Bike Board Members, We received very little interest in the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities bikeshare program. Our intent was to get community, city, stakeholders to sign our Letter of Interest to the EPA to show support and willingness to attend a 1-2 day EPA-hosted workshop on planning a bikeshare program for Morgantown. Only Nick Hein said he would like to be included. Thanks Nick! After discussion with Traci, Butch, and Emily, we decided to skip calling folks to convince them to support us since we had already emailed them twice.
I really want to thank Traci, Butch, Damien, Emily, Nick, and Frank for their help with this. We plan on gathering more data and filling out a significant portion of the questions we'll need to answer for the Letter of Interest, assuming we opt to try again next year or have the same opportunity next year. If we do some of the legwork now, it will be ready for folks next year, and we can use our gathered knowledge to educate our stakeholders first before sending them a request to sign the Letter of Interest.
Any other ideas? Any other volunteers to help with this project?
Oh well, ~Derek
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Derek Springston dspringston@gmail.com Date: Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 5:16 PM Subject: Smart Growth for Morgantown... We request your support! To: hugh.kierig@mail.wvu.edu, tarnold@cityofmorgantown.org, tmoore@cityofmorgantown.org, jmikorski@cityofmorgantown.org, Chip Wamsley < chipwamsley@gmail.com>, andrew@pathfinderwv.com, Perry.J.Keller@wv.gov, bruffy@busride.org, Morgantown Monongalia MPO baustin@labyrinth.net, director@downtownmorgantown.com, mwise@boparc.org, director < director@positivespin.org>
Hi all,
The Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board (“Bicycle Board”) is writing to let you know about an exciting opportunity to participate in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program and to request your willingness to attend a one or two day workshop designed to explore the potential for creating a bikeshare program here in Morgantown. We are drafting a two-page Letter of Interest due to the EPA on October 26th upon which we'd like your signature. To be included on this letter, simply reply to this email stating you would like us to include your name on the Letter of Interest.
First of all, what is a bikeshare program? According to the Federal Highway Administration, it is an “innovative transportation program, ideal for short distance point-to-point trips providing users the ability to pick up a bicycle at any self-serve bike station and return it to any bike station located within the system’s service area.”[1]<#13a56d5c15bfa34b__ftn1>
As you may know, the Bicycle Board is actively working to reduce automobile congestion, improve air quality, and increase overall public health and quality of life. Due to our efforts, Morgantown was named in March 2012 as a Bronze-Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. To continue with that momentum, we feel the now is the best time to consider a bikeshare program in Morgantown.
The technical assistance we plan to apply for with your support is offered through the EPA’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. It will provide quick, targeted technical assistance to selected local governments and communities by using a variety of tools developed by the EPA. These tools have shown positive results in communities across the country to reach development goals, improve quality of life, and become more economically and environmentally sustainable.[2]<#13a56d5c15bfa34b__ftn2>
The specific tool we are requesting is technical assistance in planning a bikeshare program. If we are one of the 44 communities selected, we will receive technical assistance in early 2013 including:
- · A one day workshop with an evening session open to the public and morning/ afternoon sessions with local government and other key stakeholders,
- · Direct consultation with relevant decision-makers,
- · A memo outlining specific steps to implement the ideas generated during the site visit.
A key component to the success of our application is the support of local stakeholders and decision makers, such as yourself, with a commitment to attend the workshop and planning sessions. It’s important to emphasize that we are not asking for you to support a particular bikeshare program. However, we are asking you to support the opportunity to explore the feasibility and options for such a program in Morgantown with members of the Bicycle Board and EPA during a one to two day workshop. Further information about the program can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/buildingblocks.htm
The application deadline is Friday, October 26th so we would greatly appreciate a response by Wednesday, October 17th. Simply reply to this email stating that you would like us to place your name on the Letter of Interest. Then, for your review, we will email a copy of the Letter of Interest with your name on it prior to getting your actual signature. Thanks for your attention and consideration of this request. We look forward to working with you!
Sincerely,
Derek Springston
Chair, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board - EPA Building Blocks Program Committee
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[1] <#13a56d5c15bfa34b__ftnref1> DOT- FHA, *Bicycle Sharing in the United States: State of the Practice and Guide to Implementation*, http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/promote/bikeshareintheus.pdf
[2] <#13a56d5c15bfa34b__ftnref2> EPA, epa.gov/smartgrowth/buildingblocks.htm