I’m wring my capstone paper this week. My research question is, “How does bikeshare impact civic culture?” One part of my work is a reflective essay, here is an excerpt from a draft.
—
I rode in Boston a bit my freshman year, and when I came back for my sophomore year, suddenly there was Hubway. I was totally impressed by the idea of a bikeshare, had never thought of such a thing, my own ignorance. I would take bikes out for a day at a time now and then, with locations around my campus it was an easy decision. When friends and family visited from home, I would put them on a Hubway bike and tour them around Boston. It was the best way to get around and to see Boston and Cambridge.
—
And later…
—
This [Paris’s bikeshare] meant that I was visiting markets, stores, and cafes all over the city, paying taxes with each purchase, and sharing bikes with people from all over Paris and the world. I was participating in a sustainable, city-wide collective action.
An anecdote – one night I was walking home from a movie theater when I saw a man ride a Vélib’ to a full dock. I walked up, told him, “no problem,” and unlocked a bike. He got the spot he needed and I had a nice ride home.
When the Boston Marathon was bombed, I was checking my Facebook at 9pm. I had never been so upset, and I could not pull my attention away from my city and my friends who I loved very much. Anxious and obsessed, I was following the news out of Boston constantly. Messaging and calling friends and family, refreshing Twitter every minute and checking Boston media always. It was a depressing and destructive cycle over those days. I could only interrupt it by taking out a Vélib’ bike and riding. I couldn’t be on the Internet, I had to focus my attention, and I could reflect on what was happening. I dealt with the bombing and the manhunt in this way. The mental health benefits of cycling are as impressive as the physical.
Friends visited later in the spring and I toured each of them around on the Vélib’ bikes. We would easily cover the entire city in a few days. Some guests became so comfortable with the bikes that they rode off on their own while I worked. With bicycles everywhere and a smartphone in hand, the city is immediately open to visitors. I was so easily able to share Paris with my guests, to integrate them into the city.
These impacts that Paris’s bikeshare had on me were opportunities which the city provides to all residents. It is an impressive feat of civic action.
I returned to New York in June, took my old mountain bike out of the garage, and road to the Staten Island Ferry and over Manhattan and Brooklyn every weekend. Citi Bike had just launched, and the density of cyclists and infrastructure were almost Parisen. I was happy to be home and I felt welcomed back to New York by its steps towards becoming a safer and more accessible city.
—
We’re getting there.
Bolog 