Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A rescheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room 312 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: Jeff Bellin, David Pelletier, Christine Michelini, Jamie Metsch, William Peck. and David Hallowes. Also present was Staff Planner Frank Taormina
Members Absent: Dan Shuman and Ernest DeMaio
Public in Attendance: None
In the absence of Chairman Shuman, Jeff Bellin assumed the Chair position and called the meeting to order at 7:09 PM. He acknowledged those members absent and present for the record.
J. Metsch made a motion to approve the November 10, 2010 Meeting Minutes, seconded by C. Michelini and approved unanimously.
None
- Proposed Bike Share Program
Paul Marquis the Energy & Sustainability Manager for the City of Salem introduced himself to the Committee and handed out some material regarding the City’s proposed Bike Share Program in conjunction with Salem State University (SSU). He explained the basic framework of the program: bikes can be rented from several different Hubs located all over the City and at SSU, and can be dropped off at any Hub after use. The intent is to provide alternative transportation for SSU students, commuters, residents, and visitors in Salem.
P. Marquis informed the Committee that the City in early 2010 the City of Salem was designated as a “Green Community” by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As a Green Community the City was allotted a $245,000 grant. Of that grant amount the City identified $25,000 toward creating a pilot bike share program. SSU is a partner but they have not contributed any funding in the pilot program. They will likely want to wait and see what the pilot program yields.
P. Marquis stated that Professor Saverio Manago Operation Management Class at SSU is currently working on the logistics of the bike share operation, and will share the results with the City in the near future. He also mentioned that there was an intra-campus bike share program that was largely successful at SSU called “Vikings go Biking” program in 2004, now defunct.
P. Marquis stated that the Mayor is hopeful that the pilot program will be up and running in the Spring 2011. He stated that there are several challenges with getting this program up and running and to keep it sustainable, such as but not limited to, bike theft, maintenance of bikes and bike hubs, check-in check-out system, safety, liability, the need to engage and get buy-in from public, businesses, volunteers, etc.
J. Metsch asked about bike theft and how the City plans on controlling that.
P. Marquis stated that that hasn’t been worked out yet, but typically an id, credit card, or deposit would need to be collected before a bike is used. Regardless, the City would need to use some of its budget toward bike replacement and/or repairs.
D. Hallowes elaborated on both issues and expressed his concerns with the City of Salem being able to successfully create a bike share program, when other more bike savvy cities have tried and failed.
P. Marquis mentioned that the bike share program in those other cities did not fail because of theft or little ridership, but because the funding ran out.
P. Marquis shared with the Committee some anecdotal information regarding technology that the Salem Police Dept may have. He claimed that the Salem Pd has a chip that can be inserted into just about anything, like a bike, that responds to radio signals like a lo-jack security system. He is going to look into whether that system could be used in the bike share program to recover stolen bikes.
J. Bellin asked about bike theft or damage when the renter leaves it somewhere or locks it up to a bike rack, how the City would handle those instances.
P. Marquis stated that those things may happen and the City would need to create a policy for those instances. He stated that there is no real way to avoid theft or damage, we can only assume and minimize loss.
J. Bellin asked if the Salem Ferry Pier is a Hub location.
P. Marquis stated that that is a potential site, but they have not determined the exact hub locations yet.
C. Michelini stated that perhaps businesses in Salem could sponsor a Hub location and assist in renting the bikes and could take a percentage of the rental sales?
P. Marquis stated that that is something the City has been considering. He stated that if we have a successful pilot program then SSU might contribute money and perhaps businesses could piggy back on its success.
J. Metsch and D. Hallowes are still skeptical about the success of program. They stated that Portland, Oregon is a highly bike friendly city with well established bike infrastructure and it ended up failing as well. They also stated that UNH also tried and failed in Durham, NH.
J. Metsch applauds the City’s interest in creating such a program, but asked it there was any way that those funds could be reused for some other bike initiative, that has more of a success rate.
