Bikes Belong Coalition does Great Things

grant_header_Fall2011.jpg
Spring 2012
Bikes Belong Awards $60,000 in Grants
Boulder, CO — June 8, 2012 Bikes Belong is pleased to announce grant awards to eight great projects in our Spring 2012 Community Grant cycle as well as two recipients through the Bikes Belong Foundation Research Grant Program. These awards support innovative bicycle projects and studies with the common goal of putting more people on bicyclesmore often.The Bikes Belong Grants Program is funded by our Employee Pro Purchase Program. Many thanks to the following participating members and their employees for making these awards possible:

Community Grants
Since Bikes Belong’s Community Grants Program began in 1999, we have awarded 245 grants in 48 states and the District of Columbia, granting $1.9 million in cash and leveraging more than $659 million in federal, state, and private funding. Our facilities grants alone have helped finance more than 1,600 miles of bike paths and trails that link almost 10,000 miles of bikeways.Indianapolis Bicycle Planning Summits (Indianapolis, IN)

INDYCOG, the bicycle advocacy group serving Indianapolis, is partnering with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to help five underserved urban neighborhoods develop bicycle infrastructure plans that improve current bike routes and add more to serve key destinations. This $10,000 Bikes Belong grant will fund planning summits in all five neighborhoods. The City of Indianapolis has committed to incorporating the results of these community-led events into their master bicycle planning document.

More about INDYCOG

Open Streets: Jackson (Jackson, MS)

Bike Walk Mississippi will host the state’s first open streets event – in which city streets are closed to motor vehicles so people can walk, bike, rollerblade, and enjoy – this autumn in an effort to boost walking and bicycling in the capital city. Bikes Belong’s $4,000 grant will provide seed funding for this initiative that is expected to engage partners from the business, government, and non-profit communities and make Jackson a healthier and more bike-friendly city.

More about Bike Walk Mississippi

Pilot Bike Corrals (Hoboken, NJ)

Complementing its ongoing investments in bike lanes, bike parking, and a bicycle repair station, the City of Hoboken will use a $5,000 grant from Bikes Belong to install three pilot bike corrals holding 12 to 24 bicycles each. The corrals will be located in high traffic areas and will build on city plans to put bike lanes on 80% of its streets by the end of 2012.

More about Hoboken

Three Sisters (Grand Junction, CO)

When the value of land slated for development plummeted in the last recession, the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association (COPMOBA) partnered with Mesa Land Trust to make the most of the situation. Bikes Belong’s grant of $5,000 will help the organizations finalize the land purchase and develop trails on the Three Sisters property. The new network, adjacent to Grand Junction’s Lunch Loop trail system, will provide much-needed beginner-level trails and advance the bike path development that will link these trails with downtown.

More about COPMOBA

ZAP Twin Cities Bicycle Commuter Program (Minneapolis, MN)

Commuter Connection, St. Paul Smart Trips, and the University of Minnesota will use this $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong for an innovative project to track and reward bicycle commuter trips in the Twin Cities downtown areas and the university district. Using RFID technology and ZAP readers, the project will enlist 625 initial riders, record their commuter travel, and provide incentives for choosing to bike. The University of Minnesota plans to conduct an assessment of the program’s impact on the health and well-being of the participants.

More about Commuter Connection

BMX Track Grants

Bikes Belong is awarding $2,000 to each of the following BMX projects:

* Aztec BMX Track Relocation and Rehabilitation (Aztec, NM): The City of Aztec will relocate their track to a safer, more accessible location that connects to an existing trail system.

* Farmer City BMX Track Revitalization (Farmer City, IL:): Farmer City BMX will use grant funding to convert the starting hill from dirt to asphalt and improve erosion control.

* Tri City BMX (Kearney, NE): Tri City BMX will hard-surface the three corners of their track, drastically reducing maintenance time and improving safety.

Research Grants
The Bikes Belong Foundation is pleased to announce grant awards in two important areas of research. These studies will look at the economic benefits associated with bicycling in two key areas and provide valuable data for other communities nationwide.Measuring the Economic Impact of New York City Bike Share (New York, NY)

In conjunction with the rollout of New York City Bike Share in July/August 2012, Transportation Alternatives (TA) will collect before-and-after data from local businesses and conduct on-street surveys that measure the economic benefits of public bike share facilities. Bikes Belong’s $10,000 grant will help TA compare expenditures between bicyclists and drivers, identify the types of businesses most likely to be frequented by people on bikes, measure how often bike share users visit businesses close to bike share stations, and compare the economic impact of curbside parking for different users.

More about Transportation Alternatives

Oregon Bicycle Economic Impact Study (Salem, OR)

Building on a study underway to measure the economic impact of bike recreation and travel in Oregon, this $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong will extend the study to include local bicycle manufacturing and retail sales. Travel Oregon hopes to use this research to document the multiple ways that bicycles and bicycling benefit the state’s economy and to build the case for additional investment in bicycling infrastructure.

More about Travel Oregon

About Bikes Belong Bikes Belong Coalition is the U.S. bicycle industry organization dedicated to putting more people on bicycles more often. We work to increase federal bike funding, award grants to support innovative bike projects, promote bicycling and its benefits, and back crucial national efforts such as Safe Routes to School, Peopleforbikes.org, and the National Bike Summit. Through the affiliated Bikes Belong Foundation, we focus on improving bicycle safety and enhancing bike programs for children.

For more information, visit bikesbelong.org.

p1x1.gif



Have a Comment? Leave a Reply