Fort Collins Bike Library Proposal, 2010 - 2011

North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization

CMAQ Project

  

Scope of Work 2010 & 2011

Date:           November 11^th 2009

Project Title:  Fort Collins Bicycle Library

Sponsoring Agencies:  City of Fort Collins

Staff Contact: Dave “DK” Kemp

Title: FC Bikes Coordinator, City of Fort Collins

Prepared by: Dave “DK” Kemp

Email address:  dakemp@fcgov.com

Phone Number: (970) 416-2411

Fax number:  (970) 416-6239

Agency Name:  City of Fort Collins, Transportation Planning & Special Projects

Agency Address:  250 N. Mason, PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522

Background:

The FC Bike Library Program has been awarded Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant funding prior to the submittal of this scope of work for 2010 & 2011.  This scope of work is unique and includes the continual improvement, refinement, and expansion of the FC Bike Library program.  These activities includes improving marketing and operational practices.  Expansion includes adding more bicycles to the FC Bike Library fleet and incorporating more community partners in the way of schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations. 

The FC Bike Library is similar to a regular City library, but instead of checking out books, you check out a bike.  A customer interested in participating in the bicycle library can sign up at the bicycle library station.  To become a member of the bicycle library all you need is one form of identification, for instance, a driver’s license, state ID, passport, or green card.  A credit or check card is also necessary for deposit.  After the member’s information is recorded in the bicycle library database, they sign a one-time insurance. New members are then able to check out a bike for as short as an hour or for as long as five days at a time. 

The bicycle comes fully equipped with bike lights, a lock, basket, and snap on fenders, in the event of inclement weather.  Should the bicycle encounter any mechanical difficulties beyond a flat tire, an emergency phone number will be provided to assist the bicycle library member.

Since the inception of the FC Bike Library (FCBL) in 2008, the program has received vast local, regional, and national media attention pertaining to the success of the program and its benefit to the Fort Collins community.  This program has demonstrated its initial success by attracting nearly 4091 library members and generating over 44,840 vehicle miles traveled as of September 2009.

2008 & 2009 Accomplishments

• 150 bikes currently operational in Bike Library fleet – 200 bicycles by December 31^st 2009. 
• 4091 bike members signed up with bike library as of September 2009
• 30 volunteers are signed up to assist with FCBL operations
• State of the art website created to track bicycles, members, vehicle miles traveled and evaluation process.
• City owned space donated to Bike Library in order to conduct fleet maintenance, storage, and check-out.  This constitutes part of the local ‘in kind’ match.
• Downtown check out station (Café Bicyclette) donated by Downtown Development Authority.  This constitutes part of the local ‘in kind’ match.
• Three check-out stations to date:  1) Old Town Square 2) 222 LaPorte Road.

3) Colorado State University Campus (Lory Student Center)

• Close coordination with local participating stakeholders to ensure success of program (Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Development Authority, Colorado State university, and local businesses)

2010 & 2011 Goals

• Create sustainable financial plan to continue on-going program operations after 2011. 
• Expand the program to at least two additional check-out stations in south Fort Collins, utilizing local partners such as bike shops and other local businesses. 
• Incorporate the partnership between Bike Library with the City’s Safe Routes to School program and the Poudre School District.
• Develop two self service pilot check-out stations at two local hotels in Fort Collins (north and south areas).
• Develop web-based program and logistics protocol regarding reservation and group lending program.
• Encourage at least three major employers (100 employees or more) to carry small fleets of bike library bikes to be used by employees for errands. 
• Expand and develop CSU campus check out station. 
• Close coordination with local participating stakeholders to ensure success of program (CVB, DDA, CSU, and local businesses).
• Expand fleet of total bicycles to 350 bicycles City-wide by end of 2011. 
• Seven total check-out stations, including self-service and staffed, City-wide (not including major employer fleets). 
• Promotion of bicycle safety education materials to all FCBL members and participating partners. 

2010 & 2011 Scope of Work:

I.                   2010 1^st Quarter – January- March

a.       Work with City Bike Coordinator (FC Bikes program) on public pelations campaign for 2010 & 2011.

b.      Seek customer feedback and community input on FCBL service and operations improvements.

c.       (January – February) Prepare for re-opening two stations downtown and Colorado State University. 

d.      Grand season opening March 2009 with 200 bicycles in fleet ready to roll. 

e.       Begin developing plan to expand bike library program into to local business, hotels, and additional stations in south Fort Collins. 

f.       Begin developing long-term sustainable financial plan. 

g.      Begin development of reservation and group ride lending program.

