He is a Carleton grad and would be a good resource as a speaker here in Northfield some day.

http://www.startribune.com/local/34064699.html

And a web site:

http://twincitiesbikeshare.com

And, according to the Bike-sharing Blog, Montreal’s “Bixi” bike-sharing program was named the 19th best invention of the year by Time magazine:

http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/2008/11/bixi-ranks-in-times-best-inventions-of.html

I hope to have our Task Force on Nonmotorized Transportation work with student groups at the colleges to help explore options for Northfield.

In the interest of continuing the discussion here, I include this excerpt (see original post for links):

“The discussion and the news prompted me to e-mail Paul DeMaio of MetroBike in Washington, DC. Paul provides consulting services related to bike sharing. I asked him whether a town such as Northfield, Minnesota (population 18,000) could attract one of the providers of the high-tech bicycle-sharing programs, such as Clear Channel Outdoor’s SmartBike program or JCDecaux’s Cyclocity program.

He said that a town the size of Northfield probably wouldn’t be able to attract those larger firms, given the costs of setting up such a service. But he did mention the possibility of a private service called Nextbike, which operates in Germany and New Zealand. He also thought that a non-profit model, with the cooperation of the colleges, city, and local businesses might work. He gave Toronto Bikeshare as an example, though after doing some research I found that program has been canceled. Perhaps another model is the Humana Freewheelin’ program that is being used at the political conventions. Some of those bikes will remain in the Twin Cities, so we can monitor how things proceed there.

Perhaps someone here might explore the option of the Nextbike model as a business opportunity. Their web site and a video describe how it works: users find a Nextbike, call a number and receive a code that they can use to unlock a bike, then they pay a fee for rental.”

Here is a link to a bike-sharing blog that is quite interesting. It looks at the “second and third generation” bike-sharing programs (commercial and/or govt. programs such as the one in DC) that are spreading:

http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/

“Free bike use to be offered during GOP convention
May 8, 2008

St. Paul (AP) — People worried about getting around the Twin Cities during the Republican National Convention may have an answer -- free bike use.

Minneapolis and St. Paul will be given 1,000 bikes for people to use during the four-day convention that starts September 1.

The bikes will be stationed at racks set up at different points around the cities. They can be checked out by swiping a credit card or a program ID card, then checked back in at racks stationed elsewhere.

The bikes are provided by Humana, and 75 of them will remain after the convention.”

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/08/bikes/

“People Who Ride: Walter Dellinger
The verdict is in for supreme court attorney Walter Dellinger -- biking is the best way to clear your head, lose some weight, and get around a crowded city like Washington D.C.”

“I think people who don’t bike under rate how much fun it really is,” he said. “Just going out from my busy day to do an errand on my bike mixes up the day. You get fresh air, some exercise, and it’s fun.”

found this bike parking lot on trek’s website:
http://trekbikes.typepad.com/rec_and_fitness/

Minneapolis is voted one of the runners-up for “most improved” status, Fargo-Moorhead for future promise (they hired a bicycle coordinator and are working on a bikeway network).

I also got a copy of the Wisc. Bicycle Facility Design Handbook on Saturday from the state’s bike/ped coordinator. On the cover is a picture of a sign that reads “Curb lane: Buses, bicycles, and right turns only.”

This type of lane seems less applicable to Northfield, b/c we don’t have buses. But then again, we don’t have that much traffic either. At least not yet.

Let me know what you find in Washington, DC!

Taylor will be speaking to the Task Force on Nonmotorized Transportation at our next meeting, Thurs., April 24, 7 pm, Nfld City Council Chambers.

I encouraged Taylor to read the “Community Bicycle Program” entry at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program. This has a good history of such programs and some examples of the challenges, including theft and vandalism. Those would be my main concerns about a free bike program, along with ongoing maintenance.

It would be interesting to hear what the experience of the Carleton students has been with their yellow bike program, and also what the various students would think of a bike-rental program akin to what Tracy has written about -- that is, the programs in various European cities. In the Paris program, bike rental is free for the first 30 minutes.

The League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week from May 12-16 and Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 16.

Trek has a program called one world two wheels:
“A key goal of One World, Two Wheels is to increase US trips taken by bicycle to 5% from the current 1% by 2017. With nearly 40% of car trips taken being under two miles, it’s an achievable goal.”

if you need a new helmut Mike’s carries Trek lids: “$1 of each helmet purchase is donated to the Bicycle Friendly Communities project that is part of Trek’s 1 World 2 Wheels commitment.”

Mike is also a single speed conversion expert. He can turn that old Schwinn into a SS or fixed gear urban ride.

The Task Force on Nonmotorized Transportation will be seeking a one-year extension to continue to work on Safe Routes to Schools and other projects. I agree that we should explore the possibility of a bike-rental program as well.

I’m not that knowledgeable about the bike-rental programs, but they seem to be like public transit in that the user only pays part of the cost; however, instead of being subsidized by tax dollars, they are subsidized by billboard advertising rights. Thus the Smart Bike program (http://www.smartbike.com) is run by Clear Channel and Cyclocity by a company called JC Decaux.

Some questions: Would Northfield be large enough to attract one of these firms? Would there be an increase in advertising signs around town?

Perhaps we could partner with some group in the Twin Cities to try something out here. Northfield is full of smart and resourceful people who may have other ideas or other knowledge to add.