Bicycle enthusiasts in the Valley have good reason to be optimistic about 2017. The ValleyBike Share program is moving toward a July 1 launch with the naming of commercial sponsors in Northampton and designation of stations where bicycles will be available in Amherst.
Meanwhile, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments has begun studying how to capitalize on the growing popularity of bicycling. With $35,000 in state funding, regional planners intend to hire a consultant to show what the economic impact of cycling is now and could be for Franklin County tourism. The consultant would work with organizations and cycle-related businesses on ways to build and promote cycling tourism here.
The bike share program, which has been planned for three years, is a collaboration of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Northampton, South Hadley, Holyoke and Springfield.
A federal Transportation Improvement Plan includes $1.17 million to buy 234 bicycles and build 26 kiosks in four communities. Planners hope that user fees and commercial sponsors will cover the operating expenses, which are estimated at $430,000 annually.
Bike sharing is intended for short commuting or recreational trips. It allows users to pay a fee for access to bicycles at any of the self-serve stations within the network. The bicycles then can be returned to any station.
ValleyBike Share is modeled after similar programs in 70 communities across the United States, including Hubway in Boston and Citi Bike in New York City. Besides metropolitan areas, bike sharing has been used successfully in smaller cities with a variety of climates.
According to the planning commission, “The focus area for this project in particular is primarily in and around the region’s urban transit and commuter rail stations with links to the region’s college network.”
Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz announced in December that New England Treatment Access will sponsor three stations in the city, while Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Florence Bank and Smith College each will sponsor one.
And the Amherst Select Board last month approved installing stations on the south side of Main Street near South Pleasant Street, on the west side of Boltwood Avenue in front of Converse Hall at Amherst College and in North Amherst on Cowls Road near the Trolley Barn.
Three will be three stations on the UMass campus, with two planned for South Hadley and the rest in Holyoke and Springfield.
Farther north, the Franklin County Bikeway already extends as much as 240 miles, with signs, maps and other components showing the way. And already, the county hosts popular day-long riding events that attract hundreds of recreational tourists from Boston, New York and beyond.
And there’s room to grow this form of tourism, if those who live along those country roads can tolerate more two-wheelers rolling through their neighborhoods and villages.
Franklin County Senior Transportation Planner Beth Giannini, who is heading the effort to develop a bicycle tourism plan over the next 12 months, says after a meeting with an advisory group last year she was inspired by how much potential there is, especially after looking at successful “bicycle-friendly business practices.”
Gary Briere, whose River’s Edge Cycling in Sunderland organizes cycling tours around the country, says, “The potential, I think, is really amazing. This area boasts some of the best bicycling in America. The scale is very bikeable. The roads really work. Out West, there are dramatic landscapes where you can see forever and it’s very beautiful, but there’s no real sense of surprise there. You don’t have the sense of flow that we have here, with small roads, chance byways and Hilltowns. It’s an underappreciated asset.”
The cycling tourism planning will result in mapping popular and themed routes for different types of cyclists as well as developing branding, social media and special events for area residents and tourists.
Bicycling, it seems, can appeal more broadly and become an even more significant part of the region’s transportation system and tourism industry. After the snow melts, we look forward to seeing it roll on.