If anyone found a Blackberry Pearl last night at TSI, it’s mine! Please return it. Reward! It was a fun show even though I lost my phone.
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Beginning in mid-May, city commuters in Washington, D.C., will have an alternative to stuffy bus rides and long traffic lines. Clear Channel Outdoor (an outdoor advertising company), partnered with the district’s Department of Transportation, will launch the country’s first bike-share service, SmartBike DC.
Bike sharing services offer urbanites low-cost access to bicycles within the inner-city to ease traffic congestion, curb pollution and boost physical activity. Bike sharing operates on a self-serve model (no attendants) and is geared toward short-term uses. New technologies including GPS and RFID tags (radio-frequency identification) and automated payment kiosks make the systems more secure and user friendly.
The SmartBike DC system will offer bicycles at key locations in the central business district. Bicycles are parked at docking points which use a proprietary locking system to ensure that each bicycle is securely stored. The service is accessible via online subscription and subscribers will receive a SmartBike DC user card that provides access to every station of the program. An individual annual subscription is $39.99.
Bike stations consist of a horizontal rack with docking points. The docking points, as pictured above, are parking slots with locks, and they secure the bicycle when it is parked at a station. An operational team manages the rotation of bicycles for each station to assure a proper ratio of available bicycles to drop-off locations.
How could most cities afford this? As mentioned before, in the case of Washington, D.C., the district’s Department of Transportation partnered with Clear Channel Outdoor, a private advertising company. The contract allows the private company to provide advertising on as many as 800 bus shelters. Public-private partnerships are common among existing bike-share programs, according to Paul DeMaio, the founder of MetroBike LLC, a bike-share consultancy based in Washington, D.C.
Bike-share programs have proved successful in many other countries so far, including France, Spain and Austria. Leading street-furniture company JC Decaux launched its Paris operation, Velib’, in 2007. Today, more than 20,000 bikes are available at 1,400 stations. Paris has four times more bike-rental stations than subway stations and the system is completely financed by advertising and rental charges.
The market in the U.S. is wide-open right now. Most recently, Clear Channel secured San Francisco as the next city for which to develop street furniture plans, most likely including a bike-share component. Chicago has expressed interest in bringing a bike-share program to its streets as well.
If Jacksonville had a bike-share system around its core neighborhoods, traffic and pollution would decrease and our city would be populated with a healthier group. Some commuters would not be forced to wait for a bus if they did not have far to travel. Also, commuters who bike already would not waste time locking their bike up properly and worrying that it might be stolen.
So. Who wants to step up with the sponsorship?
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This Thursday Springfield Area Merchants & Business Association (SAMBA) will host Ian Ranne, of Shantytown Pub and Hip Hop Hell Records. The topic will focus on the introduction of Shantytown, Royal Treatment Record Shop, Zombie Bikes and Burro Bags to the Springfield community.
There will also be an update of the Metro Edge commercial corridor study. Shantytown will be offering a 1st free beer to all Samba members.
Shantytown Pub
Thursday, April 10, 2008
6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
22 West 6th Street
Members and guests should make reservations. Call 219-7499 or e-mail urbansouth at hotmail dot com by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 9th.
Here is some other Springfield news compliments of the SPAR weekly email update.
Parkview Inn Update
In mid-April - Elaine Lancaster – COJ Municipal Code Enforcement Division - will request a hearing before the Special Master to present the case for demolition of the Park View Inn. Ms. Lancaster’s determination to bring about COJ action on this downtown eyesore has widespread support.
Karpeles Manuscript Museum
101 W. 1st St. Hours Tues – Sat 10AM-4PM and Sun Noon – 4PM. Free admission. Now thru April 25th – Jacksonville Watercolor Society Annual Juried Spring Show. Now thru June 28th – American 19th Century Authors - An exhibit of original letters and writings by 19th Century American authors featuring Mark Twain, Poe, Washington Irving, Harriett Beecher Stowe and others.
Visitors entering Springfield from I-95 will see new directional signage on the north and south off-ramps guiding them into the Historic District and to the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute.
The Springfield Animal Care & Rescue Club (SACARC) is currently looking for volunteer dog walkers! Please contact catcamp1644 at yahoo dot com for details. Also, SACARC is in desperate need of foster homes. Please contact group at sacarc dot org if you or someone you know is willing and able to provide foster care for a puppy or adult dog,
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Yes this was an April Fools joke. Thanks to everyone for playing.
