The following groups operate under WABA’s umbrella and receive either financial or organizational support.

Bikes for the world

Bikes for the World (BfW) is a self-financed sponsored project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association which provides the cycling community and the general public with the opportunity to “put old bikes to good use.”  BfW works with more than 100 community service organizations in the lower mid-Atlantic region, employs two full-time staff members, and draws upon hundreds of volunteers over the course of each year to collect unwanted bicycles, bike parts, and accessories and deliver them at low cost to community development programs assisting the poor overseas.  Between January 2005 and February 2008, BfW channeled more than 23,000 bicycles overseas, making it one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States. 

Among the international programs assisted to date are employment, health, and education efforts in Sri Lanka, Ghana, Namibia, Uganda, Barbados, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama.  Bikes for the World also operates a youth program in suburban Maryland, which provides safety education and opportunities to ride, earn a reconditioned bicycle, and earn community service credits required for high school graduation.

For info on how to donate a bike, how to volunteer, or how to have your community group sponsor a collection, visit www.bikesfortheworld.org.

fairfax advocates for beter bicycling (FABB)

Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling is a group of concerned cyclists who want to make bicycling an integral part of the transportation network of Fairfax County and Fairfax City, Virginia.

bicycle helmet safety institute

Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute is the helmet advocacy program of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.We are a small, active, non-profit consumer-funded program acting as a clearinghouse and a technical resource for bicycle helmet information. We try to explain the technology of helmets to consumers, and promote better helmets through improved standards. Our volunteers serve on the ASTM helmet standard committee and are active in commenting on actions of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We provide a Toolkit for helmet programs and an email helmet newsletter, both free. We are all volunteers, funded entirely by consumer donations. We maintain our independence by never accepting funds from the industry. As much as we believe in helmets we still consider them a secondary safety measure and urge that primary measures such as safer roads and education programs for riders and drivers not be neglected. Last year we served over two million pages to nearly 600,000 distinct users.

Coalition for the Metropolitan Branch Trail

Idea for the MetBranch Trail began in 1988 when WABA member Pat Hare was looking for a good bike route from Brookland to Silver Spring.  A year later the Coalition for the Metropolitan Branch Trail was formed to advocate for the construction of the trail.  Contact WABA at waba@waba.org to get involved.

people's alliance for rock creek park (PARC)

In early 1981, WABA testified at a National Park Service public hearing and recommended that four stretches of Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park be permanently closed to cars. The proposal was not smooth sailing; the powerful American Automobile Association came out against the proposal. WABA member Peter Harnik organized People's Alliance to Save Rock Creek (P.A.R.C.), a coalition of bicycle, environmental, outdoors-related organizations to focus on getting a car-free Rock Creek Park.