Cincy Bike Share planners need more funds to roll out service that could be boon to getting around

[Garrison Hilliard]

CINCINNATI -- For people who live, work or play downtown, a
two-wheeled transportation option may be on the horizon, as planners
gear up for Cincy Bike Share.

They say the eco-friendly system will reduce traffic congestion and
harmful emissions by offering a healthy alternative to driving.

MORE: "Bike Share hopes to roll into Cincinnati this summer" via
WVXU-FM (Dec. 20, 2013)
“One thing we’ve seen is these bike shares have taken off wherever
they start,” said Jason Barron, executive director Cincy Bike Share,
Inc. “Demand picks up when people have alternatives. And when they
have alternatives, they really embrace them, really get excited about
them and take them on. So we’re pretty confident that we’ll see that
exact same effect here.”

How it works

While a relatively new concept to the U.S., Barron explained bike
shares have been operating successfully throughout Europe and Asia for
more than a decade. Unlike bike rentals, where users keep the same
vehicle for the entire day, bike share stations are designed for
riders to take short trips from point to point, docking their bike
after each ride.

Day passes and memberships include 30 to 45 minutes of free rides with
fees incurred for additional time. Barron explained the system is
designed for users to travel distances too far to walk within the
downtown area without having to use a car.

“We’re almost like a new system of transit in Cincinnati,” he said.
“So while we’re nothing like Metro busses, we’re the same kind of
amenity. It’s something people can use to get around.”

Cincy Bike Share Phase I:

Proposed launch: summer 2014
Estimated 20 docking stations with 200 bikes (10 per station)
Locations: central downtown area and Over-the-Rhine (yet to be
determined)
Estimated membership cost: $75 to $85 per year, daily pass $6 to $8
With initial startup costs of $1.3 million and $500,000 to operate
annually, Barron said Cincy Bike Share--a nonprofit--still needs most
of its funding and is seeking corporate sponsors. Funding in other
cities varies from a single corporate sponsor, like the
Citibank-sponsored bike share in New York City, to multiple sources as
in Denver.

Cincy Bike Share already has some money from the Haile Foundation and
Interact for Health, but has a long way to go. Since stepping into the
role of executive director in December, Barron said his top priority
has been to aggressively pursue financial backing for the project.
He's hoping other sponsors will be attracted by the buzz other
companies throughout the world have gotten by attaching their names to
similar programs.

“Businesses that become sponsors for bike shares have seen a great
benefit to their brand; it turns out to be a really unique and
powerful advertising opportunity,” he said. “For instance, Citi Bike
in New York sponsored by Citibank reported their internal analysis
showed numbers of ‘favorable impressions of Citigroup’ jumped 17
points from May to July, essentially the first three months that bike
share was open.”

Will it catch on?

Once Cincy Bike Share secures funding, Barron plans a robust marketing
campaign for its launch. He sees potential for selling bulk
memberships to downtown: to businesses for their employees and
apartment buildings for their residents.

He said as former director of public affairs for Mayor Mark Mallory,
he recognizes the increased demand for urban living among young
professionals, empty-nesters, corporate executives and families. He
believes a bike share is the exact type of urban amenity which acts as
a catalyst to increase residency.

“It makes for a better lifestyle downtown because it makes for a
better experience,” he said.

If the first phase of Cincy Bike Share takes off, the service could
expand to uptown and Northern Kentucky. He feels confident in the
success of the program, as operators have perfected the system.

Barron said past bike shares in other cities have failed to thrive
because there were enough stations in close proximity to meet the
need. With the initial 20 docking stations, he explained the Cincy
Bike share will evaluate and adjust locations based on feedback.

“So hopefully, you’ll be able to park anywhere in the city and you
won’t have to seek out a bike station because they’ll be all over the
place - and that will contribute to the success because it’s so
convenient,” he said.

"Sharrows" and safety in numbers

Alta, the company which operates New York's Citi Bike program, reports
that with 93,000 members there have been no fatalities during the
five-month period since its debut.

So, Cincinnati safe for bicyclists? According Melissa McVay, city
planner with the Department of Transportation and Engineering, as part
of the 2010 Bike Plan, the city continues to add dedicated bike lanes
and "sharrows" (shared car and bike lanes) to increase safety.

