. Louis region. Now, he is taking his talents to the state level, advocating for better walking and biking across Missouri as the new Executive Director of Missourians for Responsible Transportation.
For eight years, Taylor was the smiling face of Trailnet. It’s only right that we reflect on the legacy he leaves behind—a legacy of kindness, knowledge, professionalism and passion.
Taylor’s Journey
Taylor first joined Trailnet as an intern in the winter of 2010, while he was studying environmental engineering at Murray State University. He had worked as a bike mechanic since high school and was an avid environmentalist.
Though he didn’t know it then, Taylor’s passion for Trailnet’s mission (and his handiness with an Allen wrench) would serve the organization for years down the line.
Five years after his internship, having worked for several years as a solar engineer in between, Taylor returned to Trailnet on February 24, 2015 as our Youth Programs Specialist.
In his first full-time role, he led Trailnet’s bike education programs and designed our curriculum for smart cycling. He also worked on a number of Safe Routes to School projects, including one with Froebel Literacy Academy in south city. Taylor worked with Froebel through eight years and a handful of title changes at Trailnet.
“Working with Froebel and seeing that relationship develop and change throughout the years was so satisfying,” said Taylor. “From the walking school bus, to the installation of speed humps on Nebraska Ave., to the Calm Street now under construction on nearby Louisiana Ave… It was really cool to see the community buy in.”
Advocating for Change
Midway through his tenure with Trailnet, Taylor shifted his focus to the advocacy and policy spaces. As a long-time bike commuter, he was a natural advocate for safe, alternative transportation. As a leading expert in bike/ped best practices, he influenced change-makers across the state. And as an exemplary colleague, he fostered relationships that would blossom into our strongest partnerships today. To name a few…
Taylor co-created the annual Juneteenth Community Ride with our partners at 4theVille and grew the ride into a collaboration between the Missouri History Museum, Northside Community Housing and other aligned partners. The event draws over 200 riders each June and celebrates Black music, art, culture and history.
Taylor was part of the team that developed Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis Plan in 2019, which is now 50% funded for construction by partners like GRG and the City of St. Louis.
Taylor spearheaded our state-wide advocacy efforts. In collaboration with BikeWalkKC, Local Motion in Columbia, and Ozark Greenways, he helped create Missourians for Responsible Transportation and Hands-Free Missouri.
The Work Continues
Now, Taylor is off to lead the statewide partnership that he once helped to create. Trailnet looks forward to many more years of collaboration with Taylor and his team at MRT.
“Trailnet will miss him and his careful and precise explanations of the transportation system we are trying to change, his help changing a flat, and his ability to always find time to listen,” said Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense.
For your years of dedication—Thank you, Taylor! Let’s continue to work together to make Missouri better for people outside of cars.
Beans, Bikes and Brews is BACK! Trailnet’s signature rides calendar release and fundraiser returns on March 23, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm at The Heights Community Center.
We’ll be bringing back crowd favorites – delicious chili, a 50/50 raffle, and the release of the rides calendar. You can be among the first to register for all of Trailnet’s 2023 Classics!
Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase a season pass at an unprecedented discount.
This year, we will also feature new opportunities for you to engage with our mission. Experience a pop-up traffic calming demonstration. Ask questions about the 2022 Crash Report. Take action with our Advocacy team. Practice fixing a flat with our bike educator.
Learn everything you need to know to be a part of Trailnet’s Street Team at our first virtual training on September 7 @ 6 pm!
The Trailnet Street Team is a group of volunteers who are helping to expand Trailnet’s presence in the community through tabling and visibility. If you’re passionate about biking, walking and transit in STL, consider joining our team!
CEO Ralph Pfremmer reflects on three decades of Active Living while looking ahead
For me, the middle of January always marks the halfway point of St. Louis’ winter doldrums. I was reminded of this one recent morning, waking up to zero-degree weather, feeling the sting of windchill on my face. As I travel the streets downtown, I am warmed by the fact that I still see bicyclists braving their way to work despite the cold! They are not waiting for the spring thaw to commit to a healthy, active lifestyle.
