The Big Jump Project Application APPLICATION WELCOME The Big Jump Project is a strategic three-year effort to help ten cities show that quickly connecting good biking networks and encouraging use can result in a big jump in biking in a defined focus area within a city. We seek places that have strong leadership with a shared vision and improvements already in the pipeline. The Big Jump Project will develop common measures of use replicable in any community in the U.S., and institutionalize the practice of bicycle network planning throughout U.S. cities, connecting people on bikes to places of opportunity, transit, and recreation. This application will be used to assess the qualities of your Big Jump Project team, focus area, and opportunities for biking growth over the next three years. The full application can be downloaded for offline reference, but must be submitted by October 28, 2016 using the online submission process. A review committee will discuss and assess all applications during the end of 2016. As part of the selection process, PeopleForBikes staff may contact one or more of the individuals listed in your applications to discuss the merits and potential of your community’s involvement. Finalists will be notified in early January 2017. COMMUNITY PROFILE Please provide us with a general demographic profile of your city, town, county, or other municipal authority. Please use ACS 5-Year Estimate data (http://factfinder.census.gov) 1. Community Name: City of Newport 2. State: Rhode Island 3. Population: 24,672 (year-round residents) to about 100,000 (summer seasonal) 4. Racial & Ethnicity Profile: · White 87.9% · Black or African American 9.2% · American Indian and Alaskan Native 2.5% 1 · Asian 1.2% · Other race 4.6% · Hispanic or Latino of any race 9.1% · Two or more races 5% 5. Median Household Income (Annual) $61,680 COMMUNITY BICYCLING PROFILE Please provide us with a general information about the progress made so far for bicycling in your community. 6. Is there an active bike share system operating in your community? If yes, how many bikes and how many stations? If no, please tell us about any discussions that have been had related to a launch. Will a bike share system launch in the next two years? The City of Newport does not currently own and operate a bike share system, but the idea is a priority topic of discussion. Stakeholders citywide are familiar with the well-documented and easily-understood impacts on ridership – convenience, accessibility, affordability. In any of numerous iterations, bike share makes bikes easily accessible, convenient, and useful as a primary transportation solution. For a City with substantial tourist visitation (3.5 million people per year), bike share is an economic booster that reduces traffic congestion and impact on the natural and historic environment. Newport needs, and wants, Bike Share. Bike Share is a top tier discussion whenever bicycle improvements in Newport are discussed. Newport is actively researching bike share options. We hope to establish Bike Share in Newport within two to three years. The City is exploring a variety of constructs to bring the right bike share system to Newport: - Partner with the City of Providence to establish bike share with greater cost efficiency and the most appropriate generation of bike share technology. In Newport, this could mean lighter weight equipment, a smaller footprint, and seasonal presence. - Establish bike share as part of the multi-modal commitment, in partnership with the state transportation and transit departments (RIDOT and RIPTA), and including links with busses, ferries, satellite parking, and touristic/recreational destinations and loops. - Establish neighborhood-based bike share using fleets of restored bicycles for improved transportation to school, to increase physical activity, improve timeliness, and reduce truancy. (By all indications, these improvements and biking to school in general also improve self- esteem, school performance, and overall happiness.) 2 7. Has your city removed or relocated on-street automobile parking to create bicycle facilities in the last 5 years? If yes, please describe the location, process, and outcomes of the effort. In 2017, Newport will pilot two high capacity bike corrals to replace parking spaces in business areas as part of the Broadway Streetscape project. The Broadway corridor, a primary commercial thoroughfare for Newport’s year-round residents, is currently at the end of its streetscape improvement project. We will place the bike corrals where we have the highest concentrations of bike parking need – at a popular coffee shop and a neighborhood market. The business owners are supportive of the project. The City is continuing to identify locations for additional high capacity bike parking. Also as part of the Broadway Streetscape, parking was realigned and redistributed to make room for more open public space and to accommodate more bicycle infrastructure, including bike parking. The We successfully divert an estimated 600 cars/day (1800 cars/event) from city roads during the annual Newport Folk Festival when up to 1350 people ride bikes to the event each day. Bike Newport works with the police department, festival producers, and RIDEM (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management) to plan and provide wayfinding, high capacity event racks, bike parking support, and traffic flow management to ensure smooth and safe entrance and exit. “Forty Steps” is a popular historic landmark along the 3.5 mile Cliff Walk. Here the City recently converted parking lot space to public green that includes open space, rest rooms and bike racks for approximately 14 bikes. 