Creating Bike Friendly Business Districts Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, August

28, 2013
Working with business districts unlocks a world of possibilities for bicycle advocacy. Instituting a bicycle friendly business district program can encourage more people to shop and dine locally, nurture business champions for bicycle improvements at the city level, and lead to infrastructure improvements like bike lanes and better bike parking. On this call, experts in the field discussed how to institute these programs.

Advice from April Economides Business Services Associate, Alta Planning & Design
Prioritize Stakeholder Engagement.
Stakeholder engagement is the least tangible but most important part of planning a bike friendly business district. Its important not to go into a business district with a fixed list of action items. Listen before you talk. Talk about what to Take time to find out what local business owners goals are first. do after you take the time to listen. Talk about what to do after you take the time to listen.

About Bike Friendly Business Districts (BFBDs)

Bike friendly business districts are places where people are encouraged to bike instead of drive, and where merchants themselves bike, too. April has worked with advocates and business districts in Long Beach, San Diego, New York City, Ontario and Niagara to organize bike friendly business districts. In a bike friendly business district, safe infrastructure is the most important element to getting people on bikes. When the city wants to install bike infrastructure, support from businesses can be a big help. Education, encouragement and marketing are also important in BFBDs. Consider organizing community bike rides, free bike valets and informal bike share programs.

Advice from Miller Nuttle Campaigns and Organizing Manager, Transportation Alternatives
New Yorks Bike Friendly Business Program
Transportation Alternatives launched a bike friendly business program in 2010, and the program now has over 450 participating businesses. The program includes all types of businesses, from nail salons to book stores to auto body shops. Businesses can become a BFB if they offer discounts to customers to arrive by bike, by requesting bike parking or sponsoring bike lanes, and by hosting Transportation Alternatives bike ambassadors. In return, businesses receive free publicity from Transportation Alternatives, including bike rides that direct people to those businesses.

Creating Bike Friendly Business Districts Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Creating a BFBD
Creating a Bike Friendly Business District was a natural next step. TA advocates decided to focus on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to build Walking to and from concentrated support among businesses and support school is an overall add neighborhood bike improvements. The Lower East Side BFBD launched last year in part- to a childs health. nership with a nonprofit arts group and 100 businesses from the bike friendly businesses program.

The neighborhood had a lot of bike traffic already, but since businesses added incentives for biking, the neighborhood has become even more of a destination for bicyclists. In a recent survey, 24% of respondents reported relying on bikes as their usual transportation. To kick off the program, Transportation Alternatives advocates pounded the pavement. Interns and staff members visited nearly every single business in the district and had one-on-one conversations. Advocates found supportive business people and worked with them over several months to educate others on the benefits of the program. Its important to listen to the community before pushing an agenda. Organize programs to enliven the bicycling community and encourage visits to shops: TA organized rides and tasting tours where up to 50 people could pedal through the neighborhood and sample different business fare. Local businesses won new customers and ride participants got free food. Bike ambassadors also offer date nights in the BFBD. Working with local restaurants and theaters, advocates give out discounts for dinner and a show. Advocates offer bike valet programs during events in the neighborhood to encourage travel by bike.

Choosing a Neighborhood
Focus on an area with an existing network of bike infrastructure. The Lower East Side was a strong choice in part because the East Village features the nations longest protected bike lane. Find a neighborhood where biking can be a bridge. The LES is relatively far from public transportation options, so making biking more appealing made the neighborhood more accessible. Utilize existing partnerships with local community organizations, and form strong relationships with new community groups.

Creating Bike Friendly Business Districts Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Form Partnerships
Take lots of time to reach out to potential partners. Transportation Alternatives formed a mutually beneficial relationship with the Lower East Side Ecology Center, which runs a sustainable small business program. The Ecology Center incorporated TAs BFBD criteria into their program. TA also worked with Fourth Arts Block, a coalition of Partners can help you theaters, galleries and art institutions. This partnership reach people you would not ordinarily be able to opened the door to new partners that TA advocates would not have been able to engage. Local arts institu- reach. tions now give out bike lights and information, opening more doors that TA would not have been able to access alone. TA also collaborated with Local Spokes, a coalition of neighborhood-based organizations from the LES and Chinatown. Local Spokes listened to community input and found a strong need for more bike parking. Businesses submitted dozens of requests for bike parking, and the neighborhood now has some of the best bike parking in the city.

Draw Press and Decision-Makers

Engage local elected officials. Bike Friendly Business Districts are a big win with elected officials engaging with the program gives politicians an opportunity to show support for small businesses, for economic development and for safer streets. Bike Friendly Business Districts are also a great press hook. The program gave reporters a lot of ways to look at bike friendly arguments. New York reporters seemed to especially love stories about local discounts for cyclists.

Know your Numbers

Research your district. Having good research in hand helps convert more reticent naysayers and show that their customer base is made up of people who walk and bike. TAs East Village Shoppers Study found that 95% of people arrived to the LES by bike, foot, or public transit. 24% of survey respondents said they rely on bikes for their daily transportation. A study also found that bicyclists spend the most per capita and visit the district most often.

Looking Ahead
The BFBD program changed the conversation about bike riding in New York City. As little as two years ago, there was a common narrative that bike lanes were horrible for businesses because they created problems for loading and unloading. This program reinforces a different narrative that businesses love safer streets, bike infrastructure, and pedestrian plazas. Transportation Alternatives hopes to launch Bike Friendly Business Districts throughout the city. Their second district will be with the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District in Brooklyn. 3

Creating Bike Friendly Business Districts Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Call Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Advice from Charlie Gandy Consultant, Livable Communities, Inc.

Lessons from Long Beach, CA
Start BFBS in areas where businesses are inviting advocates in and are looking for media attention. Dont limit your search to the city some potential districts may be found in suburban retail pods. Starting a Bike Friendly Business District is an opportunity to identify local business leaders as champions for biking. Part of an advocates pitch should be that biking is very good for business. Consider pushing Safe Routes to Spend. Offering a simple 10 20% discount to people who arrive by bike helps to start a fresh conversation. Testimonials from businesses are extremely powerful. Consider partnering with a local bike shop to give a bike to a business, then follow up to see how they use it. In Long Beach, organizers gave cargo bikes to businesses within a BFBD. The bikes created more interest in the program.

Citations and Additional Resources

East Village Shoppers Study - Transportation Alternatives snapshot of travel and spending patters in the East Village Lower East Side Bike-Friendly Business District Map (PDF) - Transportation Alternatives map and guide to their first BFBD Bikes Mean Business: Bike Friendly Business Districts (video) - In this video, April Economides introduces the concept of BFBDs Long Beach Creates Nations First BFBD (video)- April Economides discusses how Long Beach instituted BFBDs in Long Beach, CA. About Bike Friendly Business Districts (PDF) - A flier from Green Octopus Consulting explaining BFBDs. Bicycle Friendly Business Districts 2.0 (PDF) - Livable Communities, Inc.s guide to BFBDs