There’s a new bike share in town! The Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library offers free one-week checkouts of various types of cargo bikes. One month after launching, we sat down with its founder to find out how it’s going!
Links
Note: if you are listening within two weeks of our publish date, the Cargo Bike Library has a specific donation ask. Two of the library bikes were stolen from a locked garage, and they are raising funds to cover the insurance deductible. Here is the donation page for that specific fundraiser. Below you will find their long-term links.
Attributions
Our theme song is Tanz den Dobberstein, and our interstitial song is Puck’s Blues. Both tracks used by permission of their creator, Erik Brandt. Find out more about his band, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet, on their website.
Many thanks to our guests Laura Mitchell and Erik Noonan! This episode was produced and edited by Stina Neel, and was engineered and transcribed by Ian R Buck. We’re always looking to feature new voices on the show, so if you have ideas for future episodes, drop us a line at [email protected].
Transcript
[00:00:00] Ian: Welcome to the Streets.mn Podcast, the show where we highlight how transportation and land use can make our communities better places. Coming to you from beautiful Uptown, Minneapolis, Minnesota, I am your host Ian R Buck. One of the coolest new things in the Minneapolis bike scene is a cargo bike lending library, a partnership between the Lyndale Neighborhood Association and the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota.
Our producer, Stina Neel jumped at the chance to report this very cool story from her neighborhood. So let me hand you off to her.
[00:00:36] Stina: So Laura, we’re talking about the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library. That’s the official name right now?
[00:00:42] Laura: It is, yes.
[00:00:44] Stina: Can you give us a little intro for you and your relationship to all things bikes?
[00:00:50] Laura: Oh, that is a big question. So it actually started in 2014. I heard about 30 days of biking. I lived in Denver at the time, and back then I just took my bike around every once in a while for random, you know, recreational opportunities or to go play tennis or whatever. But I saw it online and thought, wow, that seems like a fun challenge.
Rode my bike every day in April. Found out that there way were way more situations where I could and wanted to use a bike for transportation, for exercise, for fun. Um, and then I was just hooked from there. And so I have been a bike commuter since about 2014 and. That’s a pretty deep rabbit hole once you start riding a bike on streets and realize how much is wrong and not set up to support folks who are walking, biking, and rolling.
And so, um, a few years into my bike commuting journey, I started getting into advocacy. I was on the mayor’s bicycle advisory committee in Denver, and then once my family moved here to Minneapolis in 2019, we have so many opportunities to advocate. Um, and so I got involved as a volunteer with Our Streets and I’ve been on the board, um, as the board president for the last two and a half years.
And do lots of other volunteer work and show up at group rides. Um, I run a couple safe routes of school grants at my kids’ school and just really work to support people having the freedom and safety and comfort to be able to walk, bike and roll. Yeah.
[00:02:11] Stina: And so bit of a personal question, is your family car free, car light?
[00:02:16] Laura: We have one car. When we moved to Minneapolis, we had two cars and quickly realized after the second car kept having a dead battery ’cause we were using it. So, so, um, not often that we had an opportunity to Get a nice cargo bike by selling our second car. Yeah. And so we did that, sold the second car, bought a cargo bike back in 2021, and my wife and I both work from home, so we don’t actually have work commutes and the kids’ school is in our neighborhood.
So a lot of our life is very close by and very easy to just walk. But when we need to go do things a little bit further away or have loads that we need to carry, we take our cargo bikes.
[00:02:50] Stina: Nice. Uh, I’m someone who just very, very recently became car free, um, like within the last three weeks.
[00:02:56] Laura: That’s huge.
[00:02:57] Stina: So I am very excited to learn more about the cargo bike library and opportunities for folks who are choosing not to drive or don’t drive for any reason.
So in your words, what is the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library?
[00:03:12] Laura: It is a community partnership that is intended to expand access to cargo bikes in Minneapolis. So it’s something that I’ve been working to create for a very long time, and it’s taken lots of different iterations, um, trying to solve lots of different problems.
But at the core, it’s really about just getting bikes in the hands of people. Um, one of the unique ways that we do this is that our rentals are about a week long, and so folks actually have an opportunity to integrate the bike into their day-to-day lives, which is a little bit different from like if you’re renting a Lime bike share bike, um, or those sorts of things where it’s on a short term basis.
And so if the cargo bike library is more long-term rentals, at least right now.
[00:03:51] Stina: Do you think this is kind of like a, um. Is it like the gateway drug into Uh, yes. Into cargo, cargo, bike life?
[00:03:58] Laura: Yes.
And we’ve worked to make the barriers to entry as low as possible. One of those is that it is free to borrow a bike from the library.
That’s why we chose to use the word library. Um, and so I’ve been really excited to see how many people have been able to opt in who have been maybe a little bit like cargo bike, curious. And we actually, uh, one thing that is unique about our program, and we’ll talk about the partnerships in a bit, is that we actually have an orientation that’s required for folks to be able to get access to the bikes.
And we partner with BikeMN on that and use their curriculum and their handbook to ensure that the folks who are renting bikes from us. Are equipped with basic like safety on how to ride a bike safely in the street, how to check a bike for maintenance needs, um, all those basic components and. It’s been really cool to see how many people have benefited from that orientation, and then also how many people have started to like see the opportunity to use bikes in their day-to-day life.
I got emails from two people who had signed up for registrations to attend the orientation, who canceled the orientation because they had gotten a cargo bike while they were waiting.
[00:05:00] Stina: Aw!
[00:05:00] Laura: And so I think that there’s a lot of curiosity and interest out there, and some people just need to see it out there and and be reminded, Hey, this is something that’s possible.
Maybe I’m ready to buy my own bike. Or maybe it’s someone who doesn’t have the resources or doesn’t want to have a cargo bike themselves, but they can still get access to that through a library.
[00:05:16] Stina: Nice. Who is the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library team? Mm-hmm. Because there’s you, there’s partnerships. Um. Who, who are they?
[00:05:25] Laura: Yes. So it started, this was not my idea. I stole this idea from other folks. Um, I had seen examples of libraries like ours in Boston and Vermont. I think there’s one in Omaha now. And so I had this initial idea and originally wanted to start it. With just my family’s bikes out of our garage. And my wife was very smart and vetoed that idea because she was like, what are you gonna do if they break?
What if they get stolen? What is, what are the liability concerns? And so that set me on the path of trying to figure out how I could. Uh, put a few guardrails and safety things in place to help, um, ensure that this program was successful and not as much of a potential liability risk for me as an individual.
