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The Story Behind A BFA: North Natomas Jibe. Walk. Bike. Bus.
Since the Bicycle Friendly America program began, we’ve seen so many amazing applications come our way from communities, businesses, and universities across the country. You can find every award on our Bicycle Friendly America map, but what’s a little harder to capture is the story behind every award — so we set up a way for the advocates behind the awards to tell us more about the people on the ground building a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. Let us know which BFA champion should be next on the blog »
Today, meet Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) North Natomas Jibe in Sacramento, California. North Natomas Jibe is a local bike advocacy organization that is doing some big work in getting people of all ages on bikes in Sacramento. With just four staff, the group earned a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Business award as a new applicant in our spring 2022 round.
From installing six bicycle repair stations to offering a 5th-grade on-bike education program to partnering with Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates to offer Smart Cycling, the prerequisite to the League of American Bicyclists’ League Cycling Instructor (LCI) training, North Natomas Jibe does a lot. Read more about their efforts and be inspired.
WHAT (OR WHO) MADE YOUR DECISION TO APPLY TO THE BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS PROGRAM?
Knowing that the League celebrates efforts that result in safer streets for everyone, we wanted our community to be acknowledged for their efforts to improve local roadways. Jibe is proud to be recognized as a partner in the effort to build a more Bicycle Friendly America.
HOW HAS BIKE CULTURE AT YOUR BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS GROWN SINCE YOU BEGAN YOUR FIRST BFB APPLICATION?
It has removed barriers and created a cultural shift, motivating our community to consider cycling as a viable way of getting around. We’re more motivated than ever to do as much as we can to improve our community’s bicycle connectivity and encourage biking among North Natomas residents. Just this year, we kicked off May’s National Bike Month with a Kids’ Bike Party for more than 150 kids and their families. We offered a 4-mile family-friendly bike ride, bike games, blender bike smoothies, Freedom from Training Wheels (balance instruction for pre-k riders), a low-cost helmet sale, pizza, and beats by emerging popular youth DJ, DJ Eve.
In May, we also held Saddle up Saturdays, an incentive program for cyclists to bike to restaurants in Jibe’s Service area instead of driving. 90 cyclists participated. On average, cyclists biked 5.8 miles to their meals. We plan to offer this program again in October to commemorate Clean Air Month in California.
ANYTHING YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2022?
In addition to our robust slate of programs geared at making North Natomas more livable, sustainable, and connected, future projects include more engagement with local businesses to incentivize walking, biking, and carpooling, and an Earn-A-Bike program in which participants earn $500 toward the cost of a new bike after completing a bike training and safety course! We also look forward to receiving customized feedback from the League on how we can move from gold to platinum status. Thank you for the award!
If you would like to see your story on our blog or on our social media, share your journey to being better for people who bike with us now, and if you would like to see your business earn the League’s Bicycle Friendly Business designation, apply today at apply.bikeleague.org or learn more at bikeleague.org/business. Applications for our summer round of BFB awards are due by July 22, 2022, at 11:59 pm PT.