More reports on the use of bike sharing at the Democratic and Republican conventions
In Denver,
Health care giant Humana is sponsoring a program that will see 1,000 bicycles in Denver that can be checked out and used during the convention, Aug. 25-28. After the convention, some of the bikes will be left behind to kick-start a permanent sharing project.
Maybe Obama will ride one. Fashion Police get ready.
It seems some=70.
The legacy program will feature Freewheelin bike racks set up at various points around the cities, each housing a collection of the program’s proprietary bikes, which are equipped with trip computers. A solar powered kiosk, through which participants can “check out” a bike to use for things such as riding to work or doing errands, or simply taking a leisurely spin, will accompany each bike rack.
Once users are finished, they simply return the bike to any Freewheelin rack in their respective city. Participants can register for the program on the Freewheelin website, and use the site to automatically track their mileage, their personal carbon offset and other health information. Riders simply use a credit card or a Freewheelin key fob to check the bike out at no charge during the conventions.
Humana piloted the Freewheelin program in Louisville, Ky., in 2008 by installing Freewheelin bikes and racks for use by employees free of charge. More than 2,500 employees registered for the program. Based on the success of the pilot, Humana is expanding the program to other cities, as well as college and corporate campuses across the country. Bike-sharing is a popular alternative used in various European cities including Paris and Amsterdam to encourage “green” and congestion-free transportation.
And Minneapolis
Humana and Bikes Belong launched a similar project in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where the Republican National Convention will be held Sept. 1-4.
Which is also getting its own BikeStation-type parking facility downtown.
the Freewheel Midtown Bike Center, which opened Friday on Minneapolis' bicycle-commuter superhighway, is offering riders a place to park, fix, accessorize and wash their bikes-- or refuel and wash themselves.
The 5,500-square-foot center on the Midtown Greenway includes private showers for riders, a big shower stall for washing bikes and 150 secure indoor bicycle parking spots that riders can access around the clock. There's an array of helmets, water bottles and other equipment for sale, plus a full-service repair counter.
A shower stall for washing your bike? That's awesome. Their bike center is bigger, has more parking, provides more service (showers and bike showers) and is significantly cheaper than our unbuilt/unstarted $4 million one (ground is supposed to be broken this month)
The city contributed $434,000 of the more than $800,000 in construction costs, while $283,000 came from federal grant money.
The airy center is in the lower level of a building owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, which is hoping that many of its employees will take advantage of the lockers and showers and commute by bike. Workers can also pop down an elevator and visit the center's coffee shop.
And they were able to find a corporate partner along the city's downtown bike trail (we don't have one of those either) instead of taking the free land they were given.
Allina gave $75,000 for construction and isn't charging the center rent. Freewheel, which has a flagship store in the Cedar-Riverside area, spent about $220,000 in start-up costs.
The Midtown Greenway is an old rail line that's been converted to a bike and walking path that stretches across Minneapolis. The city estimates that 1,700 bikes pass the bike center on a typical fair-weather workday, with weekend and holiday traffic reaching 3,500 a day.
And another Minnesota hospital is launching its own bike fleet. It's not really bike sharing - though that's what they call it - so much as bike sampling, but is still a good idea (try bike commuting on our equipment. If you don't like it you've spent no money. Takes the risk out for the employee.)
The RadSurg LiveWell program will launch a pilot employee bike program on Monday, June 2, for Radiology and Surgery employees. The pilot was inspired by bike-sharing programs in several European and U.S. cities. With grant money from the Radiology Innovations (i3) team within Radiology, 10 Trek three-speed bicycles were purchased for the pilot project.
The project will run from June 2 through Sunday, Oct. 5, and will be divided into six three-week sessions. Ten participants will be assigned to each session, with each assigned a bike. Participants will be able to use the bikes to commute between campus buildings and shuttle lots; to and from work; and ride for leisure, exercise or stress management during lunch or breaks. Registered participants also will be able to use the bikes evenings and on weekends during their enrollment session. Users will report their activity and experiences via a link on the program intranet page.
The employee bike program strives to positively impact Mayo's Healthiest Workforce in America initiative, and offers longer-term gains for parking, traffic and the environment. This initiative reflects Mayo Clinic's strategic objective to establish a culture of innovation and
discovery.
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