PLACES & SPACES News:
Places & Spaces conducted a bike sharing survey was conducted during January to determine what interest may exist for a bike sharing program in the Los Alamos area and among interested respondents, information about relevant locations, frequency of use, price sensitivity, and situations of use.
The online survey was publicized in the Los Alamos Daily Post, the Los Alamos Monitor, and through a member of the County’s Transportation Board.
There were 158 responses were received with 81 percent of responses indicating an interest in a bike sharing program. Eighty percent of the respondents indicating interest live in the Los Alamos townsite, 12 percent in White Rock, and the balnce are commuters.
When asked what locations they would like a program to serve, 94 percent indicated downtown Los Alamos, 47 percent indicated TA-3/Research Park, and 27 percent indicated White Rock. Several suggestions were received about other locations.
When asked what they would envision using a shared bike for, the most prevalent responses were “shopping and/or running errands” (63 perceent), “riding for fun on weekends” (54 percent), going to a lunch/dining place” (48 percent), “riding at lunch or another time for exercise” (46 percent), “getting to/from a bus stop” (45 percent), “riding for fun on weekdays” (44 percent), “traveling to a meeting or another place I need to go for work” (42 percent), and “getting to/from a place where I park” (35 percent).
More than 75 percent of responses rated work places, stores/restaurants, the public library, bus stops, and parking areas as “desirable” or “highly desirable” places to locate bike pick-up and drop-off locations.
Desirability responses were collected for a variety of other types of locations as well.
Respondents were queried about their interest in participation in the program at several price points. A total of 75 percent indicate they would be likely or very likely to use a program if it were free, 69 percent if it costs $5 or less per month for unlimited rides of less than one hour, 39 percent if it costs $7.50 or less per month for unlimited rides of less than one hour, and 27 percent if it cost a flat $3/hour to use a bike.
Given price acceptability, 64 percent of respondents indicate they believe they would be at least weekly users in the downtown area, 41 percent in TA-3, and 17 percent in the White Rock Commercial Area.
Responses suggest that the large majority would expect to walk 5 minutes, give or take, to pick up a shared bike.
Forty-four comments were received in the survey responses. In addition to general comments either praising the idea of such a program or opposing it, comments addressed ideas, questions, and concerns relating to times and places for program availability, operations and maintenance, routes and safety for riding bikes, and financing/cost-related.
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