WTI

Bike Sharing Programs on Federal Lands

Primary Investigator Contact Information

External Project Contact(s)

Report(s)

There are no reports associated with this project.

Project Objective

This project will analyze the challenges bike sharing programs in some national parks and national wildlife refuges are facing, including liability and risk management, helmet use, business models, operations and maintenance, and funding mechanisms, and offer recommendations for Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) interested in implementing bike sharing programs. The results can help transfer knowledge on this new technology among the FLMAs.

Project Abstract

Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) are becoming increasingly interested in non-motorized transportation to help manage congestion as well as to reach their public health and sustainability goals. One unique bike program that has gained in popularity in the past several years is bike sharing. Bike sharing is a mode of public transportation where a fleet of bicycles is made available for short-term use. Users generally check out and return bicycles to a network of stations. Modern bike-sharing systems make use of automated parking stations and bikes incorporate technology that allows fleet managers to confirm the identity of users and for users to be able to track their mileage and time utilized. These program have largely been implemented in large cities (Paris, Montreal, Washington, DC), however, a variety of bike programs are being considered by (FLMAs)to encourage employees and/or visitors to drive less and reduce their carbon footprint, while improving public health.

Task Descriptions

1. Form Technical Advisory Committee
   1. Assemble bike sharing technical experts, Federal Public Health Experts and Federal Land Mgmt Agency stakeholders to help guide the bike sharing study. Recruit individuals for the committee and facilitate four conference calls at key milestones of the study.
2. Literature Review
   1. Researchers will conduct a literature review of employee and visitor (public) bike share programs on Federal lands as well as municipal and college campus bike share programs, both in the U.S. and abroad. This literature review will increase understanding of research and data collection efforts that have been completed on existing bike share programs and identify data gaps.
3. Research liability and risk management issues
   1. Researchers will interview managers and legal representatives with the NPS and F&WS (and FS and BLM if requested). This task will identify bike share liability and risk management issues for both employee and visitor (public) bike share programs. Researchers will identify how liability and risk management issues are addressed in existing municipal and campus bike share programs and assess how methods may apply to federal lands. The intent of this task is to identify methods that land managers can use to enhance user safety while minimizing liability for bike share programs on Federal lands. For example, for services available to the public, can government liability issues be limited by using contractors/ concessionaires to operate bike share programs? This task will include travel to one or more existing bike share locations, such as Montreal, Canada where the "Bixi" bike share program was launched in June of 2008.
4. Case Studies
   1. Researchers will prepare case studies of Federal land units that have implemented or are attempting to implement a bike share program. Case studies could include Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Golden Gate NRA, the Midwest Region, and the National Capital Region of the NPS. Researchers will also identify bike share efforts at National Wildlife Refuges and prepare case studies if applicable. The case studies will describe bike share implementation efforts and identify barriers, innovations and creative solutions to make bike sharing programs successful. Case studies will include information about how existing bike share programs address bike share topics such as liability/risk management, helmet use - safety and training issues, business models—including bike share capital costs, operations and maintenance needs, funding mechanisms (advertising based, membership based, gate admission fees, other), and finally, identify public and private partnerships that support current bike share programs.
5. Best Practices Synthesis
   1. Based on the literature review and case studies, researchers will create a synthesis of bike share best practices which include: 1) Technology (bike design, bike racks/locking system design, tracking systems, payment systems). 2) Operations and maintenance (business models, manned vs. unmanned stations, balancing bikes between stations, maintaining bikes/stations etc.) 3) Issuance process and Indemnification (sign-up procedures for single-time users, safety requirements, waiver language and platforms, communication with users via phone, email, etc.) 4) Other practices learned through this research.
6. Identify Characteristics of Places that have Successful Bike Share Programs
   1. Based on the literature review and case studies, researchers will define characteristics of places that support successful bike share programs. For example, opportunities to integrate with other transit and pedestrian transportation systems; safe places to ride (such as separated pathways/trails/low volume roads); short distances between lodging, attractions, work/meeting places and other destinations; manageable topography; and others. These characteristics can help land managers recognize opportunities for bike share programs. Working collaboratively with Federal Land Managers, researchers will develop a preliminary list of interested Refuges and Parks that contain these characteristics and have the best opportunities to develop bike share programs. Part of this effort will also include researching bike rental concessions in or near public lands. This effort will evaluate the pros and cons of bike sharing and bike rentals to evaluate thresholds for when sharing may be more successful than rentals.
7. Prepare Reports and Perform Outreach/Tech Transfer
   1. The deliverables will include draft and final reports, a presentation, and travel to two conferences to perform outreach. The current bike sharing working group has varied backgrounds, so the audience for this study would likely be diverse. Federal Land Managers, such as Superintendents, Recreation Planners, Forest Engineers, Refuge Supervisors, Environmental Specialists, Planners, and Project Managers, would benefit from this study.

Milestones, Dates, Schedule

Student Involvement

False

Relationship to Other Research Projects

False

Technology Transfer Activities

True

Transportation Research Board Keywords

Bike share, national parks, national wildlife refuges, active transportation

Partners

FHWA Central Federal Lands Highway Division