Newsletter sent on 7/21

Summer is better by bike! 

We’re rolling out our programs and services to make biking and walking more enjoyable for all. Read all about what we've been up to this summer in our newsletter! 

Upcoming Events

(Like us on Facebook or check out our events calendar to stay in the know)

• July 22 - Snow Farm Vineyard Concert Series
  
  • Join us for a concert featuring Quadra at Snow Farm Vineyard! We’re supporting the event with a complimentary Bike Ferry return trip across the Cut. Register for that trip here. We hope to see you there! 
• July 22, 8:30 - 10 PM - The Bicycle City screening at City Hall Park
  • Rivas, Nicaragua was the first city to begin receiving used bikes in 1991 as part of an economic development aid project. See how the bicycle has helped transform this developing world town. Ages 12+. Presented by Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront, Local Motion, Vermont Clean Cities, and Vermont Transportation Research Center.

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 Complete Streets  | Education  | Recreation  | Volunteer Opportunities

Complete Streets

It’s Pop-Up Project Season!

We’ve been busy planning and installing Pop-Up Demonstration projects. 

First up was Greensboro, where Local Motion staff and local volunteers gave the village center a walk-friendly makeover with curb extensions, reoriented crosswalks, narrowed travel lanes, and delineated parking.

In Rutland, students borrowed our trailer and equipment to calm traffic in their school parking lot!

The Town of Waitsfield and the Mad River Valley Planning District tried out some of our in-street crosswalk signs on Route 100. The community is working to improve road safety after a woman was hit and killed by a driver while walking in a crosswalk last October.

Additional Pop-Up projects are in the works for later in the season, so stay tuned for more! Interested in planning a Pop-Up project for your community? Contact [email protected] to get started.

Burlington Residents: Become a Cone Keeper to Help Maintain the Burlington Greenway Detour!

In June, Burlington upgraded the bike path detour along Battery Street to make it safer for all users. The two-way bike lane on Battery Street is protected/delineated with large cones, which are checked and maintained daily by Local Motion volunteers.

Two shifts are available every day, and City Market Member Worker credit is available. Will you be a Cone Keeper? Check for open shifts here.

Thanks to all of the Local Motion volunteers who are working to make this detour safer!

Webinars

We’ve hosted several webinars in the past few months, and you can find the recordings on our website.

Greenways 101 & Discussion

This webinar serves as the foundation for a series that will help Vermonters develop greenways in their communities.

Where Recreation Meets Transportation

Where does transportation end and recreation begin? This webinar explores the overlap of transportation and recreation planning, highlighting examples of projects completed here in Vermont.

Education

E-Bike Lending Libraries take the State

Would an e-bike make your life easier? Vermonters all across the state are realizing the answer to this question is a resounding “YES!” after borrowing an e-bike through one of our lending libraries. With both multi-day loans and 1-hour demos available, our lending libraries are showing Vermonters how e-bikes can be incorporated into everyday life: commuting to work, picking up groceries, and carrying kids to school.

By the end of the summer, Local Motion e-bikes will have been pedaled in every corner of Vermont. Our Traveling E-bike Lending Library is about halfway through the season and has already reached over 100 people in Randolph, Montpelier, and Stowe. At the end of July, the library will move to Glover, followed by Craftsbury and South Hero later this summer/fall.

This year, in coordination with partners in each location, Local Motion launched Satellite E-bike Lending Libraries in Brattleboro, Rutland, and Middlebury. Thanks to a grant from VTrans, the Satellite Libraries permanently host two e-bikes for community members to borrow. Eventually, these libraries will transition to become fully community-run! Reservation slots for our Satellite Libraries are already mostly filled up--a testament to the demand and desire Vermonters have to try out e-bikes for their transportation needs. Check out our website to see if an E-Bike Lending Library near you has an e-bike available to borrow.

Now in its second year of partnership with Local Motion, the Upper Valley E-bike Lending Library has four different e-bikes that travel between several towns in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. Thanks to a group of dedicated local volunteers, the Upper Valley E-bike Lending library has already visited five communities this summer, starting in Hartford, VT. The library will conclude in New London, NH, visiting a total of nine Upper Valley communities for the season. With so many places to visit and hundreds of people signed up to try out the e-bikes, the Upper Valley E-Bike Lending Library’s schedule is moving quickly. 

The fifth-year of our popular Burlington E-bike Lending Library launched in May. Permanently run out of our office in Burlington, this program provides individuals and families with the opportunity to try out e-bikes for five days at a time so that they can gain an understanding of how an e-bike might fit into their life before making the big investment to purchase one. Over 50 people have already signed up to borrow the e-bikes that we have available, and there are still some late summer and early fall slots available: Don't miss the boat, sign up to borrow an e-bike for FREE.

Summer with Bike Smart

This school year, Local Motion gave the gift of biking to 39 schools through our Bike Smart program. Our Bike Smart drivers often return with stories about the excitement they witness on teachers’ and students’ faces when we pull in with our huge trailer full of bikes. This year, many schools used bicycling as a way to provide a sort of normalcy and fun to students during the many difficulties of 2020 and 2021.

“We had SO many kids become riders during this program! Many were still using training wheels at home, and now they can ride on two wheels! My older students were motivated by the game of Dab and trying to do a track stand. It was an AMAZING experience for our school!”

~Mettawee Community School

And, as always, we continue our work to bring equity into our programming--in the case of Bike Smart, we have developed a fleet of adaptive bicycles to provide access to bicycling to students who cannot ride a traditional bike. These bicycles are in constant demand for our program, so we’re always working to expand our fleet of adaptive bikes.

