Bike Sharing Program in Kirksville, MO

submitted for funding to the 

 

Foundation for Rural and Small Community Growth Grant Program

 

11/13/2019

Group Rosencrantz: Jacob Koebel, Joe Manganiello, Audrey Currey-G, and Emma Jameson

 

INTRODUCTION

 

• About Kirksville

 

Kirksville is a small, rural town located in Northeast Missouri. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2018, Kirksville’s population was 17,566. The median household income is just over $27,000; this figure is considerably low when compared with the national average of $60,363. Kirksville is also home to Truman State University, Missouri’s only public liberal arts and sciences university, and A.T. Still University, the founding college of osteopathic medicine. Due to the overwhelming student population, the average age of Kirksville residents is 23. Just over thirty-four percent of Kirksville citizens live in poverty, with men and women 18-24 years old making up over 60% of the impoverished population. 

 

• Transportation in Kirksville

 

Since our proposal targets transportation, it is necessary to take a deeper look into how people get around in Kirksville. Despite being home to many students during the school months, Kirksville has limited public transportation options. Currently, Kirksville has a public transportation service known as, Kirk-Tran. The shuttle system runs an hourly route around the city Monday through Saturday during typical business hours, but this service is limited. Kirksville also has Uber, and a cab company as well for public transportation, but even that is limited. It is very difficult to find an Uber ride and pretty often there are either no Uber drivers or at the very most two. The taxi service, called Jerry’s Taxi, is very limited only having one taxi and does not have any stars or reviews. There is also a cab company that only has two and a half stars and is limited to a few cabs that do not offer the best service. According to datausa.io, the average number of households that use public transit has dropped from about 100 households in 2013 to nearly zero in 2017. Not only has the public transit dropped, but the average number of households that use the taxi service has also dropped from about 50 households in 2013 to less than 10 households in 2017. The public transportation that is currently available to the residents of Kirksville is not easily accessible, or easy to use, which in turn makes their lives more difficult.

 

PROPOSAL

The Kirksville Business Club proposed the idea of adding a bike share program to benefit the citizens of Kirksville. A bike-sharing program would allow students and members of the community to rent bikes from stations in well-lit areas around town as well as on Truman’s campus any time, day or night. This program would be run through an app that allows users to rent and pay for their ride. Bikes will have GPS trackers to prevent theft. For safety purposes, all bikes will be equipped with a bell, reflective paneling, and a helmet. Bikes will also have easily adjustable seats, 21 speeds, and a large front-facing basket for the convenience of users. Users will be charged based on the time used, and charged upon return. To compensate for this lack of availability and accessibility, our proposed bike system would benefit both Kirksville’s students and community members. 

LOGISTICS

Customers will be able to rent a bike from either an app or a website. If a customer prefers to have more features and more polished experience, there is an app for them. However, there will also be a website that they can sign into if they would need to for whatever reason. This would allow us to expand our service to people who don’t have phones because it would be possible to complete the rental process on a computer. In addition, having a website would be a good way to allow customers who don’t want to get another app on their phone to have access to the service. Both the website and the app would be essentially the same, but different enough to have advantages over another. (An example of this is YouTube. There is a desktop website, a mobile website and an app. All of the platforms do the same thing but slightly differently.)

BENEFITS

Having a bike rental system will benefit Kirksville by providing a new and friendly mode of transportation. Bikes are also environmentally safe and are a simple, easy mode of transportation. Bikes could be used by both students and community members, which in turn would integrate students into the community. Our proposed bike system would give community members who lack their own mode of transportation a viable and accessible method of transit. This bike-sharing system would also become lucrative with little cost to maintain. Riding a bike is an environmentally friendly mode of transportation that will appeal to users looking to lower their carbon footprint. One of Kirksville’s main attractions is Thousand Hills State Park. The Forest Lake Area Trail System (FLATS) members in Kirksville have spearheaded a project that will soon bring a four-mile paved trail system connecting Thousand Hills State Park and the City of Kirksville. This path will promote healthy living by providing a direct path between the park and the city making it easier for members of the community to access the park. Having a bike station around the city and at Thousand Hills will attract guests to the park and encourage them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

CONCERNS

A bike-sharing system would introduce limited concerns, however, it is important to be aware of possible issues that may arise. The biggest concern of a bike-sharing program is that the users could be injured while riding our bikes. There is no simple solution to this problem, but there are a variety of methods that can be used to lessen the damage in the event that someone is hurt. First, before renting a bike, users will sign a waiver stating that they are responsible for their own injuries. Many other bike-sharing services use this method to ensure that they are not held responsible for something that isn’t their fault. Another concern with the system is theft. When renting a bike, users must give their names as well as other personal information. In the event of theft, this information would be given to the police to help them find whoever stole the bike. Also, the bikes have a GPS that can be used to track down stolen bikes. Overall, there are a variety of risks involved with starting a bike-sharing service, but the rules we have put in place will prevent the majority of the problems.

