Northwest Regional Bike Share Feasibility Study
In 2023, Commuting Solutions and BCycle, in collaboration with local governments and businesses, are exploring the feasibility, cost and implementation of a bike share system that would encompass Boulder, Broomfield, Boulder County Erie, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Superior, and Westminster. The system would utilize electric bikes provided by BCycle that could be rented and used to travel within and between these communities.
As part of the study, Commuting Solutions and BCycle conducted a public survey exploring the interest and feasibility of a bike share system for the region. As next steps, Commuting Solutions and BCycle will continue drafting the feasibility study over the course of the next several months incorporating this data. Conversations will begin with the nine local governments regarding commitments to supporting a regional bike share program. The final feasibility study will be presented to the Northwest Mayors & Commissioners Coalition in fall of 2024.
Thank you to all who took the Northwest Regional Bike Share Survey or joined us for one of our summer community bike share demonstrations. Your input was invaluable and will inform the conversations as we move forward with the bike share study. With more than 300 respondents, the survey results were overwhelmingly positive with a high degree of interest in a bike share system.
Bike share programs such as Boulder BCycle and the Denver Bike Share Program are innovative systems that give users the ability to pick-up a bicycle at a variety of locations and drop them off at a different one. While many of our local communities have some version of a bikeshare program, there is not currently an option for regionwide connectivity.
The Benefits of Bike Sharing
- Bike share programs are great for the occasional bike rider.
- You don’t have to own your own bike, of course.
- Bike sharing can be cost-efficient and a great way for visitors, students and residents to explore a new travel destination.
- Bike riding is an excellent way to exercise and contribute to a healthy lifestyle, and bicycles can take you to interesting places you can’t always get to in a car.
- Bike share programs can help transit commuters close the crucial “last mile gap” of a commute. When their bus or train’s last stop is still a mile or so from their destination or workplace, bike share can help them get from door-to-door faster. Bike share programs are often located near transit stations, allowing a commuter to get on/off a bike quickly and efficiently at their last/first transit stop.
- Bike sharing can provide an excellent alternative to owning a having to own a car. With a bike, you have the freedom to easily get around your own town for work or play, sometimes quicker than a vehicle could get you there.