II.                2010 2^nd Quarter – April – June

a.       Two hotels identified to take part in pilot self-service check out program (details, logistics, contracts in place by end of June). 

b.      At least three major businesses identified to carry small bike library fleet.

c.       Enact reservation and group ride lending program

c.   Two additional check-out station locations identified (details, logistics, & contracts in place by end of June).

d.   Determine estimation of additional bicycles needed to fulfill future check-out station locations. 

III.             2010  3^3rd  Quarter – July – September

a.       Continue working with CSU to assess their need for bikes and expand fleet. 

b.      Purchase additional bicycles as needed to fulfill future stations and expansion.

c.       Implement two new check-out station in south Fort Collins (August)

d.      Implement two self service check-out stations at two hotels. (August)

e.       Concentrate efforts on new station management and process.

f.       Determine Safe Routes to School fleet needs (safety education/training opportunities)

IV.              2010  4^th  Quarter – October – December

a.       Close for 2010 season first week in November

b.      Review online registration & data base for tracking bikes

c.       Move out of old town Kiosk for winter to allow ice skating rink operations.

d.      Bicycle inventory and end of year fleet and program assessment. 

e.       Review and adopt long term financial plan.

V.                 2011 1^st Quarter – January – March

a.       Bike Fort Collins prepares for reopening of two downtown check-out stations.

b.      Review and evaluate 2010 strengths and weaknesses, make programmatic adjustments accordingly. 

c.       Attend to program partner needs and considerations prior to grand season re-opening. 

d.      Bike Library grand season re-opening (end of March)

VI.              2011 2^nd Quarter – April – June

a.       Determine frequency of bicycle use among stations and adjust fleet numbers depending upon over or under accommodation levels. 

b.      Measure success of new self-service and staffed check-out stations

c.       Purchase additional bicycles as needed.

d.      Review and evaluate strengths and weaknesses associated with major employer fleets. 

e.       Check status of long term financial plan – evaluate

VII.           2011 3^rd Quarter – July – September

a.       Monitor, problem solve, evaluate Bike Library strengths and weakness

b.      Place newly purchased bicycles as needed

c.       Focus on program administration and day to day operations

d.      Long term financial plan operation refinement.

VIII.        2011 4^th Quarter – October –December

a.       Close for season first week in November

b.      Review online registration & data base for tracking bikes

c.       Bicycle inventory and end of year fleet and program assessment. 

d.      Ensure application of long term financial strategies are in place for 2012 & 2013.

Evaluation:

Evaluating the effectiveness of the project over time

Specific tasks and quantifiable objectives for those tasks include:

1. Survey local participating businesses in the program after deploying all bikes. 

Objective:  Determine success of program as well as identify needs for program refinement. 

2. Update FC Bike Library website to reflect 2008 & 2009 efforts as well as include all 2010 sponsors, stations, and participating businesses. 

Objective:  Updated website reviewed approved by Project Manager.

3. Prepare and deploy 200 bikes by April 2009

Objective:  Measurement of the number of bikes deployed on any specific day through the web-based inventory control.  This inquiry will also provide data to determine the average length of daily bike trips.  The ongoing measurement tool will offer an online questionnaire sent to each user who checks out a bike.  The actual deployment of bikes and calculation of average miles used will be ongoing and reported quarterly.  Our annual reports will summarize these quarterly reports.

4.   Specific quantification of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction, traffic congestion and air quality improvement will be calculated based on user surveys and collected web-based data. 

Objective: Determine participation rates, member counts, and miles ridden per month (VMT = air quality savings). 

2010 & 2011 Financial Budget:

Projected Expenditures	2010/2011
Contractual staff labor/ contractual overhead/training/ development	$85,000
Bicycle Accessories – Lights, Lock, baskets, fenders	$7,500
150 additional program bicycles and replacement parts	$45,000
Programmatic Marketing Website Development	$32,000
Bicycle Facilities /Installation (kiosks, shelter, bike racks)	$30,500
Total Projected Expenditures	$200,000

	2010 Budget	2011 Budget
CMAQ Grant (82.79%)	$83,000	$83,000
Local Match “In Kind”  Downtown Development Authority (DDA) & City of Fort Collins (17.21%)	$17,000	$17,000
Totals	$100,000	$100,000

Make your Town a Better Bike Town!

by Rick Price

Mia Birk’s book Joyride: Pedaling toward a Healthier Planet, is a “how-to manual” for creating a first class bicycle community. Anyone in government or anyone interested in bicycle advocacy would benefit from reading Birk as a way to put their community on the right track to becoming bicycle friendly.


