Main Street Makeover for Tulsa Townies

Take The Bike-sharing Blog Survey: Click here

Tulsa Townies is a recreational community bicycle program which promotes healthier lifestyles and began in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA in August 2007. It was the first application in North America of a solar-powered, automated, network of stations which allowed pick up and drop off of bikes at any of four locations along the Tulsa River. This program was the seed of 3rd generation bike-sharing in North America that grew first into the Humana Freewheelin' program and then matured into the B-cycle bike-sharing services and spawned Decobike as well.

Last week Tulsa Townies, which is sponsored by the Saint Francis Health System and funded by the William K. Warren Medical Research Center, underwent a complete makeover with 50 new bikes and three new advanced electronics stations, designed by Sandvault, that have video surveillance to watch over them. (But what are they looking for?)

Also last week, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, announced it was planning to join the growing list of American cities offering its citizens bike-sharing as public transportation. At the same time, as highlighted in The Bike Sharing Blog, a study in The British Medical Journal reported that bike-sharing saves lives. Maybe these events can all spur the Townies into fulfilling its healthier lifestyle ideal to more of Tulsa by moving from just being a recreational program into bike-sharing as transportation. For now, enjoy a ride along the Tulsa River Parks with the Townies. It's free with only a $10 refundable deposit!

image: Tulsa Townies

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

Democrats Out-bike Republicans at Political Conventions

According to The Denver Post, "Nearly three times as many riders took advantage of the [Freewheelin'] bike-sharing program during the Democratic National Convention [(DNC)] in Denver than during the Republican counterpart in St. Paul, Minnesota, last week, according to program officials. About 5,550 riders pedaled 26,583 miles during the DNC, while 1,973 rode about 15,141 miles during the [Republican National Convention], the group Freewheelin reported Monday."

If this is the first you're reading on this, I posted about Freewheelin' earlier.

To be fair, it's worth pointing out that the first day of the Republican National Convention was substantially trimmed due to Hurricane Hanna. However, there is interestingly a gap between the ridership of the two parties at the conventions. Bicycling is not an issue to be politicized though. I'll follow that up with: as the Green Party says, "Neither left nor right, but ahead." Bicycling is an issue which helps societies move ahead.

Bicycling is a health issue. It's a mobility issue. An environmental issue. It's just fun. With Presidential elections in the U.S. just about 80 days away, it's time that bicycling gets the priority and funding it needs with the next person in the White House so that it becomes a respectable and safe mode of transportation for a lot of us United States-ers.

Freewheelin Sets Wheels Free in Denver

With the Democratic National Convention having wrapped up last night, Freewheelin has opened the minds of many Americans about what bike-sharing is and what it could be for their home city. According to MarketWatch, "riders took 5,552 Freewheelin rides this week, logging 26,493 miles ridden in and around downtown Denver. That equals 821,304 calories burned and a carbon-footprint reduction of 9.3 metric tones. The rides/miles goal for the DNC and RNC combined is 10,000 rides and 25,000 miles; riders in Denver have already eclipsed the miles goal."

OK, Republican conventioneers, now it's your turn to show which party is the king of bike-sharing. Freewheelin's next stop is Minneapolis and St. Paul this Saturday, August 30. At 10 a.m., leaders of the Republican National Convention host cities will lead an inaugural Freewheelin ride through Minneapolis. The Freewheelin' stands will be open September 1 - 4 from 7am - 7pm at seven locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Image credit: Freewheelin

Democratic National Convention Bike-sharing Program About to Roll

The following is a press release from Humana about its upcoming launch of Freewheelin' at the Democratic National Convention in a few days. The stations with a total of 1,000 bikes will be attended by volunteers during the Convention and 70 bikes will remain afterwards at the automated stations.

Who Obama chooses as his Vice Presidential candidate is important, but moreso, will Obama ride? We'll see.


