I’ve been working on getting Bcycle to launch in Dayton in 2010, with approximately 500 bikes and 50 stations to start. Bcycle will be launching in Denver at the same time, with at least double those numbers. I believe this is one way we can project that Dayton is a forward-thinking city- with a lot to offer.
This video, produced along with Toyota by Good magazine explains the system pretty well. Andrew Davison of Bcycle was here, with the prototype bike, a few weeks ago at the Bike Summit. I’ll have those videos posted when I have a chance.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIFeSHCviuU[/youtube]There is significant interest in bringing Bcycle to Dayton among major employers and universities. If you think about the impact on just launching this concept centered around Sinclair Community College and its 20,000+ students who visit the downtown campus, you start to see how it makes so much sense.
Sinclair students drive or ride the bus to the downtown campus. Once on campus, the drivers with a secured parking spot don’t leave until it’s time to go. With Bcycle deployed, all of a sudden, a quick ride to the Oregon District for lunch becomes possible- or over to Riverscape. By making the bicycle ubiquitous, and readily available, students would be able to help create a vibrant downtown retail environment.
Add in the students at UD, where parking in the ghetto is a serious issue, employees of Miami Valley Hospital at their various locations, and Grandview as well- and all of a sudden you are looking at 40,000 potential riders in a small area. The cost of purchasing the system is less than $1.5 million, and the first two years of operational costs should almost equal that. Looking at potential revenue streams from usage fees, advertising revenue and branded goods sales, the potential for offsetting costs increase as ridership and membership grow.
Wright State is also extremely interested, and as soon as the election is over, I hope to talk to WPAFB and the businesses around Austin Road, to increase their mobility. The system can be rolled out in phases, but the more critical mass we launch with, the higher the visibility and accessibility of the program.
This is a much better gift to the community than just slapping naming rights onto a high school sports stadium. Hopefully, with the health benefits, as well as the positive environmental benefit- we’ll see significant backing from the two major health networks. The plan is to do this with zero local tax dollars, all funded through donations and Federal clean air dollars.
I hope you can see the benefits of this and support my efforts.
This looks like a good program, with lots of potential. But why do they call it Bcycle? Does the English language have to be mangled in order for something to be “hip”?
No no no..not Austin Road, not yet.
If you want to expand to the suburbs go to the Dayton Mall area. You’d want to put these at the RTA hub AND at the RTA stops towards the mall, particularly the ones on Kingsridge and Lyons Ridge, since these stops attract a lot of riders. This could help people who are already going to the mall area without a car…they can take a bike from the bus stop to their destinatin and back. Maybe put one at the mall itself. Other locations could be at some of the apartment complexes near the mall and near Lexis Nexis/Newmark. This area is getting a lot of asians, who would be familiar with bike transportation from their home countries (as well as being close to the mall area and Lexis for work. Maybe one at Lexis/Nexis too, as a large single-point employer.
@larkin- it’s called “branding”
@Jeff- yes- the Asian/Lexis population is key- as is the connectivity to the mall. The employers would partially sponsor. It’s a node- not a single point.
David, “Band-aid” is branding. “Kleenex” is branding. “Bcycle” is illiterate. :-) Maybe it doesn’t matter.
Skirt guards, chain guards, fenders- hooray! We can ride with our real clothes, making the bike much more useful, practical.
I support this wholeheartedly.