Birk recounts a perfect storm of events when she became Bicycle Coordinator in Portland in 1993. The US Congress had just funded the first six-year federal transportation package that included a small allocation for “Transportation Enhancements.” “Enhancements” were meant to fund transit, bicycling and walking facilities as Congress attempted to counter the “roads only” policies of state departments of transportation. This enabled states and cities like Fort Collins, Boulder in Colorado and Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland, Oregon to write bicycle plans and to hire bicycle coordinators.

In Portland in 1990 the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) had been founded, and was to become one of the most active advocacy groups in the nation. Earl Blumenauer, now Congressman from Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District and founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, was Portland’s Commissioner of Public Utilities. With Blumenauer’s support and with the backing of the BTA Birk set out to make Portland, a city of 500,000 people, a friendlier place to ride a bicycle.

As she explains in Joyride Birk had a series of revelations during the first years of her job that opened her eyes to the challenges she faced. Despite enjoying great support in the bicycle community, she noted that “if I spend my time preachin’ to the gospel choir, the bicycle revolution isn’t going to spread very far.” Additionally, when Portland’s traffic engineers suggested that rather than stripe bicycle lanes, they get the police to enforce the law to encourage more cyclists, she noted “the police won’t even talk to me [as bicycle coordinator] let alone” enforce the rules of the road to protect cyclists.

Another revelation came after her third annual bike to work day when Birk asked herself, “is this helping to get more people out riding? Is my time best spent running events like this, or working on bikeway projects?” The answer, she found, was that she needed to mobilize the non-bicyclists in town, build bike paths and lanes, and to become more of a catalyst in bringing people together to change the culture in order to get reluctant cyclists on their bikes. “It’s not enough to adopt a Bicycle Plan” she wrote, “we’ve got to retrain all the humans involved, both inside and outside government.”
So Birk began with neighborhood meetings at Denny’s. Then she met with the Lions Club. Once she was fully underway she was meeting with “business groups, ethnic groups, neighborhood associations, school groups, churches” and as she explains it, “pretty much anyone who” would listen in a series of sixty meetings across Portland.
The results of Birk’s work are impressive to the degree that Joyride should be required reading for anyone who wants to see bicycle ridership increase in their community.

Mulberry Pool will Stay Open if We Pass Item 2B on the Ballot Tuesday!

City Council Member David Roy sent the following e-mail to me Thursday evening, Oct. 28, 2010

This little girl just found out that Mulberry Pool will stay open IF referred item 2B to increase the Fort Collins City sales tax passes Tuesday, Nov. 2nd! 

Good evening;

There are 5 full days to go before the Fort Collins City Council election on November 2nd.  I am sending this e-mail to urge those of you who may not have made up your mind yet about supporting 2B to do so; I am sending this e-mail to urge you to do what I am doing, and send a message to folks, reminding them to vote, and to support 2B.

I have been on the Fort Collins City Council for 8 years and 3 months - it has been a privilege.  But during that time, I have been a party to cutting 24 million dollars from our budget, and having to choose to eliminate 150 positions from the City of Fort Collins organization.

As City Council gets ready to vote for the 2011 and 2012 budgets, we have in front of us another 4.5 million in cuts for 2011, and 5.1 million in cuts for 2012, and at least another 50 positions eliminated.  2B is a way to stem these cuts in services, services that add to the basic quality of life in Fort Collins. 2B supports Police, Fire, Parks, and other items that differentiate Fort Collins from so many other communities in this country.

The attachment is the soapbox I wrote in support of 2B, and the link is to the Keep Fort Collins Great! web-site.

A handful of votes could make the difference in this campaign - and those votes just might come from people you know - heck, 1 of them could be yours.

In five months, I will be off of the City Council - but Mary Jo and I are planning on living here the rest of our lives.  Please join me in supporting 2B, and in doing that something extra that moves the needle, makes success possible, and keeps Fort Collins great.