COSTS

According to our club’s research, starting up a bike-sharing system is doable under the proposed budget for a city the size of Kirksville. Each bike would cost about $150, including all the fixtures necessary. With each station would house 10 bikes, and would include necessary automatic electronic locking as well as lighting for safety. The cost of each station would be around $9,000 each, including installation, wireless connection to the app, as well as the software for the app itself. This projected cost is based on an estimate from the company On Bike-Sharing. On Bike-Sharing strives to provide companies, campuses, and cities with affordable and safe bike-sharing programs. This would allow for a start-up number of five stations plus $5,000 set aside for future maintenance costs, insurance, and any potential legal responsibility. 

TIMELINE

Our club intends to have the system installed and fully functioning by the start of the fall 2020 semester. Our proposal would need to be approved by the Truman administration and the city of Kirksville before installation can begin. The bikes would be installed during the summer while many students are off-campus.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, D. (2018, April 9). A look at several trails in Kirksville, Adair County. Retrieved November 30, 2019, from https://www.kirksvilledailyexpress.com/news/20180409/look-at-several-trails-in-kirksville-adair-county.

“COMPLETE BIKE SHARE SYSTEMS.” On Bike Share – Official Site | Bike Share Systems, 

www.onbikeshare.com/. 

Data USA: Kirksville, MO. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://datausa.io/profile/geo/kirksville-mo/.

Economy in Kirksville, Missouri. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/missouri/kirksville.

Jaafari, J. D. (2017, September 28). Bike-Sharing Systems Cost Money, But Make Money Too. Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://nationswell.com/how-to-set-up-bike-sharing-right/.

Driving with Easton is a Friday night – some Fridays are quiet, spent alone. 

And others are filled with parties, movies, and friends. 

Like riding in a million-dollar car on a twisty back road in our hometown. 

Driving with E smells like the Goody’s on Broadway, 

tastes like a Kehde’s fry dipped in their famous ranch. 

It feels like a cool summer night out by a bonfire; 

it sounds like George Strait blasting through the speakers, 

and looks like the first farm truck I’d ever ridden in. 

 

Nights that tasted like forever; people that would last forever. 

But they just weren’t forever. 

 

They’d yell “Buck the Furg” as we passed our rival high school. 

Something we’d never get in trouble for but would pretend we will. 

Tipping cows and their family’s new combine, 

A foreign world of traditions, terms, and customs. 

The girl who grew up in cities and suburbs with all the knowledge in the world, 

dumbfounded by a small-town charmer. 

A small-town boy who tricked me into falling in love with a town,

While he fell in love with me. 

 

E made the town my own, gifted me a lifetime pass to my new town, 

And the rights to my home. 

He called me Rey and gave me a whole new world, 

with forever friends, forever memories, 

and a forever love. 

 

He knew what the year ahead of us would bring, 

even though the rest of us didn’t want to see it. 

We’ll only be memories soon, 

We’ll only be weekend trips and winter breaks soon enough. 

Like a thrilling movie, with a disappointing end. 

 

Even still, our high school nights gave us unparalleled memories. 

Driving with Easton is like a Friday night that I get to have for the rest of my life.

Audrey Currey-G

Self and Society Seminar

Leaton

4 October 2019

Project One: Identity Politics

        Identity politics play an interesting role in our political climate and have a long and interesting history. The effects of identity politics and even status, reach as far back as 1964 to the civil rights group, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. This group, made up of activists, aimed to desegregate the Mississippi Democratic Party, and ultimately was successful in achieving their goals by helping to eventually help pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Dade, npr.org). Another example would be the La Raza Unida Party in 1970, comprised of Mexican-Americans, and then later all Latinos. Their objectives focused on benefitting the members based on their race. The third party received early success in smaller local elections but ultimately lost momentum in larger-scale elections. Identity politics have a long-standing and interesting relationship with American Politics and play an important role in our country’s politic climate to come. Identity politics can be both negative and positive, and both sides of the aisle have their own ideas. 