So I was super lucky to be able to connect with my friends at the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, AKA BikeMN. Um. So they are a huge partner in this. We also partner with Cyclehoop, which got us the bike hangar, which is like a bike shed that the bikes were actually stored in, and we needed a place for that bike hangar.
I was hopeful that with the Minneapolis secure bike parking pilot, that we would be able to store it in the street, but the city has been taking a while to figure out the permitting process of. Parking these things in the street. And so I had to find some private property that we could store it on. And I happened to live very, very close to the Lyndale Neighborhood Association building, and they have a small parking area in the alley.
And so I approached them, um. To see if they’d be willing to give us a car parking space to put the bikes, and then also to get the word out to the Lyndale community about the resource. And so BikeMN, Cyclehoop and Lyndale Neighborhood Association plus me are the core partners. And then since we’ve launched, we’ve also gotten some support from folks at Bunch Bikes and Lectric.
[00:07:04] Stina: So the process of going from inspiration from other communities to talking with BikeMN, how long did that process take?
[00:07:15] Laura: So it was actually a very twisty, turny process because when I originally had the idea, um, once my wife had vetoed doing this out of our own garage, I was like, okay, maybe I’ll just solve the secure parking issue.
Because I had a number of neighbors who talked about, once they saw our cargo bike, they wanted to get their own, but they lived in apartments or duplexes or just had homes that didn’t have secure places for them to park a bike, like a garage. And so I wanted to solve the parking issue. So I first approached Cyclehoop.
I think this was two years ago. Um, and started the partnership between like Cyclehoop and l and a to try to figure out what was possible as far as secure parking. But we weren’t really able to figure out a way to make that work financially, um, to cover things. And so then I think it was last fall that I approached BikeMN with the idea of.
Rather than just trying to find secure parking, what if we fill it with something that is a valuable community resource? Um, and so I approached BikeMN last fall. We did a lot of planning through the fall, winter, and then launched on April 1st. Mm-hmm.
[00:08:16] Stina: So as of today, it is officially one month. Mm-hmm.
Ooh, exactly. It is exactly one month.
[00:08:22] Laura: Happy birthday!
[00:08:23] Stina: Happy happy birthday, Cargo Bike Library. So, it is considered a pilot program.
[00:08:29] Laura: Yes.
[00:08:29] Stina: So what does that mean in terms of timeline and then what are some goals? And we can, we can also talk to BikeMN about on their side, what are goals and numbers and things that need to be shown.
[00:08:45] Laura: Yeah. Yeah. I think it’d be great for you to talk to the BikeMN team as well, because they were so fantastic to be able to add this onto an existing grant that they have through the Met Council focused on their e-bike commuter program. So this is a different angle than what they do with their e-bike commuter program.
But same idea of like, how can you get bikes in people’s hands and support them to replace car trips with bike trips and give- lower the barrier to entry with having freely available bikes that they help maintain. Um. And so I think that was, that was a huge piece of things. And the pilot is really that the grant that we are doing this under, it ends at the end of this year.
[00:09:20] Stina: Mm-hmm.
[00:09:20] Laura: And so the plan is, we launched on April 1st. We’ll probably close down in as late of fall as we can lean into, um, probably not gonna go towards the winter. And then if we’re able to get more grant funding through the Met Council or through another source, then the hope is that we can continue into 2026 and potentially even expand into more locations, get more bikes.
Um, but yeah, just for this year, it’s essentially April 1st through late fall and we didn’t set super specific goals on like number of trips. We had honestly no idea what to expect, especially once we put in place the requirement for the orientation. I honestly was a little bit worried that people weren’t gonna wanna give up an hour – it’s an hour long orientation – I was like, people aren’t gonna wanna give up an hour of their time, oftentimes on weekends just to get access to these bikes. I was wrong. All of our orientations filled up as soon as I started sharing about them. And now I’m in this tricky position of: we started the program with three bikes. We aren’t, we are just now a month in, and now we have five bikes. I’m the only one right now managing the check-in/ check-out process and communicating with people who rent the bikes. And so far I’ve like put, been able to put in some pretty good processes for that. But it is a, a time. It takes time and I’m doing this as a volunteer.
Um, and. We don’t have more locations. We have offers from some bike companies to get us more bikes, but we don’t have space to put the bikes. And I’m worried that I don’t wanna overload myself as a volunteer managing too many bikes. And so I think there is huge demand, huge potential and support from the bike industry.
’cause I think they see the opportunity here. Obviously our goal is not to sell cargo bikes, right? But there’s an obvious connection here that once folks get an opportunity to try a bike, some of them are gonna decide to get one themselves.
[00:10:59] Stina: Is this like the best problem to have, isn’t it?
[00:11:01] Laura: It is! It is the absolute best problem to have, but it also breaks my heart to have to tell people like, “I know you’re excited about this program and I am too, but I don’t have space for you right now.”
[00:11:10] Stina: Right.
[00:11:11] Laura: ” And I don’t have enough bikes.” And so we’re in the situation right now where we have currently onboarded 30 people through our orientation. I call them Minneapolis cargo bike library members, you’re a member. If you’ve been through the orientation, again, no cost or anything, but just you’ve, you’ve been trained up.
So we have 30 folks right now. We have another 25 who will be oriented in May. And if you do the math with five bikes, not all of them are in the same demand. There’s a couple that are in much higher demand than others. I actually can’t onboard that many more people because with one week rentals for each bike, we might already be booked through the fall.
[00:11:43] Stina: Right. Are you only doing one week rentals or do some folks only want for a weekend or something?
[00:11:48] Laura: Some people do, but to protect my own ability to not have to do check-in/ check-out every single day on top of my full-time job and family and all the things. Right. Right now. I’m regimenting it to checkout is Saturday afternoons and then they check the bike back in Thursday nights.
Okay. So I have two more bikes that are coming back in tonight.
[00:12:04] Stina: Oh my gosh.
[00:12:05] Laura: And both days are so fun for me. Like to be able, I call myself a bike librarian now, um, and to be able to like, greet folks and say, here’s your bike off you go. To have adventures for a week is so fun and to be able to walk them through, A lot of people will have questions on like, where’s the throttle?
How do I do this? And so I can, I can get them set up to hopefully have a successful time with some of the knowledge about how the bike actually works. And then when they bring it back, they often have so many stories to tell me about what happened while they rented the bike. The second week of our program, the person who was the second person to rent our Aventon Abound happened to see the person who rented it the first week. They saw each other, I think at Dairy Queen or something, and the first renter was like, oh, I just had that bike last week. And they were able to hang out and connect. And I felt like that was a very Minneapolis story.
[00:12:50] Stina: So you said you have five bikes?
[00:12:51] Laura: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:52] Stina: And I did do some peeking. You have four are electric.
