Pronto Cycle Share Launches Seattle’s First Women’s Bike Month with High-Profile Ride
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 5, 2015
CONTACT:
Shae Healey, media@motivateco.com; (503) 869-9328
Pronto Cycle Share Launches Seattle’s First Women’s Bike Month with High-Profile Ride
SEATTLE, WA — In an effort to increase female ridership and raise the profile of women who bike, Pronto is declaring March as Seattle’s first Women’s Bike Month with the Pronto #WomenWhoBike Ride on March 5. Female riders citywide will join with the State’s most influential women in bike advocacy, from Councilmembers to Executive Directors. The Pronto #WomenWhoBike Ride will include leaders from: Washington Bikes, Cascade Bicycle Club, Commute Seattle, Bike Works, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Sound Transit, Seattle City Council, and more.
The ride is intended to celebrate increases in biking by women and encourage continued efforts to close the gender gap among cyclists, with men making up 71 percent of bicycle commuters in Washington State. As of February 24, women made up thirty-six percent of Pronto Annual Members. Bike share systems are reported to address many of the barriers to biking commonly cited by women, and Pronto has every intention of continuing that trend.
“Bike share is a great gateway to bicycling for women because you don’t need your own bike,” said Pronto Executive Director Holly Houser. “Pronto provides 500 of them to ride any time and promotes a style of riding that focuses on comfort, safety, social interaction, and convenience.”
Despite the gender imbalance among cyclists, the majority of the State’s most prominent bicycle organizations are led by women; and, in 2014, Washington was named the #1 Bicycle Friendly State for the 7th year in a row. The Pronto #WomenWhoBike Ride hopes to highlight these accomplishments and generate the visibility of female cyclists.
Attendees will depart from the Pronto Cycle Share Operations Center at 2229 7th Avenue in South Lake Union. To join, female cyclists must arrive by 5:30pm with a Pronto or bike of their own. The ride will last for approximately fifteen minutes and end at Pronto’s City Hall Station (4th/James).
From March 1 -31, Pronto will partner with local and national women-owned and mission-driven businesses to host a series of contests, giveaways, and discounts in celebration of women riders. Participants are encouraged to use the hashtag #WomenWhoBike, which has also been used by Divvy, Chicago’s bike share system.
For a full list of Women’s Bike Month events and promotions, please visit: www.prontocycleshare.com/womenwhobike2015.
Pronto #WomenWhoBike Ride Attendees
Sally Bagshaw – Councilmember, City of Seattle
Madeleine Carlson – Ride Leader, Seattle Critical Lass & Seattle Kidical Mass
Barb Chamberlain – Executive Director, Washington Bikes
Monica Dewald – Senior Civil Engineering Specialist, SDOT
Holly Houser – Executive Director, Pronto Cycle Share
Liz Jose – Adult Programs Manager, Bike Works
Gina Kavesh – President, Washington Bicycle Racing Association (WSBA)
Elizabeth Kiker – Executive Director, Cascade Bicycle Club
Phyllis Porter – Outreach Coordinator & Events Specialist, Bike Works
Merlin Rainwater – Board Member, Various
Robin Randels – Community Connections Advocate, Cascade Bicycle Club
Kelli Refer – Field Programs Coordinator, Cascade Bicycle Club
Rebecca Roush – Bicycle Program Coordinator, Sound Transit
Dawn Schellenberg – Traffic Management, SDOT
Ann Sutphin – Travel Options Lead, SDOT
Cathy Tuttle – Executive Director, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Jessica Szelag – Executive Director, Commute Seattle
Taldi Walter – Community Affairs Program Manager, REI
Sam Woods – Multimodal Program & Project Development Manager, SDOT
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About Pronto
Pronto is Seattle’s bike share program, which launched in the fall of 2014. Through bike share, Pronto seeks to connect the community to expanded transportation choices, making it easier for residents and visitors to use a flexible combination of bikes, buses, taxis, street cars, vehicles and walking to move around the city. Pronto is operated by Motivate, the global leader in bike share. To learn more, visit www.prontocycleshare.com.
About Motivate
Motivate manages all of the largest bike share systems in the United States and many of the largest systems in the world, including Citi Bike (New York and Jersey City), Divvy (Chicago), CoGo Bike Share (Columbus, OH), Capital Bike Share (Washington, D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, VA, and Montgomery County, MD) Hubway (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline, MA), Pronto (Seattle), Bike Chattanooga (TN), Bike Share Toronto, and Melbourne Bike Share in Australia.
