Instagram

If you're not following us on Instagram you're missing out on some filtered, unfocused, Nice-Ride-themed pictures. Here's some new ones:

The Spam You've Been Waiting For: Introducing a Google Group Listserv

Do you want tons more email from strangers that you'll probably never read? Then we've got just the thing: the Nice Riders Google Group. Don't worry, you can unsubscribe from the emails and just use the web interface.

I'm hoping to foster some direct communication between members instead of the top down Twitter approach. So join today. As long as there are zero other members you're guaranteed to receive zero emails.

If you do join, just keep the posting at least tangentially related to Nice Ride (cycling, local events, Open Streets, etc).

Nice Ride Q&A: Funding Exists for 17 New Stations

Last Friday afternoon marked the beginning of Nice Ride Minnesota's fifth season of bike-share in the Twin Cities. The system's size and geographic layout for 2014 remains largely the same as last season. But there's still plenty of change as subscribers are introduced to more generous ride times of 60 minutes, and prospective members are given the option of monthly subscriptions. Anthony Ongaro, Nice Ride's Director of Marketing, agreed to discuss what's new and what's to come for Nice Ride and bike-share in general.

The Irresistable Value & Convenience of Bike-share

Nice quick read about bike-share from a formerly skeptical, and now devoted fan of Capital Bikeshare:

Cut to a year later, and I now recognize that the beauty of Capital Bikeshare lies not in how different or new the concept is but rather in how incredibly useful and easy it is to use. It seems likely that Steve Jobs, arguably the king of innovators, would have approved of Capital Bikeshare’s ability to become a break-out hit that consumers didn’t even know they wanted it in the first place.

The key, it seems to me, seems to be in the Tribbles-like way Capital Bikeshare stations have proliferated around the Washington D.C. region. That and the service’s 24-hours-per-day availability give CaBi an advantage (for short trips at least) over bus and rail. Likewise, CaBi’s flexibility in allowing for one-way trips (a must during inclement weather) gives it an advantage over bike ownership.

You should read the whole thing.

The Legend of @jeffg985

You've probably never heard of @jeffg985. But he once made the trip from Lake Nokomis to Lake Harriet on a Nice Ride bike in 26 minutes(!)--becoming a living legend in the process. Spandex-clad witnesses on fancy 3 lb bicycles claim to have never seen him; but he was there, if only a bright green blur. And he has a screenshot to prove it.

@NiceRiders while I prefer slow casual rides, the threat of a $1.50 surcharge is a surprisingly powerful incentive. pic.twitter.com/LFbmsN6lcn
— Jeff (@jeffg985) April 15, 2014

Nice Ride 2014 Map

Here are some pictures of the new 2014 map. They're hi-res so blow them up for a detailed look.

Hi-res: Minneapolis / St. Paul.

Changes I've noticed in my part of south Minneapolis: the Triangle park station at 24th St is gone. The station at 29th and Lyndale is gone. Station moved two blocks south from 5th Ave and 27th St to a new location directly on the Greenway.

It was pointed out to me on Twitter that the station at Grand/Lexington in St. Paul is not there this year.

Let me know if you've noticed any other changes. Pics below the fold.

For Nice Ride, a Drive to Court Drivers

Nice Ride plans to give away thousands of branded license plate frames at Open Streets in Minneapolis this year.

 
The Nice Ride Minnesota bike-share program will begin its fifth season with a focus on outreach to full-time, devoted car drivers. As Richard Bobby, Nice Ride’s Director of Driver Outreach, explained, “We need to communicate that we understand the plight of the driver, and we think these new ideas can accomplish that.” These ideas range from promotional freebies to more serious efforts aimed at making drivers comfortable with the idea of biking as a daily transportation routine.

Beginning this season, the portion of Nice Ride’s budget previously devoted to green helmet giveaways at events like Open Streets, will instead be spent on items like license plate frames and antenna toppers (to help avid drivers find their cars in the boundless expanse of suburban parking lots).

Mr. Bobby believes the branded swag will serve as outreach beyond just the drivers who receive it. “If one driver on the highway sees another driver with a branded Nice Ride license plate frame or antenna topper, we want all the other drivers to think to themselves, ‘Maybe Nice Ride users aren’t the far-out, tattooed, body-pierced, bearded freak-shows we thought; maybe riding a bike isn’t so bad; maybe I could do that!'”

A Next Year's Resolution on Sidewalk Ice & Pedestrian Safety

Workers remove winter deocrations on Hennepin Ave.

Tis’ the season we go from snowy sidewalks, to slushy, and then icy ones. And in many ways that’s a hopeful sign. A promise of warmth and fun, of walks around the lakes, Open Streets, Nice Rides across the Stone Arch, and everything else you can fit into 7 months of t-shirt weather.

So while you’re in a good mood regarding the impending change of season, I need you to make a promise. Make a Next Year’s Resolution to your neighbors that you’ll do everything in your power to keep them a little safer next winter.

That is to say: Clear your damn sidewalks.

This is a tale of a journey fraught with thrills, near-spills, and the eventual triumph of one man over mother nature and the neglectful property owners determined to put him on his ass. It was biblical. Thus sayeth the pedestrian: I am returned! And I will immediately take up my laptop to compose this message to my city.

OMG Transit: Integrating Bike-share with Transit, Car-share

OMG Transit is an app that gives real-time transit info. They're releasing a new version soon. What separates this app is the integrated Nice Ride and car-share info that you don't get from an app like Spotcycle (for bike-share) or MetroTransit's mobile site (for public transit). Very nice to have all this info in one place for people using multiple services to live car-free.

Snowfall & Bike Share Season Length

Chart comparing average annual snowfall with season-length of major North American cold-weather bike share systems.

It would be nice to have a longer season here in Minneapolis. In snowfall terms, the two most analogous cities to MSP are Denver and Toronto. Both of those cities operate year-round. So it would at least seem within the realm of possibility for Nice Ride to do the same here in the Twin Cities.

Also posted in this thread on the forum for discussion.

Nice Ride Station Suggestions

Nice Ride has a pretty cool station suggestion map. I've been playing around with it.

These came to mind immediately (these suggestions come with a south Minneapolis bias):

• Minnehaha Trail and 50th st -- This would make trips between the Lake Harriet station and Lake Nokomis possible without going over 30 minute limit.

• Calhoun Village shopping center (just off Midtown Greenway) -- I've regretted not being able to bike to Barnes & Noble a few times. Lots of other shopping in this area.

• Lyndale Park Gardens -- I enjoy the park. Would make me happy to have a station here.

• Area just north of Lake St. Target/Cub Foods (just off Midtown Greenway) -- One of the big weaknesses of the current station layout in S. Minneapolis is the lack of stations on the Midtown Greenway, especially as you near Hiawatha. Putting a station here would give great access for errand-running at Target or Cub Foods; and it would serve the interests of recreational riders heading east on the greenway to the Mississippi River and points beyond.

I put them on my own map here.

Put down a couple of suggestions on Nice Ride's map. Love to hear some other ideas in this thread on the forum.