Company type | Nonprofit |
---|---|
Industry | Youth organizations |
Founded | July 1999 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Headquarters | 3939 & 3943 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
Area served | University City, West Philadelphia, Mantua, Powelton Village, Belmont |
Number of employees | Approx. 12 |
Website | Official Site |
Established in 1999, Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW) is a nonprofit educational organization in West Philadelphia. The mission of NBW is to inspire youth and strengthen Philadelphia communities by providing equitable access to bicycling and bike repair through education, recreation, leadership and career-building opportunities.
Formerly located at Saint Mary's Church (40th and Locust Walk), on the University of Pennsylvania campus, NBW started in 1996 as Youth Cycle & Recycle, a program of The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. It became a separate nonprofit in July 1999. NBW operated a shop in the Haddington neighborhood at 60th and Vine from 2003 to 2012, and a shop in North Philadelphia at 1426 W. Susquehanna Ave., near Temple University, from 2009 to 2015. NBW's South Philadelphia shop, called The Bikery, at 508 S. 5th St. was open from 2010 to 2013. In 2015, Neighborhood Bike Works moved all of its operations to its current and only location on Lancaster Avenue. [1] [2]
NBW runs Earn-A-Bike classes for youth on bike repair and bike safety after school, on weekends, and in the summer. Students complete an eight-week basic bicycle repair class, fixing up used bikes donated by the community. Upon completion, they earn this bike for themselves, together with a helmet and lock. The program features mentoring and positive role models.
Many past youth participants have remained involved in the program, improving their skills while earning credits used to buy parts and accessories. Other programs for youth include summer camps, a youth cycling team that participates in cycling races, leadership development, academic support and tutoring, mountain biking training, and a yearly charity bike build.
NBW also operates a community Open Shop called "Bike Church" that offers local residents the opportunity to repair their own bikes without charge, as well as adult bicycle repair classes.
Every year since 2003, NBW has held an annual Bike Part Art Show, which allows local artists to make artwork from old bike parts or celebrating bike culture. Art is also sold in a silent auction as a fundraiser for NBW youth programs.
For its unique approach to community development, Neighborhood Bike Works has garnered press coverage in The New York Times , CBS News, [8] The Philadelphia Inquirer , [9] [10] Metro Philadelphia , Philadelphia City Paper , [11] The Daily Pennsylvanian , Comcast Network, [12] and a number of smaller local news sources. [13]
Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.
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Since the advent of the bicycle in the 1860s, Chicago has been distinguished as one of the premier cycling locations in the United States, with such public cycling destinations as Grant Park, Burnham Park and the Chicago Park District's Lakefront Trail.
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Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which works to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease automobile use. TransAlt seeks a transportation system based on a "Green Transportation Hierarchy" giving preference to modes of travel based on their relative benefits and costs to society. To achieve these goals, T.A. works in five areas: Cycling, Walking and Traffic Calming, Car-Free Parks, Safe Streets and Sustainable Transportation. Promotional activities include large group bicycle rides.
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The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP) is a nonprofit advocacy group that has been working to improve conditions for bicyclists in the Greater Philadelphia region through advocacy and education since its founding in 1972.
Bikes Not Bombs is a Boston, Massachusetts based nonprofit that uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change by recycling donated bicycles, training young people to fix their own bikes and become employable mechanics and sending thousands of bicycles to international partner communities in countries such as Uganda, Ghana, St. Kitts & Nevis, El Salvador, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, Kenya, and Rwanda. The organization was founded in 1984 by Carl Kurz, a bicycle mechanic and Michael Replogle, a Maryland-based transportation planner. Bikes Not Bombs provided bicycles and bicycle parts to Nicaragua in opposition to the Reagan administration's support for the Contra War, and in solidarity with the Nicaraguan people and in resistance to the U.S. trade embargo against Nicaragua in effect at the time. Mira Brown became involved with BNB's work while in Nicaragua and later became the organization's first Executive Director.
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The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is a non-governmental non-profit organization that focuses on developing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, promoting biking, walking, and non-motorized transport, and improving private bus operators margins. Other programs include parking reform, traffic demand management, and global climate and transport policy. According to its mission statement, ITDP is committed to "promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide."
Bilenky Cycle Works is an American handmade bicycle manufacturer located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bicycle use in Portland, Oregon has been growing rapidly, having nearly tripled since 2001; for example, bicycle traffic on four of the Willamette River bridges has increased from 2,855 before 1992 to over 16,000 in 2008, partly due to improved facilities. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says 6% of commuters bike to work in Portland, the highest proportion of any major U.S. city and about 10 times the national average.
Cycling in San Francisco has grown in popularity in recent years, aided by improving cycling infrastructure and community support. San Francisco's compact urban form and mild climate enable cyclists to reach work, shopping, and recreational destinations quickly and comfortably. Though San Francisco's famed steep hills can make cycling difficult, many parts of the city are relatively flat, including some of the most densely populated. However, heavy automobile traffic, the lack of bike lanes on many streets, and difficulty in crossing major streets deter most residents from cycling frequently in San Francisco.
The ValloCycle Bike-Share Program is a mutual agreement between the University of Montevallo and Montevallo city to offer bicycle rentals to the surrounding community. Annual membership fees amount to roughly $2 per month for adults and $1 per month for children.
Time's Up! Environmental Organization was founded in 1987 to help educate New Yorkers about environmental awareness. One of its main focuses is to promote non-polluting transportation, by advocating bicycling.
David Fair is an American activist who has been a leader in the labor, LGBT, AIDS, homeless and child advocacy movements in Philadelphia, PA since the 1970s. He has founded or co-founded several advocacy and service organizations, including the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force (1977), the Philadelphia Gay Cultural Festival (1978), Lavender Health (1979), the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Union of the Homeless (1985), Philly Homes 4 Youth (2017), and the Philadelphia Coalition on Opioids and Children (2018), and led the creation of numerous local government health and human service initiatives, including the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (1987) and the Division of Community-Based Prevention Services (2001), the Parenting Collaborative (2003), and the Quality Parenting Initiative (2014) for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.
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Patrick "PJ" Cunnane is a bicycle business executive from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cunnane was the CEO of Advanced Sports International which owned five bicycle brands under the name Advanced Sports International formerly Advanced Sports Enterprises (ASE). He oversaw the distribution of 450 different bicycle models and the acquisition and operation of the largest bicycle retail chain in the United States. He left ASE in 2019 and is now an executive with Yuba Bicycles.