I was so excited to see Spokane getting some statewide representation when the Bicycle Alliance of Washington hired Barb Chamberlain as their Executive Director last summer. Founded in 1987, the statewide bicycle advocacy organization works to grow bicycling and to create complete and healthy streets through education, developing more inclusive communities for cycling, building a coalition of organizations, and seeking to make bicycling accessible to everyone. A perfect fit for Chamberlain, many of us were sad to see her go but knew this was an amazing opportunity. 

Comcast Newsmakers checks in with her about her work. It's brief but I'm excited about the shout out to the US Bicycle Route System. 

Sabrina: Bicycle Alliance–tell us about the group.

Barb: We were founded 25 years ago growing out of local bike advocates who said we need a statewide bike advocacy organization–a nonprofit that’s focused on helping grow bicycling, pass public policy that makes this state a better place to ride, an organization that would do education and outreach–really around the state–and we’ve been doing that for 25 years very successfully.

Sabrina: Twenty-five years, quarter of a century–congratulations! So it sounds like the organization has grown and even evolved some since its beginning.

Barb: Definitely. One of the things we point to as an accomplishment of the last 25 years is we have been the organization leading legislation that improves the state for bicycling. We’ve led the majority of legislation passed in the last 25 years. So that’s everything from adding those questions you have to answer on your driver’s license exam about bike law to making sure that when a kid goes through drivers’ ed bike safety is part of that curriculum so as drivers and riders interact we all know the laws.

Watch the interview after the jump.

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