Back in 2015, Macon had few pedestrian friendly intersections, less than one mile of bike lanes, and a city infrastructure primarily designed for cars even though 1 in 3 people did not have a driver’s license. Recent graduate Rachel Umana decided to step in and founded Bike Walk Macon, which is now leading nonprofit organization working to make Macon more bike-able and walkable.
The year after Rachel Umana graduated from Mercer University, she did a fellowship teaching English in Thailand. It was the first time she didn’t have a car and she fell in love with taking public transportation and walking everywhere. When Umana moved back to Macon, she started biking to work which helped her notice the challenges of using alternative transportation in Macon.
Umana explains that transportation impacts everything from our local economy to climate change. She became passionate about biking when she realized that it goes hand in hand with “making a place that people want to live and have a better quality of life.”
Humana’s advocacy started very grassroots with support from a fellowship from 8 80 Cities, an organization with a mission to create healthier, and more sustainable cities for everyone. 8 80 cities offers the Knight Emerging City Champions Fellowship program, which offers grants to young civic innovators with ideas to change their communities. At first she began by hosting big rides in 2015, and now she as the Executive Director of Bike Walk Macon, her organization leads hundreds of free public events including rides and open streets initiatives, champions advocacy and policy, and hosts classes to help people learn to ride bicycles safely.
In 2016, Bike Walk Macon shut down two miles of road, from College Street to Riverside Drive. By closing the street of to cars, it opened the street for everyone else and around 1500 people came to enjoy their first Open Street event.
When Umana realized just how important transportation was to quality of life, she started advocating tangible changes. This includes policy. Recently she presented a Complete Streets Policy that the city passed, which says that all new road projects are required to consider all forms of transportation, not just cars.
Bill Causey, a retired Macon Bibb- County Engineer, attributes Rachel Umana, and the non-profit with many improvements to safety for pedestrians and bike riders.
Causey says, “The work of Rachel and Bike Walk Macon has resulted in many improvements to bicycling and pedestrian safety in Macon. She has worked tirelessly for years, sometimes with little support, to urge upon Maconites the importance of cities providing safe and sensible facilities for cycling and walking.”
He explains, “She’s got she’s had a very difficult job. She’s like one person yelling at the government to fix things.”
Bobby Schorr, the owner of Bike tech, has been involved with the non-profit since its inception, and has served on the Advisory Board for about a decade. Schorr agrees with Causey and credits the growth of the Macon cycling community due to Bike Walk Macon’s work to make streets safer, and vastly shifting how people experience Macon.
Schoor said, “Rachel Umana is the heartbeat of Bike Walk Macon. Her leadership, vision, and tireless dedication have transformed what was once a grassroots effort into a respected, impactful organization.”
Over the past ten years of advocacy, Macon went from having one mile of bike lanes to currently having 12 miles of dedicated bike lanes. Bike Walk Macon has worked hard to include different communities in Macon to get feedback from those who have a vested interested. This year, Macon was named a Bronze Level Bike Friendly Community through the League of American Bicyclists.
“That designation is huge,” Umana explains. “It’s taking a lot of work and, and we have a long ways to go, but, it’s good to be awarded and recognized for the work that’s been going on in Macon.”
In the next decade, Bike Walk Macon will continue to be presence in the city and Umana has many dreams for how to make Macon more inclusive.
“I’d like to see our streets designed with every person in mind,” she explains. “My vision is a fully connected network of sidewalks and of bike pathways throughout our whole city.”
