SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina’s fifth bike-sharing program is preparing to launch by April.
The Post and Courier reports the town of Summerville would join Columbia, Spartanburg, Greenville and Charleston as South Carolina towns boasting bike-share programs if its grant proposal is approved.
The town’ economic development coordinator, Michael Lisle, says the program hopefully will be funded through a competitive grant process hosted by the Municipal Association of South Carolina. The group funds grants up to $25,000 to boost local economies. Lisle says the Town Council agreed to match $3,750 in funds to get the program rolling should the proposal be accepted.
Lisle said Summerville has applied for grants through MASC before, and most recently came in 11th out of 76 applications - but the group was only able to fund the top eight.
“We certainly feel like this is one of our most competitive applications,” he said.
If the town’s proposal is accepted - the final deadline to submit the grant is Sep. 27 and winners should be notified by the end of October - the bike-share program will start on a small scale, with 20 bikes and three docking stations around downtown: Town Hall, the Summerville Visitors Center and the Rollins Edwards Community Center.
“We wanted to do something that introduced the bike share on a small scale that if it’s successful, we have a chance to grow it further,” he said.
Amy Johnson Ely, executive director of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, said bike-sharing programs are great for economic development. They also introduce a new mobility system to those who may not have thought of it as an option before.
“The locations they’ve picked make a lot of sense because people that are going to the tourist office are most likely going to want some sort of vehicle to use to get around beyond being inside of a metal box of a car,” she said.
The town has yet to determine what the rate and time system would be for bikers, but Lisle said officials are trying to create a sustainability plan and that the program would remain revenue-neutral to the town once it makes back the $3,750 it agreed to match for the grant proposal.
Measuring success, Lisle said, comes not only from looking at the economic development factors such as an uptick in local business sales, but the number of bike riders and how they connect with the Summerville community.
“This program is not only to bring in residents and give them the opportunity to explore but make Summerville attractive to visitors, as well,” Lisle said. “We want to encourage people to find points of interest, historic homes and gardens, and even the Sawmill Branch Trail to get from downtown to the Oakbrook community.”
Those latter goals are something Lisle hopes the town can tackle in a possible expansion three to five years down the line if the initial launch is successful. The ultimate goal is to launch the program at the Flowertown Festival in April.
“If we’re not successful in the grant application, it may be something where we’re able to go back to partners and folks in private sector and encourage their involvement,” Lisle said, according to the newspaper. “We’re definitely interested in this long term.”
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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
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