David Roy

What Does City Council Have to do With a Platinum Bike Plan?

Everything. City Council sets policy in 2-4 year increments. They approve plans (like the Parks Master Plan that was just approved or the Bike Plan approved last Oct. 7, or the Bicycle Advisory Committee created by Council also last October 7th.)

Some people seem to like bike lanes, bike trails and paths, others think they are "extras," or childish, or even wasteful.

We've got several candidates running in Council districts 1, 3, and 5. We think you should support Ben Manvel in district 1 (that's Ben with the "One less car" on his shirt in the photo), Dale Lockwood in Distruct 3, and Kelly Ohlson in district 5.

Keeping incumbents, Manvel and Ohlson on Council is absolutely critical. Adding Lockwood would be a great touch to a supportive Council.

If you want a great summary about all these races, read Eric Fried's latest piece in Fort Collins Now. Pay special attention to his comments about Kelly Ohlson's opponent, Andrew Boucher: "all his columns rehashed the same points. Ready? Regulations, fees, taxes: bad! Nanny state: bad bad! Free market, Realtors, entrepreneurs: good! Open space, bicycles, transit: childish. Cars, roads, development: grown-up. Unions: bad. Poppaw, Manvel, Roy: badder. Ohlson: baddest."

Do us all a favor: Send Kelly Ohlson $25 today to help with his campaign, and vote for Kelly Ohlson, send Dale Lockwood another $25 and vote for him too. And send that last $25 contribution to Ben Manvel and vote for him if you're in District 1. Your vote, of course, depends on your Council district. But they all need your $25!

Streetfilms Documents why Boulder is Platinum

Take a look at where Fort Collins has to go in order to achieve the platinum level bicycle friendly community award.

Clarence Eckerson has done a great job of documenting Boulder's great bike system and bike culture for Streetfilms. Watch the whole thing and learn!

Share this with ALL your friends in Fort Collins.

What the League Friendly City Program Says about Bicycling in Fort Collins

In their review of our bicycle program in Fort Collins the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) offers a long list of areas that we could improve. Most of these include efforts to increase education for both motorists and cyclists, implementation of all the projects in the current bike plan, increasing bike friendly arterials with shared lane arrows (sharrows) and "share the road" signs, and training for City staff to better understand the behavior of cyclists and their right to be on the road. To read the full report from the LAB click here.

Creating a Bicycle Culture

By Anthony Ben'jammin' DeNardo III

[This Soapbox was published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan Monday, December 15, 2008; Anthony sits on the Board of the Fort Collins Bike Co-op]

We've built a gold level bicycle friendly community according to the League of American Bicyclists. But motorists killed two bicycle riders - in bike lanes - on city streets just four months apart. Why?

Perhaps we’ve failed to create the culture that goes with our bicycle infrastructure? Italians have a reputation as being bad drivers yet Italy is considered to have a great bicycle culture. Almost everyone rides a bike: small children go to school on their mother’s bike and the elderly ride all the time. In Italy, motorists see bicycles everywhere and they respect them since the cyclist on the road could be their grandmother.

We promote a world-class bicycle infrastructure in Fort Collins and, while the bike plan speaks to education and enforcement issues, they are not addressed very aggressively. In short, we’ve no plan to build a bicycle culture. It’s time we begin to move from a “car culture” to a “car, bicycle and pedestrian culture.” Here’s one idea on how to start.

Police Services moved to Timberline Road last year at the same time that City Council approved a two-year lease for the Fort Collins Bike Co-op at the Poudre Valley Creamery. Until last winter Police Services collected, tracked, impounded, and handled all abandoned and stolen bikes in the community. Those tasks are now all handled by volunteers at the Bike Co-op.

Today the City is saving the cost of one full-time equivalent staff person ($38,000 average) plus benefits ($15,000?) NOT counting police cruiser and officers’ time to retrieve bikes. So the Bike Co-op is saving taxpayers around $60,000 annually. Why not use some of that savings to help create a bike culture?

The Co-op could work with the City Bicycle Coordinator to develop and take bicycle safety seminars to public schools. The City’s Bike Library fleet could be used for field trips on the Poudre Trail. Parents and educators should be made a part of the process since most are motorists and can benefit from this cultural education as well.

