Letter to the Editor: A 'Thank You' from Simsbury Free Bike

To the Community of Simsbury,

The volunteers at Simsbury Free Bike would like to thank everyone that contributed to a successful 2012 Simsbury Free Bike community bike share season. Our thanks go to individual and business sponsors, businesses that served as bike stations, riders, schools/PTO's that implemented Safe Routes to School programs and related bike safety programs and the Town of Simsbury that continues to improve the safety of our network of trails, streets and roads for walkers and bikers.

The Simsbury Free Bike program grew from 1 location with 6 bikes and 150 riders in 2011 to 8 locations in 3 towns that served over 600 riders during our May to October 2012 season. Over fifty percent of riders were visitors to the town where bikes were borrowed. We share the goals of other bike share programs, common in cities and on college campuses, to reduce vehicle congestion, provide low cost transportation options and to encourage cycling for health and wellness. Simsbury Free Bike encourages biking by placing bikes at trailside locations in towns adjacent to The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and The Farmington River Trail.

The League of American Bicyclists recognizes bike friendly towns based on excellence in the categories of education, engineering, enforcement and encouragement. Bike share programs are designed to encourage biking, contribute to a community's bike friendliness, draw visitors to town and is an important component of a BFC application.

A Bike Friendly Community creates a well connected network of streets and roads where bikers and walkers feel safe. Simsbury has evolved to a biking mecca attracting cyclists to our town’s sharrowed routes, bike share program, greenway, growing infrastructure of safe routes and our notoriety as the first (bronze level) Bike Friendly Community in the State of Connecticut. This award, most importantly, recognizes the collaboration between town engineers and police, bike advocates, Simsbury businesses, residents and the school community.

We will be adding three distribution centers in 2013. To see the list of our 2013 bike share stations, information about town and statewide biking news/events, visit and like our Facebook page at Simsbury Free Bike. To donate a bike or to inquire about becoming a volunteer or sponsor, contact us at simsburyfreebike@gmail.com.

Come ride with us in 2013!

Pattie Smith Jacobus
Simsbury Free Bike