The Green Decade Coalition is Newton's very active local environmental activist organization, which has been making Newton greener for over 20 years. Bike Newton is a project of Green Decade's Transportation Committee.
The Newton Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force is "an independent citizen activist group that advocates to and works with the City of Newton to secure safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian access in Newton." It was begun at the behest of the mayor in the early 1990's and meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Access to the site may be limited.
http://groups.google.com/group/newtonbikeped
The Green Streets Initiative has been moving from one success to the next in its effort, starting in Cambridge, to get people to walk, bike, or take public transportation on the last Friday of every month. The program has been extended to Newton with the help of Safe Routes to School and Activate! Newton.
http://www.gogreenstreets.org/
Boston Bikes is the City of Boston department headed by ex-Olympian Bike Czarina Nicole Freedman.
http://www.cityofboston.gov/bikes/
Livable Streets Alliance in Cambridge is a vibrant and very active organization who lobbies on behalf of bicyclists and pedestrians to make the whole Boston area a more livable place. Jeff Rosenblum, one of the founders of Livable Streets Alliance, presented the film "Congested Streets" for Bike Newton at the Newton Free Library in October '08.
http://www.livablestreets.info/
Massbike is the most politically influential body of bikers in Massachusetts. They do a lot of advocacy (they lobbied for the recent bike bill, and helped push MassDOT to adopt more bike-friendly practices, among other things), and they offer bike safety classes.
The Brookline Bicycle Advisory Committee is an adjunct of the Brookline Transportation Board. In 2008 they also arranged the Beacon Street Bicycle Parade.
http://www.brooklinebikes.org/about.html
The Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee is very active, and a great model and inspiration.
http://www.abac.arlington.ma.us/
Charles River Wheelmen is a group of active cyclists who get together for weekly bicycle rides and frequent social events.
http://www.crw.org/brochure.htm
The proposed Charles River link from the proposed Charles River Path extension in Newton Lower Falls, through Wellesley, to the Bay Circuit Trail in Medfield is being planned by the Wellesley Trails Committee and the Bay Circuit Alliance. If all these links were completed, a cyclist (or energetic walker) could go most of the way from the Museum of Science to Medfield on a path.