[00:12:56] Laura: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:57] Stina: And one is an acoustic long tail.
[00:12:58] Laura: Yep.
[00:12:59] Stina: Is acoustic your preferred, uh, way to say non-electric bike?
[00:13:02] Laura: Yeah. I don’t know, like non bike people if they understand what that means. So sometimes I’ll say acoustic, sometimes I’ll say. Non-electric sometimes.
[00:13:08] Stina: Sometimes I say analog. Yeah, well like human powered. That’s fun. Yeah.
[00:13:12] Laura: But the electric bikes are human powered too. It’s just they’re, yeah. Helped by the motors, so…
[00:13:17] Stina: Non assisted bikes. Yeah. Yes. Um, and then, so one is an electric trike. Mm-hmm. Thats the newest?
[00:13:24] Laura: Technically the Lectric Trike, which is an upright one person.
We’re kind of bending the rules a little bit. I don’t know if you can count that one as a cargo bike, but we got it donated and it’s an awesome bike and really good for folks who have like balance or mobility needs. Yeah, so that one technically is the newest, but then we got the Bunch trike right before that.
So it was just a month of trikes.
[00:13:43] Stina: Yes. So you have the long tail, you have the Bunch bike, which is that kind of bucket style. Yep. And that one can hold…?
[00:13:50] Laura: 400 pounds in the cargo area.
[00:13:53] Stina: Oh my gosh. That’s like a couple of friends.
[00:13:54] Laura: It is. Uh, my wife and I actually just took, our family has a Bunch bike too, and right now the cargo bike trike is between rentals.
I’m actually gonna bring it to an event this weekend. Um, the Lyndale Neighborhood Association has a walk, bike and roll event, and we’ll have the Bunch bike there to show folks. So it’s not rented right now. So my wife and I actually took it last night on a date. And saw Regina on Bryant, our friend on on Bryant Avenue, and I was in the front on the way to our date, and then my wife was in the front on the way home.
[00:14:20] Stina: Oh my gosh. We borrowed a friend’s Urban Arrow, and I’ve been in the front of that and I’ve had Ian in the front of it, and it is. That’s the best way to go to a date. Yes. It’s full of giggles. It’s very fun.
[00:14:38] Laura: Yes. On our way home, a driver shouted out the window at us that we were living the best life.
I thought that was very accurate. Yes. We’ve taken, like for school pickup, I’ve put my mom in the front of the trike and then both kids fit in there too. So like you can mix and match. Dogs can go on the front. We have that one set up to be able to have a dog in. It has a mat on the ground that’s good for like not scratching up the bike.
And then it has a leash that the dog can be attached to within the bike. Lots of use cases.
[00:15:03] Stina: I’ve talked to some folks who are enjoying like late retirement age, right? Mm-hmm. They’re, they’re in their golden years and they’re like, “oh, I can’t ride a bike anymore.” And I keep thinking about how wonderful the bucket bikes are for having a seat in there.
And you get the experience of flying down the hills. And having so much fun on a bike. Even if you’re at a stage in life where. You’re not in, in pedaling mode.
[00:15:33] Laura: Yep. And that the Bunch Bike in particular is that company does a lot of work to try to make sure that folks know how that bike can be used for accessibility needs.
And so like young kids with accessibility needs, older folks with accessibility needs. Um. Folks with dogs, I had a veteran, uh, who had some disabilities who test rode a bike, one of the Bunch bikes last weekend, who has two service dogs and she put her two service dogs in the front of the bike and just said that she was super excited to be able to take them out on adventures.
Um, and then I have another person who reached out to me and wants to rent the Bunch bike to help their adult friend who has a chronic illness. And oftentimes is like, has fatigue and is not able to ride a bike on their own. This friend wants to take their friend in the Bunch bike and take them around onto all of the, you know, beautiful bike paths and places that cars can’t go that this friend hasn’t been able to see since they’ve had these, these things come up physically.
So.
[00:16:25] Stina: So. Quick side note, where do the bikes come from? Is this something that is, were they purchased, donated? I know BikeMN. That’s where those Aventons came from.
[00:16:35] Laura: Yep. Yeah, so it’s very mix and match BikeMN bought our first two electric cargo bikes, both of the Aventon Abounds. We have an Abound and then Abound SR, which is a slightly smaller one.
One is set up to haul kids, the other is set up to just haul cargo. And then I had that Kona. Non assisted, or whatever we wanna call it, bike donated to me actually through some friends at Piecycle. Um, someone just had a, had the bike and didn’t need it anymore and was looking for to give it a new home. So we started just with those three bikes and then the Bunch Bike is technically on loan to us mm-hmm.
From Bunch. And then the Lectric trike was fully donated to BikeMN for this program.
[00:17:11] Stina: Ooh. So the orientation: folks sign up ahead of time. They’re offered twice a month. Once a month?
[00:17:19] Laura: Well, I was trying to offer way more, but now I have to slow down because of the, the weeks. But yeah, the, they originally were offered once a month.
[00:17:27] Stina: and so at that it’s one hour.
Mm-hmm. And you learn how to safely. Operate and lock. Mm-hmm. What other things do you learn during your rotation?
[00:17:36] Laura: Everything. So the BikeMN team has this fantastic handbook of biking around Minnesota. Mm-hmm. And it has everything you need to know about staying safe while biking. So what, what different types of infrastructure look like, what your lane position should be like, where in the lane you should be, which lane you should be in when you’re turning, how to do hand signals.
Mm-hmm. Um, how to fit a helmet on your head, securely, how to lock up the bike, as you mentioned. And then the basic, like a, b, c, quick check. Uh, that we want folks, folks do not need to be bike mechanics to rent these bikes. I check them over every time they come in and before they go out again. And if anything comes up, the BikeMN team helps us fix anything.
So that is not on our renters to be able to fix a bike, but we wanna make sure that they have the basics in place to make sure that what they’re riding is safe as far as checking the tires and the brakes and the chains and cassettes. So we equip them with all of that information.
[00:18:25] Stina: So they sign a waiver and what is expected from. A user or from a member?
[00:18:31] Laura: Mm-hmm. They are. So they can use our website to actually book a bike. So if you are not a member, when you look at our website, you actually don’t see the booking side of things. Mm-hmm. It’s only for folks who have completed the orientation. I give them sort of the secret member way into the website to, to actually book a bike. And so once they book their bike, they show up on right now, Saturday afternoons, I give them everything they need as far as the bike itself. We give them a lock with a key. If they need a helmet, we give that to them and then they go on their way and they get to use the bike that Saturday through Thursday in whatever way they want.
