Have you ever known someone that everytime something goes wrong, they say, "That's It...I'm Writing A Letter". I have known many people to say this, and never do this. Well, I did it. The objective is to get a BIKE STATION in San Diego. I want one of these in San Diego so bad. We need one. I sent a letter to the exectuve team at BikeStation.Mobis Transportation. These people own Bike station. They were featured in last month's FAST COMPANY magazine. Long Beach and Palo Alto have a Bike Station. San Diego is such a "Biker's Paradise" but...we don't have anything like "Bike Station" and we need it. Join my mission to get San Diego a Bike Station. http://www.bikestation.com/ Check out the progress....
Letter--to Bikestation from Me 10/11/09:
Hello Andrea, Bill, Bruckner, Steve, Matthew OR Andrew! How are you today? I am not sure who in your company reads the general inquiries so a proper greeting to all is in order. A couple weeks ago I read Andrea's article in Fast Company mag. I was really intrigued by what she said. 1 week later I went to New Belgium;s Tour De Fat, where the Funeral of the Car was 1 of the many awesome bike enthusiast experiences. It got me to thinking...."What do we need to do to get San Diego a Bike Station?" What is your process of setting them up in Long Beach, Palo Alto-etc? Who do I need to write a letter too or harass a bit about the importance to have one of these in SD proper? I am sure in your business plan, you have key decision makers, and influencers. When you are soliciting cities for new business, who are your targets?
I am a rookie bike rider, but, am on board with helping to get a Bikestation in San Diego. Any advice you can give on who we reach out too in support of your business would be much appreciated.
Mandi
10/14/09: Email from Bike Station--Bill Ewing to Me:
Hi Mandi,
Thank you for your email and your interest in us. We do not currently have plans in San Diego. Bikestation are public infrastructure and it always starts with a few people pushing the system locally. I hope that might be you. The planners and transit authorities are usually the catalyst stakeholders. San Diego is one of the places we should have a few Bikestations.
All the best,
Bill
Bill EwingMobis Transportation Alternatives Bikestationwww.mobisinc.com www.bikestation.comT 562 733 0106 F 562 733 0107E bewing@bikestation.com
10/14/09: Email to Bill from Me:
Hi Bill, great to hear from you. I agree, everything good starts with a few people pushing the system. If I were to do some pushing, which job titles do you normally start with? Is it the city planner? All I need from you is a title of people that have made it happen in your other cities, and I will take it from here. I have plenty of other pushers that will help me too. If you can help me with the specific titles in Palo Alto and Long Beach that have made it happen, that will give me a good starting point. I 'd like to give some examples.
Also, do you have the main contacts from other cities with Bike Stations? If I can call them, and pick their brain, it will give me more ammo when I am speaking to the decision makers in our city.
Mandi
10/15/09: Email to me from Bill:
Each city is different and has their own fragmentation issues. Any title that has Planning, Transportation, Bike or Sustainability is a fantastic place to start. My regards,Bill
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Go, Manda!!! Great start.
ReplyDeleteWhere to start kinda depends on where you think a bike station should go and where you live. Here are some of my candcidate sites: Ocenaside Transit Center, Solana Beach train station, Santa Fe Depot downtown. Where you live matters because chances are you will need some elected official to champion your cause, and to get one to listen to you, it helps if you can vote for him or her.
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