I just inked a deal to sell Urban Jacksonville to the Florida Times Union for an undisclosed sum of money. I’m all about being transparent and in my original draft of this post, I did indicate how much I sold the blog for. My wife advised me otherwise so I plan on keeping the sum between me and the Time Union.
I sold out! I know, I know. I’m always saying how bad the Times Union and their new media initiatives are, but I think adding the Urban Jacksonville content and attitude can add some credibility to their struggling newspaper and failing new media site. Besides, they had to do something with newspaper ad revenues taking their worst drop in almost 60 years.
According to new data released by the Newspaper Association of America, total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006 — the most severe percent decline since the association started measuring advertising expenditures in 1950.
This deal has been in the works for some time now, one reason I haven’t been posting on a consistent basis. I’ve spent quite a few nights after work at the TU offices in Riverside working out details and negotiating a contract. As it stands I will become a full time employee of the Times Union starting Tuesday April 15th, two weeks form today. I just put in my notice at nGen Works.
Instead of averaging 5 posts a week, I’ll ramp up my posting frequency to 5 times a day for a total of 20 posts a week. Laura Capitano, a Lifestyle columnist, will take over posting on the weekend. That was actually one of the items I had to negotiate. They wanted me posting 7 days a week, but I wanted to make sure I had time to spend with my family.
The content and tone of the site will stay the same. I have full editorial control over my post content and media (photos, video, and especially comments). The site will be redesigned slightly and co-branded with the Florida Times Union look. My stories will appear in the news rotation of the homepage (see above sample) and selected articles will be reprinted, on-demand, in the Metro and Lifestyles sections of the newspaper.
One big change you will see is more advertising on the blog. I have been saying forever what a good value advertising on Urban Jacksonville is. Targeted market, juicy demographic and great daily page view numbers. Apparently the TU is the only business in the City to recognize this.
In the long run, this will be a good thing. There will be a few growing pains, but I’ll have more resources at my disposal and more visibility in the city. Exposing a broader audience to my brand of activism and cultural awareness will, I think, make the city a better place in the long run. Since I don’t have the same editorial mandates to please advertisers and political connections I will, hopefully, bring a breath of fresh air to our hometown paper.
I’m curious to hear what you think so please feel free to leave a comment.
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Capitol Hill Block Party, photo: Peter Kearns
I’m happy to say I am the first (I think) editorial contributor to The Urban Core blog. That means I’m on the editorial board now. Whoop!
Head over there and read my post Springfield Needs a Festival. It’s got pictures and everything!
What I’d like to see is more along the lines of a music festival, something like SXSW, but divided by 10. You know, much smaller. I’m thinking a one day thing. It doesn’t have to be big, and probably shouldn’t be to get started.
Quoted from the post Springfield Needs a Festival.
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After 10 days of rocking SXSW 2008 in Austin, it’s good to be back in Jacksonville. I’ve been keeping up with some Jacksonville happenings, but after being gone for so long, I don’t really have a good blog post.
What I do have is an appearance in two EU articles this week. The Internet Revolution issue has a few online safety tips from me. My favorite:
Upgrade your web browser. You should not be using Internet Explorer 6. Upgrade Internet Explorer version to 7, or better yet download and install Firefox (mozilla.com/firefox) or Safari (apple.com/safari). Each of these browsers include enhanced security features older browsers don’t have.
Seriously. Do it.
I also appear in the feature article Confessions of a Technophobe. In the article I answer questions from author A. M. Stewart and, hopefully, comfort her by letting her know technology isn’t all bad.
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Today, your neighborhood Starbucks is closing. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., baristas in the coffee giant’s 7,100 stores will receive “emergency intensive remedial training,” ordered by CEO Howard Schultz, according to an AOL blog.
Recently, complaints have arisen that Starbucks baristas don’t know how to make a decent latte anymore. Consumers complain the chain has morphed from a place that once offered a cup of coffee made exactly right to one now famous for its automatic machines.
Tonight, for three hours, baristas will learn how to make a perfect shot, steam milk and wipe the milk steamer before switching from dairy to soy, and not burn coffee. Also on the agenda is a milk-steaming technique that allows baristas to free pour the milk without holding back foam with a spoon, as well as a new procedure for pulling shots of espresso.
So, I say grab a cup of coffee beforehand and then grab one after and see if the results are different and let me know. I’m not sure about all the Starbucks around town, but I’ll definitely commend the downtown store. They make a mean soy misto and always deliver a smile.
10 Comments »Wilco at the Florida Theater August 6th at 8:00pm. Buy Tickets Online
