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Top Bikestation
Questions
Download a
Bikestation Brochure here!
1)
Why bicycling and bike-transit centers?
Bicycling is the
most efficient form of transportation ever created. It is good for
our health, good for our environment, and good for our budget. It
is also fun, and helps create more vibrant and safe communities.
A bike-transit
center makes sense anywhere you want to enable people to bicycle and
securely park their bikes or have access to any of the many services
a bike-transit center can offer (see below for a list.) This could
be a downtown area for access to businesses and employment,
recreation or nightlife. It could be a college campus. It could be
a condominium, mixed-use project, office building, or other
development.
Also, connecting
bicycles and bicyclists with transit is a natural marriage. Transit
can carry many people over greater distances. To make transit as
efficient as possible, each transit station needs to be able to draw
and carry as many passengers as feasible. Typically, people will
only walk up to ½ mile to get to a transit station. By bringing
bicycles into the mix, we can increase the area that a single
transit station can draw from to an average of 2-3 miles.
2)
What is Bikestation?
Bikestation is a
not-for-profit 501c(3) organization that seeks to improve the
quality of life in urban communities through the development and
operation of bike-transit centers.
Bikestation
envisions communities where bicycling is an integral part of the
transportation mix; resulting in cleaner air, safer streets, and
healthier living.
3)
How do I use a Bikestation?
Our primary purpose
is to provide secure, indoor bike parking, which, depending on
location, a bicyclist can access for free during attended hours or
for a low membership fee any hours they need to. Members receive
access to all Bikestations in the network, as well as discounts on
repairs, sales, and rentals.
Each Bikestation is
unique, but some of the additional services and amenities you may
find are:
·
Bicycle Repairs
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Retail Accessories
·
Bicycle Rentals or Loaners
·
LEV Sharing/Electric vehicle charging station
·
Personal Lockers
·
Restrooms, Changing Rooms, and/or Showers
·
Transit and Bicycling Information and/or ticket sales
·
Bicycle Tours
·
Café or Snacks
·
Community Meeting Space
·
Free Air and Self-Repair Stand
·
Office space
·
Water fountain
·
Bicycling programs, including bike-on-bus and bike
lost and found
4)
How do I get a Bikestation in my neighborhood/city/transit
destination?
Two key ingredients
are funding and support. Funding falls into two broad categories:
capital and operating. Capital funding restricts the use of the
money to physical building and equipment. Operating funding allows
for payment of staff, marketing, utilities, and other overhead
expenses. There are various local, state, and federal funding
sources that can be used for bicycle facilities, including
bike-transit centers.
Support can come
from many sources. Your most important ally is a strong local
government staff person. Bikestation puts together partnerships
based upon the needs and resources of the local area. In the past,
we’ve partnered with:
·
Municipalities
·
Transit Agencies
·
Private Developers
·
Air Quality Management Districts
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Parks and Recreation Departments
·
State DOT’s
·
Other private organizations, including local bike
shops and nonprofits
Bikestation’s role
in partnerships varies, but we typically either perform consulting,
operate the facility, or partner with a local operator and provide
our membership and access control system for 24/7 parking, as well
as expertise from our 10-year history, access to affordable
liability insurance, banking and merchant systems, and marketing and
other collateral materials.
5)
Funding Guidelines
As mentioned above,
funding comes in two forms: capital and operating. Part of
operating support can be in-kind support from partners, for example
agency staff time devoted to the facility. Generally, attaining the
capital funding necessary to build the facility is much easier than
figuring out a sustainable operating funding scenario. Bikestation
has helped many agencies answer these questions.
6)
General Guidelines
There are very few
general guidelines for building a bike-transit center. This is
still a relatively new concept in the U.S., and as such, is
continuing to be innovated every day. However, some additional
things to consider when in the early stages of conceptualizing and
planning are:
·
Site location and analysis
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Resource and needs assessment
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Facility size/footprint/optimal layout
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Services (see examples above)
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Access to transit and other
key destinations
·
Demand
·
Land ownership
·
Zoning
·
Access
·
Employment
·
Connectivity
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Proximity
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Visibility
·
Architectural design
·
Security objectives
·
Signage and wayfinding
We hope this
information helps you along the right path for your own bike-transit
center. If you have additional questions, you may call Andrea
White, Executive Director of the Bikestation Coalition, at
562-733-0106. We are glad to offer limited advice on a case-by-case
basis. If you have more in-depth needs, Bikestation can also assist
through our consulting services. We have developed and written many
methodologies for determining demand, as well as Needs Assessments,
Implementation and Operating Plans, and offer assistance with
concept development, Request for Proposal (RFP) and
funding/partnership development.
7)
Is
Bikestation a trademarked name?
Yes: Bikestation,
bikestation, Bikestation Coalition, or any iteration thereof (such
as bike station) are names that are part of our organization’s
trademark. We license the name to facilities that want to become
part of the Coalition for access to our membership and access
control system, marketing materials, insurance, expertise, and other
perks included in being part of the Coalition.
8) What is Bikestation’s contact information?
Bikestation
Coalition
110 W. Ocean Blvd., Suite 19
Long Beach, CA 90802
www.bikestation.com
(562) 733-0106
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