My Peace City | nonviolence & social change

Minneapolis will receive a $1.75 million federal grant from Bike Walk Twin Cities to help fund the Minneapolis Bike Share Program.

The Minneapolis Bike Share Program will create the nation’s largest municipal bike-share system right here in Minneapolis. Plans call for a thousand bikes to be available in the areas of Downtown, Uptown, and the University of Minnesota campus. Bikers would either purchase a season pass for around $50 or pay $5 for one-day use. At the end of their bike trips, riders could then return their bikes to any one of 75 kiosks. When completed, the bike share program will be run by the nonprofit organization Nice Ride Minnesota. Some kiosks could begin operations by the end of 2009, with a full launch expected in 2010.

Two other Minneapolis bike/walk projects also received funding from Bike Walk Twin Cities:

• $400,000 for construction of biking improvements along portions of 17^th and Bloomington Avenues. This bike walk corridor would stretch all the way from 24^th Street to the city’s border with Richfield.
• $350,000 for pedestrian enhancements along 5^th Street NE and 7^th Street N.

According to the U.S Census, Minneapolis is the No. 2 bicycling city in the country. Bicycle commuters help keep down traffic congestion in Minneapolis. Bicycling is a great workout and an environmentally friendly alternative to driving, reducing our dependence on oil and our production of greenhouse gases.

Bike Walk Twin Cities is run by Transit for Livable Communities, a metro-area nonprofit organization that promotes a more balanced transportation system. TLC is designated by federal law to administer Bike Walk Twin Cities, a $21.5 million initiative to increase biking and walking, and reduce driving.