Reflections on being in Minneapolis on a bike
Posted By Jamison on July 19, 2010
About a month ago, fellow Cogger Ben Hunt and I decided to investigate Minneapolis, which was recently declared by Bicycling magazine as the #1 city for bicycling in the country. I didn’t really know what to expect, but with the promise of a few Twins games, hailed bike infrastructure, and a visit to a good friend, I think we had high hopes.
Our trip turned out to be a truly multimodal vacation. I managed to catch a pedicab on Central Ave. as they were heading back downtown from Talbott St. Art Fair, which dropped me off at the Megabus stop, where I met up with my partner in crime, Mr. Hunt. After a connection in Chicago, and an overnight bus ride to Minneapolis we hopped on the recently launched bike-sharing program, Nice Ride, which delivered within a block of our destination.
So, the first reflection should be of Nice Ride, and the follow-up should be…will it work here? I thought the system worked quite seamlessly. We had to swipe a credit card and after a $250.00 hold on the card (debit card users be aware) and a receipt with a code on it, the bikes were released from the locking brackets at the kiosk. After using the rental bikes a few times, I believe that something similar would be a great asset to our city. Our host Greta (yes, Ben has two great friends of the same name) kindly found loaner bikes for the majority of our transportation needs, so we were not on them for the whole trip.
In my opinion a bike share program would flawlessly integrate with the ever-coming Cultural Trail, our growing network of bike lanes and the upcoming bike station that will be coming to the City Market in the spring. Imagine if all the people who come to the city for events like the Super Bowl, Final Four, or any other event at the the ever-growing convention center could hop on a bike to get where they want to be in the city. This would be a great option for people who might get downtown via bus or *grimace* car, but want to get to different destinations via something a bit more fun and efficient. I do, however think this would need to start out small, like Chicago’s is currently, and expand as people get used to it and the demand increases.
I have decided to turn this into a series that will look at different aspects of Minneapolis’ bike infrastructure and culture. I will work on a few more pieces looking at on and off street infrastructure, the bike community/culture, and other topics. I just don’t want to bore you all with my ramblings all at once.
So stay tuned for insights on bike facilities, an event with the mayor, transit advocates, and a certain rock and roll superstar (hint: Remain in the Light).
Go ride.
*And yes the picture is supposed to be yellow. It was taken from a room in the Guthrie Theater that had yellow-paned windows.
I hope you got to sample some Sonny’s Ice Cream while there. It’s 22.5% butterfat and must have about a thousand calories per tablespoonful.
I’m kind of surprised to read that so many American cities have started bike-share programs. It’s not even big in Europe, because most programs have failed on the financial side. Lyon was the first to make it work, and I think they did so by leasing out the advertising rights. Before then, programs in England and the Netherlands (and possibly elsewhere had failed). I could be wrong, but I don’t think any other European cities have copies Lyon and Paris’s Velib models. So I was really surprised to learn that American cities are trying it. I’m a little skeptical because these programs are largely about convenience and cost. Indy doesn’t have a dire need for a more convenient or less expensive transportation for short distances.
“Indy doesn’t have a dire need for a more convenient or less expensive transportation for short distances.”
Indianapolis definitely has dire need for convenient and affordable transportation.. A multi-modal system would transform this city, bike share probably shouldn’t be the focus at this point, but it could be very beneficial to our city.
I heard on NPR some months ago that the Paris system, which involves thousands of bikes and millions of Euros, had many bikes stolen or trashed. It may still be a success because the use of the system is huge (numbers of riders and miles ridden) so that even large-scale trashing of bikes is worth it.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111487751
August 3, 2009 story
“But what has surprised everyone is vandalism: 16,000 bikes have been replaced because of damage or theft. Tires have been slashed, frames smashed, chains cut. And 8,000 bikes have been stolen.
Police have retrieved about 100 Velibs from the Seine River. But the fate of most of the missing bicycles is unknown.”