Tag Archives: bike

Utah Bike Week

Utah Bike Week has arrived! And Utahns all along the Wasatch Front and beyond are celebrating the joys of traveling by two wheels.

This week is packed with events designed to celebrate biking, connect you with the biking community and reward you for leaving your car at home!

A few of our favorites:

  • Gallery Roll Art Show (May 17) – Meet at 177 East 200 South to take part in a fun art gallery “roll”
  • National Bike to Work Day w/SLC Commuter Pit Stops (May 17) – Look for bike-friendly “pit stops” on your way into work for free snacks, bicycle lights, beverages, stickers and other items.
  • Bike Bonanza (May 17, 4-8 p.m. @ Gallivan Center) – Join UTA for entertainment, prizes, booths and more. This is a great, family-friendly event!

You can learn more about all of the exciting Bike Month events at UtahBikeMonth.org.

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Be a Bicycle Ambassador

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Exciting news from Salt Lake County! Earlier this week, they introduced the first county-wide Bicycle Ambassador program in the United States.

Salt Lake County’s Bicycle Ambassadors will provide bicycle outreach and education to all 17 cities and unincorporated areas throughout Salt Lake County.

SLCo Bicycle Ambassadors are a group of outgoing and informed bicycle commuters in Salt Lake County. They travel by bicycle, promote bicycle use, serve as positive examples of responsible bicycling and serve as community resources for bicycle commuting support and guidance.

Become an Ambassador

Salt Lake County residents of all ages are encouraged to apply to become Bicycle Ambassadors. A successful candidate will be passionate about bicycles and knowledgeable of bicycle commuting in Salt Lake County.

More Information

Get more information on their website, and don’t forget to “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!

Media Coverage

Fox 13

The Salt Lake Tribune

Deseret News

Bike Share Has Arrived!

IMG_0456_webWhat was once a dream of Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker became a reality today with the launch of the GREENbike program – Utah’s first bike share system.

Ten stations are now up and running with 100 bikes available in downtown Salt Lake. Another station is on the way, and plans to expand the program are already in the works. The University of Utah, 9th and 9th and Sugar House neighborhoods are all potential areas where GREENbike could appear.

Check out our other GREENbike blog post for details on this awesome new program.

Be sure to download the Spotcycle mobile app to view real time data on where available bikes are located.

And get biking, Salt Lake City!
(Well, maybe in a few days when the weather clears up)

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SmartTrips Comes to Fairpark

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Following a very successful pilot in the East Liberty Park neighborhood, the SmartTrips program returns for the 2013 summer season — this time to the Fairpark neighborhood.

A lot is happening in Fairpark, making it the perfect place to offer customized bike, walk and public transit information and resources to residents. The Airport TRAX line opens in a little over a week on Saturday, April 13th. And the North Temple corridor has been improved to make it Salt Lake City’s first Complete Street – with infrastructure for public transit, personal vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

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What is SmartTrips?

SmartTrips is a neighborhood-based program that encourages public and active transportation through free bike/walk/transit kits, coupons to local businesses, educational newsletters and collaborative community events.

The Salt Lake City SmartTrips program is modeled after similar programs in Portland, Oregon and other communities, which have all successfully reduced the number of vehicle trips.

How Do I Participate?

Fairpark residents will be receiving the first of three SmartTrips newsletters in the mail this week. Included in the newsletter is a program order form, which allows residents to choose from bike, walk and transit kits that include maps, pamphlets and freebies such as a bike light, pedometer and UTA passes.

Also included is a SmartTrips Coupon Book with discounts at a variety of retailers located in the Fairpark neighborhood. And for those who prefer it, there is an online order form as well.

More Information

Visit the SmartTrips website for more information on the program, including a community calendar of events. You can also check out SmartTrips on Facebook.

GREENbike Launches Next Monday (April 8)

Photo courtesy of GREENbike (Facebook)

Photo courtesy of GREENbike (Facebook)

Next Monday, April 8th the highly anticipated bike share program lands in Salt Lake City! GREENbike stations officially go online in less than a week, and we wanted to give our readers a preview of the program so you can be as excited as we are.

