By Larry Bolinger
Alliance Community Bike Volunteer
An update on the Alliance Community Bike Share program.
As of July we have put out 100 bikes into the community for the free bike share program. It is designed to allow people to borrow the bikes for their needs. Whether it is to get to school, work, or for general transportation. If people want to take the bikes home and keep one for regular use, they are welcome to do so. If you need a bike to get to point A to point B, or use it for a week, or a year, that is what the program is designed for. If the bike needs to be repaired, you can drop it off at the shop, and I’ll get it repaired and back to you.
The Community Bike Share shop was moved to the garage behind the Military Museum on 11th and Niobrara Avenue last year. We paint, repair, and maintain the bikes out of there. The Community Bike Share program is run by volunteers and donated funds. We have had roughly 200 bikes donated, and we have painted, repaired, and kicked out the door 100 bikes. On average, it costs between $500 to $700 per year to maintain the program. We have had enough donations to maintain the bikes and install two bike work stations. One Bike Work Station was installed in Hemingford at the High School, the other was installed on the South side of Laing Lake. One of my goals is to get grant funding to add two more bike maintenance stations. One of things I’m considering doing is conducting a few bicycle workshops to teach kids how to fix a flat tire, straighten a rim, brake repairs, and crank bearing repair. These are some of the most common issues.
This year, we have had several kids from the middle school and high school that has helped repair bikes, so we did kick out more bikes than usual this year. We try to kick out 20 bikes each year; this year, we have set out 37.
It is nice seeing a significant increase in outside activities. People utilizing the walk path. More people are out walking, riding bikes, e-bikes, and scooters.
With the increase in bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, and young kids on minibikes, dirtbikes, and e-motorcycles creates safety concerns. The Alliance Community Bikes share program is part of the Activate Alliance programs, and our primary goal is to make it safer to walk, bike, and roll around town. So, we did start a subcommittee on e-bikes and e-scooters to try to address safety issues and put together plans to improve bike safety. I have sent in more than 20 ideas to the committee and City manager that would improve safety issues with bikes and e-bikes. Improve safety rather than create penalties. Most of the state is penalizing rather than addressing safety issues. As per Sheriff Hanson of Omaha, state statute allows penalizing the parent if the child is reckless or violates the law while utilizing a motorized bicycle. Similar to parents being penalized for their child skipping school (truancy), which carries a misdemeanor charge to the parents.
What I’ve seen in many towns across the state is that when the rules of the road have been ignored and many laws are ignored, the city will be forced to create stricter policies. I’m a regular on the walk path, and I also ride an e-trike, so I see many issues with some pretty standard rules of the road. Kids not riding on the right side of the road, driving down a one-way street the wrong way, driving through stop signs into oncoming traffic, and not yielding to pedestrians. City ordinance states that e-bikes and e-scooters are not allowed on any park walk paths, but you seen e-bikes and e-scooters on them anyway. City ordinances also say that no bikes, e-bikes, or e-scooters are allowed on the sidewalks in downtown business districts, which is also ignored. I believe the big issue in these two areas would be the issue of speed. If we had a standard max speed on sidewalks and walk paths, there could be flexibility in allowing bikes and e-bikes in those areas.
This year, we have seen an increase in kids driving atv, minibikes, dirt bikes, and e-motorcycles around town. That is something that is illegal to do. Bikes could be impounded and parents fined. I started riding dirtbikes when I was 10 years old. And even at that age, I knew that riding a motorcycle on the street was illegal. But we had a dirt bike track on private property just a block away, and spent all day riding there. Some kids and their parents have received warnings, and they were frustrated that they don’t have a place for their kids to ride. They do, they just can’t ride their motorcycles on public streets or public walkways. We have a motocross track south of town that could be utilized, or citizens could pool together and build an in-town track.
It is common practice when a bike or e-bike is passing someone who is walking is to let them know you are passing on the left by yelling “passing on the left.” But what we see instead, is kids yelling at people to get off the road or zipping by them at 30 mph. People walking have the right of way. Kids riding too fast and using the walk path as a race track is a safety issue. By law, people riding e-bikes and e-scooters have to abide by the same laws as someone driving a car. Years ago, bicycle safety courses were done in grade schools. I’m not sure why this has stopped. Kids these days are driving around at 30 mph and don’t even wear safety gear. This year in our area, 2 kids have been hit by a car. One went through a stop sign, the other drove down a one-way street the wrong way, and went into traffic. 3 pedestrians were run into by a child riding an e-bike. One of the pedestrians had to be transported to the hospital and had to undergo surgery.
General Safety Tips
Take a bicycle safety course
If riding on sidewalks, limit max speed to 10 mph.
Wear safety gear (helmet, reflective vest)
Lights on front and rear of bike
Make sure the bike has reflectors or reflector tape.
Have at least one mirror
Use hand signals when turning or stopping
Learn and abide by the rules of the road
Utilize bike lanes when available. No speeding in bike lanes. 20 MPH max speed limit.
Verbally inform pedestrians when passing.
Ride on the right side of the road when available
No driving at night. If you have to drive at night, have a front and rear light on.
I believe education is a major factor. If more kids learn the rules of the road, there would be far fewer problems. There is a lot that the City could do to help improve safety, but one key problem is education. That could be a parent teaching the kids proper rules of the road, or the School, or just simply watching a YouTube video on bicycle safety.