Bike Ambassadors and Education on Hiatus in DC

As of January 1, 2015, WABA’s DC-based Bike Ambassador program and our DC education programs are on hiatus. The District Department of Transportation funds these programs through a contract with WABA, and our most recent contract ended at the end of 2014. This is not a sudden or unanticipated change, and we are confident that this break in programming will be short. We are awaiting the beginning of a new contracting process, and hope to be able to offer these programs again soon. Our Virginia and Maryland programs are not affected, and all of our advocacy, outreach, and other work in the District will continue as planned. Programs in the District affected by this hiatus include:

• Bike KINDly outreach
• DC Bike Ambassador trailers, light giveaways, and activities
• Adult bike classes
• In-school bike education

Nonprofit funding is cyclical, and contracting with government agencies takes time. Taken together, this means that there is sometimes a funding gap between the end of one contract and the beginning of the next. These gaps are frustrating but not unexpected. While these DC programs are shuttered, we hope the bike community will rise to the occasion, and ride in the spirit of our bike educators and Ambassadors! Help each other out, wave and smile, offer advice, be courteous and friendly, and make DC’s streets a great place to bike. We’ll come join you as soon as we can. Please Note: This contract gap is not related to WABA’s year-end fundraising campaign, which was a great success! Thanks to everyone who contributed. We’ll have an update on that campaign soon.