Quick Facts

  • Program will launch with up to 120 bikes available
  • 10 bike share stations are located at key spots in downtown Salt Lake City (see map below)
  • Projected to save 77,000 vehicle miles in the first year alone, including 20,000 “cold starts” (a key contributor to poor air quality)
  • Designed for short trips in the city by people wearing regular clothes and carrying ordinary stuff (no spandex required!)
  • There is a great mobile app available for download at the GREENbikeslc.org website (i.e. Spotcycle).

Short Trips

GREENbike is designed for short, 30 minute trips that get you from point A to point B downtown. Think of it as your “puddle jumper” that will get you from one downtown hot spot to another. For example —

  • Take a quick and direct route from the UTA Intermodal Hub to Gallivan Center or Library Square.
  • A quick lunch trip for downtown employees (stopping by Squatters, Harmons Grocery or a variety of other restaurants)
  • Getting to and from a downtown meeting.
  • Hopping from City Creek to The Gateway on a downtown shopping spree.
  • And any other short, downtown trip that you can dream up!

Membership

A 24-hour Access Pass ($5), 7-day ($15) or Annual Membership ($75) lets you take UNLIMITED 30 minute trips at no extra charge! Every time you dock a bike, you get a fresh 30 minutes. Get on board.

Launch & Party

The public is invited to attend the official GREENbike launch on Monday, April 8th at 10:30 a.m. at the west entrance to Gallivan Center. Join Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake City Council Member and R.D.A. Chair Stan Penfold and other excited community members. SLCGreen will be there to cover the event too!

A fundraising launch party is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Squatters. Tickets are $50, and include all things needed for a very fun night — DJ, open bar, appetizers and a prize drawing for a $1,100 TREK bike at 8 p.m. Join the fun.

GREENbike Fact Sheet (PDF)

GREENbike Map (PDF)

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Volunteer with GREENbike

GREENbike

SLCGreen received this notice from our good friends at GREENbike, the bike share system opening this April in Downtown SLC! Read on for a great opportunity to get involved, and also check out their Facebook page. They are revealing the locations of each bike share station via social media!

Learn more about bike share.

GREENbike, SLC Bike Share is looking for bike build volunteers

The bikes for GREENbike, SLC Bike Share will be arriving in Utah shortly and we need some volunteers to help get them up and running. There will be a week-long bike build and we need quite a few volunteers to help with different tasks. We are in need of bicycle mechanics, people to help unpack the bikes, people to apply bike decals, and general volunteers to keep things moving.

The build shifts start on Tuesday, March 12th and will run until all of the bikes are built (Ideally, we want to be done by the end of Saturday, March 16th, but we would love to finish earlier in the week). There are three shifts available each day (8 a.m. – 12 p.m., 1 p.m. – 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.) and there will be a mandatory training on Monday, March 11th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for all interested Bicycle mechanics. The necessary tools will be provided for all of the volunteer responsibilities. In order to maximize our build time, please only sign up if you will for sure be able to make the shift(s).

The build will take place in a warehouse so please wear clothing that can get dirty and a layer to keep you warm. All volunteers should be at least 18 years of age. Sorry, but given the setting and the nature of the work, children are not allowed.

If you are interested in volunteering e-mail info@greenbikeslc.org and put the phrase “Bike Build Volunteer” as the subject line. Let us know which day(s) and shift(s) you would like as well as with which task you can help. We will send out location information once you are confirmed on our schedule.

2013: The Year of the Bike

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Salt Lake City has declared 2013 the “Year of the Bike” to recognize and promote the many bicycle events, programs, and infrastructure projects happening in the Salt Lake region in the coming year.

We caught up with Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake City Councilman Stan Penfold, UTA General Manager Mike Allegra, UDOT Deputy Director Carlos Braceras and several other community leaders at the Year of the Bike kick-off event to hear about what’s in store.

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At the event, UTA shared two exciting announcements – buses will now have bike racks that accept three bikes at a time (expanded from two) and bike hooks will be added to TRAX trains across the valley!

So what else is on the schedule?

More information is available at BikeSLC.com.

Think spring!