Ticket to Ride is currently seeking community members to enroll in a free, six-month program. Participants will be provided the mentorship, education, and equipment to try out bicycle commuting. The goal is to help people engage safely and confidently in bicycling and multi-modal transportation (bike to bus).
The mission of the organization is to demonstrate the feasibility of bicycle commuting in rural Vermont. Ticket to Ride’s executive director, Bevin Barber-Campbell, wants to challenge the perception that it is unrealistic use a bicycle for transportation in our region. “It is easy to think that with our roads, weather, and distances that we have only one choice: getting places by car. Our organization wants to show that the bicycle can be a practical travel option,” states Barber-Campbell.
Barber-Campbell believes that Ticket to Ride might also be a solution to our transportation equity issues in the NEK, where up to 15% of households have no vehicle. “In speaking with area employers, I have learned that access to a bicycle might help some folks get to work,” shared Barber-Campbell. “These companies have staff who don’t own cars and as result, struggle with transportation and keeping their jobs.”
Ideal candidates for the program include people who use the transit system, for whom a bike could help them get to the bus stop. Or residents who live along bus routes, commute to Montpelier or St Johnsbury, and would like to try multi-modal, bicycle commuting. Participants will be asked to commit to bicycle commuting one to three times per week during the six-month program.
Barber-Campbell was a bicycle advocate in Colorado for over a decade, where she became an expert on education and encouragement programming. After returning to Vermont, she realized there were many ways she could promote bicycling. She also considers our roads relatively bicycle friendly.
“Riding a bike in Vermont is actually pretty safe,” states Barber-Campbell. Recent data analysis done by the League of American Bicyclists ranked Vermont as the safest state in the nation for bicycling. The ranking was based on Vermont having the lowest rate of bicycle fatalities.
Although it can feel challenging to use a bicycle for transportation, Barber-Campbell aims to show it is possible. “My all-time favorite bike commute has been in Vermont,” shares Barber-Campbell. While it might not be realistic for most Vermonter to be car free, Barber-Campbell believes that with some ingenuity and conviction, residents could reduce their total number of car trips by including the bicycle and multi-modal transportation as options.
Ticket to Ride is supported with grant funding awarded from the Climate Catalysts Innovation Fund of the Vermont Council on Rural Development. Ticket to Ride is fiscally sponsored by the Tiny Seed Project, a 501(c)3 organization.
To learn more about the program or to complete an interest form, go to the website at: www.ticket2ridevermont.org
