Bicycle Friendly America Fall 2016 - 24

ALL PHOTOS BY PATRICK CUSICK BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS ton went on to say that the BBP has also helped five other smaller bicycle co-ops to get started. On the Boise Bicycle Project website, BBP Board President Greg Adams states, "Riding a bike is a luxury for some and a necessity for others, but should be affordable for all." This bicycles for all attitude, shared by the board and staff, creates an altruistic sense of responsibility toward their community and the greater bike community, which pushes far beyond normal strategic business practices. When the BBP says bicycles "for all," they mean it. Jimmy Hallyburton explained that Boise has a large immigrant » MAKING BOISE SAFER FOR CYCLISTS The Boise Bicycle Project (BBP) has been an advocate for bicycling in their community, and has helped make Boise safer for riders. Executive Director Jimmy Hallyburton told me a story about a young boy named Max who was hit by a car when the driver ran a stop sign. Max and his father were regulars at the BBP, and Hallyburton said that when he visited Max in the hospital "we (the BBP) made this commitment to him that by the time he got back to Boise and was riding a bicycle again that we would make permanent changes in our state to make bicycling safer for Idaho families." In an interview for the Idaho Statesman, Jimmy Hallyburton was quoted to have said "The first thing to do is to help the family, and the next thing is to prevent things like this from happening again." Hallyburton told me that while Max was away, "We had enough response from the community that I was able to get a one-on-one meeting with the governor of Idaho." Hallyburton and the Boise Bicycle Project approached him with three ideas, one of which was requiring "mandatory bicycle and pedestrian questions on the statewide drivers-ed exam." After working with the Governor and the Idaho Transportation Department for only three months, the exams were required to include those mandatory questions. Though this may seem like a small victory, Hallyburton explained that with 14 possible questions, "every single drivers ed instructor is going to have to cover that section." By the time Max returned home, these changes had already been implemented. 24 BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA population. Instead of leaving outreach to the local government, the BBP has a Refugee Coordinator, Yann Lemorvan, who heads this effort to not only provide bicycles for these refugees, but also bicycle education and outreach to help them integrate into the local community. The Boise Bicycle Project employs a total of 15 bicyclists, including not only bicycle mechanics and technicians, but also a Youth Educator, a Director of Creativity, and a Volunteer Coordinator. Volunteers make up a significant amount of the work force, and many volunteers work one-onone to educate community members. He said that they "often have these tough older men come in just to work on their own bikes, who eventually start working with kids and families, and completely start to open up. We have women who come in who have been told that they shouldn't really be wrenching on a bike, and now they're teaching our male volunteers how to fix a flat tire and are developing skills they didn't know that they had." An important part of bicycle advocacy is helping residents connect with local businesses and elected officials. One of my favorite examples of the BBP bringing the community together is when Hallyburton described one holiday season when they brought elected officials in to help give bikes to refugee children. http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/article41570274.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Fall 2016