BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Coalition for Active Transportation (BCAT) was one of six organizations and individuals honored by the Vermont Sierra Club during its annual Transit Day Conversation and Awards event, held in Montpelier on Feb. 4.
The club collected nominations for community members, leaders, and organizations contributing toward a clean and equitable transit system in their communities.
“Vermont is made stronger and more connected by the efforts of people like these in communities across the state,” the club said in a news release. “We thank them for their work as we strive to create a clean and equitable transit system for all Vermonters.”
Brattleboro Coalition for Active Transportation was honored in the Grassroots Community Organization category.
The club said BCAT “seeks to highlight the social, environmental, and economic values in the normalization of active, non-automotive transportation. Its mission is to promote safe, healthy, accessible transportation options for people of all ages, abilities, and incomes.”
BCAT, a women-driven coalition with four health-professional members - Alice Charkes, Kathleen White, Shyla Foss, and Prudence MacKinney - began in 2012 as an organization dedicated to making streets safer in Brattleboro for all users. In 2018, the members expanded the organization's scope to work toward the normalization of non-automotive transportation.
The group has worked on a number of projects, including Safe Routes to School, walking and biking education programs, and streetscape projects promoting human-scale use of downtown.
“Brattleboro has become a much more walkable and bike-able community because of BCAT,” the club said.
For more information about the awards and the Vermont Sierra Club, visit sierraclub.org/vermont.