Cincinnati Named Bronze-Level Bicycle Friendly Community
City Also Commissions Bike-Share Study For Uptown, Downtown & OTR
Today, Cincinnati was named a 2012 Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. This is the first year the city has won the designation. The Bronze-level award recognizes the City's commitment to bicycle infrastructure and advocacy, which was outlined in the City's comprehensive Bike Plan first implemented in 2010 after an extensive public outreach and engagement process.
"We're honored to be included among America's most bicycle-friendly communities. The award, as well as the bike share study, show the City's continued commitment and investment to making bicycling a viable transportation option for our residents," said Michael Moore, Director of the City's Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE).
To continue progress on the Bike Plan, the City is working on a bike share feasibility study in Uptown, Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. In a bike share program, public bicycles are available to rent on-demand at fully automated kiosks located around the city -- fast and convenient access for any trip that's too long to be easily walkable but too short to require the use of a car or public transit.
Bike share programs typically consist of several bicycle rental kiosks, with 10-12 bicycles per kiosk, at convenient locations throughout the city. The kiosks accept credit card payment for rental. Bicycles can be returned at any kiosk location, and the rental cost is determined by the length of use.
With research and guidance from Leadership Cincinnati, the City has chosen Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. to conduct the study. Alta Bicycle Share will identify the best way to implement a successful bike share program in Cincinnati, including locations for kiosks, the number of kiosks needed and rental rates. Alta Bicycle Share is the most experienced bike share company in the US, and has developed and launched bike share systems in Washington, DC; Boston, and New York City.
Other progress over the past year:
- Sharrows were installed on Madison Road between Observatory Avenue and Markbreit Avenue over the summer. These sharrows – which remind drivers that the lane is to be shared with bicyclists – connect to the Madison Road bike lanes that end at Observatory Avenue.
- Sharrows were also installed southbound on Central Parkway, between Hopple Street and the Western Hills Viaduct.
- Bike lanes were installed on Martin Luther King Drive (between Victory Parkway and Reading Road), and an uphill buffered “climbing lane” was installed on Beechmont Avenue between Elstun Road and Crestview Place to provide a safer, more comfortable space for cyclists.
- About 100 bicycle racks were installed in 2011 as part of neighborhood business district streetscape projects, Bicycle Friendly Destination requests, and citizen requests.
- DOTE partnered with the MidPoint Music Festival to provide extra bicycle parking for several venues during the festival. Several on-street metered parking spaces were converted into bicycle-parking-only spaces by installing lockable bicycle corrals.
- In October, DOTE installed bicycle-specific pavement markings at priority intersections to show cyclists where to position themselves to trigger the green light.
- DOTE also developed signage for corridors where sharrows have been installed. The sign reminds motorists that they should change lanes in order to safely pass cyclists.