Soglin an Obstacle on Path to Platinum?

Soglin remains uncertain of Madison’s new bike-share program

cc-by-nc-sa by BlueRobot. Some rights reserved.As the number of bicyclists continues to grow in Madison, mayor-elect Paul Soglin may slow the city’s pursuit of premier cycling community status.

For the last five years, Madison has been on the path to platinum. Earning a platinum designation, the highest honor bestowed by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), was one of former mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s primary goals. Only three cities in the U.S have received LAB’s platinum designation: Davis, Calif.; Boulder, Colo.; and Portland, Ore. LAB determines its ranking based on what it calls the “5 Es”: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation and planning. Currently, Madison is ranked gold.

Cieslewicz was determined to change that. In late 2006, he formed the Platinum Biking City Planning Committee (PBCPC). Under the direction of Cieslewicz and the group, the city built more bike lanes, paths, and bicycle boulevards, created a formal bicycle program within the Madison Police Department, and surveyed the public on ways to improve cycling conditions in the city.

In 2010, the PBCPC introduced a bike-share program in partnership with Waterloo-based bicycle company Trek. The program would let people rent bikes (via credit cards) at designated locations, ride them for several hours or a day, and then drop them off at another designated location. Trek offered to invest $1.4 million in the program to help with setup and management. The city finance committee approved the program’s budget in January of this year.

Now, however, it’s unclear if the program will get off the ground. Paul Soglin, who beat Cieslewicz in Madison’s mayoral election April 5, questions why Trek was offered a no-bid contract for the bike-sharing program. Soglin also says he doesn’t think the city should fund the program, since Trek would use public property to store and lease bicycles.

“It seems that they should be paying the city, not the other way around,” he said in a January debate with Cieslewicz. “The problem with this is not the idea of bike sharing. Rather, the problem with the Cieslewicz proposal is that it plays fast and loose with a number of reasonable and long-standing checks and balances.”

Addressing Soglin’s concerns, Cieslewicz pointed out the immediate economic benefits that could come out of the program. He said local businesses would be more easily accessible for those who carpool or use public transit. Trek could also create jobs in Madison to service the “B-Cycle” system of racks, bicycles, and kiosks.
“This is the kind of thing that gives a city a competitive edge in the new economy,” Cieslewicz said in the debate. “So much of our success in the new economy is about keeping Madison a progressive, green, and bike-friendly city. Few other places can offer this combination, and that’s exactly what will attract and retain talent. And it will reduce carbon emissions in Madison and help us reach out goal of increasing bike share to 20 percent by 2020.”

Cieslewicz said that while Trek is offering to make a large investment in the bike-sharing program, it doesn’t anticipate earning a profit. Rather, Trek expects a loss in the first few years. Cieslewicz also said that if Trek did earn a profit, the company would split it evenly with the city.

The approved program is set to launch in May. Madison will have 35 stations locations, offering a total of 350 bicycles. (The station locations haven’t been established.) Users will be able to rent bikes with credit and debit cards and purchase day, week, or annual passes. The bikes will come equipped with GPS, which riders can use to measure distance traveled, calories burned and their estimated carbon footprint. Riders with smartphones will also be able to check online to see how many bikes are available at any given station.
"I've already talked to alders who want them in their districts," Cieslewicz said of the bike transfer stations that would be placed in high-traffic areas, such as downtown.

The bike-share program is intended to benefit the city. Yet it’s clear that Soglin doesn’t see eye-to-eye with all the proposed outcomes. While Mayor Soglin prepares to reclaim the office, he also prepares to tackle the numerous scenarios that lie ahead of him. Making Madison a premier biking city is one of the topics already knocking on Soglin’s door. As bike enthusiasts switch gears with a new mayor and look forward to the sharing program, they may soon realize that the path to platinum isn’t as shiny as they hoped it would be.