Pace Norfolk rolls out this Friday, April 6. In many ways, the public-private dockless bikeshare represents the realization of, and the midway point in, implementing the southeastern Virginia city’s 2015 update to its Bicycle and Pedestrian Strategic Plan.
Discussions over bikesharing began almost a decade earlier, but cost concerns and infrastructure challenges forced the idea onto the shelf. Reshaping Norfolk’s transportation landscape made bikesharing feasible, according to Paul Filion, who is taking the lead on Pace for the city.
“Now, our urgent goal is to introduce a system with the potential to become a regional network for employees to commute by bike, as well as for tourists and locals who would rather not deal with driving downtown,” said Filion, whose official title is alternative transportation manager for the City of Norfolk.
He emphasized that Pace Norfolk will first function as a complement to transit options put in place during recent years, most likely meeting first- and last-mile needs between parking garages, light rail stations, and offices or homes. He also sees bikesharing building better connections among Norfolk neighborhoods and across city borders to Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.
While Filion knows that “eyes and ears are on us as the first in the region to implement bikeshare,” he expressed confidence that success will come from making bikesharing possible, convenient, and safe.
Norfolk is perfect for biking
The city’s public works department has partnered with Zagster to ensure that visitors to and residents of Norfolk have opportunities to reserve, pick up, and ride shared bicycles. “We liked Zagster’s technology and the flexibility of their system,” said Filion.
Zagster set up its first bikeshare operation 2007. It created Pace in 2016 specifically to meet the needs of smaller cities with large universities. Norfolk fit the bill as home to Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University, and with a total area of 96 square miles.
Pace Norfolk Market Manager Aviva Manin also described Norfolk as, in many ways, “an ideal biking community.”
The land is flat, the weather is temperate year-round, the downtown area is well-defined, parking is limited, and the number of innovative, creative businesses has mushroomed. Filion added that the city is in the midst of a condo building boom, which brings in millennials who look for reasons not to drive.
True dockless technology
So-called “smart bikes” form the Pace fleet. A Bluetooth-enabled lock mounted to the rear wheel brace allows users to locate the closest bicycle. That device also interacts with the Pace app that the user downloads to his or her smartphone. No membership is required, and payment is made electronically.
The first trip is free, and bikes can be returned by locking them to any public bike rack. This makes Pace truly dockless, since riders can travel from where a bicycle is to wherever it can be left securely.
Eliminating station-to-station travel makes Pace “as simple to use as possible,” observed Zagster Vice President of Marketing Ryan Hoppe.
Simplicity for the city also comes in the form of modular Pace stations. Filion noted that the bikeshare shelters require no permanent anchors or electricity.
“All the tech rides with the bike,” he said. “If the data tells us we should move a station, or if a station is conflicting with the right of way or a business, we can pack it up and move it.”
Putting bikes where people are and want to go
Fifteen Pace Norfolk stations of a planned 21 will open the first day. Nine are sponsored, meaning neither the city nor Zagster bears the full cost of upkeep. The plan is to line up sponsors for each station, relieving much of the financial burden for Norfolk.
That arrangement frees up more of the $17 million transportation planners have to fulfill their wish list of projects under the biking strategic plan. Projects already completed include marking off 50 miles of buffered bike lanes, designating a downtown bike loop, and marking the majority of right-hand lanes with sharrows. Longer-range ideas are to connect downtown with the Chesapeake Bay beach called Ocean View via bike lanes and to put protected bike routes all the way out to Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
Filion is realistic about what can be accomplished in the near term. “Are we going to paint the whole town green with bikes?” he asked. “No. Are we going to go on a complete road diet with two vehicle lanes and buffered bike lanes everywhere? Maybe.”
The existing stations are clustered in the central business and tourist district of Norfolk. Satellite stations serve the zoo, both universities, and a handful of neighborhoods.
Manin believes adoption will be swift. Her experience with Pace Rochester in New York has taught her that “bikes, once they’re on the ground, speak for and promote themselves.”
Offering biking opportunities while reducing fear
Norfolk City Hall has operated an employee bikeshare for a couple of years. Pace Norfolk shares that program’s overall goals, which include encouraging physical activity and wellness, reducing the city’s carbon footprint, freeing up downtown parking, and reducing the hassle of short trips.
Filion did note that offering bikeshare to the entire community demanded addressing fears about sharing the road with cars and trucks. He also acknowledged that producing a large increase in bicycle use will require changing the culture around transportation.
“Our goal can’t be to cater just to the one percent of dedicated riders,” he stressed. “We need to get all people comfortable with riding.”
The city has released ads and started outreach activities aimed at inculcating respectful driving habits and responsible biking instinct. Continuing to put in bike lanes and adding other road improvements also help, in Filion’s words, to “take away an excuse” not to ride.
Manin saw firsthand how resistance to riding could be overcome in Rochester. She said, “Everyone just assumes their car is more convenient, but when they ride once or twice, they appreciate the fun, the sights, and freedom and want to do it again.”
Photo courtesy of Pace.