We have got a lot done this year in making Dayton more Bike friendly! We couldn’t have done it alone and are excited to share the annual report. Thanks especially to Andrew Rodney from the City of Dayton for his fantastic coordination efforts!
City of Dayton 2025 Bicycle Action Plan
Annual Progress Report, 2011
As required by the 2025 Bicycle Action Plan, City of Dayton Staff is to provide the Bike/Walk Committee with an annual progress report highlighting the past year’s accomplishments and providing suggestions for tasks, programs, activities, events, or initiatives to undertake in the coming year. The highlights and accomplishments of 2011 include:
Adoption of City of Dayton 2025 Bicycle Action Plan. On September 7, 2011, the Dayton City Commission adopted the City of Dayton 2025 Bicycle Action Plan (BAP), the city’s first comprehensive bicycle plan since the early 1980’s. The BAP outlines a vision, 6 goals, 20 objectives, and over 70 projects, programs, and initiatives the city and its partners plan to undertake in the next 15 years. The ultimate goal of the BAP is for the City of Dayton to become a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly City by 2025. The BAP envisions a community where “the bicycle is commonly viewed as a legitimate, safe, reliable, meaningful, and convenient method of transportation in the City of Dayton for recreational, utilitarian, and commuting bicyclists of all skill levels.”
City of Dayton Livable Streets Policy recognized as a national Top 5 City Policy. In its report “Complete Streets Policy Analysis 2010,” the National Complete Streets Coalition – the leading national advocacy organization for complete street design – recognized the City of Dayton Livable Streets Policy as a national Top 5 City Policy and among the Top 15 of all local, city, county, regional, or state complete streets policies or resolutions approved prior to 2011. The Policy received high marks for intent, accommodation of all users and modes, network connectivity, project applicability, exemptions, design guidance, and context sensitivity.
2011 Miami Valley Cycling Summit. On Bike to Work Day, Friday, May 20, 2011, the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in north Dayton hosted the 2011 Miami Valley Cycling Summit. The bi-annual Summit brought together over 300 attendees representing 12 cities and 40 area organizations, plus hundreds of individual bicycling supporters from across the region. The event was headlined by Vice President of Bikes Belong, and Miami Valley native, Bruno Maier. In keeping with the Summit’s theme, “Cycling Sells Cities,” Bruno’s keynote address illustrated how cycling-related infrastructure and programs create and retain jobs, promote civic enhancement, and foster economic vitality.
Dayton Celebrates Bike to Work Day, 2011. Dayton’s annual Bike to Work Day celebration continued on National Bike to Work Day, May 20, 2011 with over 500 bicyclists converging on Riverscape MetroPark’s Pavilion and Bike Hub in downtown Dayton. Organized and hosted by Five Rivers MetroParks, the event was highlighted by a pancake breakfast, music from several local artists, and appearances from Heater and Gem, mascots for the Dayton Dragons baseball team. Combined, attendees contributed to a total of 4,934 miles traveled by bike on their way to and from work. At 25 miles per gallon fuel efficiency, that computes to 197 gallons of gas saved from consumption and 1.8 metric tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere. The 2011 event was the most highly attended Bike to Work Day celebration to date. The event culminated in a group ride to the 2011 Miami Valley Cycling Summit.
Launch of the Yellow Bike Program. In conjunction with the semi-annual downtown open house known as Urban Nights, the Life Enrichment Center (LEC) – a non-profit, faith-based community service organization in East Dayton – launched the Yellow Bike (YB) Program on May 13, 2011. Modeled on other similar programs in Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas, the YB Program resulted in over 100 brightly painted yellow bicycles being placed in the downtown Dayton community for use as free and convenient transportation between downtown destinations. Individuals were seen throughout downtown riding on yellow bikes to get where they needed to go, where they were subsequently left for the next person to ride to their destination. The bicycles, including maintenance and distribution, were provided free of charge by the LEC. The YB Program represents the first attempt at a bicycle sharing program in the Dayton Region.
2011 Dayton River Ride. On July 30, 2011, in conjunction with the Dayton Celtic Festival, over 150 bicyclists participated in the 2011 Dayton River Ride, a leisurely three hour, nine mile ride along the Great Miami River Corridor Bikeway. Beginning and ending at Riverscape MetroPark in downtown Dayton, the Ride highlighted a number of cultural and institutional destinations located just a stone’s throw from the Bikeway, including Woodland Cemetery, Carillon Historical Park, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park Welcome Center on West Third Street, Dayton Cultural Center, and the Riverscape Bike Hub. Each registered participant was given a goodie bag, water and snacks at Carillon Park, and entry into a random drawing for multiple prize packs courtesy of the Drive Less, Live More campaign.
