First Cohort Seeks to Celebrate Biking in Expansion Neighborhoods
Cincinnati – With the upcoming neighborhood expansions of the Red Bike system into Walnut Hills, Avondale, and Evanston, Red Bike is launching a Community Ambassadors program rooted in equity, opportunity, and connection.
Red Bike is seeking passionate, community-focused nonprofit organizations serving the Evanston, Avondale, and Walnut Hills neighborhoods to be the first cohort of Community Ambassadors. This program will partner with existing neighborhood organizations to build community support for bikeshare and biking by creating fun and engaging bike rides and events for residents to learn more about bicycling in their neighborhood. We are looking for folks who are excited to get outside, ride bikes, and spread the joy of biking in their communities.
Organizations that partner as Community Ambassadors must be willing to gain the skills necessary to educate community members about Red Bike, bike infrastructure, bicycle safety, and bike riding opportunities.
“We have learned a lot operating Red Bike over the past eight years, and chief among our lessons is that the communities we serve deserve to have a voice and connection to their bike infrastructure,” said Red Bike Executive Director Doug McClintock. “We are excited to take our community engagement to the next level by not only bringing Red Bike stations, but investing in developing community capacity that shares the joy of bikes for recreation and transportation.”
Applications for these three mini-grants will remain open until Monday, March 21st, 2023. Each organization selected will receive a $3,000 stipend, Red Bike annual memberships, training and education around bikeshare and bike ride leader training, among other benefits. The grant period will cover the riding seasons in 2023 and 2024. Grantees will attend meetings, training, lead bike rides, and host selected events as the Red Bike stations launch in their neighborhoods.
Full details of the program and a link to the application can be found on Red Bike’s website at: https://www.cincyredbike.org/community-ambassador/
The Community Ambassadors program is supported through grant funding from the Better Bikeshare Partnership and is part of Red Bike’s Living Lab initiatives, which prioritize bikeshare equity and access. Red Bike was awarded the Living Lab grant in 2020 and has spent the past few years growing and diversifying ridership, implementing new outreach programming with partners, and expanding the bikeshare network to new neighborhoods.
“I’m excited to launch this new initiative with help from folks who are already working and investing in these neighborhoods,” says Red Bike Engagement Manager Elese Daniel, “I’m looking forward to working with folks who also see bikes as a tool for connection – socially, recreationally, as transportation, whatever they want. We get to do it together.”
About Red Bike
Red Bike is Cincinnati’s non-profit station-based bike share system. We are a small local team connecting people to places and each other by providing a reliable, low-cost, green transportation option. We partner with communities to improve lives through bikes. Our vision is to create a just and joyful transportation network and change how people move.
Red Bike’s Go Program is nationally recognized as a leader in equitable bike share membership and offers $5 monthly memberships to qualified individuals, accounting for 23% of all rides in 2022. For more information, visit https://www.cincyredbike.org.
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