We got some questions of like, “can we take it out of the city?” Like yes, if you can ride far enough to take it out of the city and you know, you wanna do errands in Richfield or St. Louis Park or whatever, like the bike is yours to use. Mm-hmm. And care for. Mm-hmm. We ask that folks lock up the bike securely.
Folks who have garages, we ask them to lock the bike up in their garage. If they don’t have a garage, though, they’re still welcome to rent our bikes. They, we just ask that they lock securely somewhere outdoors near their home and keep an eye on it. Um, and then when they return the bike, I ask them to share with me fun stories of the adventures they’ve been on.
And then I also am doing some data collection on how many miles did you ride with the e-bikes? I’m able to just look at the odometer and get that. But for the non-electric one, I have to ask how many miles. I ask them how many days they used it and then how many trips they went on. And it’s just a rough estimate.
They don’t have to track these numbers super, um, carefully during the rental, but that helps to give us a sense of. How impactful the program is being and how much use the bikes are getting.
[00:19:59] Stina: So you like the best spreadsheet in the world?
[00:20:01] Laura: Yes, I do. It’s very color coded and organized. I have many spreadsheets now.
[00:20:07] Stina: So because we’re talking about, um, cargo bikes, which are famously not ultra cheap.
[00:20:13] Laura: Mm-hmm.
[00:20:14] Stina: There are some concerns about like making sure that the bikes go where we want them to go and that they aren’t. Borrowed by people who aren’t borrowing and not disappearing. Mm-hmm. What are kind of like the safety mechanisms in place for that?
[00:20:29] Laura: Yep. That was a huge consideration and something that we have multiple layers in place for. So first of all, BikeMN has bike insurance on, they have insurance on all of the bikes that helps to cover things. We, in the orientation that folks are required to take, we walk them through. How to lock up a bike?
Both like where on the bike should you put the lock through and also what should you lock it to and what source of situations should you, if you have a choice, favor as far as locking locations versus others? Mm-hmm. So if folks have a garage, we prefer that they lock in their garage. If they don’t have a garage, we talk them through, like locking it up in a fenced garage in a fenced yard or to something secure. The city, we’re lucky to live in a city where there actually is quite a bit of parking available for, for bikes out in the public right of way. And so walking them through what that might look like. And then we provide everyone with really secure Kryptonite locks that they get to take with them with the bike.
[00:21:19] Stina: This is a follow up question, um, from podcast producer and host Ian. Do they have access to use the cycle hoop as a storage if they are local?
[00:21:31] Laura: Like not right now because it is set up with a key. Mm. And we were a little bit worried that like if someone rented a bike, ’cause the bikes are not locked inside of the cycle hoop right now.
Right. ’cause we needed to save some space. There is a way that you can do that. Some of the cycle hoops come with racks, so you lock the bike inside the cycle hoop, and then you also close and lock the cycle hoop. But the way ours is set up, they just are free in there. And so we wanna make sure that there wouldn’t be an accidental situation where a member would not securely lock the cycle hoop and then suddenly all of our bikes are gone.
Right. Yeah. So right now it’s locked down the cycle hoop, um, is actually working on some more development with their hangers and they will likely have an app in the future that would allow folks to open and close the hanger and probably allow me to be able to see like, is it open? Is it closed? Right.
And so that might free up both my time and allow folks to have some more flexibility on where they store the bike and when they access it.
[00:22:22] Stina: Similar to like how I unlock an Evie.
[00:22:24] Laura: Mm-hmm. Exactly.
[00:22:26] Stina: Uh, a shout out to the Evie episode that we’ve done in the past.
[00:22:29] Laura: Mm-hmm. I’m releasing things on a month by month basis right now, and if you’re not subscribed to our newsletter yet, you should subscribe, especially if you’re a member.
’cause things go out to the newsletter first and. The last batch that I opened up, I opened up the whole month of May, and by the next, I opened it up at like nine 30 at night and sent it out via the newsletter, and by the next morning, the entire month was booked.
[00:22:52] Stina: Wow.
[00:22:53] Laura: For those top three in demand bikes, the Bunch Bike and the two Aventons were completely booked.
[00:22:58] Stina: Are you having any repeaters yet?
[00:23:01] Laura: I’m trying to be careful about not encouraging too, too much repeats until I wanna get everyone a chance because the worst thing would be for someone to have given up an hour of their time. Taking the orientation then for me to not have space. But if folks have rented one bike and they wanna try another, and if I have some flexibility, then yes, I will let folks try a different bike.
So we do have one person in May set to try a different bike from the one that they rented in April.
[00:23:24] Stina: So. Currently what, what has been like your biggest surprise in the first month?
[00:23:30] Laura: The demand. I, I wanted to do this project ’cause I thought there was interest, but I worried that it might just be interest from people who are already really bike savvy and just haven’t had a chance to try out cargo bikes before.
But it actually has been a lot of people in our orientations who are not yet doing a lot of biking for transportation. And are curious that this might be their pathway into that. My own pathway was that I got obsessed with just regular bikes first and then came to cargo bikes, and so it’s really cool to see how there can be just so many different entry points for folks and how excited folks are to see in a city that has so much infrastructure for biking, how we can increase folks’ ability to actually use bikes for transportation.
[00:24:14] Stina: Right? Like you can do a 15 minute test ride at Perennial, but that’s not quite the same as doing a full week of I’m living my regular life. With this addition to see if it’s something that I wanna do permanently.
[00:24:29] Laura: Yeah. And I know for my own family, we already, when we decided to get a cargo bike, we knew we wanted it, but it still felt like a bit of a jump to say, let’s get rid of a car and replace it with a cargo bike before we had a chance to actually figure out how it integrated into our lives. We’d already been biking for transportation with a Burley trailer and those sorts of things, so we were pretty confident that we could make it work. But there’s some different considerations with cargo bikes as far as where you store them and then how you charge them and where you lock them up and all those things.
I love Perennial and recommend that anyone who’s interested in cargo bike go there. And also my family hasn’t been able previously to afford the cargo bikes that are at Perennial. And so there are folks who are looking more at the more entry level budget friendly bikes that are closer to $2,000, which Perennial does have a few that are like that now.
But when I was looking a few years ago there, it pretty much was like $3000, $4,000 plus. Which is a big investment and not everyone can afford that. And so even for those who can, being able to test it out and integrate it into your life first is huge. And then. To give folks access to test ride these more direct to consumer bikes that are harder to get test rides on unless you happen to know someone who has the bike that you’re interested in and they’ll let you, you know, test ride it, I think is a, a really nice thing just to be able to, my, my dream is to have as many different types of cargo bikes as possible so that folks have the ability to try all sorts of things.
