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The Big Idea Breakfast: The Dayton Bcycle project

The wheels are in motion- and the right people are jumping on board.

My goal is to get the Dayton Bcycle bike share program in place in Spring of 2010. It’s time to put Dayton on the map for something big, that’s really about getting small. Riding bicycles is a great way to stay fit, engage with your local community, end dependence on foreign oil, cut down traffic and parking problems, eliminate carbon emissions and save money. Bike sharing can help us do all that, as well as normalizing the bicycle as a means of transportation. We’re not trying to replace your car- just to get you to go multi-modal, using various forms of transportation as often as possible.

And of course, this project has that key to making anything in Dayton attractive to the old guard- a connection to Dayton’s first family of bike builders: Orville and Wilbur Wright.

Here is my ad-lib, wind picture presentation to the Dayton Marketing Community “Big Idea Breakfast”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLkmFM4vX4Y[/youtube]

If you’d like me to come speak at your group- (hopefully, along with a projector and a slide deck) drop me an e-mail.

There is more information on this project on this post: Pave more roads or free bikes? Stimulus for the future [1] make sure to read the comments for links to other resources.

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tg

And while I can’t participate tonight because of family in town, don’t forget the Courteous Mass bike ride.  Meet at C}Space (20 N. Jefferson) at 4:45, the ride begins at 5:15.  It’s a great way to get people used to seeing more bikes on the streets in downtown Dayton.

tg

David – These are some numbers I used in last year’s CE class for realtors “Life Beyond the Suburbs – Selling in the City”.  It seems to me the source was the Center for New Urbanism web site.  

1.Since 1982, our population has grown 20% but the time Americans spend in traffic has increased 236%

2.Governments spend $200m EVERY DAY constructing, fixing & improving roads

3.From 1995-2015, congestion delays will increase by 5.6 BILLION hours, wasting 7.3 BILLION gallons of fuel.

4.Annual cost of ownership is $8000-15,000 per car (1.large SUVs not counted in figure)
2.multiply by # of cars in household
3.typically transportation costs are 30% of a family’s budget

Stan Hirtle

A more important issue for bike riding, at least for those who live reasonably close to downtown, is safe places to ride. That would mean more lanes for bikes or bikepaths along side of sidewalks like they have in Europe. That would add to the idea of getting people to move close to downtown, particularly young professionals who might be more bike oriented. Unfortunately demolition and thinning out the housing seems to be the policy at the moment. Some housing may be too small to attract people, but others should be saved and fixed up. Amenities like grocery stores are missing from the inner ring at the moment also.
That could be part of a plan to reonvate some of the desirable housing that is being vacated by the foreclosure crisis. Making these close in neighborhoods attractive to these kinds of families will require middle class schools that we don’t have given our present demographic and segregation by race and class.
I don’t know that Dayton has enough people close to downtown or enough places to go to support a bikeshare, which might work in bigger cities.

Donald Phillips

Just purchase a bicycle and ride the damn thing! Why is bicycle riding in Dayton contingent on getting a government gimme?

Donald Phillips

Okay, from the perspective of my hole.  Where is the money for this? A grant? From whom? The county or city government, ehr… don’t think so. Corporate sponsorship? Maybe in exchange for advertising on the bike corrals. Oh…I suppose you’ll underwrite it, eh?

Who is going to provide fleet maintenance? Even low maintenance bycycles need to be serviced.

How many of these bicycles are going to end up in the wrecking yard of a scrap dealer after commodity prices warrant stealing them?

And alas, the riders. Most adults never stride a bicycle after they turn sixteen. I’m sure this includes you and majority Most Metroids. Those who do purchase a bicycle and ride it, plain and simple. They don’t need an “initiative” to get their asses on the saddle.  They don’t need ‘communal bicycles’ nor bike lanes.

I admit that I live in a whole, but you won’t admit that you live on a cloud.

Donald Philllips

If you read what the use rate is in places like Paris…

Oh, now I understand. You’re talking about Paris, France, a world class city with a population in excess of seven million. Thank you for the clarification. I thought you were referring to Dayton, Ohio.

Gene

Donald, you can  now say “Check and Mate.”

tg

@Stan – many of the issues you mention are being looked at as part of the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan.  You can find some information about it at the Partnership’s website – http://www.downtowndayton.org

Donald & David – you remind me why I spent less time over here and more at Most Metro or Facebook!  ;)

Brian

@Donald and Gene – Your skepticism is typical, but I encourage you to try and help your city become better, rather than complain like fools without vision. Dayton is not Paris – that is obvious. However, there is no reason why our city cannot sustain ideas such as Bicycle sharing – or even car sharing. As more open-minded people move downtown the ability for innovative concepts and programs to become realized becomes more viable. While others contribute to urban sprawl – I vote rejuvination.

Donald Phillilps

No. The liberal ideologs (I contemplated calling them ‘Stalinist’) at Most Metroid don’t tolerate diversity of opinion. Richard Florida has all the answers and the tax payers have all the money.

Even Purgatory needs a Devil’s Advocate.

Gene

Like the tolerant Perez Hilton and his non-tolerance of Miss California’s opinions – double standard across the board for the Super Libs. BTW, I don’t agree with Miss California.

@ Brian – I actually like the B-Cycle idea, as stated in another post, but I think Donald is right in his argument – just go buy a bike and ride it. Paris is Paris, Dayton is Dayton. 

tg

Ah Donald, that is where you are wrong.  Not all of us Most Metroids are liberals.  And we do tolerate a diversity of opinion – what we don’t have much use for us sarcastic mockery – either state your case with respect or move on.    There are plenty of others places on the web for insults, mudslinging and personal attacks – just not on the DMM Forum. 

David Lauri

You gotta love the tolerance Miss California shows the gayz.  She wants to keep gay marriage illegal.  Very tolerant.

I support her right to say that homosexuality is a sin, her right not to enter into a same sex marriage, her right to attend a church that doesn’t host gay weddings, but that’s it.  If I’m intolerant for not tolerating her right to deny me my rights, so be it.

Donald Phillips

Uh TG…

Are you telling me that not all the Most Metroid Mousketeers are mice?  But if they squeek like mice and flee from the light, what am I suppose to think.

Gene

Liberals love to talk about open discussions and opinions, so long as it coincides with what they think.

Liberals = do as I say, not as I do.

Liberals pound their fist on the table when someone does not agree with them. Where is Rosie when you need her……