Sustainable Transportation and the Museum
Somehow, yesterday, I came across a news piece about B-Cycle, a bicycle sharing startup in Denver, Colorado, the first of its kind in the United States. I must say, I’m excited about the concept and I’m also excited about the projects Denver has embarked on as a city, metro area, and consumer community that promote bicycling and bike safety. My thoughts about how great it would be to move to Denver after graduate school and try to find work intensified after a heated discussion with my parents and uncle last night about my hometown mayor’s decision to override a resolution to hire a consultant to create a bikeway masterplan for Topeka. (If this upsets you, consider donating to $5 to Override, the organization attempting to raise the funds the city won’t provide.) My argument, simply put, was that good biking systems enhance the desire of young professionals to return to or move to a location. Today, I’ve been considering the role that bicycle-sharing could provide in enhancing museum traffic.
I specifically think that this sort of program may work best in very metropolitan areas where museums are somewhat clustered. In Topeka, most museums are fairly spread out and even though the city is somewhat small the lack of a good bikeway system makes the ride from the history museum to the art museum somewhat daunting for someone who would ride in. But, in Kansas City, a bike share may make the Kemper Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Toy and Miniatures Museum accessible with only one parking job. While you’re at it, you can take a self-guided fountain and architecture tour of the Country Club Plaza. Even for locations with two much distance between them, bike sharing may enliven a historic neighborhood following a visit to the area museum—think of a short bike ride around 18th and Vine after visiting the American Jazz Museum and the National Negro Leagues Museum. My argument is that museum-based bicycle sharing programs may enhance visitorship at museums on the same day as the travel between museums becomes part of the fun rather than a daunting process of finding new parking.
As sustainable transportation becomes more important in people’s understanding of their impact on the environment, these programs would keep museums innovative in addressing pollution. With the knowledge that one four mile bicycle ride stops 15 pounds of pollutants from being dispersed into the air, bicycle sharing programs include a huge educational component.
As the startup and maintenance costs of these programs is high, it provides, or requires, a consortium among institutions, a practice that I believe will be invaluable to museums in the future. It could foster a relationship between museums and uncommon partners like locally owned bike shops, bike manufacturers in the area, or private businesses interested in facilitating bike sharing. Whether the process is initiated by the museum or a private entity, the benefits for the museum may be immeasurable.