Inside our offices, with heaters plugged in, we are off to a great start to 2018 and you can feel the energy among the team members. This year is unique! This year is so much more significant than years past. This year marks Trailnet’s 30th anniversary and there is so much to look forward to. Whether consciously or not, we all start the new year thinking about healthy resolutions. Trailnet has resolved to make the healthy choice the easy choice. We want to make it safe and comfortable to walk and bike to the places you want to go. We think the best way to celebrate 30 years of making walking and biking better in St. Louis is to make significant improvements in community connectivity now, in 2018, while setting the stage for 30 years from now!
We embark on our 30th year with the tremendous momentum that your support is giving us. Take a look at Our Impact featured in the January/February newsletter, and if you haven’t yet, join us and count yourself among the people who are taking to the streets for healthy, active living. Join the fun.
Looking back, it’s really quite remarkable what Trailnet has achieved: so many people supporting our organization and so many diverse partners ready and willing to collaborate for change. Having started as a group of recreational bicycle enthusiasts, Trailnet has grown and evolved into—among other things—a very significant regional planning and advocacy organization. It goes without saying that Trailnet now exists as an important civic organization centered on improving the way we live in St. Louis, leveraging our past while staying committed to the platform of walking, bicycling and active living for all St. Louisans.
Trailnet’s staff and board of directors invite you to attend the kickoff of our 30th anniversary at our special event on Friday, February 9. Trailnet supporters, Cindy and John Lynch, will be our hosts at their unique venue, Break Room Concerts at Show Me Cables in Chesterfield. Seating is limited, so hurry to get your spot. Please join us as we kick off the new year and officially put an end to the winter doldrums!
So let’s look forward to having a fantastic year together. Get involved by participating in our events. Come to Beans, Bikes, and Brews on Saturday, March 10, when we announce all of our Bicycle Fun Club and Community Rides. Consider coming to one of our Peloton events. However you choose to participate, we promise you the opportunity to share your voice. We want to hear your Trailnet story. We’d like to know about how things have changed for you since Trailnet started and what your desires are for a region filled with so much promise as you enjoy a commitment to a healthy, active lifestyle.
The forecast for walking and biking is good, the weather is about to change. What better reason to challenge ourselves to renew our commitment to healthy, active living? It’s my hope that we all strengthen our commitment to ourselves and to the work that Trailnet is doing. Let’s join arm-in-arm as we propel St. Louis forward!
Word choice matters. The words “Crash” and “Accident” are often used to describe the same event, but in reality each word conjures up very different images. An “accident” just happens. Accidents can’t be reasonably predicted or avoided. A “crash,” on the other hand, is the result of choices made and risks disregarded. Crashes don’t just happen; somebody is at fault in a crash.
A majority of fatal road crashes are caused by intoxicated, speeding, distracted, or careless motorists. They are NOT just unfortunate events. The victims were NOT simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Deadly crashes in the St. Louis region this year are too numerous to list here. They include the January crash precipitated by Hazelwood motorist William Goad, who was driving more than twice the speed limit on Gallatin Lane in Bridgeton when he struck and killed Bridgeton resident Duane Johnson, who was riding his bicycle. That was no accident. More recently, in September, the 18th pedestrian fatality in the City of St. Louis this year occurred when a hit and run driver sped through St. Louis’ Fairground Park on a Sunday afternoon and killed Nathaniel Thomas, 29, as he crossed the street. That was no accident.
Trailnet, and many other transportation advocates, want to change how we talk about traffic collisions in this country. When one motorized vehicle careens into another, or turns into an oncoming cyclist, or rounds a corner right into a pedestrian — call it a “crash,” not an “accident.” Words matter, and the way car crashes are framed has a powerful effect on how they are perceived. If thousands of preventable traffic injuries and deaths per year are described as accidental, why bother with thorough investigations to uncover root causes and determine potential solutions?
Word choice matters. The words “Crash” and “Accident” are often used to describe the same event, but in reality each word conjures up very different images. An “accident” just happens. Accidents can’t be reasonably predicted or avoided. A “crash,” on the other hand, is the result of choices made and risks disregarded. Crashes don’t just happen; somebody is at fault in a crash.