             Identity politics are based on how people see their own individuality. People take identifying aspects of themselves and use those qualities to form political relations and views. This tendency, whether consciously or not, allows people to more easily define their political views without necessarily doing their own in-depth research and without betraying their own. In doing so, people move away from the conventional wide-ranging political parties. This can be both negative and positive. This negatively affects the political environment by somewhat allowing voters and citizens to focus only on how the government and policies affect their own lives based on their backgrounds rather than focusing on the country’s health as a whole. It polarizes the country’s interactions politically, and places focus on the generalizations of culture, race, sexual orientation, religion or social background. Identity politics comfort people and drive the idea of hyperindividualism rather than supporting a productive means of improvement. Identity politics can also be a positive influence in our political climate. Identity politics provide people with the reassurance that supporting certain issues and candidates that will benefit them. They allow people to engage politically to further their interests without researching extensively. This encourages people to get involved and vote. There are both good and bad sides to identity politics and both sides of the political aisle have differing opinions internally.  

              Carrie Sheffield, a writer for CNN, argues that the Democratic party does not recognize the harmful effects identity politics can have. In her article, “Nancy Pelosi’s Mistake on Identity Politics”, Sheffield discusses how Pelosi’s political stance and comments concerning both identity politics can be dividing. The author analyzes how Pelosi and other Democratic candidates have used their race, gender, background, etc. to attract and gain support. While decidedly only mildly effective, Sheffield argues that this tactic causes discord. She goes as far as to argue that this method of campaigning “follow(s) the same playbook that lost Democrats the White House and kept them from gaining the congressional majority in 2016” (Sheffield, CNN.com). The author also mentions how this “identity politics play” is not used solely by playmakers from the left. Republicans can also be found using their identity as a method of gaining support, despite the ever-rising levels of diversity in our country. However, with celebrities of color like Kanye and Ben Carson showing support for conservative candidates, the tides of Republican identity politics shift as they move slightly towards attracting people from all walks of life. Sheffield’s piece aims to convey that identity politics divide voters and candidates who use this idea to win over voters are not successful.  Micheal Dougherty, a senior writer for the conservative magazine and website TheNationalReview.com, has a differing opinion. In his article, “Sympathy for Identity Politics?”, Dougherty discusses the benefits of identity politics on America’s political climate. Using Mary Eberstadt’s book, Primal Screams, the author describes how America’s rapidly changing familial structure and social interactions have caused muddled political views. Doughtery uses both Eberstadt’s book and other sources to defend identity politics and their role in supporting the country as it undergoes these dramatic social changes. Identity politics allow people to cling to a part of their identity that they can defend and support. Identity politics give comforts to voters and make the political world easier to manage. Identity politics also give minorities a voice and create a space for progress. By being given a space, people feel more comfortable to speak up and bring their own issues forward. In sum, according to Micheal Doughtery, identity politics provide a positive and progressive place for voters to congregate.

            Identity politics played an important role in our political climate in the past, and still affect our world today. While not everyone chooses to engage or support this concept, it is vital that voters understand what this means to them in order to most properly choose a candidate to support. Without a comprehensive understanding of how identity politics affect our government and world, people cannot vote justly. Understanding identity politics gives voters the tools to more equitably chose a candidate that can represent their beliefs and morals. 

Works Cited

Dade, Corey. “Identity Politics: A Brief History.” NPR, NPR, 12 July 2011,           www.npr.org/2011/07/12/137789802/identity-politics-a-brief-history.

Gao, Michelle I. “Why I Don’t Support Identity Politics Anymore: Opinion: The Harvard Crimson.” Why I Don’t Support Identity Politics Anymore | Opinion, 24 Jan. 2018, www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/1/24/gao-identity-politics/.

Perrybaconjr. “Why Identity Politics Could Be Good Politics For Democrats In 2020.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 2 Apr. 2019, fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-identity-politics-could-be-good-politics-for-democrats-in-2020/

Sheffield, Carrie. “Nancy Pelosi’s Mistake on Identity Politics.” CNN, Cable News Network, 4 May 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/opinions/identity-politics-pelosi-opinion-sheffield/index.html.