NATION’S LARGEST BIKE SHARING PROGRAM ROLLS OUT AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Leads 100 Cyclists Through Streets of Denver to Launch Freewheelin Bike-sharing Program

WHAT: A 100-cyclist ride event with Mayor John Hickenlooper through the streets of Denver to kick off Freewheelin, the nation’s largest bike-sharing program to date, debuting at the Democratic National Convention. Legislators, convention attendees and city residents are invited to kick up their kickstands and be one of the first to experience bike-sharing, the international social movement whereby bikes are situated at designated stations throughout cities for individuals to use for a specified amount of time. The three-mile ride will end at Sculpture Park where brunch will be served.

WHEN: Sunday, August 24, 2008
11 a.m. – Participant arrival at Freewheelin warehouse (see address below)
11:30 a.m. – Ride event commences

WHERE: Freewheelin warehouse
4120 Brighton Blvd., Unit A-2 Denver, CO 80216

MORE: Through a unique partnership between Humana and Bikes Belong, the Freewheelin bike-sharing experience will be in Denver for the duration of the convention (Aug. 25–Aug. 28). The city will be outfitted with 1,000 bikes for free use during the convention week. Bikes can be accessed via the various bike stations that will be set up throughout the city. Riders will also be able to track miles ridden, personal carbon reduction and calories burned.

For more information or to register to be a part of the Freewheelin effort, please visit: www.freewheelinwaytogo.com.

Pre-registration Now Available for Political Conventions' Bike-sharing

Pre-registration for the bike-sharing programs at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul-Minneapolis is available at http://www.freewheelinwaytogo.com. For those who plan to be in these cities during the conventions, this is the first step of a streamlined process to introduce people to shared bike systems that are to be showcased to policy makers, guests, and citizens. Pre-registration is quick and easy and makes completion of the registration process at each event simple. Use of the systems will be free with a photo ID, and a valid credit card is required for collateral. The temporary bike-sharing systems in both cities have been facilitated by generous contributions and support from Bikes Belong, Humana, numerous bicycle manufacturers, as well as dedicated city governments, advocacy organizations, and citizens of each locale.

Freewheelin' Gears Up for the Political Conventions

This morning Representatives Blumenauer, Oberstar, Petri, and Wamp hosted a news conference on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol announcing a "bike-partisan" challenge at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in September. Humana Inc. and the not-for-profit Bikes Belong are bringing 1,000 free bikes to the political conventions as part of Freewheelin'.



The Congressmen challenged convention delegates and all convention-goers to get on a bike and collectively participate in 10,000 bicycle rides and tally-up 25,000 miles. The Representatives noted that the benefits of bike-sharing are the deficits it produced - and the only good deficits you're likely to hear about these days - a deficit in obesity and pollution.

Freewheelin' is normally an unattended bike-sharing technology, however, at the conventions it will be attended by volunteers who will introduce conventioneers to bike-sharing. After each convention, 70 bikes and seven stations will remain in the cities with the remainder of the bikes donated to social programs.

If SmartBike D.C. doesn't launch this August as is hoped, Freewheelin' in Denver after the Convention, when it becomes unattended, could be the U.S.'s first high-tech bike-sharing program. Stay tuned bike-sharing fans...

Humana's Freewheelin' Ridin' High

According to "Promoting pedal power" in the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal, Humana Inc., one of the U.S.'s largest health care providers, has launched a bike-sharing program called Freewheelin' for its 8,500 Louisville employees. The program has 20 three-speed bikes with automatic shifters with five more bikes designed for longer treks, such as for commuting or lunchtime recreational rides. The system was designed by Canadian firm QI Systems, Inc. and uses Trek's Lime bikes. Presently, there are two stations, however, "Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson would like to see it expanded so city residents one day could check out a bike from a number of locations -- for example, to go wheeling around the parks," the article states.

So far about 2,000 of Humana's downtown employees "have enrolled in the program, and 300 or so have already used bikes [program manager Nate Kvamme said]. The company expects to add two more racks of bikes soon."

Other health care providers take note - bike-sharing is good for you!

This is only the 2nd bike-sharing program in the U.S. which I'm aware of. The 1st, also by QI Systems, is the Tulsa Townies program in Tulsa, Oklahoma which I've written about previously.

photo credit: The Courier-Journal