TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Peter Fernandez, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
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Application for The Big Jump Project
Wards: 1, 2, 5
Councilors: Bennett, Andersen, Dickey
Neighborhoods: Highland, Grant, CANDO, SCAN
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ISSUE:
Shall Council authorize the City Manager to apply for The Big Jump Project and authorize the Mayor to sign a letter supporting the City’s application?
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize the City Manager to apply for The Big Jump Project and authorize the Mayor to sign a letter supporting the City’s application.
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SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND:
The Big Jump Project is administered by People for Bikes, an industry coalition of bicycling suppliers and retailers. The Big Jump Project is accepting applications from any government agency located in states, districts, territories, commonwealths, or tribal lands within the United States. The Big Jump Project is a program that will help 10 selected applicants for a three-year period to achieve an increase in biking by providing technical expertise in building a network of safe and comfortable places to ride and engaging the community. The stated goal of The Big Jump is: if a city does all the right things, more people will ride and the community will be a better place to live, work and play. The Big Jump Project seeks to achieve the following objectives:
• Prove the concept that if a community completes a network of convenient and comfortable places to ride and encourages people to use it, bike use will double or triple over a three-year period and a culture will be fostered where it is ordinary to ride bikes.
• Develop best practices in changing habits and fostering a culture where it is ordinary to ride bikes.
• Develop and institutionalize the concept of connected bicycle networks into the mainstream of the planning world as standard practice.
• Develop common metrics of success that are easily understood and replicable in any community across the U.S. Measures will include, but are not limited to:
o Bicycle use and growth over time;
o Safety of bicycle use, both actual and perceived;
o Quality of connections and ease of use of the bicycle network;
o Economic, health, and environmental impacts of bicycling activity; and
o Impacts of bicycling activity to underserved populations and neighborhoods
Grant funds ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 will become available through participation in this project. The targeted grant funds are designed to assist with community outreach efforts that will be identified in collaboration with local Big Jump partners. Successful applications should demonstrate ambitious plans to implement an interconnected network of low-stress biking in a defined focus area.
More information on The Big Jump is available at: <http://www.peopleforbikes.org/pages/the-big-jump-project-application>
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
A letter of interest indicating the City of Salem’s intent to apply was due August 18, 2016, and has been submitted. The proposed focus area for the application is the area generally bounded by Salem Parkway to the north, 12th Street to the east, Bush’s Pasture Park to the south, and the Willamette River to the west. This focus area meets many of the interest areas prioritized by the Big Jump Project, including safety, access to jobs in neighborhoods with concentrations of low income residents, connecting to paths and parks to encourage physical activity, and growing tourism.
A full application along with supplemental materials is due October 28, 2016. Supplemental materials to the application include:
• Letters of support from elected officials
• Letters of support from community representatives
• Letters of support from the business community
Applications will be reviewed by People for Bikes at the end of 2016, with finalists being notified January 2017.
Members of Salem’s bicycling community have reached out to City staff to share their interest in participating in this project with a particular emphasis on the proposed focus area.
Consistency with Adopted Plans:
This effort is consistent with the policies of the Salem Transportation System Plan.
NEXT STEPS:
If approved, staff will submit an application, along with supplemental letters of support, for The Big Jump Project.
Robert D. Chandler, PhD, PE
Assistant Public Works Director
08/04/2016