Update — 4/17/2020: New guidance from the State early this afternoon effectively allows bike shops to operate with curbside pickup for phone and online purchases starting Monday, 4/20, and they continue to be open for repairs. We recommend calling ahead to see if your shop requires an appointment. We're keeping this petition open for now, to ensure that bike shops are considered essential going forward. Thank you for signing!
We need to make sure that bike shops in Vermont are able to stay open during Governor Scott's Stay at Home order so that essential workers and others who rely on them for repairs, maintenance, and products can get what they need. Bikes are transportation, just like cars, and yet car dealerships and repair shops are able to keep operating while bike shops are currently permitted only to repair bikes.
Sign the petition below to make it clear to the Governor that bikes are an essential mode of transportation and that Vermonters who rely on bikes need the support of bike shops. Here's the petition text:
Dear Governor Scott,
We encourage you to designate bicycle shops as essential businesses so that they may operate in the same manner as automotive dealers during the Stay at Home order. This will allow bicycle shops to provide service and parts to customers, and to fulfill online orders, while adhering to CDC guidelines. Bicycle shop showrooms will remain closed.
Designating bicycle shops as essential businesses in this manner is critical to the health and safety of Vermonters. Many Vermonters rely on their bicycles for transportation, especially low-income people—and many of these folks are essential workers. Some have relied on public transit to get to and from work. Unlike transit, bicycles provide a mode of transportation that allows the operator to maintain a safe distance from others and greatly reduces the potential for exposure to contaminated surfaces.
In addition to those considered essential workers, many other Vermonters still need access to transportation during the Stay at Home order. Especially in Vermont's more urban areas, there are families and individuals who do not own cars, and rely on their bicycles as their sole mode of transportation to get groceries or medicine. These Vermonters rely on bicycle shops to maintain and repair their bicycles, and may experience significant hardship if they do not have access to bicycle shops. If their bike breaks down, asking a friend for a ride is not feasible, and riding public transit puts their health at risk.
We acknowledge that most bicycle shops are designated under NAICS code 4511, which encompasses Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument Stores, and that other retail businesses under this code may be non-essential. Bicycle shops are unique within this grouping in that their business supports an activity that is a critical form of transportation for many in our state.
For these reasons, we urge you to amend your Stay at Home order or provide clarification to allow bicycle shops to operate under the same guidance as automotive dealers.
Thank you