[00:25:46] Stina: Yeah. Because like, yeah, for example, a long tail will probably not support. Like our current lifestyle for Ian and I like that’s, but a bucket bike would more perhaps.
[00:25:59] Laura: Mm-hmm. And you don’t know until you try it to try out. And it’s been interesting, there was one couple in particular who were married and had a kid and the husband was super interested in the long tail and the wife was super interested in the Bunch bike and I wanna get them on both.
Mm-hmm. And see like once they actually have them and integrated into their life. What’s what’s right for them. Right. You know, they all ride so differently from each other. Mm-hmm. Like, you just don’t know how it’s gonna feel until you get on it.
[00:26:25] Stina: Right.
[00:26:25] Laura: And I know when I’ve taken test rides of bikes, I get so anxious of like, I don’t wanna take too much time and does this fit?
And I get in my head of like, yeah, does this actually fit? And I did have one time where I bought a bike that I thought fit me, and then a month later I was like, this really actually doesn’t fit me. Um, and so trying to just help folks with, with all those things.
[00:26:45] Stina: So you’ve had. I don’t wanna say like some big name press recently, but you have had some big name press recently, specifically with friends of the pod, The War on Cars.
[00:26:58] Laura: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:58] Stina: And got to help co-host a, a group ride.
[00:27:03] Laura: Yep.
[00:27:03] Stina: How was that?
[00:27:04] Laura: So fun.
So I knew Doug and Sarah from The War on Cars were gonna be in Minneapolis because Our Streets was bringing them here for their live recording. And I figured they would need bikes while they were here. And Doug and I had been chatting and I had told him months and months ago that if he ever made his way to Minneapolis, I’d love to show him around.
And so it was a perfect, um. Combination of factors that they were here and I had the Cargo Bike Library and was able to reserve two bikes for them to use, um, while they were here. And then they gave us a very nice shout out during the actual live show with some photos from our ride. We were able to show them the good, the bad, the ugly of the infrastructure around Minneapolis and just really fun to be able to get them on the bikes.
Tell them about the program. They shared it then with everyone who was at the live show, which was hundreds of people. And I actually have already gotten, I got an email yesterday from an artist who apparently found out about the program, about our Cargo Bike Library from the live show. And they’re working to, they’re gonna be at Art-a-Whirl and they want to transport all of their art to-
” I live in South Minneapolis, but need to get to Art-a-Whirl. I wanna use a cargo bike to do so.” And so I’m trying to figure out if I can squeeze something in between rentals to make that happen.
[00:28:12] Stina: That is fantastic.
[00:28:12] Laura: Super quick.
[00:28:13] Stina: So what is, what is next? What are we looking at from here? Through the fall?
[00:28:21] Laura: I am working to get as many systems streamlined as possible and potentially looking at bringing on some volunteers.
I was so excited to start this program and so eager to donate my time that I was like, yes, I will do it all. And then. The week after I started sharing about it online and the orientations filled up and I started doing the math on realizing this is not just gonna be like every once in a while, we have a rental thing.
It is gonna be the rest of the year for me is being tied to this process of the check-in and checkout and communicating with renters. And so I want to try to. Bring additional folks in, get my processes, you know, as streamlined as possible so that we can get as many bikes out to people as possible from now until the fall.
Mm-hmm. Continuing to look at the data collection of what is our impact and working to advocate for additional funding to support this. Mm-hmm. As I mentioned, it’s just a pilot program. We only have the funding that we got that mostly paid for, BikeMN, staff, time to help with repairs and their insurance and things.
And then the first two bikes. And the orientations that funding ends at the end of this year. Mm-hmm. And so we’re hoping that we can get Met Council to step up and give us more funding or other folks, um, step in so that we can get more hangers at more locations, fill them with more bikes, get more folks to do what I’m doing and become librarians to help get more bikes out to more people.
[00:29:38] Stina: So like St. Paul were coming for you?
[00:29:40] Laura: Yes. And North Minneapolis. Like every, I just, I want the whole, I want both of our cities to have these options. And, and that’s the thing too, is like no one needs to wait for me. I do not, this is not a trademarked idea. If there are other folks who wanna start small versions of this or big versions of this, like please go forth and do it.
Mm-hmm. And that’s actually been something that’s been really cool to see online is how many folks who don’t even live in the Twin Cities area. Seem to have been inspired by just seeing this idea put out there, um, and are starting to, to work through how they might be able to do things. And so another thing that once I have time, I don’t have time right now, but my long-term goal would be to put into writing some resources that would support other folks who wanna start things like this in their area so that they can mm-hmm.
Be walked through some of the lessons that I learned from great folks at like community pedal power and other iterations, and just from our version of the program so that it can set them up to learn from. The things that I did right and wrong and lessons learned.
[00:30:35] Stina: So if folks wanna follow this journey, where can they go?
[00:30:40] Laura: First Go to our website. [https://mplscargobikelibrary.com]
[00:30:45] Stina: In the show notes.
[00:30:46] Laura: Second click subscribe at the bottom to our newsletter. I haven’t, I’m writing the newsletters and they just happen when I have time, but mostly I think I’m gonna be doing it like every two to four weeks. Mm-hmm. Um, so the newsletters are the best place to get all the updates as quickly as possible.
And then we also have a Blue Sky account. Folks are welcome, BikeMN is sharing about this on other platforms, but I just have the one that I’m picking for now, which is Blue Sky. So feel free to interact with us and share about us on any platforms you use.
[00:31:14] Stina: When I think about like long-term data collection and also like volunteer folks and social media and making things happen, do you think you could ever foresee this being like a, uh, like city planning grad student?
[00:31:30] Laura: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:31] Stina: Jumping on.
[00:31:32] Laura: Yes.
[00:31:33] Stina: Writing a big dissertation about this.
[00:31:34] Laura: Yeah. I actually had someone who doesn’t live in Minnesota who is a researcher, reach out to me on Blue Sky offering to do an actual research study on this. I haven’t even had time to talk to BikeMN about that yet. So it’s not something we’re doing right this moment.
And I do think you should ask BikeMN about this as well. ’cause I do think they have someone supporting them with research of the larger grant. Um, and have big plans there. But I think there’s a lot of opportunity. To look at how a program like this is making an impact, especially in a city that has mode shift goals to try to get more trips done by walking, biking, and rolling.
I, I hope that there’s a case to be made here, number one, that this program and programs like this matter, and number two, that we should be funding them so that they can continue mm-hmm. Beyond just one year. Right.
