Richmond.com gets Q&A with RVA Bike/Ped Coordinator
“What I won’t do is simply try to emulate what some other city has done. Richmond isn’t going to be the next Portland. We’re going to be the first Richmond.” – Jakob Helmboldt, Richmond’s newly hired Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trail Coordinator. In Alix Bryan’s Richmond.com column, Bicycle Spoken Here, she gets in a Q&A with Helmboldt, […]
“What I won’t do is simply try to emulate what some other city has done. Richmond isn’t going to be the next Portland. We’re going to be the first Richmond.” – Jakob Helmboldt, Richmond’s newly hired Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trail Coordinator.
In Alix Bryan’s Richmond.com column, Bicycle Spoken Here, she gets in a Q&A with Helmboldt, who will start his job on August 15.
You are the city’s first ever Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trail Coordinator. What does the position entail? How long is this position funded for?
The position is envisioned as a permanent position, but it is at-will. The Mayor realizes these improvements don’t happen overnight and his initiative is pretty bold. I have not been brought into the fold just yet since I’m in transition, but the vision is that this position takes the long view and works with the many stakeholders, including city departments, to make bike and pedestrian improvements an intrinsic element of what the city does. And that is why I think the city will be successful in the long run.
Mayor Jones recognizes that this transcends recreation and incorporates transportation, safety, health, energy/sustainability, livability, economic development, transportation equity, congestion, etc. Cities that view bicycling merely as recreation fail at improving conditions and taking advantage of the benefits that those improved conditions bring (i.e. capitalizing on the other issues I mentioned). So this position will really aim to coordinate a variety of initiatives, beyond just infrastructure improvements, as well as the stakeholders.
ALSO: RVANews will get it’s shot at Richmond’s new bicycle & pedestrian coordinator and it is are looking questions from readers. Pose them here: Questions for RVA’s bicycle, pedestrian, and trails coordinator
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