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Formed through a collaborative partnership between the City and University of Montevallo, the ValloCycle Program exists as a city wide initiative to enhance overall community walkability and individual citizen engagement with a lifestyle of sustainable, alternative transportation. The ValloCycle Program's primary means of achieving these goals is through its day-to-day operation of the ValloCycle Bike-Share Program, the first county-wide bicycle sharing program in the state of Alabama to offer low-cost bicycle rentals to all the members of its community. Unlike other nearby campus bike-share programs, ValloCycle bicycle rentals are not limited solely to university students, and are also not confined to one location. Rather, bicycle rentals are offered to all residents of Montevallo and the surrounding Shelby County area in three separate check-out locations. Annual membership fees amount to roughly $2 a month per adults, $1 a month per child, can be paid alternatively by a commitment of community service with a local charitable, campus, city, or religious agency, and also include accompanying helmet and locking mechanisms for user safety and security. In addition to this program, volunteer city, campus, and community representatives of the City of Montevallo's ValloCycle Recreational Board also work towards more effective pedestrian and bicyclist on- and off- roadway infrastructure within the Montevallo city limits, and also serve to educate citizens on bicycle safety, repair, and operation through a variety of free, public courses. ==The ValloCycle Bike-Share Program history== Inspired by an educational webinar on bike-sharing programs worldwide hosted by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, city council representatives Hollie Cost and Dee Woodham engaged students within the University of Montevallo's Environmental Studies program to research the feasibility of such a program within Montevallo. Early program development centered around a desire to distance the program from the features of both other campus bike-share programs in the area (which served only university populations) and large-scale corporate programs (which required that members both possess credit cards and accept usage fees based on specific time increments for every bicycle rental). In order to encourage bicycling as a healthy, environmentally conscious, and primarily affordable means of transportation and recreation in a small-town, rural environment lacking any other form of publicly accessible transportation, the annual membership fee structure was created to be as unrestrictive as possible for individuals and families of all income levels. In a successful community bicycle donation drive, over 100 new and used bicycles were received through the local Region's Bank, Bob's Bikes repair shop, city police department, and individual families and residents. Students from the University of Montevallo Environmental Club accordingly spent several months repairing 35 used bicycles of all types and sizes for future use in the program. Through a successful outreach campaign, bicycles received baskets, locking mechanisms, and helmets from over twenty-five local independent businesses; each sponsored bicycle in turn was adorned with uniquely designed advertising fixtures to provide publicity for the sponsoring business. The ValloCycle Bike-Share Program debuted October 14, 2011, in conjunction with the University of Montevallo's 114th Founder's Day celebration of sustainability. During that same month, the ValloCycle volunteer committee was also incorporated as an official recreational board underneath the supervision of the City of Montevallo. Currently, volunteer coordinators within the ValloCycle Program offer bicycle rentals from the University of Montevallo's Carmichael Library, the City of Montevallo's Parnell Library, and the city police department, the latter of which offers 24/7 bicycle rentals. Memberships come with unlimited 8-day rentals/renewals for one entire year from a fleet of over fifty Region's cruisers, mountain, road, and children's bicycles. Membership fees are $25 a year for adults, $10 a year for children, and are used solely to sustain the repairs and maintenance of said bicycles.. Memberships can also be paid for through community service, with rental rights granted at the completion of 10 volunteer service hours with any city, university, charitable, religious, or other community agency within Montevallo. All bicycles receive weekly maintenance checks from the ValloCycle Projects Coordinator, the Montevallo Public Works Department, or Health Education and Kiniesiology students from the University of Montevallo. ValloCycle bicycle rentals are also available free of charge to any physical education teacher within the local Montevallo public school system. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「ValloCycle Bike-Share Program」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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