Mayor Bob Foster pedals his way along Atlantic Avenue with Councilwoman Rae Gabelich trailing at a distance, in Bixby Knolls last week to celebrate the launch of Long Beach’s Bicycle-Friendly Business District program. Bixby Knolls is one of four local business districts participating in the two-year pilot-project. Photo courtesy of Bike Long Beach.
2:30pm | City officials said that more than 60 Long Beach businesses have signed on to a new program the city recently launched to fall in line with its goal of being the most bicycle-friendly city in America while promoting patronage at local businesses.
The two-year pilot program has been dubbed the Long Beach Bicycle-Friendly Business Districts program and was officially launched on June 1 in four of the city’s prominent business districts: Bixby Knolls, the East Village Arts District, Fourth Street’s Retro Row and Cambodia Town along Anaheim Street, according to information provided by City Hall spokesman Edward Kamlan.
The city is providing free bicycles and cycling gear for participating local businesses in those areas to use for short trips, such as local deliveries and post-office and bank runs. In exchange, the businesses have agreed to provide discounts each week to cyclists on “Bike Saturdays,” according to the information provided by Kamlan.
The program is part of City Hall’s comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan to improve cycling infrastructure citywide. Not only does it encourage both consumers and the business community to use bikes for short trips, but it also serves as a shot in the arm to the shop owners in the participating business districts by providing residents with an incentive to shop and dine locally.
A list of participating businesses can be viewed by clicking here, or cyclists out and about can identify which shops and eateries are offering discounts by looking for the decal at right somewhere on the premises.
Mayor Bob Foster said in a prepared statement that the program is a “win-win for the whole city.”
Bike-Friendly Business Districts encourage merchants to use bicycles for their deliveries and errands and encourage residents to ride their bikes to shop and dine locally,” Foster said in the prepared statement. “They promote personal health for residents and financial health for businesses as they attract more customers and more sales.”
April Economides, the project manager at City Hall overseeing the program, told KCET TV Channel 28 that the districts selected to participate in the experimental program are areas in which biking is not as popular as in others, more affluent areas of the community like Belmont Shore, where bicycling is already a popular mode of transportation.
Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, in whose district Bixby Knolls is located, said in a statement that bicycling is an “integral part of local economic development.”
“Bicycling encourages us to shop and dine locally, minimizes traffic and parking issues, reduces pollution, is often faster, always cheaper, and certainly less of a hassle than driving, and is healthy and fun,” Gabelich said.
The new venture is not costing the city a dime. Instead, City Hall has secured funding for the program through the Los Angeles County Department of Health and Human Services’ RENEW initiative (RENEW stands for Renew Environments for Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness), which aims to better the health of residents countywide.
Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich pedals her way along Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls last week to celebrate the launch of Long Beach’s Bicycle-Friendly Business District program. Bixby Knolls is one of four local business districts participating in the two-year pilot-project. Photo courtesy of Bike Long Beach.