[00:32:14] Stina: And if you are a listener, say you already, you already have a, a Bunch bike, or you are maybe farther away and this isn’t really an opportunity for you yet.
Um. Folks can donate, right?
[00:32:27] Laura: They can, we can accept donations through BikeMN which is a nonprofit. And so if you are on our website, if you click on the contact button, there’s a link under contact for folks to actually make a donation. We accept any dollar amount. It’s very easy form there and secure through BikeMN’s donation process and tax deductible.
[00:32:46] Stina: And they have some fun shirts too.
[00:32:47] Laura: Yeah, we do have some merch that Ted at BikeMN set up for me. There’s a a t-shirt and a magnet and a sticker. It’s very fun.
[00:32:56] Stina: Do you have any fun stories? You talked about the, the dogs. Mm-hmm. You talked about, um, families going on dates. Mm-hmm. What else? Famously there’s this, you know, “Carry Stuff, Olympics,” uhhuh, uh, in the bike world.
Yep. What’s the wildest thing someone’s used the cargo bikes for?
[00:33:14] Laura: We haven’t had, from the rentals that have happened so far, we haven’t had gigantic stuff. I think the, the biggest was the two service dogs. Mm. Who were very large black labs with the biggest puppy dog eyes. Um, so if, if big counts as puppy dog eyes, then, then they were the biggest.
[00:33:30] Stina: Because famously, uh, the couch that we are on right now was taken home via bicycle trailer. Incredible. Just a flatbed Burley trailer.
[00:33:39] Laura: Well, and that actually one other thing that I’m trying to sort through that has been a sort of a surprise with doing this is the number of people who have reached out saying, I have a work cycles, or a Carla Cargo trailer, or a Burley trailer, or a cargo bike that I sometimes use but don’t use all the time that they want to be able to have as community resources for other people.
There’s so many things I would need to figure out about, like is if I did anything with that is my role just to connect people to each other and sort of be hands off as far as the liabilities and waivers and all those, those sorts of things. But I, I do think this project has, it’s almost like a mutual aid thing that’s reminding folks we can support each other, we can share our resources.
Mm-hmm. And I’m excited to explore all the different ways that we can do that moving forward.
[00:34:21] Stina: Laura Mitchell, thank you so much for coming outta the podcast. Thank
[00:34:24] Laura: you for having me. This was fun.
[00:34:25] Stina: This was so fun.
[musical transition]
So Erik, you’re with BikeMN?
[00:34:35] Erik: I am.
[00:34:36] Stina: And when we were talking to Laura, she mentioned that the Cargo Bike Library is a partnership. And so what did that process look like from the BikeMN side?
[00:34:48] Erik: Sure. Uh, so from the BikeMN side, uh, our friend Laura Mitchell, friend of the organization, um, defacto staff member Laura Mitchell, came to us and came to Andy Lampert, who is the North American CEO of Cycle Hoop, which is a, uh, bike parking device manufacturer and said, “Hey, I have this idea. Um, is this something that we can make happen?” And it was one that I think that everyone was so excited that other organizations and entities just started piling on and being like, yeah, we can totally make this happen.
Like, how are we gonna figure out how to make this happen? Uh, so Laura came to us, uh, kind of with two hopes and dreams, one of which was, uh, that, you know, to get these bikes. Uh, her original idea, and maybe she went over this, was that she had. An acoustic cargo bike that was given to her. And, um, and obviously, uh, one cargo bike does not a bike library make.
Mm-hmm. And so we had some funding that we had some flexibility with to purchase additional cargo bikes. And, uh, we also had, uh, insurance that we could kind of lay over it as well as some of the kind of, uh, user waivers related to that and. Uh, the initial conversation was really just bare bones, you know, how do we make this work?
Who has what, um, of the missing pieces and we figured out the rest. And so as that partnership developed, it was cycle hoop, bringing in that, uh, that bike hanger, which is the, the storage device, um, that allows people to kinda come up and, and use, um, a shared key system to grab the bikes or to drop them off.
Uh. BikeMN providing the, the funding, which, um, is funding that we have from the Met Council, um, related to our e-bike commuter assistance program, uh, to actually purchase a lot of these bikes very near or even sometimes below cost. Some of those bikes were donated, so we had more partners coming in the form of say, Bunch bikes and then the Lyndale Neighborhood Association helping us with what ended up being one of the biggest hurdles, which was how do we store these somewhere that is publicly accessible? Uh, we were worried that we were gonna have to figure out a way to pull a permit from the city, a permit that does not exist yet, uh, to be able to store this on street.
There’s, it’s a, the cargo bike hangar is designed to be stored on street, and, uh, the Lyndale Neighborhood Association said we have a parking spot. It’s in the back. Uh, we own it. Uh, and, and we’ll let you use it for this. So it was really a bunch of partners coming together and saying, you know, I don’t have everything to offer, um, to make this whole thing work ourselves, but we all wanna make this happen and here’s the piece that we can contribute.
[00:37:33] Stina: To get a feel for the timeline, when did these conversations start? How long did it take from ideation to opening day?
[00:37:43] Erik: I can look up the exact date if you want it, but there was a meeting late last year that was, “Hey. We have this idea, uh, and how can we make it work within our current kind of grant portfolio?” And that then kind of became cycle hoop saying, Hey, we have this spare bike hangar.
Uh, those initial conversations with the Lyndale Neighborhood Association, which we had a relationship with, uh, both because, uh, Laura Mitchell has a relationship with them, but also because they were one of the organizations that we worked with for the E-Bike Commuter Assistance Program. And, um. That, that was really the last piece that fell in place.
And after that, we were able to begin purchasing bikes, uh, you know, figuring out the, the best way to use, uh, you know, just a small amount of funds for that. After getting the okay from the Met Council and the whole shebang launched, uh, it the same time that a lot of us were out in DC at the National Bike Summit at the beginning of March.
Um. And we did not expect it to be as big as it’s ended up being. Uh, this has gotten, you know, statewide press. This has had, you know, national level podcasters come and visit, Cleverhood, um, went on a ride that started here with us, um, along with, um, Doug and Sarah from The War on Cars.
Yeah. And, and then they ended up using some of the bikes on the, the group bike ride that happened while they were in town. So, I get it. It’s gotten a little outta scope, um, from what we expected it to be, and we hear the demand for this, and so many people are asking, how can we get one of these in our neighborhood?
What does it look like for our organization to have a bike library? And the answer to that is we’re figuring it out. Uh, the grant funding that we’re using for this is a, a two year grant cycle. Um, it’s gone really well. The, the Met Council is really happy with results, and we’re hoping that here in the Twin Cities that this is really gonna going to be the, the natural next iteration of this is how do we shift towards this and provide this amenity in other neighborhoods across our, uh, across the Twin Cities.
