The DC region failed to win a TIGER II grant that would have been used to expand the system from 1000+ bikes to 3600 bikes (bicycle and pedestrian projects only got 4% of the money). That's the bad news.
The good news is that the region's leaders considered this important enough to propose for the grant. They did a study showing that it would be incredibly cost-effective, something that advocates can point out when they ask for local governments to fund an expansion. Other good news is that DDOT is committed to finding a way to expand the system in DC. And that could be TIGER III. [Update: WAMU has a story on how the process was valuable]
What people should do if they want to see the expansion - or something similar to it - happen is write a letter to their local decision-makers (such as DOT's, the TPB or elected officials) and:
1. Thank them for supporting the TIGER II application and bike sharing
2. Tell them how important bike sharing would be in your area
3. Ask them to find another way to fund an expansion - even a more modest one.
There was only $600 million in grant funding to cover over $19 billion in requests, so it was a real longshot. Next year hopefully will bring TEA-21 reauthorization legislation(the big multi-year surface transportation bill) which would present more opportunities, either earmarky or competitive.
I don't know how much support we might get from a Republican-led House, however. Some (although not the whole caucus) would gleefully lampoon bikesharing as taxpayer-funded toys for viognier-drinking liberals.
Hopefully more private capital can be enticed in for the next phase, like the London system's Barclays tie-up. Personally, I think it would be a clever play for a car company like VW or Nissan to become a major sponsor.
Posted by: Matt | October 21, 2010 at 01:02 PM
Valerie Ervin and George Leventhal, both members of the Montgomery County Council, have been big advocates of extending the bike sharing system into Montgomery County. Just a few weeks ago they wrote to Art Holmes, the head of the county's DOT, to press him to explain why the county has not done more to explore bike sharing options. You can send them e-mail at [email protected] and councilmember.leventhal at montgomerycountymd.gov -- it is well worth the time to thank them for their efforts on this, not just because it would be great to have bike sharing in the denser parts of the suburbs but because we need to show that support for bicycling is appreciated.
Posted by: Casey Anderson | October 21, 2010 at 04:53 PM
Hey! I'm going to write my Congressman and Senator right n.... oh...wait...
Nevermind.
Posted by: Dr Pangloss | October 21, 2010 at 05:34 PM