“Some students learned to ride 2 wheels for the first time ever and they were thrilled with their success. Another student fell in love with the adapted trike, and the family raised money to purchase him one for home.”  

~Doty School

The school year has wrapped up, and we are moving into the summer! Unlike last summer, when we closed up the program, this summer, we’re all filled up! Bike Smart trailers will be visiting:

• Richford Notch, Richford
• Norwich Recreation, Norwich
• Encore Newport City, Newport
• Barre Town School, Barre
• Encore Newport Town, Newport Center
• Encore Coventry, Coventry
• Rutland Town School Tapestry Program, Rutland
• St. Albans Recreation, St. Albans
• Moretown Education Center, Moretown
• West Rutland Tapestry Program, West Rutland
• Rutland - Northwest Tapestry Program, Rutland
• Encore Brighton, Charleston
• Our Community Cares Camp, Inc., Richmond
• Proctor Tapestry Program, Proctor
• Rutland - RIS Tapestry Program, Rutland
• Encore Derby, Derby
• Kingdom East School District, Lyndonville
• Killington Parks and Recreation, Killington
• FNESU LEAPS Afterschool & Summer Programs, Enosburg Falls, Bakersfield, Montgomery, Berkshire, Richford, and Sheldon
• Richford Notch, Swanton

Way to Go!

Despite the many challenges we experienced this year, many schools rallied to get creative and find ways to engage their students in Way to Go! Activities. A total of 32 schools actively participated, putting on 186 events, 20,967 instances of student engagement, and 1988 instances of faculty engagement. It was a very successful year, and we are looking forward to next year!

Elements of Bike Riding by Peter Burns

In this month’s blog post, Peter Burns gives a helpful hint for those considering commuting by bike.

“If you want to ride first thing in the morning, but have trouble motivating yourself, set out all your bike gear and clothing the night before.” 

The blog also features several other thought-provoking and interesting sections like the perks of village life and the joys of a salt and pepper vest. 

Peter Burns is a long-time bike enthusiast, and one of the original year-round bike riders in Burlington. He writes amazing monthly blogs and teaches a variety of Everyday Biking workshops!

Recreation

The Local Motion Interactive Map

Our Interactive "Know Where To Go" Map that launched this May was developed to be used on mobile phones. The map features shops, hotels, restaurants, breweries, creemee stands, public restrooms, beaches, and parks from Oakledge Park north to the Village of South Hero. A locator feature makes it easy for a cyclist or walker to find out where they are relative to all points of interest as they make their way around town or along the Burlington Greenway. The map is easily accessed via QR encoded signs displayed at over 40 advertiser locations and our Bike Ferry. Developed as a digital alternative to our Island Line Trail map, we expect that the convenience and ability to pinpoint the user’s actual location will be a popular choice for the many visitors to the region.

Trailside Center keeps on rolling

Our bike rental operation is in full swing as visitors return to Burlington! Our reservation software is allowing us to work smarter and more efficiently to handle the increased demand. We expect volume to continue to increase this summer and into the fall, and the revenue will once again represent a significant contribution to Local Motion’s advocacy work. 

We were able to add some new hybrids and cruisers so the rides are both comfortable and fun...perfect bikes for around town and on the trail.

After missing the 2020 season, we were pleased to send a Local Motion rental fleet up to Burton Island State Park in May. Reprising the 2019 effort, we look to further develop this partnership as a sensible outgrowth to providing rental bikes to visitors.

Bike Ferry Update

The Bike Ferry is now running daily through Labor Day, and is off to a busy start. We are seeing plenty of Vermonters and a big increase in out-of-state visitors. We are still missing our friends from Canada, though! Passage this season is by donation, and thanks to the many donors who gave during our Friends of the Ferry campaign, we are able to continue to ensure passage for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

Experience a day in Vermont unlike any other!

Bike along the shores of Lake Champlain on Burlington's beautiful Island Line Trail, and enjoy a refreshing 1.5-hour Scenic Narrated Tour on Lake Champlain. We’ve teamed up with the Spirit of Ethan Allen III to bring you our Bike & Boat Waterfront Package! You will enjoy up to a 4-hour bike rental and a 1.5-hour tour aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen with a la carte food and beverages available for purchase. This package is perfect for families, couples, and friends!

Learn more about the Bike & Boat Waterfront Package and buy your tickets here.

Find Valet Bike Parking

Valet Bike Parking is back! We’re so happy to be offering our free Valet Bike Parking service at local events in the Burlington area. Not sure what Valet Bike Parking is? Learn more about this awesome program. 

Here’s where we’ll be this summer. We hope to see you there!

• SoBu Nite Out at Veterans Memorial Park in South Burlington
  • 5-8 pm on Thursdays in July and August, ending August 19.
• Beach Bites at Leddy Park in Burlington
  • 5-8 pm on Wednesdays in July and August, ending August 11.
• South Burlington City Hall Grand Opening at 180 Market Street, South Burlington
  • 4 - 8 pm on Friday, July 23
• Lake Champlain Dragonboat Festival (needs location)
  • August 7-8.

Interested in bringing this program to your community, or volunteering to help staff the service? Visit this page to find out more!

My Ride with Rosalba

Cycling is for every body! Read about how Rosalba rediscovered the joy of cycling with her recumbent e-bike.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering with Local Motion is fun and easy, and there are all kinds of ways you can help!

Each year, hundreds of neighbors contribute thousands of hours to support our programs. From greeting passengers on our Bike Ferry to parking bikes for Valet Bike Parking to helping with learn-to-ride clinics for kids or at-home computer work, there is a volunteer opportunity for you. Plus, volunteer shifts may be eligible for City Market Member Worker credit! For information and to sign up for shifts and announcements, click here.

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