Happy National Women’s History Month! 

Did you know our women’s right to vote was won using two wheeled transportation? (http://www.oldbike.eu/emancipation/?page_id=138)

At a time when women wore long corset dresses, restricting their mobility, and were expected to remain at home, the bicycle became the vehicle upon which Suffragettes were able to escape the house, meet and fight for gender equality.

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” ― Susan B. Anthony 

The Sustainable Brands Conference is an annual conference aimed at creating "...an international community of learning and action focused on understanding and leveraging the role of brands in shaping a flourishing future. The Sustainable Brands Conference is ground zero for sustainability, brand and innovation professionals who come together from around the world to be inspired, engaged and equipped to succeed by building the better brands of tomorrow, while building a network of likeminded colleagues who can help."

Part of the Sustainable Brands Conferences is the annual Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) - a competition created to "catalyze the progress and impact of the next generation of sustainable brands. These are the startups who, given the support and exposure, can contribute to flourishing future economically, socially, and environmentally."

Bike & Park is proud to have won the People's Choice Award in the 2012 SBIO competition and we here at Bike & Park had an excellent experience at the competition.

We strongly urge anyone considering applying to do so.  You can find additional information as well as the application for the SBIO here: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/events/sb13/innovation-open

Bike & Park was recently featured in an article by Mike Hower on SustainableBrands.com

The original article appears here: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/bringing-back-bike-one-start-ups-plan-forever-change-commute  and you can view the article below.

To prepare for this year's Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) competition, we're catching up with some of our favorite entrepreneurial ventures from competitions past ...

Imagine being able to ride your bike miles to work and arrive fresh, without sweat, dressed and ready to take on the day. Thanks to sustainability start-up Bike & Park, this is not mere fantasy — it is already happening in Chicago, Santa Monica and Cincinnati.

When bicycles were first engineered in the early 19^th century, they were meant to be a practical alternative to the day’s dominant mode of transportation — horses; the first bicycle prototype was even called a “dandy horse.” Today there are around a billion bikes worldwide and in many regions they continue to be the primary means of transportation.

But not in the U.S.; according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, only 5 percent of Americans ride bicycles to work each day.

Why? Well, besides commuters’ completely understandable fear of being branded “the sweaty guy or gal” in the office, many American cities are just not bike-friendly. Although these days it is more common to find bike lanes alongside motorways, they exist as more of an afterthought to a car-centric paradigm. This is where Bike & Park comes in.

Bike & Park helps reduce the need for polluting vehicles by making bike commuting easy, cheap and convenient. Customers can rent bikes at Bike & Park stations, ride to another station, drop it off and even shower and clean their clothes before heading on foot to their destination.

“We started Bike & Park to inspire people to ride bicycles for the benefit of their health, their spirit and the planet,” said Jeremy Rothschild, Director of Marketing. “By partnering with progressive communities to create spaces and programs that encourage people to ride, we enable them to make positive changes in their lives.”

The start-up recently celebrated the first anniversary of its Santa Monica Bike Center, which now boasts more than 300 members. The League of American Bicyclists has awarded the center a Bicycle-Friendly Business Award and the site has garnered lots of media attention, including an appearance on "The Today Show."

Bike & Park attributes much of its current success to its participation in last year’s SBIO competition, where it contended with several other finalists and ultimately won the “People’s Choice Award.”

“The experience of interacting with the other finalists was great,” said Rothschild. “We had a very strong field of finalists but the atmosphere was open and collaborative. We left the Sustainable Brands conference feeling reinvigorated and refocused on our mission.”

Each year, SBIO finalists are invited to present their company’s offering to a group of social and sustainability investors, executives from leading companies, top brand consultants and their peers. The winning company is awarded a free pass to a future Sustainable Brands conference and consultancy time with investors, designers and communications professionals.

As was first reported by Damien Newton from the Streetsblog LA - A Bicycle Parking Ordinance Has Re-Appeared in front of the LA City Council.

It is also interesting to note that commenter Dennis Hindman pointed out that "There are an estimated 17,000 bicycle commuters on a given weekday in Los Angeles, according to the 2011 American Community Survey results done by the Census Bureau, and yet the city has only installed 4,000 inverted U bicycle racks that are designed to hold up to two bicycles apiece. ....Los Angeles needs a significant increase in public bicycle parking to meet the demand."

It is encouraging to see that Los Angeles recognizes that an increase in bicycle parking availablity is needed to meet the needs of the bike commuting public of LA.

Here is the full article by Damien Newton from LA.streetsblog.org and here's a link to the original posting: http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/01/08/bike-parking-ordinance-moves-back-to-city-council/

It’s been over 15 months since it seemed the city was poised to enact a progressive bike parking ordinance that would dramatically increase the amount of bicycle parking required in new developments. In that time, the ordinance was sent back to City Planning for a handful of technical corrections, before it re-appeared in front of the City Council Planning and Land Use Committee hearing earlier today.

Ed Reyes and the rest of the City Council are still waiting for their chance to pass the city's bike parking ordinance. Photo: LADOT Bike Blog

With Committee Chair Ed Reyes not in attendance, acting chair Jose Huizar put the motion on the consent calendar. THe ordinance could be voted on by the full City Council as early as later this month. The transportation committee already waived consideration of the ordinance after holding hearings last year. The Council also passed a “negative declaration” last year, meaning the city found that increasing bike parking would have no negative impact on the city’s air quality.

“This is a huge milestone in further establishing cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation in this City,” writes Bill Rosendahl, Chair of the City Council Transportation Committee.

“If you were to travel by car and knew at the end of the trip there was a high probability that your car would be vandalized or stolen you would think twice about making that trip.  The same rule applies to those who travel by bicycle.  And just as we have automobile parking standards for private development, we will now have bicycle parking standards for private development.  It’s about equity and encouragement.  You simply can’t expect people to travel by bicycle unless you provide safe, secure and available bicycle parking at the end of the trip.”

The ordinance, once approved by the full Council and signed by the Mayor, includes a swap of car parking for bicycle parking at commercial and residential developments.  Up to 30% of auto parking can swapped for bicycle parking within a commercial nonresidential  project and 15% of auto parking can be swapped within a residential project that is near a major bus or transit station.  This could be particularly crucial for the transit oriented developments that pop up as a result of the new train lines that are coming online as a result of Measure R.

The ordinance also provides a mechanism to add more bike corrals to city streets.   These on-street public bicycle parking spaces offer an opportunity to provide ample bicycle parking without taking up pedestrian space on sidewalks. Bike corrals have been proven to increase bicycle usage in areas where they are installed, as they encourage residents to travel by bicycle around their neighborhoods to do their shopping and errands.  The corral at Cafe De Leche in Northeast L.A. was part of a pilot program that was succesful enough that the LADOT and City Planning are comfortable enough to let them flourish city-wide.