March 17, 20103 Comments on Indiana city to state officials: “We want complete streets”
Indiana residents: Read below to see how you can help.
Richmond, Indiana is putting the new bike-friendly federal transportation policy to the the test. (more…)
March 10, 20102 Comments on Caltrans adopts Complete Streets action plan
Caltrans Director Randell Iwasaki approved a Complete Streets Action Plan on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, directing state transportation agency employees to “view all transportation improvements as opportunities to improve safety, access, and mobility for all travelers in Calfornia and recognizes bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes as integral elements of the transportation system.”
February 25, 20101 Comment on Roadblock for Huntsville bike safety campaign
After a series of cyclist fatalities in 2008, the city of Huntsville planned Alabama’s first ever bicycle awareness program in 2009. Huntsville’s bicycle program has been halted after the Alabama Department of Transportation rescinded the $197,000 grant to fund this program. (more…)
February 19, 2010Leave a Comment
Freeways and parking are generally added to promote commerce, but the Overhead Wire discusses the damage this kind of public infrastructure has in terms of lost tax revenue, lower property values, and lost employment. (more…)
April 12, 2009Leave a Comment
Resist twitter by listening to cycling podcasts! Thanks to The Bike Show at Resonance FM, I learned of an Australian show called Bike Love.
Speaking of Resonance FM, The Bike Show has special coverage on the Spring Classic Races this week.
The Puma, courtesy of Engadget
One of my favorite non-cycling podcasts is the geeky Engadget. This week Engadget has a 24-minute discussion about bicycles, Segways and new electric mini-offerings like the Puma and the Peapod. Paul Miller of Engadget got to ride in the Puma and have a close-up look at the Peapod.
March 27, 200922 Comments on reaching non-traditional cyclists
A-bike photo courtesy of SlashGear, which has an extensive review
As has often been noted, selling expensive fancy bikes to passionate cyclists is where the bike industry excels. Expanding the pool of customers by reaching out to non-riders is much harder to figure out.
The Sinclair A-Bike was discussed in Cyclelicious and VeloVision in 2006, when the product first went on sale. What struck me in reading about the A-Bike again today was that its U.K. distributor is Mayhem, a gadget and novelty company more akin to Brookstone or Sharper Image than a traditional bicycle retailer. A big part of marketing bicycles to non-riders may be realizing that we need to sell bikes in the places that they shop. People who don’t think they want bikes don’t go into bike stores!
Sure Walmart sells bikes, but Walmart is where shoppers trudge to buy diapers and toasters, not fun toys and not transportation equipment. In order to promote the image of bicycles as hip fashion accessories, as seen in Bikes and the City and sac cycle chic and Velo Vogue, we need Electras in Ann Taylor and Stridas in Old Navy and Breezers in Starbucks. In order to promote bicycles as transportation, why not convince car dealers to sell them? Maybe someone who can’t quite qualify for a loan to buy a Prius would be interested in an Xtracycle instead.