I'm kind of an outsider here, but, in an effort to ease, or perhaps inflame, border tensions, that's b-o-r-d-e-r, I'm sorry Middleton feels snubbed, but getting all pissy on this list-serve isn't going to serve you or your fair city well. And calling Ms. Webber Mr. Webber isn't going to do you any good either.
Beyond that, I'd note that I spent a week in Montreal and used their Bixi's extensively on a vacation with my kids. There, we learned that the Bixi locations were all about density of users. That you'd find Bixi stations frequently within the cluster, but you couldn't expect to travel across a low-density user area and find a station in a potentially high-density area. That they were inner-city, not inter-city transportation. So, out to the suburbs, no. That if you wanted to do that kind of ride that you should rent a bike a bike shop, which we did. So, although Middleton might be contiguous with Madison, its downtown isn't contiguous with Madison's. So, I can see why you got left out of the plan. You ought to be able to see why, too, if you study other cities where bike sharing has been successful. That's not to say you shouldn't develop your own if you have the density to support it. And if you develop your own with the same system, perhaps they can connect some day. --- Robert F. Nagel [email protected] www.nagel-law.com Thirty on the Square, 10th Floor 30 W. Mifflin St., Suite 1001 Madison, WI 53703 608-255-1501 office 608-255-1504 fax 608-438-9501 cell On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 10:22 AM, Val Steel <[email protected]>wrote: > Apparently Mr. Webber is unaware that until Madison began negotiating their > “sweet” deal with B-Cycle/Trek we were in the last half of our planning > stages to have at least 4 stations installed in Middleton by no later than > June 1, 2011. When Madison’s negotiations began in earnest B-Cycle stopped > returning our calls, etc.. It became very apparent that Middleton would be > unable to achieve their goals as planned. Worse yet… when we did finally > get a response to our panic we were told by our B-Cycle contact that the > “deal” that Madison was offered was not available for Middleton as they had > extended the budget for that program to the maximum. Apparently, as is > evident now by the even ‘sweeter’ deal, that wasn’t the case either. For > all the talk about boarders being irrelevant the moat seems to be pretty > deep here. > > > > Proudly at Middleton’s visitors service, > > > > Val Steel > > Director of Tourism > > *Middleton Tourism Commission* > > 1811 Parmenter Street > > Middleton, WI 53562 > > Ph 608-831-6350 fax 608-831-8867 toll free 800-688-5694 > > 'Middleton... it's better here!' > > By not printing this email you've helped save paper, ink, and millions of > trees. > > [image: TOURISM LOGO 2011.jpg] <http://www.visitmiddleton.com/> > > > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Robbie > Webber > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 26, 2011 7:32 PM > *To:* Mark Opitz > *Cc:* Robert F. Nagel; Amanda White; [email protected]; Mike Davis; > Val Steel > > *Subject:* Re: [Bikies] B-Cycle Moving Forward in Madison > > > > Mark - > > > > I can't speak to why Trek made the decisions they did. However, I do know > that, assuming the program is successful, and I have every confidence that > it will be, it can be expanded in years to come. Both Middleton and > Shorewood Hills have expressed interest in participating, and the UW would > like to have significantly more kiosks/locations. That's great, and means > that a truly metro-wide system will have lots of support. > > > > One important aspect of the system is that the user has to feel confident > that there will both be a bike available at the time and place s/he needs > one, and also a free space to return it close to the desired destination. > That means that stations need to be located more or less within 1/2 mile of > each other, so that if a bike or free parking space isn't available at one > station, the user can easily walk to another. > > > > Trek could have started with one cluster of stations in the Madison > downtown/Isthmus/UW/near south area, and another cluster of stations in > Middleton, and then hoped that there would be enough support to make the > two clusters meet in years to come. Or the two separate clusters could have > operated independently for a few year. But what they chose to do was start > at the metro center, and then plan to expand out from that center. Again, > you'd have to ask Trek why didn't locate any stations in Middleton. > > > > The desire to have stations close to each other is why all the 35-50 > stations are located in a pretty small area - only about 5 miles east to > west, and maybe 1 mile south of the University Ave corridor. Lots of > neighborhoods, business districts and alders asked for stations farther out, > and feel slighted. But we are all hoping that this catches on like wildfire > and spreads over a much larger area. > > > > If Middleton wants to get started sooner rather than later, I would suggest > contacting Trek to ask them what it would take to get stations located in > Middleton starting next year. Then you have plenty of time to plan and > budget - especially if you need more than $20,000 or need to find > appropriate locations. I can tell you that it took a lot of staff resources > to come up with the locations that were picked in such a short period of > time! > > > > > > > > Robbie Webber > > > > > On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 5:31 PM, Mark Opitz <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I am very happy for Madison, but some of us remain quite disappointed that > this agreement does not include Middleton, which for 2011 had > *budgeted*$20,000 as a cost-share to locate a few stations. Given the > interest in > RTA, it’s unfortunate that bicycle sharing hasn’t been considered from the > perspective