Fifteen to twenty thousand new people move to Fort Collins every year. Most are CSU students and many have never lived in a “bike town” before. CSU needs a bike “coordinator” who, in cooperation with the City’s bike coordinator, can teach those newcomers what life in “bike town” is like: be predictable, use lights at night, stop at stop signs and lights, go the right way in the bike lane, and more.

City and CSU Police need to become engaged in helping to create this culture. They don’t have time or staff, they might argue. But some of the friendliest bike towns in the US have police forces that undertake “sting” operations to enforce cyclists’ stopping at stop signs and using lights at night for several days a year, namely at the beginning of the academic year. Maybe City Council could help them find the time.

And maybe now is the time to quit talking about what a great bicycle town this is and to start creating the appropriate culture.

Velo News Publishes Bob Mionske's Review of National "Bike" Legislators

Legally Speaking with Bob Mionske - A time for thanks
By Bob Mionske
Posted Nov. 27, 2008
As Americans pause to give thanks at the beginning of this holiday season, it’s a good time for us to look past some of the outrages we’ve experienced this past year and reflect on what we cyclists have to be thankful for. . .

Read the full article

Local Fort Collins City Council members are big supporters of cycling as well. Ben Manvel is up for re-election in April 2009:
Ben Manvel for City Council

Fort Collins City Council Passes Bike Plan Revision, Creates Bicycle Advisory Committee

On October 7, 2008 Fort Collins City Council unanimously passed the bike plan revision and instructed the City Manager, Darin Atteberry, to create a Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) before the end of 2008.

Yesterday, Nov, 7th City Bicycle Coordinator, "DK" Dave Kemp sent out a press release announcing the creation of the BAC. Kemp also convened two public meetings November 18 and 24 to offer the public "more information" on the BAC. For details: http://www.fcgov.com/bicycling/pdf/bac-pr.pdf

The actual purpose of the BAC is explained in a document release by the City Bicycle Coordinator: "Fort Collins Bicycle Advisory Committee Development Proposal" here: http://www.fcgov.com/bicycling/pdf/bac-dev.pdf

The good news here is that this board (a sub-committee to the Transportation Board, which considers all City transportation issues) will include representatives from 12 other city boards, commissions, and public entities, including:

- Air Quality Board
- Youth Advisory Board
- Parks & Recreation Board
- Natural Resources Advisory Board
- Senior Advisory Board
- Economic Advisory Commission (AND, curiously, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce)
- Downtown Development Authority
- Bike Fort Collins
- Bicycle Cooperative of Fort Collins, Inc. (yah, that's the Bike Co-op)
- Poudre School District
- Colorado State University
- UniverCity Connections

In addition there will be two "at-large" members "representing different geographic areas of Fort Collins. (If you live in a "different" geographic area of Fort Collins, please raise your hand.)

The Mission and Purpose of the BAC:
"The Fort Collins Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) would be a citizen advisory committee which reports to the Transportation Board. BAC members would have interest in or knowledge of bicycle related issues. The Committee's role will be to review all issues related to bicycling in the areas of engineering, enforcement, encouragement, environment, community and economy. The types of activities include, but are not limited to the following:

- provide group liaison between the City and the community and community groups on issues related to bicycling.
- Fostering the interchange of ideas from existing City Boards and Commissions, as well as other community stakeholders, such as Poudre School District, Colorado State University and the Downtown Development Authority and others as appropriate.
- Promote bicycling as a viable form of transportation.
- Act as a sounding board for citizens who have bicycle-related questions and concerns.
- Assist in the development and dissemination of bicycle safety awareness and education and encouragement materials to the community.
- Develop implementation strategies for recommendations in the 2008 Bike Plan.
- Assist with the development of evaluation metrics for determining success of bicycle programs and facilities.
- Review proposed capital improvement projects, street improvements, traffic signal projects, and parking facilities projects.
- Initiate requests to City staff and other appropriate agencies on issues of concern to the Committee related to bicycling.

The new, revised 2008 Bike Plan (which you can view here:
http://www.fcgov.com/bicycling/pdf/bike_plan-2008.pdf?20081028)
lists a host of projects that the new BAC can address. Among them, recommendations from UniverCity Connections that include turning Canyon Avenue into a "bicycle boulevard," completing east-west cross streets for cyclists in Downtown Fort Collins, and much more.

One of the first things that should be done is remove the signs shown in the photo at the head of this post.