Tag: bike

Bike-Sharing Systems Cost Money, But Make Money Too

Posted on by robbie

In the past decade, several midsize cities have launched campaigns to attract young professionals, and as millennials move in, they’re embracing more and varied ways to get around town. Ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft are making having your own wheels less important, even in car-reliant cities like Los Angeles, where more alternatives to public transit have been a focus for legislators and public transit advocates. And the same is true for bike-sharing programs, which have skyrocketed since the first one was introduced in Washington, D.C., nearly a decade ago. Today, there is an estimated 119 systems nationwide.
As Bill Dossett, executive director of the Twin Cities’ bike share program, Nice Ride Minnesota, said last year, “It’s no longer a novelty. To be a world-class city, you need to have a bike-share program.”
For cities still debating their benefits, here’s what to know — both the good and the bad — about building out a bike-share program.

You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

Bikes cost money, but they also bring it in. The University of Iowa found that bike commuters in 37 of the state’s counties contributed $41.5 million to the local economy through jobs and spending. Fort Worth, Texas, spent $598,000 last year on its first bike share program, and immediately made it back and then some when ridership surged 34 percent more than expected.
But reaping those benefits can come with a hefty price tag.
In New York, for example, the city council requested $12 million this year to fund an additional 2,000 more bikes for its Citi Bike program, the nation’s largest. That comes on top of the bike-share’s rocky — and expensive — start, which was delayed after flooding from 2012’s Superstorm Sandy resulted in $10 million in damages to bike equipment.
And with more bikes comes the need for more bike lanes. To fund them, some cities have turned to tax increases, like in Portland, Ore., where voters recently agreed to a temporary 10-cent gas tax that would raise $64 million over four years, 44 percent of which is earmarked for more bike lanes and safety improvements.

Different Cities Require Different Approaches

There’s no debating that bike shares have been a smash, with the number of bike-share rides exploding from 2.3 million in 2011 to 28 million last year, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
But not every system has been successful. Just this year, Pronto in Seattle shut down operations in March after posting poor ridership numbers. The culprits: Hilly terrain, inclement weather, a mandatory helmet law and few bike lanes in the congested downtown area. (The city is giving bike shares another whirl, however, recently announcing it will see two new companies launch operations later this year.)
L.A., too, is similarly struggling with low ridership compared to other cities, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times. In that instance, city officials limited the bike-share system to downtown blocks, making the program out of reach for many who live in L.A.’s sprawling outskirts. Still, officials defend the nascent program. “We’re not New York, we’re not Chicago,” Laura Cornejo, a Metro deputy executive officer told the newspaper. “For every city, you need to look at what the culture is, what the infrastructure is, and what the political and community dynamic is.”

Address Gentrification Controversies Head-On

But not everyone loves the bike-share craze. In some neighborhoods, activists and legislators worry that the bike racks add to congestion and help usher in gentrification.
After New York’s CitiBike program proposed an expansion of bike stations last year in Harlem, a historically black and Latino neighborhood, community leaders called the initiative a “gateway to gentrification” and harmful to local businesses and food trucks.
But research has shown that investing in bike infrastructure and bike shares are actually good for neighborhoods and property value.
In 2013, officials in Indianapolis invested $63 million in grants and private funding to build the Cultural Trail, eight miles of interconnected bike and pedestrian pathways. Two years later, Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute found that properties within 500 feet of the trail increased in value 148 percent, to $1 billion.
“As with anything, some of the pushback is within the community itself, and a lot of it is due to misunderstanding or misinformation,” Jolie Lemoine, president of the board of directors for New Orleans’s Bike Easy program, tells NationSwell. “People think that it will put small businesses out of business, but it’s just not true.”
For Bike Easy, which is currently in the testing phase in parts of New Orleans’s popular tourism areas, such as the French Quarter, the message has been to include the community in deciding where bike docks will go and how they will be used.
“We want people to have the opportunity to get bikes without owning one, so that they can see this is an effective system,” Lemoine says. “It can make areas of town more valuable to residents. I think [the challenge is] changing sentiments, attitudes and desires of what we want our city to offer us.”

