Bus Bike Racks Challenge

Valley Metro Recognized Nationally for Two Transit Programs:

Bus Bike Racks and Online Commute Cost Calculator

PHOENIX (Oct. 14, 2005) –Valley Metro accepted three awards for its agency partners, including the City of Phoenix, for the Sportsworks 2005 Transit Challenge awards for overall bike rack usage. Valley Metro/Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA) Chairwoman and Peoria Vice Mayor Pat Dennis accepted the awards at the 2005 APTA Conference in Dallas on Sept. 27.

Between May and August, North American transit agencies competed against each other in a contest to find out which agency encouraged the most riders to incorporate bicycle and bus transit into their daily travel.

Out of a total of eight awards given to transit properties across the U.S., Valley Metro scooped up three: 1) the highest percentage of bicycle boardings for a major urban area at a 2.23% bike share; 2) the highest total number of bicycle boardings for major urban area; and 3) for all North American transit agencies at 405,270 bicycles. For the four month period, the City of Phoenix carried 256,976 bicycles out of the total.

The bus bike rack program was initiated by the City of Phoenix in 1990 as a response to a city-wide citizen based planning process called Futures Forum. A bike taskforce of Phoenix residents was formed and they were instrumental in helping staff design Phoenix’s first bike rack for the Valley Metro buses. After a six-month trial of 40 racks installed on three City of Phoenix bus routes proved successful, the program grew to include racks on all buses in the Valley Metro system by the end of 1991.

“We are proud that the City of Phoenix is known nationwide as the ‘grandfather of bike racks’ and that the residents and city staff were instrumental in developing an effective and creative way to combine bus and bikes to extend travel,” says Debbie Cotton, Public Transit Director, City of Phoenix.

In a separate awards program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced that Valley Metro/RPTA is the winner in the multi-modal and inter-jurisdictional information category for its online Commuter Calculator. The online Commuter Calculator can be found at www.ValleyMetro.org and has been assisting Valley residents with figuring commute costs since 2003. According to the FTA, Valley Metro’s online tool does not over-inflate commuting costs, which occurs with other similar tools. Also, unlike most other online commuter calculators that calculate savings on two alternative modes, the Valley Metro Calculator features the capability to provide costs and savings for five modes including carpool, vanpool, bus, telework and compressed work weeks. Other winning features include the low development costs and high usage by transit customers.

The Volpe Center, who is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation evaluated hundreds of Web sites based on standardized criteria and based this year’s award on innovative features. A total of four agencies have received awards this year for innovative Web site features. Valley Metro will be presented the FTA Web site award in Phoenix by their management team next month.