BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — In a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the PeopleForBikes Foundation and the National Association of City Transportation Officials, the Better Bike Share Partnership awarded nearly $375,000 in grants to bike share programs across the country. The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by the JPB Foundation to increase access to and use of bike share in underserved communities.
This round of grants is the first in $900,000 of funding PeopleForBikes will administer over three years as part of the Better Bike Share Partnership.
“These grants allow cities, systems, and non-profit partners to test interventions and help us develop best practices for encouraging more people to use bike share,” said Zoe Kircos, grant manager at PeopleForBikes.
The projects that received funding included:
Austin Bike Share Equity Project: $50,000
Austin, TX
Austin B-cycle will use the grant to address barriers of cost, safety, comfort with bicycling, and language through a bilingual outreach and education campaign along with subsidized membership and cash payment options. A report with best practices on implementing a fully bilingual bike share system is one key deliverable of this project.
Boston Bikes Hubway Equity Project: $51,760
Boston, MA
Boston Bikes will build on its successful membership subsidy program and Prescribe-a-Bike collaboration with the Boston Medical Center to reach more diverse city residents with the help of the grant. Expansion of these two programs will join with plans to understand, reinforce and replicate the system’s best referral sources, align with other Boston Bikes programs, and develop more effective peer marketing tools through storytelling.
Building Up Bike Share in Bedford Stuyvesant: $75,000
Brooklyn, NY
The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) will capitalize on Citi Bike’s addition of 26 stations to their neighborhood with several targeted interventions to increase use. Restoration will focus its grant funding on tailored community outreach, education about riding bicycles and using bike share, membership promotion campaigns, and integration with other community services to introduce more Bedford Stuyvesant residents to bike share.
Capital Bikeshare Outreach Resources for Community Organizations: $25,000
Washington, DC
The District of Columbia’s Department of Transportation (DOT) will strengthen and expand its network of local community service organizations as ambassadors for Capital Bikeshare with this grant. The DOT will also create resources including a training curriculum and manual, multi-lingual demonstration video on how to use bike share, new member kits, and an ambassador network that links and supports community partners.
Charlotte B-cycle Free Wheelin’ Fridays: $20,000
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte B-cycle is working with an extensive roster of community partners to help people from neighborhoods across the city try using bike share for their Friday morning commutes. This targeted program will use experienced riders, incentives, and origination points in communities with less bike share use to boost ridership.
Divvy for Everyone: $75,000
Chicago, IL
The Chicago Department of Transportation (DOT) is using its award and match funding from BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois to implement a citywide program of subsidized memberships and facilitated enrollment through the Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC) - Centers for Working Families. Chicago DOT will also partner with Slow Roll Chicago on targeted outreach, education and engagement in the Southside neighborhood of Bronzeville along with general outreach and engagement citywide.
Equity Outcomes and Potential for Better Bike Share: $74,986
Portland, OR
Researchers at Portland State University will collect and examine data such as perceptions of bike share, barriers to use, success of specific interventions to increase use, and the impact of station siting decisions in Philadelphia’s Indego Bike Share System. The key deliverable is a report that will help new and existing bike share systems identify and implement interventions that will help them reach and engage more riders.