ABOUT US

Bike Walk Tompkins is an Ithaca, NY-based nonprofit dedicated to creating a community where walking, biking and rolling are safe and convenient for all people. As part of the nonprofit Center for Community Transportation, we work with other local nonprofit, government and business partners by providing education, advocacy and services to support and promote active transportation for better health, less emissions & congestion and greater access to transportation.

We teach comprehensive bike safety and skills education through our seasonal bike skills courses available to youth and adults at low-to-no cost, and collaborate with local elementary schools, youth programs, and colleges to bring bike education on site in a variety of settings, also supporting other educators as they implement bike safety and skills within their curriculums.

We advocate for safe, convenient and accessible sidewalks, streets, and trails for the most vulnerable users: pedestrians and cyclists of all ages, abilities, socio-economic status, race and ethnic backgrounds. We invite peoples’ input on and collaborate with local and state elected officials about the benefits of particular policies and infrastructure approaches that support safe biking and walking, such as protected walkways and bikeways and lower speed limits.

We support with free repair help at our community bike shop (803 Cascadilla St., facing the Cayuga Waterfront Trail) has become the a hub from which we offer bike mechanic workshops, open shop hours where anyone can use our tools with guidance from a mechanic, and a meeting spot for local group rides and bicycle and pedestrian advocacy conversations.

We repurpose and reuse at our community bike shop, where we accept donations of used bicycles and bike parts and refurbish the bikes to be repurposed back out into the community. We also sell and donate bike helmets, lights, locks, and some components.

We encourage bicycling by hosting and co-hosting collaborative community events. Our signature event, Streets Alive! Ithaca, is an open streets event where the streets are closed to cars and open to people and local organizations to host activities and simply walk, bike, roll, dance, and play. We co-host recreational group rides like the Lighted Full Moon rides with Vie Cycle, the Fall Creek Halloween Lighted Rides, and the annual Winter Solstice Ride as family-friendly introductions to riding on Ithaca’s streets and multi-use paths. Historically we’ve hosted Streets Alive! Ithaca twice a year, but we are looking to reimagine how this festival is produced in order to expand open streets events to more neighborhoods and more frequently throughout the year.

Bike Walk Tompkins is looking for people interested in engaging with our work as participants, volunteers, fellow advocates and supporters.
Won’t you join us?

Mission

To make Ithaca and Tompkins County a community where walking, biking and rolling
are safe and convenient for people of all ages, abilities, income levels and backgrounds.

VISION

Everyone in Ithaca and Tompkins County will have access to physically active modes of transportation, and can safely and comfortably use them for short trips, regardless of age, ability, income or background.

History

Bike Walk Tompkins (BWT) promotes active transportation—biking and walking—in Ithaca and Tompkins County. Having grown out of the group that first organized Streets Alive! Ithaca, Bike Walk Tompkins (BWT) works collaboratively with many other organizations to influence and change the culture and infrastructure for biking and walking in our community. This work enables more people to embrace active transportation in their everyday lives, helping our community reap multiple and significant health, environmental, economic and social benefits.

BWT has been generously funded in part by the Park Foundation and is part of the Center for Community Transportation (CCT), an Ithaca-based non-profit with the mission of enhancing community access to transportation while reducing its negative environmental and economic impacts. The CCT, which includes Ithaca Carshare and Backup Ride Home, emphasizes social equity and environmental sustainability in this era of new transportation options and emerging mobility trends. The CCT envisions a community where travel by shared and active transportation is healthy, safe, affordable, and convenient for all.

Our Gratitudes

Many thanks go to the following people who have shaped and grown the BWT program.

We'd also like to give a big special thank you to our donors and supporters. Thank you!