8. Please describe your community’s relationship with the following next-generation bicycling facilities: Installed & Functioning/Planning to Install/Talking About Them/Not on Radar a. Neighborhood Greenways (aka Bike Boulevards): Planning to Install Newport is deeply involved in two important and relevant planning projects: The Ten-Year Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and The Open Space Plan. Both of these documents prominently feature bicycling as a primary transportation option, recognize the urgency for a City Bicycle Plan, and address best practices to be considered and adopted, including neighborhood greenways. The City and Bike Newport are together identifying priority routes for bicycles in agreement with the roads identified as suitable and most suitable in the Newport Bicycle Map. The Aquidneck Island Planning Commission is launching a significant project to mark an island-wide bicycle route system that includes multiple destination loops in the focus area. The purpose of these 3 bike routes is to move people on bicycle travel off of the most highly-travelled road and onto roads with lower volumes of motor traffic. b. Bike Boxes: Planning to Install The City is considering painting bike boxes at major intersections, such as the intersection of Bellevue Avenue and Memorial Blvd. c. Green Pavement Markings: Planning to Install The City is considering green pavement markings in the bike lanes on America’s Cup and Memorial Blvd. d. Buffered Bike Lanes: Installed and Functioning The bike lane on Memorial Blvd at Easton’s Beach, a busy recreational area, is buffered from parked cars with thatched paint markings. Similar paint buffers will be considered for new bike lanes to buffer from active traffic where road diets are practiced. e. Protected Bike Lanes: Planning to Install The City is considering a pilot protected bike lane on the inbound side of Memorial Blvd, using flex-rods or other dividers. f. Bicycle-specific Traffic Signals: Talking about them The City is considering adding bicycle-specific signals along with bike boxes at the intersection of Memorial Blvd and Bellevue Avenue. g. Advanced Traffic Calming (diverters, chicanes, etc.) Installed and Functioning h. Bicycle-activated Signal Phases: Talking about them While not in the City of Newport, bicycle-activated signal phases are in consideration elsewhere on Aquidneck Island to assist bicycles in high-volume, high-speed locations where no alternate route is available, including East Main Road and the Mount Hope Bridge, both in Portsmouth. 9. Our community is a designated Bicycle Friendly Community at the Bronze level. 10. In general, the cycling advocacy community is active and engaged. 4 11. In general, political support for bicycling initiatives among the following levels of government is: Strong/Fair/Weak/N/A or no contact a. Mayor: Strong b. City Council or Alderman: Strong c. State department of Transportation: Strong 12. In general, the business community support for bicycling is strong. 13. In general, local media coverage of bicycling issues is supportive. 14. Please describe your community's largest bicycle-related events (ciclovias, races, bike-to-work days, etc.) that build support and enthusiasm for bicycling. Please include brief descriptions, number of participants, and major sponsors for each event. Bike Month: May provides a month of activity that encourages biking, especially for local transportation. The calendar includes safe cycling classes, basic bike maintenance classes, workplace “brown bag lunch” workshops on safer cycling, bike films, group rides, and more. People are encouraged throughout the month to ride a bike to work and school. “Park & Bike” parking lots are set up around town to support people who commute long-distance or from over the bridges that do not accommodate bicycles. Sponsors of Bike Month activities include the Newport Daily News, the Preservation Society of Newport County, and Bank Newport. Bike To Work day: The highlight of Bike Month. Bicycle commuters gather in the center of town before and after work for camaraderie and celebration of bicycle friendly advances. Each year, Bike Newport, the city’s bicycle advocacy organization, shares relevant research, calls for action, and releases the latest edition annual bicycle map at a midday press conference. The day ends with a bike parade that circles the city. Participation is 250-300 participants throughout the day.