New Jersey Ambassadors in Motion NJAIM
NJAIM is the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center’s public outreach team. The team consists of adult ambassadors trained to educate and conduct outreach to bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists to promote safety and active transportation throughout the state of New Jersey. The Ambassadors employ four forms of outreach: event outreach, classroom outreach, on-street outreach, and municipal/governmental outreach/assistance. The part-time ambassadors work from April to November in an effort to fulfill the following goals:
- Promote a culture of courtesy, acceptance, and safety for all modes
- Strengthen and leverage a network of community organizations and leaders who can advocate on behalf of safe bicycling and pedestrian activity in their communities
- Provide training and education that helps to transform places and behaviors
- Encourage non-motorized transportation as a viable alternative to motorized transport
- Encourage everyday safe practices and behaviors by all modes
Monday June 2, 2014
Ambassadors spent the day handing out pamphlets on walking and cycling safety for pedestrians. They first went to Main Street in Woodbridge and walked the street passing out pamphlets, most of which were distributed around the train station. They also stopped by a local bike shop and left pamphlets for customers to take. Next they went to the Woodbridge Mall, followed by the Menlo Park Mall.
Ambassadors in Newark
Wednesday June 4, 2014
Ambassadors conducted outreach at the intersection of Morris Avenue and Westfield Avenue in Elizabeth. They arrived in the morning and walked up and down Morris Avenue handing out pamphlets on pedestrian and bicycle safety. In the afternoon, they moved to Broad Street where they interacted with roughly 225 community members.
Friday June 6, 2014
On Friday June 6th Ambassadors spent the day in Montclair and Bloomfield. They distributed roughly 150 pamphlets along Westfield Avenue. On Broad Street, the majority of people were alone so they only encountered around 30 people while in Bloomfield. They were also able to leave 10 pamphlets in a bike shop on Broad Street for the stores customers.
Wednesday June 11, 2014
Ambassadors spent the day in Newark. They arrived at Broad Street in the early afternoon, and spent the next hour and a half handing out roughly 200 pamphlets on Broad Street before moving to a couple blocks over to Morris Street. They encountered nearly 550 people total while in the Newark downtown district. Ambassadors also visited other parts of Newark to take pictures of Newark’s complete streets program.
Friday June 13, 2014
Ambassadors went to Freehold Borough to hand out pamphlets and take pictures for complete streets research. Approximately 30 people received literature.
Government Outreach and Technical Assistance
The Ambassadors provided outreach and technical assistance on Complete Streets to several municipalities and counties throughout the state over the past two weeks. This list of municipalities contacted included: Woodbridge, Elizabeth, Bloomfield, Montclair, Newark, and Freehold. The list of counties contacted included Essex, Monmouth, and Union Counties.
To request the services of NJAIM please go here: https://njbikeped.org/nj-ambassadors-in-motion-njaim/
Jerry Fried, the Lead Ambassador for NJAIM, presented the “Benefits of Complete Streets” to the Mayor and Council of West Caldwell, as well as to both the Pascack Valley Managers Association and the Union County Planning Board and Staff. He spoke on this topic during the Complete Streets: From Policy Adoption to Implementation in New Jersey Webinar that took place Thursday, June 12th. He also spoke with former Commissioner Stephen Dilts while presenting to the American Council of Engineering Companies of NJ.