Vision 2036: Asheville on two wheels

If you’ve been to Charlotte lately, you’ve likely seen the hundreds of shared bikes around the streets. They currently have 4 dockless shares, which are accessed + tracked through an app. Charleston, Greenville, Athens, Durham, Chattanooga, and soon Columbia + Raleigh, all have public bike share programs. You know, like one of these ☝ bicycle fleets that are stationed around town for pickup + dropoff, often rented for a couple of hours by tourists (and locals) in big cities.

And, in 2017, 35 million trips (a 25% increase from 2016) were taken via bike share programs. However, Asheville, which is rated Bronze by the League of American Cyclists, hasn’t jumped (or pedaled) on this trend yet.

This makes us wonder – Will Asheville get a bike sharing program?

The answer? Maybe. The city is considering a bike sharing program that would provide low-cost rental bicycles (no word on stationed vs. non stationed), and it’s in the research stage right now.

We caught up with the City of Asheville’s Transportation Planner Barb Mee to get the deets.

So how would a bike share program fit into Asheville?

Here’s what we know –

Greenville, S.C.-based Alta Planning + Design, which has extensive experience designing trails, bike paths + bike share programs across the country, is helping to research the feasibility of the bike share program (infrastructure, bike-lanes, etc.).

At the end of the 7-month, $50,000 study, they’ll start planning for the program to begin (finding a company to partner with, etc.). If not, Alta will give recommendations how the city can become ready for the program. So no matter what, it looks like bike share will eventually happen.

This is part of a push to improve + expand multimodal transportation in Asheville outlined in Council’s Vision 2036, a 20-year strategic operating plan that includes goals for equity + inclusion, transportation, affordable housing + a clean local environment.

The goal of the transportation portion of Vision 2036 is to make it easy to “live in Asheville without a car and still enjoy economic, academic, and social success.” We’re into that. 🙌

Do you want to see a bike-sharing program here in Asheville? We put together a 3-minute poll. See it by scrolling to the bottom of the article. Bonus: Read what readers have already told us about the idea. 👏

A few weeks ago, we asked you guys what you thought about a bike share program in Asheville.

Here’s what you told us:

@juliesetterlind: Yes!!! It was an experience we had in @nashvilletn and it was SO fun and convenient !! It would be awesome if that was in Asheville!!

@tencentpoetry: No. It sucks to bike in Asheville. Maybe a go cart share.

@sromeo21: It’s great at first but I currently live in Flagstaff, AZ a scaled down version of my favorite town ever Asheville and its a huge problem. Bikes being destroyed by young kids...so bike quality has gone down hill....people are going way out of their way to put bikes in absurd locations...the bike companies are not keeping up their bargain by collecting bikes and re-distributing the bikes! All together most cities are fighting it because it’s not as spot free as they advertise!

@malloryrosek: Bikes are expensive, automobiles are even more expensive, and public transportation isn’t great. This ‘could potentially’ be a great way to support tourism, cut down on high-volume automobile traffic, support community members that rely on transportation, bring new greenways and bike lanes for those that ride for sport, it can be environmentally friendly, and it send a message that our city is taking the leaps, facing and managing the risks to support our communities physical and mental health. The infrastructure of Asheville is the biggest opportunity and challenge we face.

@mattylovesfood: If they made a razor scooter share program here, I’d be all in 🤘🏻

Now, we want to hear more from you. What do you think about bike share? Spend a few minutes taking out survey, and we’ll send your thoughts straight to the city. The survey will be open through Sunday, July 22.