[00:39:49] Stina: So we know that it’s a pilot program, which means it’s for this, uh, traditional cycling season, right? Yes. So April through November 1st or so, depending on what our snow is. So what does that mean in terms of what kind of goals are you all hoping to meet so that this can be proven to be worth the grant money?
[00:40:11] Erik: Yeah, uh, that’s a really good question. Um. So, yeah, it, it’s only happening kind of during those, those warmer months, uh, as we sit recording this right now at the beginning of May, and it’s mid eighties outside. So I don’t know what, what that, that riding season means anymore at this point. But, um, we have only been running this kind of during those warmer months that with the, the partner businesses.
Um, and for the, the cargo bike library, I think that what we’re, we’re really figuring out is what, you know, all the different pieces of it. So again, this has only been. Open for a, you know, a month and a half here. Um, but the, uh, when, when we look at the kinda the pieces that we need to figure out over this, the next few months here, it’s how do we actually facilitate in a way that’s sustainable, uh, renting these bikes out, getting them back, you know, when there are repairs, you know, how do we get the bikes to the bike shop to have those repairs done?
Um. There’s a lot of different bike formats that are here, and I think that some of that is sussing out what, um, what works best for the different community members who are excited to use this program. Um, and, and there’s a, again, there’s a broad variety. If you go onto the, the website, you that’s really you know, evident that there’s, there’s a, a long tails on there and there’s ones that, um, you know, are meant to, to potentially have passengers in the back.
Some that are just meant to carry luggage. There’s a E-tricycle in there. Um. And so we’re, we’re kind of looking at, you know, what, what’s in demand the most? What are we seeing that, you know, get utilized the most and in what ways? And there’s, there’s, uh, feedback forms for people who are kind of participating in this pilot project.
Um, but in terms of kind of what, what is the threshold that if we cross this, the Met Council gives us more money? I’m not sure on that one. That’s, that’s a discussion we need to have with ’em, uh, at the end of this year.
[00:41:54] Stina: So, Erik, can I ask about monies?
[00:41:57] Erik: You sure can ask about money.
[00:41:58] Stina: So. Let’s start with the cost of the cycle hoop structure.
[00:42:04] Erik: Yeah. So the one that we used for this, and, and there’s some different models, but the one that we use for this, it runs in the range of $6,000 – $7,000.
[00:42:11] Stina: And that holds how many bikes?
[00:42:13] Erik: That holds two of these cargo bikes, uh, for I guess a more traditional bike format. I think it’s four?
[00:42:19] Stina: mm. Okay. And the bikes themselves.
You have the Aventon in, that’s roughly,
[00:42:25] Erik: Yeah, so I think that that’s a good kind of one to look at when we’re, as a case study for this. So that there’s a, a long tail, AvENton, uh, AVenton. We’re, we’re not jury’s out on that one, how that one’s pronounced. Um, but that, uh, those, those are running $1600, um, approximately per unit. We’re coming into an era where a lot of these bikes that have a lot of, uh, components that are being manufactured in mainland China, we’re gonna see a lot of, of, of cost increases with that. And that’s a little bit hard to predict, but when we’re talking about installing one of these, um, in the same similar format to what we, we, uh, have built out at behind the Lyndale Neighbors Association building, uh, we’re talking in the realm of probably 10 to 15 per unit uh, thousand to install. And, and just again, to contextualize that, let’s compare that to a car. Let’s compare that to something like Evie car share, right. Where it is serving a very similar function. It’s for folks who maybe they don’t want to own, you know, their household doesn’t want to own, own a personal vehicle.
And most of the trips that they’re able to, uh, that they, they go on, they’re able to accomplish on foot using transit, using a traditional bicycle. And it’s really only when they’re, um. They’re doing the big grocery run or they’re, they’re landscaping the yard that they’re looking to have the extra carrying capacity of, of a cargo bike.
Uh, so when you contextualize it that way, those EV cars being used by the, our car system, those are probably running $30,000 – $40,000 per unit. So this is, this is pretty good, uh, return for replacing those car trips.
[00:43:56] Stina: From a from a BikeMN standpoint, what is the biggest surprise so far?
[00:44:03] Erik: I, let’s see. The first person who went out with one of these, rode it 120 miles in a day.
That was a shocker.
[00:44:11] Stina: Whoa.
[00:44:12] Erik: The, the amount of press that ran on this again, like we were out in DC when this happened, uh, experiencing all of the fun that’s happening in DC right now. And, uh, and on top of that, getting all of these like press requests or interview requests that I was like, I, I was not, I wasn’t expecting it to be as big as it was.
I, I was expecting this to be like the Lyndale neighborhood is really excited to have this, uh, you know, amenity. And they’re excited to try this out. And, and what it’s really become is “why doesn’t St. Paul have one of these? Why doesn’t my neighborhood have one? When are you expanding this?” And, and, and that’s, you know, that’s great to see, uh, that it’s a little bit like the, the e uh, e-bike rebate where it’s like the demand is clearly outpacing, you know, what, we’re able to meet with this.
[00:44:56] Stina: You know, Laura mentioned that there are folks who are, are trying out putting, you know, their dog in it or taking a trip with their kids in, in the bike, or people who are using a cargo bike for, for stuff, for luggage, groceries, lumber, all kinds of things. Yeah. What do you think, are there any that haven’t been used yet? Like. And any of the bikes folks are curious. Yeah. I don’t know. What are, what other things do you think people are gonna use these bikes for?
[00:45:30] Erik: Well, for those familiar with the Carry Sh*t Olympics, um, I think that, that, that really, the sky is the limit on this. Uh, and I, I hope that whenever people do utilize these to, to carry non-traditional, uh, objects to be carried on a bicycle, that they do take a photo of that, um. And hopefully that they, you know, they’re doing it in a way that doesn’t damage the, that the bikes themselves.
And that’s always, you know, I think that that’s another piece that maybe is, is worth talking about too, is just like, what does that look like? You know, when, when, um. The bikes were chosen for the late great Nice Ride system. It’s those bikes for anyone who’s, who’s like worked on those for, for, uh, you know, as a bike mechanic, you’ll know that everything is, is overbuilt and internalized and just, you know, those bikes were built to be able to sit outside for a decade.
And that’s exactly what they did. And, um, a lot of the bikes that are currently in there, and this is another kind of piece of, of this puzzle, is that these, these are not necessarily, um, designed as bikes that would be. As robustly used by as many, um, people, uh, as much of the time. And, um, so that’s another piece that we’re trying to, to assemble within this, this, uh, puzzle of making this a, a bigger reality.
