As it stands, bicycle ridership is much lower on Tucson’s south side than other areas closer to downtown.
However, if things go according to plan, that could change dramatically over the next three years.
The city’s bike and pedestrian program just a won a sizable grant from PeopleForBikes to get more residents on two wheels in a large swath of the city that stretches from Cushing Street to Irvington Road. The goal is to double or triple ridership in the area, and the national organization will provide the city with up to $150,000 annually — a figure that might include in-kind donations of technical expertise — to get there.
Nine other cities, including New York and Austin, also won the grant.
That part of the city, which includes the city of South Tucson, is also slated to see a number of improvements to bike infrastructure in coming years, including a major extension of the El Paso & Southwestern Greenway, a new bike boulevard along Liberty Avenue and a number of stations for the planned city bike share program.
The grant will help build on that momentum, according to Ann Chanecka, Tucson’s bike and pedestrian program coordinator.
“With the support of PeopleForBikes, this momentum could really result in a lot of positive achievements,” she added.
During the annual bike and pedestrian count, sites south of downtown often have some of the lowest figures. At South 10th Avenue and West 43rd Street, volunteers counted just 25 daily riders in 2015, compared to the 1,008 observed at North Park Avenue and East University Boulevard, the year’s highest figure.
One of the areas where the national bike advocacy group can help most is with outreach and bicycling promotion, according to Chanecka.
The grant is short on details on how the funding and support can be used, but that’s intentional. One of the big ideas with the program is to provide local residents with the opportunity to take the lead and make those decisions.
It will also provide help with “public engagement strategies, and better inclusive ways to try to promote bicycling that includes the needs and interests of the community,” Chanecka said.