2011 Tour de Dayton. The 2011 Tour de Dayton took place on August 28, 2011, beginning and ending at Don Crawford Plaza in front of Fifth/Third Field in downtown Dayton. The ten mile Tour was a grassroots event organized and hosted by several alumni of the City of Dayton Neighborhood Leadership Institute. Similar to the Dayton River Ride, the Tour de Dayton showcased multiple downtown Dayton destinations, such as the Dayton Fire Department Headquarters, Dayton Art Institute, Willis Bing Davis Art Studio, Paul Laurence Dunbar House, and American Packard Museum. The Tour was attended by over 100 riders.
Bike Shoppe Opens at Life Enrichment Center. Renovated by volunteers and made possible by a grant from the UPS Foundation and private donations, the LEC Bike Shoppe is a 4,000 square foot bicycle repair and learning facility for the use of LEC clients and participants in their various bicycle programs. One such program, the Earn-a-Bike program, provides bicycle repair and life skills training to at-risk youth in the community. To date, 30 youths have graduated from the Earn-a-Bike program, each receiving a bicycle and helmet for their efforts. In addition, the LEC will open a Safety Village in 2012 to provide training to youths in proper on-road riding techniques. The Bike Shoppe is also the home base for the Yellow Bike Program, with over 500 bicycles and 12 repair stations to maintain the program.
GDRTA Tracks Bikes-on-Bus Usage. In 2011, the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority began a monthly count of bicycles loaded onto GDRTA vehicles on the third Tuesday of the month. Currently, all regular fixed-route vehicles include a bike rack on the front of the vehicle capable of transporting up to 2 bicycles at a time. From June to November, 2011, GDRTA transported an average of 226 bicycles per day, with a peak of 367 on September 21, 2011. GDRTA will continue the counting program into 2012. Though not a perfect measure of bicycle use, it provides solid evidence that individuals are using a multi-modal approach to transportation in the City of Dayton. Furthermore, GDRTA research shows that over 60% of trips on GDRTA vehicles are for access to and from work. Therefore, one could infer that perhaps as many as 60% of those using the Bikes-on-Bus program are doing so to access employment opportunities.
Five Rivers MetroParks Earns ‘Bicycle Friendly Business’ Designation from League of American Bicyclists. As one of only five such designees in the state of Ohio, Five Rivers MetroParks attained the title ‘Bicycle Friendly Business’ from the League of American Bicyclists, achieving Bronze Level Status in May, 2011. Of significant note, Five Rivers became the first park district in the nation to achieve Bicycle Friendly Business status. The application process included a grueling 50 question survey covering all aspects of Five Rivers’ operations as they relate to bicycle friendliness. Five Rivers’ was awarded high marks for its “commitment to promote a bicycling culture”, highlighted by such projects as mountain bike and cyclo-cross events, sponsor of the Miami Valley Cycling Summit, and celebration of Bike to Work Day and Bike Month.
City of Dayton Completes First Comprehensive Bikeway Access Survey in City’s History. In September 2011, four staff members from the City of Dayton spent a day surveying 102 locations where the roadway network crosses or comes near to the regional network of shared-use bikeways and trails. Data on the grade of the crossing, status of the connection, type of connection, and potential for an upgraded or new connection was collected for each location. Photographs of each location were also collected. Overall, 39% of these locations were found to have formalized connectivity (e.g. paved ramp, signage, etc.), while 36% provide informal connectivity (e.g. levee maintenance ramp, footpath, etc.). Informal connections offer prime opportunities for new connectivity between the roadway and bikeway networks. The survey will be used to determine where future investments in network connectivity should be made to enhance access and encourage use of the bikeways for all types of trips and activities.
City of Dayton Adopts Revised Bicycle Parking Standards. In December 2011, the Dayton City Commission codified revised bicycle parking standards in the City of Dayton Zoning Code for new commercial and multi-family developments. The existing standards were found to be overly burdensome as they required a developer to provide an excessive number of bicycle parking spaces relative to the use of the property and number of required vehicle parking spaces. As of December 2011, all new non-residential uses must now provide two bicycle parking spaces regardless of the requirements for vehicle parking. An additional bicycle parking space must also be provided for every 15 vehicle parking spaces where vehicle parking is required by the Zoning Code. Advisory language on quality, location, and type of bicycle rack, locker, or anchorage is also provided.
Continued Solid Attendance at Bike/Walk Dayton Committee Meetings. As noted in the City of Dayton 2025 Bicycle Action Plan, the Bike/Walk Dayton Committee is to meet on a quarterly basis throughout the year to coordinate activities, share ideas, and foster multi-agency cooperation in all things bicycles. Attendance at Bike/Walk Dayton Committee meetings continues to be strong, with regular representation from the City of Dayton staff from Planning, Civil Engineering, Traffic Engineering, Police, City Commission Office, and Youth and Recreation Services; Five Rivers MetroParks; Miami Conservancy District; Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission; Life Enrichment Center Bike Shoppe; Downtown Dayton Partnership; Get Up! Montgomery County; Premier Health Partners; CH2M Hill; Major Taylor Cycling Club; and several interested and engaged community bicycle advocates.
