Some have followed the bizarre story (here, here, and here and also here plus here as well) of the Northshore Community Foundation’s proposed BikeShare Program in the Covington Weekly. The CBA issued a statement with regard to the matter and it is printed here in its entirety, along with the results of the poll referenced:
September 28, 2017
“The Covington Business Association must adhere to the mission by which our organization was founded – to represent and advance the interests of local business. To that end, we conducted an anonymous poll of our member businesses at a recent meeting to gage their opinions on the bike share issue. An overwhelming majority of our members who responded were not in favor of the bike share program, and particularly not one that is funded by the taxpayer. Furthermore, after conducting additional research on bike share programs around the country, our board of directors does not believe that this program, as currently proposed, will be successful nor enhance our quality of life on a local level. Therefore, the Covington Business Association does not support this project, nor its funding by the St Tammany Parish government or our local municipality.
The CBA is willing to work with the Tammany Trace, local organizations and private businesses to devise and implement a strategy for expanding bicycle availability along and near the Trace. We believe that a more appropriate alternative can be identified – one that supports local business and does not require government investment.”
Brad Schroeder
Board President
Covington Business Association
Covington Business Association Member Votes Regarding the Proposed Bike Share Program for St. Tammany Parish
The board of directors of the Covington Business Association polled the organization’s members at the general monthly meeting on September 6, 2017. The questions and responses were as follows:
1) Do you think that a bike sharing program should be implemented? 40 No 8 Yes
2) Do you feel that the City of Covington should dedicate $25,000 of public money to the proposed study and implementation plan? 46 No 3 Yes
3) If a bike sharing program is implemented, do you think it should be managed by an outside vendor or a local vendor? 48 Local 0 Outside
4) Would you support a bike sharing program that was funded by the St. Tammany Parish government for costs of > $1 million? 49 No 1 Yes
5) Is it safe to say that a bike share program would NOT compete with local bike rental businesses? No 44 Yes 5