“Research tells us having that separated space in the street is one of
the things that makes people feel safer and encourages exponentially
more people to start bicycling for transportation. That’s really
important,” she said.

Riding on city streets can be intimidating at first McVay said, but
she explained downtown is a great place to learn because of the slower
speed limits and predictable traffic patterns. She points to studies
from cities across the country that show installing bike shares
increases the number of riders on the streets, in turn making the
streets safer; when more riders take to the streets, motorists become
far more accustomed to sharing the road.

“There’s literally safety in numbers,” McVay said. “When the number
of people riding bicycles in your community goes up, the percentage of
accidents actually goes down.”

The path to bike share

The idea for the bike share grew out of the Cincinnati USA Chamber’s
Leadership Cincinnati program in 2011. Then, in 2012, the City of
Cincinnati conducted a feasibility study comparing similar cities with
systems in place.

The conclusion? That bike sharing was a viable concept for the region.
Next, Cincy Bike Share Inc. forged a partnership with B-Cycle, LLC
which operates bike share programs in more than 25 other cities around
the country. Next, Green Umbrella stepped up to serve as an interim
fiscal sponsor fo until the IRS approves the new nonprofit’s
tax-exempt status.

“We can be a nonprofit, fiscal agent for initiatives that are clearly
helpful for improving the quality of the environment and promote our
broader agenda of making Cincinnati one of the top 10 most green,
sustainable metro areas in the country by 2020,” said Green Umbrella
executive director Brewster Rhoads.

From a “green” standpoint, Rhoads said, there are a number of benefits
of the program--beginning with reduced emission from cars on the
streets. He explained people can avoid the hassle factor of taking
cars in and out of garages during the day to make short trips.
Secondly, he said bike share programs promote a healthy lifestyle by
increasing activity and connecting people to the outdoors. He said it
also connects the city, allowing people to venture further and
explore.

“And finally, it’s encourages public transit, which is another goal
that we have,” he said. “We’d like to increase the number of people
who regularly use public transit in Greater Cincinnati which has
obvious environmental benefits as well.”

The biggest marketing tools for bike share are the stations
themselves, Barron said. He believes people seeing the stations will
tap into "the inner child just dying to get back on a bike."
(Info pic at website>
“The stations will be 20 advertising locations throughout the city
where people can stop by and learn about the system and purchase
memberships right there,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the downtown
phase will be really successful and it will kind of really push the
other phases to follow it.”

(Info Pic at website)

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/cincy-bike-share-planners-still-need-funds-to-launch-what-they-say-will-be-a-boon-to-getting-around

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[cycl...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, January 16, 2014 4:14:07 PM UTC-8, Garrison Hilliard wrote:
> CINCINNATI -- For people who live, work or play downtown, a
>
> two-wheeled transportation option may be on the horizon, as planners
> gear up for Cincy Bike Share.
>
>

> --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

Let's be clear about this sort of thing. It's fine for people that found a parking place for their cars but people should be traveling more on bicycles and that means bicycle facilities and not rental bikes. People need parking facilities that are safe - either in an area of constant police observance or with some sort of bar with a locking mechanism so that you're not afraid to leave your bike. Bike thieves should also be seriously pursued and receive LONG sentences as they would for stealing cars.

There are now some pretty respectable commuting bicycles available for reasonable prices. These could be improved via a fully enclosed drive train (rather than partially enclosed), handlebar baskets and a rear rack. The Dutch have the right idea.

Also you have to get rid of the idea that people riding at commuting speeds or down to the corner store need helmets. As someone that has had a very serious concussion (I have completely lost two years of my life via memory loss) I might be a lot more pro-helmet than most of you, but I recognize the limitations of helmets and that they, in fact, have little to no effect at the speeds a commuter or shopper.

Road planners are now including bike lanes but we riders know full well that they are pretty useless since they have all of the road debris kicked into them or are directly along parking lanes so that you can be "doored".

More and more drivers are being polite around cyclists but you can have people almost clipping you in front of the police and they do nothing. True that many times it is from people trying to miss you and so staring at you and hence passing too closely, but you're just as injured or dead regardless of the cause of the driver.

In short, what needs to be done is that, except on freeways, automobiles and trucks have LESS right to the road than any other user and that includes some 12 year old punk walking across the street as slow as possible in front of traffic enjoying his legal powers.