Cities like Portland, New York and Boston are known for their impeccable bike programs, and soon Atlanta may be on that list. A new bike share program is expected to roll out and new bike lane initiatives may help advance the city into a bike-friendly destination.
In 2015, Atlanta’s Bike Share program is expected to kick off and place 500 bikes in locations across the city. The city is working with CycleHop LLC and Social Bicycles to set up and maintain the stations.
Melissa Mullinax, a spokeswoman for the City of Atlanta, said in an email interview that the bike share program will be funded by private sponsors and user fees and will come at no cost to the city.
“A bike share program will benefit everyone—not just those who ride bicycles—by creating a higher overall quality of life through improved public health, cleaner air and stronger communities,” Mullinax said.
Adding to Atlanta’s up-and-coming bike culture, Atlanta won the bid to participate in the PeopleForBikes Green Lane Project. The Green Lane Project aims to help cities get protected bike lanes by providing support and the necessary skills and technology cities lack. It uses programs and ideas implemented in European cities and transfers the ideas to cities in the United States.
“It’s all about taking the leading cities, kind of the cutting edge of this innovation, and giving them resources and support to get more projects built,” said Zach Vanderkooy, the Green Lane Project program manager.
Atlanta, along with Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Seattle, was selected to participate in the project.
“We got 60 full applications,” Vandervooky said. “We chose six of these. Atlanta was one of them that had the right mix of elected officials for community support and staff, city staff who were engaged and ready to lead on these projects.”
In 2012 and 2013, the Green Lane Project worked with Austin, Texas; Chicago; Memphis, Tenn.; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco and Washington, DC. Vanderkooy said the Green Lane Project helped the cities get grants, gather research and facilitated talks between leaders of the U.S. cities and leaders of European cities with leading bicycle programs.
“By participating in the project we will learn ways to make our cycling infrastructure better,” Mullinax said, “and it gives us an opportunity to get technical assistance and training from top industry experts who have been doing this a long time.”
Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, said in an email interview that the Green Lane Project will bring training and encouragement to the city’s bike programs.
“By choosing Atlanta to participate, PeopleForBikes is giving us the opportunity to leapfrog other cities that haven’t yet recognized the importance of these aspects of bikeways,” Serna said. “Atlanta could become a truly bikeable city more quickly if it embraces this opportunity fully.”
Serna said Atlanta’s bike scene will continue to grow over the next few years with the expansion of the BeltLine. Mullinax said by 2016, the City of Atlanta plans to develop 120 miles of bike trails, 60 miles of protected bike lanes and to create new pedestrian crossing signals and other innovations for street intersections.
“We want Atlanta’s bicycle network to be one of the best in the country,” Mullinax said.