Want more? Check out these reads on the challenges and rewards of bike shares:

“Bikes Aren’t Just Good for You, They’re Good for the Economy, Too,” Fast Company
“Have You Heard About That Awesome New Bike-Share Diet?” Next City
“What Keeps Bike Share White,” CityLab

Homepage photo courtesy of Los Angeles Metro Bike Share

Street Books: This Library on Wheels Brings Great Reads to People Living Outside

Posted on by robbie

For the past five years, Laura Moulton has spent her days in underserved areas of Portland, Ore., lending books to people living on the fringes of society.
Those living outside or in temporary shelters are usually barred from borrowing books from regular libraries because they lack the required documentation (such as identification or a home address) to get a library card. Additionally, their everyday lives often make it hard for them to return books in good conditions and on time, triggering hefty fines and dissuading them from the practice, Moulton, an artist and writing professor, explains.
In 2011, she launched Street Books, a bike-powered, mobile library to ensure the homeless community has access to literature.  
“Being recognized and spoken to on the street and offered a book for someone who has really been struggling can be a really powerful thing,” Moulton says. “Books have the power to have us feel empathy and have us experience the thrill of a journey of someone else”.
So far, Street Books have served more than 5,000 patrons, many of which have become regulars.

Discover more about Street Books and its patrons by watching the video above.  

Houston Bikers Need Safe Roads. Here’s the Simple Plan to Make That Happen.

Posted on by robbie

Last month, the Houston Chronicle posted some shocking numbers: At least 23 bike riders have been killed on city streets in the past five years.
Those deaths directly conflict with a pro-biking culture that the city is trying to promote. Initiatives such as Houston Bike Share and various trail expansions have encouraged residents to explore and commute on their two wheelers. And the city is only going to get more bike-friendly in the future — the Bayou Greenways 2020 projects aims to creating a continuous city system of 150 miles of parks and trails along Houston’s bayous, the Complete Streets approach will incorporate all types of transportation onto city streets, and Sunday Streets HTx already shuts off certain streets to vehicles for safe pedestrian and biker enjoyment.
Mayor Annise D. Parker hopes to keep those current and future bikers safe by eliminating cycling fatalities. Her effort —the  “Goal Zero” program for bike safety — was announced on March 25, following the example of New York City and San Francisco.
According to a press release from the Mayor’s office, education and laws are key to the plan. “Mayor Annise Parker today announced the City and BikeHouston are joining forces to launch a major bike safety campaign to enforce and educate motorists and cyclists about the existing Safe Passing Ordinance, as well as create a Bicycle Master Plan for the City,” the statement read.
The first step will be tighter traffic law enforcement. As most drivers know, cyclists are expected to follow the same stop sign and traffic light laws as cars. Parker stated in the press release that the Houston Police Department will keep both sides in check by ticketing drivers who violate the new Safe Passing Ordinance (which requires a space of three feet between bike and car) and cyclists that disregard traffic laws.
“Whether on a bike or behind the wheel, we have to abide by the rules of the road and learn how to share the road safely,” Parker said. “Unfortunately, a spate of recent bicycle fatalities on Houston streets indicates there is much work to be done in this area. As a first step, I am dedicating $50,000 toward the cost of a Bicycle Master Plan that will guide our future decisions regarding placement of dedicated on-street bike lanes and infrastructure.”
In February, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio introduced a Vision Zero plan geared toward eliminating all traffic deaths, while San Francisco’s WalkFirst plan, introduced earlier this month, aims to safeguard the city’s most dangerous intersections for pedestrians. Though their effects still have yet to be seen, greater awareness and care among drivers, bikers, and walkers, can only promote safety. With biking becoming an increasingly popular mode of transportation in cities around the country, these measures will likely continue to see copycats like Houston.

