New report compiles years of bike share community strategies

We’ve covered bike share equity and outreach for years, following systems and community-based organizations all over the country. Now, there’s a resource gathering much of this knowledge and experience into one place.

Strategies for Engaging Community is a collaboration between NACTO and BBSP that provides tips and strategies for working with community members, as well as best practice examples from a variety of partnerships.

“Building civic capacity means empowering the public to participate in every stage of the project lifecycle,” shared Nicole Payne, Program Manager of Cities for Cycling at NACTO. “By reinforcing the idea that engagement is planning, we both advance the profession and produce more effective, successful outcomes.”

The report is organized into three main goals, “Increase Access to Mobility,” “Get More People Biking,” and “Increase Awareness and Support for Bike Share.” Each goal is further broken down through flow charts into specific strategies, which are then further defined into concrete actions. Each action comes with case study examples, tips for execution, and a comparison of benefits and challenges.

For example, one action for increasing access to bike share highlights Healthy Ride Pittsburgh’s program, which provides free 15-minute rides to anyone with a bus transit system farecard. The chart notes that this tactic is a great way to expand the pool of potential bike share riders; it also touches on the challenge of possible revenue loss in the short term.

Philadelphia is also highlighted throughout the report as a strong example, given its track record with extensive engagement work:

“From the outset, finding ways to engage and connect with Philadelphians has been the foundation of our Indego bike share system,” said Mike Carroll, Deputy Manager for Transportation and Infrastructure with the City of Philadelphia. “Philadelphia innovations, like cash bike share memberships, EBT card based discounts, or our Digital Thrills & Bicycle Skills trainings, are now the hallmarks of equity-focused bike share programs across the U.S. The City of Philadelphia is proud to be the birthplace of so many bike share best practices and to share our experience with cities around the country.”

“Over the past four years, the Better Bike Share Partnership has helped cities, bike share operators, and advocates begin to dismantle historical and structural barriers to bike share use for low-income and communities of color,” said Waffiyah Murray, Program Manager at the Better Bike Share Partnership. “The wealth of examples and experiences from around the country shows the power in prioritizing the active inclusion of underrepresented groups. As we continue to institutionalize strategies to tackling mobility justice, building relationships through outreach and engagement stands as the foundation for successful outcomes.”

>Download the full report here.
>View the full press release here.

The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by The JPB Foundation as a collaborative between the City of Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or sign up for our weekly newsletter. Story tip? Write stefani@betterbikeshare.org.