It'll be a transportation field day when you can check out a bike in Detroit as easily as you can a book from the library. Detroit Bike Sharing co-founders Stephanie Lucido and Jenna Przybycien share their plans for how the Motor City can be a cycle city.
Jenna Przybycien: What Detroit Could Have in Common with Barcelona, Spain
Posted By: Jenna Przybycien & Stephanie Lucido
Posted: 10/20/2011
Vic, Stephanie and I met at the College for Creative Studies, where we bonded quickly over lack of sleep, bad jokes and big ideas. For four years we got to know Detroit as well as each other, and learned its temperaments, its secrets and most importantly, its potential. Now, we want to be a part of its revival – with Detroit Bike Sharing.
The idea for bringing bike sharing to Detroit started when Stephanie and I went to Barcelona in the summer of 2010. We saw all these red bikes and docking stations everywhere we went, and we were curious to find out what they were. Neither of us had heard of bike sharing before so when we learned what the program was, we were amazed. And we thought: why doesn't Detroit have this?
This past year, Vic, Stephanie and I have been researching and planning how to bring bike sharing to Detroit, and how to fund it. It's a challenge and it's a learning process. But, one step at a time, we plan to make it happen. We've even already started laying out the framework. We've developed a plan, begun to apply for grants, started making connections and have filed to become a non-profit corporation.
One major thing we've learned is that we're going to need a lot of help to bring this project to life: From manufacturers, designers and city council, to lawyers, accountants and the community, we have a lot of phone calls to make to bring this system to Detroit.
In the near future we plan to launch a Kickstarter project to start funding the next steps to start putting some serious wheels in motion. While it is an intimidating process, it's also very exciting. There is an infectious energy moving throughout Detroit right now, and we're using it as a constant motivator. The feedback from the community has been amazing and a lot of wonderful people have stepped up to offer their help. We couldn't be more thankful for the recognition and the positivity around the idea of bringing Detroit Bike Share to life. Let's keep it rolling.