A proposed bike-share program in Boise is struggling to get funding. The Central District Health Department (CDHD) made a presentation to the Boise City Council this week, but members were non-committal when it came to funding.
In its first two years, the program could cost around $650,000.
But CDHD spokesman Dave Fotsch is optimistic that the $64,000 that has been pledged to the project from other sources will allow the department to leverage private companies to pitch in. CDHD wants to apply for a new round of federal grants, after having been denied federal funding up to this point.
Why a bike-share program in Boise? Fotsch says it would make the city healthier and more efficient.
“You’re not contributing to air pollution, you’re getting some exercise," Fotsch says. "And because bikes take up so much less room than cars, there’s not any added congestion in the downtown area.”
Fotsch, who is a self-described “bike evangelist,” is confident that Boise can follow in the footsteps of the nearly 30 other cities where bike shares are a priority.
He says a program that supports biking is the perfect initiative for CDHD because it fulfills the Department’s strategic goal of fighting obesity in Idaho.
Copyright 2012 Boise State Public Radio
