SECTION 11A. Bicycle and pedestrian advisory board

There is hereby established within the office of planning and programming a bicycle and pedestrian advisory board. The board shall oversee the state's bicycle and pedestrian activities and advise the bicycle and pedestrian program office. The board shall consist of the secretary of transportation or his designee; the secretary of environmental affairs or his designee; the administrator of highways or his designee; the commissioner of environmental management or his designee; the commissioner of the department of conservation and recreation or his designee; the general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or his designee; the colonel of state police or his designee; the commissioner of public health or his designee; the executive director of travel and tourism or his designee; 1 representative of a regional planning agency; 7 non-governmental members who shall be appointed by the governor upon recommendation of the co-chairmen of the board; 3 of whom shall be experts in bicycle safety; 1 of whom shall be a representative of the commercial bicycle industry; 3 of whom shall be representatives of bicycle organizations; and 7 members who are experts in pedestrian transportation. The bicycle and pedestrian program manager shall serve ex-officio. Each appointee shall serve without compensation for a term of 2 years and may be reappointed to serve for not more than 3 consecutive terms. Two chairmen shall be selected by a majority vote of the board members but at least one of the chairman shall not be an employee of the commonwealth. The advisory board shall meet at least 4 times each year. The board shall monitor the implementation of the Massachusetts statewide bicycle transportation plan and the Massachusetts statewide pedestrian transportation plan and assist the bicycle and pedestrian program office in preparing future plan updates. Initially, the non-governmental members shall be appointed by the governor, chosen from a list of qualified applicants fairly representing the various geographical regions of the Commonwealth, as provided by the Bicycle Coalition, also known as MassBike, a state-wide bicycle advocacy organization and by WalkBoston, a metropolitan area pedestrian organization.