These photos were taken on August 25 in Springfield. They show a woman riding her bicycle on a bike path that runs alongside the Connecticut river (the path is separated from cars by a physical barrier); a man riding his bicycle on a road; and a view of the river seen from the bike path. More information about the path is at:

www.springfield-ma.gov/park/index.php?id=riverwalk

With about 154,000 people, Springfield is the Pioneer Valley's biggest city. With 48 percent people of color, it is one of the Valley's most diverse cities.

Thanks to the work of transportation activists, the trip to and from Brattleboro to Springfield, Massachusetts on Amtrak recently got 27 percent faster. The train stops in Greenfield, Northampton, and Holyoke on its way to New York City. It now takes one hour and 34 minutes, down from two hours and nine minutes.

Two pedestrians were hospitalized after being hit by cars. A bicycle riders' rights rally is set for December 21. In Northampton on December 9, Chloe Rombach, age 22, was walking when she was hit by a car. Police say she was probably in a cross-walk. As of December 19, she remained in critical condition in a hospital in Boston, where she was taken by helicopter, according to a fund-raising web site set up by her family:

www.gofundme.com/iy27dk

In a grassroots victory, Amtrak trains will be getting faster in the Valley starting December 29. The trip from Springfield to Brattleboro will be 25 minutes faster than it is now. This is the result of the work of members of the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP). Their web site is www.NARPrail.org.

The trip from Springfield to New York City on Amtrak is expected to get faster in 2016. It is likely that more trains will run in the Valley, and that Amtrak will soon have direct service from the Valley to Montreal, Canada.

The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition is asking Massachusetts residents to vote "no" on Question 1 on November 4. A “no” vote will improve subways, trains, buses, bicycle paths, and sidewalks, the group says. The Coalition's mission is to promote a bicycle-friendly environment and encourage bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation. The group has nine paid employees. Its board of directors is elected by anyone who donates $20 a year.

A $132,000 expansion to Keene's bicycle and pedestrian path will be done by June 20, 2015, according to a city official. “The trail will reach Stonewall Farm from downtown Keene,” Chuck Redfern told the Valley Post. He is a member of www.PathwaysForKeene.org a group that worked to make the trail happen.

Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the path.

www.StoneWallFarm.org is three miles from downtown Keene. It is a dairy farm that is open to the public and has educational programs. It has hundreds of acres of pasture and forest, and miles of walking trails.

The number of passenger trains traveling daily between Springfield and Greenfield -- and possibly Brattleboro -- may go from the currently planned one round trip per day to 10 round trips per day. "The best case timetable would be launching expanded rail passenger service by mid-2015 or 2016," Tim Brennan told the Valley Post on February 19. He is director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission www.pvpc.org.

Construction is expected to start this year on a major pedestrian and bicycle path in Keene. “We've been working for this since 1995,” Chuck Redfern told the Valley Post. He is a member of the board of Pathways for Keene, a group of volunteers that promotes the development, maintenance, and use of alternative transportation in Keene. “We raised $30,000 for this and we think it's finally going to happen.”

The man who was killed by a car while he was walking in Brattleboro earlier this month was the fourth pedestrian killed by a car in Brattleboro in the past two years. About 12,000 people live in Brattleboro.

Trains are better for the environment than cars. They are much less likely to get in accidents. Trains can be faster and cheaper than cars. Starting in early 2015, Amtrak will be much faster than it is now between Brattleboro and Springfield. It will stop in Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield rather than its current stop in Amherst. “The trip from Brattleboro to Springfield will take about an hour on Amtrak,” Tim Brennan told the Valley Post earlier this month. He is the director of www.pvpc.org.