P. Marquis stated that the funding was acquired in part to create a pilot bike share program, and if successful, we could build upon that with public/private investment and/or more state funding. If the pilot program fails then the bike share program will likely not continue. He stated that in theory the money likely could be reprogrammed to another green initiative, but the Mayor really wants to try and make the bike share program work in Salem.
P. Marquis stated that he is very interested to see what the SSU Operations Management class can contribute to this discussion.
W. Peck passed out some photos from a recent trip to London and Amsterdam, showing bike parking garages, bike racks, bike share stations, etc. The committee passed them around and commented.
J. Bellin wanted Paul to clarify that the bike share program failures from elsewhere was because of budget and ongoing operational expenses, right? P. Marquis confirmed.
D. Pelletier stated that for the pilot program he would cut out the electric bikes and just utilize regular bikes, suggested that the City keep it simple for the first year. He stated that he likes the idea of having college kids use their college IDs as collateral as they can charge damage or theft to their tuition. He suggested a Hub location at the MBTA train station. He also suggested that the bikes be utilitarian, not fancy. For instance, the bikes should have baskets, perhaps over the back wheel, so that people can shop and carry things on them.
J. Metsch asked if the City could look into some other communities that currently have a bike share program and ask them about their successes and failures. He also added that he really likes the public/private or sponsorship idea that might work better than the municipal model.
D. Pelletier stated that maybe do three different models in the pilot program, SSU collaboration model, commuter model, and local tourist model. He also thought the City should begin with the SSU model, expand to include tourists, then go after the commuter segment.
J. Bellin asked if there was any further questions from the Committee regarding the bike share program, there being none he thanked P. Marquis for attending the meeting and updating and educating the committee on the program.
P. Marquis thanked the Committee for their time and stated that he appreciates the skepticism as it is a good thing to hear all that could go wrong, so that the City can try and mitigate for those issues.
No Bicycling Ordinance on Essex Street Pedestrian Mall (Ch 42 Section 43C)
F. Taormina stated that he discussed the Committee’s request to the Director and she advised him that the City will be holding a public hearing on January 11th with Peabody Essex Museum and the Salem Partnership to redesign the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall. She mentioned that it may be premature to request and ordinance change, get the mall is going to be redesigned in the near future. Instead she suggested that the Committee attend the meeting and voice their opinion on accommodating biking on the pedestrian mall. Frank stated that the Director is going to e-mail the meeting notification to all the City Boards and Committees for their input.
J. Metsch stated that it may take years for the pedestrian mall to be redesigned. In the interim couldn’t we request that they permit biking on the pedestrian mall. F. Taormina stated that he understands and suggested that the Committee attend and participate in the redesign meeting and go from there. The Committee agreed and added that if there seems to be support from the general public at the meeting that biking should be allowed today, they will ask Frank to ask the Director to reconsider.
Bike Safety Material
D. Hallowes apologized to the Committee for his absence the last couple months, as he conflicts in his schedule, but reassured the Committee that he will continue to work on the Bike Safety Material with the Committee.
W. Peck offer some suggestions regarding the information complied to date and gave his notes to D. Hallowes.
F. Taormina asked D. Hallowes if he is still willing to spearhead the formatting and preparation of the bike safety pamphlet. D. Hallowes agreed.
D. Hallowes suggested that the Committee create a Facebook Page. Committee agreed. D. Hallowes said he would look into it.
MAPC Bike Parking Program Grant
F. Taormina updated the Committee on the status of the project. He explained that the Historic Racks cannot be funded this year, and that he would move forward with permitting, purchase, and installation of the other two bike rack styles throughout the City.
D. Pelletier asked if the City could purchase two historic bike racks for in front of City Hall. F. Taormina said that that was a good point and that he would look into it.
J. Bellin asked if there are any further questions or comments. There being none, he asked for a motion to adjourn. J. Metsch makes that motion, seconded by D. Hallowes and approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Planner/Harbor Coordinator
BPC 12-15-2010
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