Your two cents buys a lot, especially since you worked with Dr. Solomon.
Would you go with me to meet with him? The purpose would be to gain an understanding of his goals, where bicycling might fit in and building a collaborative relationship between T&P and the BB? I assume the BB would be amenable to his being a member so we could also invite him to be a candidate for appointment.
To answer your question, the Confident City Cycling class was started a few years before the grant. It ran for a few years self-supporting. The instructor did not get paid. Then, we got a 2-year grant that was used as much for other education activities, e.g. billboards, TV spots, newspaper advertising, etc. as for offsetting some of the costs of the course.
Hugh saw bicycling as an integral part of the T&P mission. To get more WVU students, faculty and staff bicycling, he defrayed their costs in taking the course when it was offered by the City.
We all recognized that a course offered by the City had much less traction than if offered in the University. When the grant and our obligations to the City ended, Hugh initiated dialog with CPASS and proposed to fund the course. I never knew exactly where the money came from and there was never any mention of a termination date.
Before Hugh left, we were discussing a bike share system similar to that at the University of TN Knoxville, http://cycleushare.utk.edu/cycleushare/E-Bike_Sharing_at_UTK.html. It would be very cool if Dr. Solomon would pick up interest in that. We could make WVU a world-wide leader in bicycle transportation in challenging hilly environments as the PRT was for mass transit.
I was always surprised to see as many bikes in the Mountaineer Station Bicycle Parking Room as there were whenever I checked. I doubt many cyclists knew about it. There were no signs outside the facility indicating that there was bicycle parking inside and the signage at the entrances can seem to prohibit bicycles from entering. Hugh and I had discussed improving the signage but that never happened. BTW, Nick Hein designed the Bicycle Parking Room in collaboration with Hugh.
On Hugh's watch, WVU established exemplary bicycle parking (the inverted-U racks) throughout campus. I was hoping to use their accomplishments as a model and lever to get the City to do more. Before Hugh left, we were discussing providing more sheltered bicycle parking (using old smoke shacks). I hope we can continue that. BTW, Jonathan Rosenbaum designed the campus inverted-U racks in collaboration with Hugh.
Traci, thanks for helping me look for the positive in this!
Frank
On Aug 2, 2013, at 5:11 PM, Traci Knabenshue wrote:
I'd like to jump in here with my two cents--
To my knowledge, the Cycling Basics class was not intended to be a WVU supported course. Was it not started by a grant secured by the Bike Board? If the WVU monies being used to support the course are being diverted to other Transportation and Parking Initiatives, I think it's quite generous of the group to renew the funding for the 2013-2014 academic year to allow the Bike Board time to find other avenues.
Secondly, we don't know what's going on with the parking room. Perhaps T&P has usage statistics that can shed light on this change. Perhaps some members should meet with Dr. Solomon and/or invite him to a meeting to introduce himself before we make judgments about his commitment to alternative transportation.
Traci
Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com 8/2/2013 4:47 PM >>>
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got til its gone.
Last week, I learned that Clement Solomon is cutting funding for PE172 Cycling Basics after this school year. Today, I went into Mountaineer Station and saw that the Bicycle Parking Room is now the Parking Maintenance Room. Half of the bike racks have been moved outside. No lockers. I can't tell what happened to the other half of the racks.
Any ideas how we can get Clement Solomon on board with us?
Frank Take paradise and put up a parking lot