Biking is not only a good activity to do during a nice spring day, but it can also be a great tool to utilize for transportation as well. Biking is faster than walking and can be easier than driving a car.
Across the world, there is a system called bike share which is used in some cities as a means of transportation. A bike-share system has several different located docking stations throughout the community with bicycles that can be used by system subscribers. A subscriber can use a bicycle at any docking station, bike to another location and park the bike at his or her destination. The first 30 minutes of any trip are free, and the subscriptions are typically cheap and range from one day to annual.
The City of Raleigh’s Office of Transportation Planning wants to explore the effectiveness of having a bike- share system in Raleigh. Jennifer Baldwin, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator of OTP, said bike share can make a difference in the community.
“Nationally, bike share programs are getting more people on bikes and more people on the road, so the more riders we have, the more investment the city could make to be making facilities and streets safer for cyclists,” Baldwin said.
Before establishing a bike share right away, Raleigh wants planning, testing and evaluating to be complete to ensure the effectiveness and need of the bike share system. Raleigh is administering a study consisting of two phases. The first phase is to prepare a feasibility study for a bike share in Raleigh.
“[The City of Raleigh] contracted with Toole Design Group to do a two-phased implementation and feasibility study,” Baldwin said. “So we’re going to review the feasibility of bike share in Raleigh, look at three to four different cities that have a bike share implemented already, do some case studies to evaluate what worked and what didn’t and then to look at all of our data.”
Some of the data that will be reviewed consist of the population, infrastructure, policies, economics and destinations. Baldwin said phase one will also have a heat map showing what locations are really hot for a bike share and what locations are not, and the City of Raleigh will also look at different models of bike-share systems.
“Bike share, nationally, has several different business models,” Baldwin said. “Some are funded completely privately with no city funds. Some are funded completely publicly and becomes a public transportation system. So we’re going to analyze all the different models and, ultimately, work with the public and with City Council to develop a model that could work in Raleigh.”
Phase one should be complete by the beginning of June. If feasible, based on the data gathering and data evaluation, the City of Raleigh will move into the second phase, which is the implementation plan, according to Baldwin. She said during this phase, a lot more questions will need to be answered.
“We have all the reviews of the different models, and we have an idea of what we think will work, but then we’ll get into the details,” Baldwin said. “What kind of phasing plan? How many stations are we talking about? Where will the stations be? And then the financial model is going to be the big question. How’s it going to get paid? Does the city have funds? Do we have an appetite in the city of Raleigh to be able to put public funds toward it? Do we have potential stakeholders from the private sector that will be able and interested to help fund and partner with us on it?”
All of the data gathering and data evaluating is very helpful for the City of Raleigh because it makes the city more prepared and knowledgeable on how to make the most efficient bike share system in the city if it is implemented. If the City of Raleigh moves on to Phase two, it will begin to explore the costs of the bike share system and the different funding options. For now though, during Phase one, it will be evaluating other cities to explore how their systems are funded.
“London and New York have both hit some hiccups with their financial models,” said Eric Lamb, Transportation Planning Manager of City of Raleigh’s OTP. “London had Barclays as their big sponsor, but Barclays just pulled out, so that leaves them trying to figure out how they’re going to recover that. Then there’s been some issues in New York that have been in the press recently. So our goal is to make sure that whatever we develop as a financial model takes their hiccups into account because we don’t want to replicate that.”
If both phases of the study are successful, City of Raleigh is not only looking at a bike share system in downtown Raleigh, but at N.C. State as well, and in the future, expanded to all of the triangle area. Lamb said the idea of singleness between communities makes a lot of sense because the triangle area is so connected.
“So having a system that Durham residents can also have the same membership so that in the future, if Durham had a bike share system, if Cary, if Wake Forest, it would all be under one membership program,” Baldwin said. “So that makes that membership very much more attractive when it’s regional. That way you don’t have to have two different cards or two different memberships… We want to make sure that even though Raleigh is moving forward first that there’s no decision that we’re making that’s going to prohibit a regional system in the future.”
One of the biggest pieces of the feasibility study is determining what the goals are for a bike share system in Raleigh because, nationally, each system has their own goals, according to Baldwin. Baldwin said some cities prefer a bike share system to be a transportation option similar to transit where bike shares would be located along transit corridors and that the goals of other cities are to be profitable where the locations would be based on tourism destinations.
“So there’s several different models that you can do based on the visioning and goal setting,” Baldwin said. “To really set our goal completely, we need to hear from the public because ultimately, they are the customers and so that’s why we need that feedback… So what is bike share going to serve? Is it going to serve under lower-income communities and give them a transportation option because that’s a very different model if we’re going from the tourism side?”
On the City of Raleigh’s website, bikeraleigh.org/bikeshare, one can take a survey, share an opinion or look at other bike share systems. Furthermore, there will also be a Bike Raleigh Forum on April 10 at Cobblestone Hall at City Market. During the forum, questions will be asked about the bike share system such as: How much would you be willing to pay, where would you ride, what kind of goals should the system have? As well as general questions including: where do you want Raleigh to be in the next 5-10 years with bicycle planning and what can the City of Raleigh do to make your ride better?
