Buffalo Rising Online

Jun 9th 2007, 6:15am By BRO Reader Submission

This summer’s promise for record high gas prices and a growing “green conscience” has many Western New Yorkers seriously considering alternative modes of transportation. Local bicycle lending program Buffalo Blue Bicycle makes bicycling a feasible option for individuals seeking a thicker wallet and a svelte carbon footprint.

Buffalo Blue Bicycle has recently launched its second season with great success. The launch began in mid-May, with the help of a brand new bicycle trailer made and donated by member Wayne Magyar (seen below). In true Blue Bicycle fashion, the trailer—which holds up to five bicycles at a time—is fashioned from recycled bicycle parts and can be pulled behind any normal bicycle. The trailer has been essential to the distribution of the organization’s fleet of metallic blue bicycles to each of their seven hubs currently active in the city.

Blue Bicycle members have also been hard at work all winter recycling more bicycles to support the seven additional hubs that will go up in and around the City of Buffalo later this summer. New hubs will include: one at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, one in front of the Massachusetts Avenue Project headquarters on Grant Street, and five on UB's North and South Campuses.

“We are very excited about the growth of the program this season,” said Catherine Owens, Buffalo Blue Bicycle member and recent UB graduate . “We are hoping that our presence on Buffalo State College and the University at Buffalo campuses will help us reach out to a younger constituency to develop support for healthy and sustainable modes of travel in Buffalo.”

Buffalo Blue Bicycle offers many benefits to users in the community, including the ability to check a bicycle out of one hub and return it to a different hub. This makes it easy to use a Blue Bicycle in conjunction with other modes of public transportation. Members that share our bicycles are also free from storage and maintenance responsibilities, as well as the up-front cost of purchasing a new bicycle. Program director Justin Booth also expressed gratitude for ongoing community support for the program through bicycle donations.

“We receive donations almost every week from people in the community who have come across old or unused bicycles in their garage during spring-cleaning," he said. "We recently had one individual donate over fifty bicycles to the program!”

Anyone can become a member of Buffalo Blue Bicycle simply by making a $25 donation to the organization or by completing six hours of volunteer time in the office or at the Blue Bicycle workshops. To those who would like to attend a workshop but are not savvy as bicycle mechanics, do not fear: if you don’t object to getting your hands dirty, the experienced bicycle mechanics at the Buffalo Blue Bicycle workshops can walk you through everything you need to know. For more information on our weekly workshops, or to become a member of Buffalo Blue Bicycle, please visit the organization’s website at www.buffalobluebicycle.org. Businesses interested in sponsoring a new Buffalo Blue Bicycle hub outside their offices by purchasing a bicycle rack can contact Justin at The Wellness Institute of Buffalo at 851-4052.

The 2007 bicycling season is upon us in Buffalo. Whether you would like to use a bicycle for transportation to run your errands, go shopping, get to school and work or simply go for a leisurely ride, Buffalo Blue Bicycle can help.

Current Hubs: -Elmwood at Buffalo State College: >Union Quad South near Cleaveland Hall >Union Quad North near Bulger Communications Center.

-Elmwood at Buffalo Psychiatric Center (in front of Butler Rehabilitation Center)*

-Buffalo Place: Four hubs along Main Street: >Just past entrance to the metro tunnel on the west side of Main St. >Just past Huron Street on east side of Main Street >Just north of Lafayette Square on east side of Main Street >Northeast corner of Main and North Division at M&T Plaza

Hubs Coming Soon:

-Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus at new Life Sciences Building (Virginia Place & Ellicott)*

-Massachusetts Ave Project at 271 Grant St.*

-University at Buffalo: 5 hubs on the North and South campuses*

*new hub for 2007