Um, bikes become a lot easier to fix when they’re all the same and when they’re all the same, they’re not likely to be a cargo bike. Um. The people who are comfortable with a long tail are maybe not gonna be as comfortable with, with a front loader. And, um, so we’re, we’re still trying to figure out, you know, the, the, the pros and cons of these different ride formats.
[00:47:01] Stina: So obviously these are fairly expensive pieces of equipment and we’re also talking about being out on roads and things. So what does. Like, what is the liability insurance or how do we like, take care of the people and the bikes themselves?
[00:47:18] Erik: Yeah. Um, so there, there’s, there’s two pieces of that liability.
It’s one is, is for the riders and then the other is for the, the actual bikes themselves. And so within the ECAP program, something that we have experienced, which is something that many people with bikes or on bikes have experienced, which is. Sometimes they get stolen. Um, and that is not necessarily the fault of, you know, the, the person who is, is using that bike.
Um, one of the challenges with e-bikes or with cargo bikes is that they’re a lot harder to bring up into an apartment complex, uh, a lot of people don’t have access to a, you know, good secure overnight parking facilities. And so with that one, it’s, it’s a police report. It’s, uh, you know, it’s, it’s an insurance filing and that we have an insurance, um, policy that, that relates to that one.
Um. And, and it really sucks when it happens. I think that especially for the people who are excited to use this as, you know, a, a device that’s replacing their car trips, um, it’s deflating to have that happen. Um, it really feels like a violation of your space when you have a bike stolen. And I think that that’s something that, I mean, people in this room as, as we’re recording this, uh, have experienced and a lot of listeners as well.
Um. And then for the, uh, the rider insurance. So everyone who is participating in this is signing a waiver. That waiver for folks who are curious. I believe it’s on the, the Cargo Bike Library’s website. Um, and they also are going through a training program about, you know, this, these are the differences between this and, you know, the bike that you may be used to, to riding.
These are some of the considerations like stopping. It’s, it’s a much heavier bike. So, you know, stopping is gonna be a bigger consideration. Uh, the handling’s a little bit different. As you’re going around turns, it, there’s a reason that we have a training with it, and, and that’s a, a lot of that is, is to make sure that people have the skills needed to, to be able to, um, you know, have a good time with this and, and to get what they want to out of it without, uh, having to learn how to ride a different kind of bike.
Mm-hmm. Um, for that first time.
[00:49:23] Stina: So Eric, when we come back and chat, maybe at the end of the year or kind of do a BikeMN wrap up. Can we talk again about the Cargo Bike Library and see how things are going and what the future looks like?
[00:49:38] Erik: Absolutely. Yeah. And I, I hope that by that time we have a better idea of kind of what the, the second era of the, the E-bike Commuter Assistance Program looks like here in the Twin Cities.
And I just add to, this is something that we’re running in different places around the state also. Uh, so we’re getting user data from the experiences of people using, you know, replacing car trips, uh, for, for their work commute or for just, you know, general errands and, um. And I think that that’s really interesting to, to be looking at again, when, when you look at the needs of Minnesotans in different corners of our state and, and especially how they compare to, to folks who are here in, in the, in South Minneapolis.
[00:50:16] Stina: And by having, you know, years and years of partnerships and conversations in place already, you all were, were incredibly lucky to have all those partnerships already in place with some of the bike manufacturers, some of the local bike shops and cycle hoop. So a lot of this. For this particular Cargo Bike Library, those costs were way, way less.
[00:50:38] Erik: Yeah, that’s correct. I think that there’s a lot of people not only who miss having a real cargo or real, uh, bike share program here in the number one bike city in the country. Um, but, but they also want to see, you know, does this format work in a urbanized context like South Minneapolis? Uh, and is this worth you know, them investing in and exploring in other places. So I think that that’s like for cycle hoop, that’s what they’re really excited about is how do we get more of these and more places. And that’s gonna be hopefully throughout the Twin Cities Metro, uh, but also more places. ’cause again, the what works here is probably gonna work in a lot of other cities.
[00:51:14] Stina: And I think like the biggest takeaway that I’ve gotten from this conversation with you and in the conversation we had with Laura was. That, having those conversations and building community and just asking, I mean, the worst thing that they could say is, no, we’re not gonna let you borrow a bike for a year.
Or, no, we can’t offer it to you at cost right now. But by having that community already built it made this possible.
[00:51:39] Erik: Absolutely. I, I sometimes joke and, and I think that this comes from, um. The software world of there, there’s no, there’s no questions that you can come up with that are truly new and novel.
Like if you go and search like, how do I do this? Eight other people have figured out how to do it seven different ways each. And um, and I think that that is true in most contexts outside of, uh, software. And I think that this is one of the rare ones that, um. Cargo bikes, especially e- cargo bikes are such a new technology that this is a little bit unexplored and it’s really exciting to get to be at the forefront of, of being able to explore this with pilot projects like the the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library.
[00:52:15] Stina: So who knows, maybe other cities in the country or outside the country. Hello Canada. Maybe we’ll see a bike library similar to this, that they learned things from us.
[00:52:27] Erik: And that’s the hope. Yeah. And, and for folks, you know, who, who are in Canada especially, um, uh, make those connections. But, uh, in other places in the country who might be listening to this podcast, um, talk to us, you know, uh, send us an email, [[email protected]]
You can, uh, get in contact with us and we would love for you to learn from, from what we’ve learned. Um, this is not something that is proprietary. We’re a nonprofit. We wanna see more, more butts on bikes, uh, all throughout Minnesota and, and you know, far and uh, away past that.
[00:52:57] Stina: Yeah. Minnesota, the land of zero gatekeepers.
Well, thank you so much for coming on and chatting with us.
[00:53:03] Erik: Always great to be here.
[00:53:06] Ian: And thank you for joining us for this episode of the Streets.mn Podcast. The show is released under a creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non derivative license. So feel free to republish the episode as long as you are not altering it, and you are not profiting from it.
The music in this episode is by Erik Brandt in the Urban Hillbilly Quartet. This episode was produced and edited by Stina Neel, congrats on your first audio edit Stina. And was engineered and transcribed by me, Ian R Buck. We are always looking to feature new voices on the Streets.mn Podcast. So if you have ideas for future episodes, drop us a line at [[email protected]]. Streets.mn is a community blog and podcast and relies on contributions from audience members like you. If you can make a onetime or recurring donation, you can find more information about doing so at [https://streets.mn/donate]. Find other listeners and discuss this episode on your favorite social media platform using the hashtag #StreetsMNPodcast.
Until next time, take care.