Fort Worth ‘bike gang’ gets boost with hundreds of bicycles and parts
The Fort Worth City Council removed a layer of bureaucratic red tape Tuesday, opening the door for nonprofits to grab discarded bicycles from the city.
The council approved a resolution to give the bikes and parts to qualified charitable groups that pledge to use them for donations. Previously the city has auctioned off bikes that show up at city drop zones. The concept seems like an easy way to get piles of unwanted bikes to children across town, but it’s taken nearly a year for City Hall to make it happen.
The idea started when north Fort Worth dad Daniel Guido found that discarded bikes were piling up at a city-operated waste drop-off station. Guido runs a bike “gang” in his neighborhood called Park Glen Bike Gang, or PeeGeeBeeGeez. The group of families and volunteers fix and maintain bikes, give rebuilt bikes away and host community rides in an effort to encourage children be active and neighbors to get to know each other.
In three years, the group has provided more than 800 bikes to families, Guido said. The city’s stockpile is roughly 800 bikes, massively increasing the number of available bicycles, tricycles and parts.
“We have a big city, so this is kind of like seeding,” he said after the vote, adding that the city’s commitment may spur others to donate unused bikes.
The discarded bikes were an obvious opportunity, but the city had some concerns. Chiefly, the potential liability if some one hopped on a dumped bike and got hurt. There were also concerns about how the bikes would be donated equitably.
The resolution passed Tuesday clears that up.
It authorizes a new program allowing qualified nonprofit groups to obtain the bikes and parts on a first-come, first-serve basis. They’ll have to sign a liability waiver, pledge not to sell what they get and submit periodic reports on their use of the inventory.
Councilman Cary Moon was eager to move the resolution through City Hall, he said, saying Fort Worth had a long history of biking. For the vote, he donned a bike helmet.