of the metro area. Middleton remains interested in > participating in a bicycle sharing program. > > > > Mark Opitz > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Robbie Webber > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:47 PM > *To:* Robert F. Nagel > *Cc:* Amanda White; [email protected] > > > *Subject:* Re: [Bikies] B-Cycle Moving Forward in Madison > > > > I was on the committee that helped pick out site. We started with a list of > over 200 suggested sites (I think I submitted at least 75 myself), and then > narrowed it down using various criteria: > > > > * public vs. private property > > * visibility > > * trying to not remove existing bike racks or other street/sidewalk uses > > * distance from other kiosks - not too close or too far > > * access to either solar or electrical conduit > > * proximity to obvious destinations: shopping, parks, employers, dense > neighborhoods, etc. > > * where they can physically fit the kiosks, which have a minimum footprint > > * etc. > > > > At the last meeting of the committee, I think they had it narrowed down to > about 50 sites, including a half dozen on the UW campus. We were shooting > for 35, and so some of the "final" sites may be scratched or may not work > for various reasons. The sites range geographically from approximately the > UW Hospital to Olbrich Gardens to Wingra Creek (as west, east, and southern > points.) The City and Trek folks were making sure that the sites were > actually going to physically work. > > > > There will certainly be a map when all the decisions are made and > infrastructure questions have been answered. But my guess is that they don't > have a final map simply because they are still tweaking the locations and > station numbers. > > > > > > Robbie Webber > > > > On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 3:22 PM, Robert F. Nagel <[email protected]> > wrote: > > that's really fast; at all locations? there must be a map out there of the > proposed locations; anybody have the link to it or can somebody attach it to > a reply here? > > > --- > Robert F. Nagel > [email protected] > www.nagel-law.com > Thirty on the Square, 10th Floor > 30 W. Mifflin St., Suite 1001 > Madison, WI 53703 > 608-255-1501 office > 608-255-1504 fax > 608-438-9501 cell > > On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 3:11 PM, Tom Held <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Plan is to have the bikes in place on May 22. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Robert F. Nagel > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:09 PM > *To:* Amanda White > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [Bikies] B-Cycle Moving Forward in Madison > > > > Great news! Despite my being an apologist for Soglin here on this > list-serve for his winter-cycling statement, I was quietly seething over the > b-cycle demise. Looks like he knows how to drive a hard bargain and deliver, > though. > --- > Robert F. Nagel > [email protected] > www.nagel-law.com > Thirty on the Square, 10th Floor > 30 W. Mifflin St., Suite 1001 > Madison, WI 53703 > 608-255-1501 office > 608-255-1504 fax > 608-438-9501 cell > > On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Amanda White <[email protected]> > wrote: > > *NEWS RELEASE* > > > > Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 > > > > Contact: Eric Bjorling, Trek Bicycle Corporation, (920) > 478-2191, x12526 / [email protected] > > > > *Mayor, Trek Bicycle Announce Agreement on B-cycle Bicycle Sharing Program > * > > > > Trek and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin are pleased to announce that they have > reached a modified agreement that will allow the installation of B-cycle, a > citywide bicycle sharing program, in the next month. > > > > The capital costs of the new system will be donated by Trek Bicycle. > > > > Trek, sensitive to the City’s current financial difficulties, has agreed to > modify the contract so that the cost to the City will be $1 per year rather > than the original $100,000. In return, the City, recognizing the > significant capital contribution by Trek, will agree to extend the contract > from the originally proposed three years to five. In addition, the City will > not share in any profits generated during this contract period. The > parties, by mutual agreement, can renew the contract in 2016. > > > > “We are very excited to bring bike sharing to Madison,” said Trek President > John Burke. “Madison is our home town and we are thrilled to be able to give > back to this great city.” > > > > In order to meet critical time deadlines, the original three year contract > for $100,000 will be executed with the understanding that the terms will be > brought before the City Council for approval. To wait for adoption of the > new terms would delay the installation of the program by two months. Mayor > Soglin said, “I am confident that as we team up to make this program work, > getting the second contract approved can be done expeditiously. This is > going to be a great program for the people of Madison, our visitors and > B-cycle.” > > > > The parties agreed to work closely throughout the contract period to make > sure that issues regarding signage and use of the public right-of-way are > minimized. The Mayor indicated that much needs to be done in the coming > weeks to get the system installed and reporting to critical city committees > as to the details of the plan. > > > > ### > > > > ________________________ > Amanda White > Associate Director > Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin > (608) 251-4456 > [email protected] > www.bfw.org > > > > -- > ________________________ > Amanda White > Associate Director > Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin > (608) 251-4456 > [email protected] > www.bfw.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > >
_______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