Why Salt Lake City May Become the New Leader in Public Transportation

Posted on by robbie

Salt Lake City seems like an unlikely candidate to be a pro-public transportation city. Cars are king in the capital of Utah, where city blocks are long and streets are an unusually wide 132 feet — a measurement Brigham Young allegedly described as enough room to turn a wagon team without “resorting to profanity.” With much of the majority-Mormon city shutting down on Sundays, pedestrians struggle to transverse the Rocky Mountain-backed landscape.
Which is why Robin Hutcheson, a new executive-board member of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, is becoming something of a Salt Lake City rock star: She’s instrumental in diversifying transportation options in the metropolitan area of 1.2 million to include bike lanes and a commuter rail line. And the measures she’s taking could provide a crucial blueprint for other urban centers. 
Atlantic Cities profiled how Hutcheson is harnessing Salt Lake City’s increasing friendliness to public transportation. She’s been head of the transportation planning division of Salt Lake City since 2011, and is a biker, runner, and all-around public-transit devotee. With the help of state and city investments into public transportation, more pedestrian-friendly streets, and business and church cooperation, Salt Lake City has self-adapted to the idea of reducing reliance on cars.
The reason doesn’t just lie in ease of movement, it’s about the environment, too. Salt Lake City suffers from visible smog, and has been named one of the ten worst cities in the U.S. for short-term particulate pollution by the American Lung Association. “As the air-quality issue has risen in the public eye, people are accepting that we need to do more than just say we’re going to do better,” Mayor Ralph Becker told Atlantic Cities. “It’s about people being able to move around in their city without having to use their car. How do we get from where we are today to having a city where people easily get around, can drive if they wish, but that isn’t their only or necessarily their best option?”
Enter Hutcheson. Her initiatives include a new low-cost transit card called the Hive Pass that allows holders unlimited access to buses, light rail within the city, and commuter trains for only $360 a year. Others, like the rail line connecting Salt Lake to Provo that opened in December 2012, caused public transit ridership in Utah to rise an astonishing 103 percent. TRAX, the city’s light rail system, saw its ridership increase 6.8 percent last year and a current plan calls for two more lines to open by 2015.
Meanwhile, Hutcheson and her team have also been working hard to make Salt Lake a more welcoming city for people on bicycles and on foot. Last December, a streetcar line with a walking and biking trail alongside it opened in the rapidly-developing Sugarhouse neighborhood. The city also has a seasonal bike-share and are designating new bike lanes in town. Salt Lake has been granted a budget for bike and pedestrian capital improvements that will be about $3.5 million for 2014-2105, a marked increase from just under $500,000 in 2009.
With Hutcheson making a positive imprint all over Salt Lake City, so is her city’s chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), which she founded. The organization itself was established in 1977 for the professional advancement of women throughout the transportation industry — from road engineers to airline pilots. Her perspective on public transit is partially shaped by WTS, which believes that women have an unmatched lens into what commuters need. For instance, they have an acute sense of the dangers of a long wait at a dark bus stop, or traffic patterns when driving children back and forth between activities.
With or without her WTS foundation, one thing is for certain: Hutcheson’s work in Salt Lake City is likely to have reverberations in cities across the country.

This Nonprofit Figured Out What to Do with NYC’s Abandoned Bikes

Posted on by robbie

We all know that bikes are great for our cities and our health. But what’s not so great about them is how some people abandon their bikes once they are no longer useful. In the Big Apple and similar urban environments, it’s not uncommon to see old bikes and rusted parts scattered throughout the city. And it’s not just those roaming city streets who find this problematic.
“The department of sanitation had listed bicycles as one of the top ten nuisance items that the workers hated to throw in the trucks,” said Karen Overton, founder of Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB) in the video above. “Bikes on average can be about 30 pounds so having to heave those into trucks can be a problem.”
MORE: Here’s a Simple Way to Get Your Community Interested in Better Bike Lanes
Overton’s organization is trying to solve this dilemma by making sure that these old bikes are recycled or put to good use. RAB will take any unused, damaged or rusted bike and salvage the parts. As Truth Atlas reports, anything that can’t be reused is recycled. Just in 2013 alone, their recycling program reportedly salvaged more than 1,800 bikes and refurbished more than 500 of them. Impressively, they were able to divert 45,000 pounds of metal waste from landfills. Overton told the site, “Don’t throw your bike out! RAB will take it, no matter what condition it’s in.” And given their success so far, we say: Keep the old bikes coming!