SVBC Partners with Westfield Valley Fair to Encourage Biking to the Mall

Westfield Valley Fair has a strong commitment and interest in upping the number of folks who ride a bike to their mall on Stevens Creek in San Jose. As a result, SVBC has worked for 18 months with the Mall supported by funding from a grant from Knight Foundation, matched with funding from Westfield Valley Fair. Our work together has included several initiatives. I describe just one of them here and share some of the lessons SVBC has learned through the project.We ran two “Bike to Shop Day” events (May 2016 and May 2017), during bike month. These events consisted of four bikepool group rides converging on the mall on a Saturday, with free valet bike parking and giveaways for bicyclists upon arrival. An amazing group of volunteers led the rides:Diane Harrison (both years, from Santa Clara)Ralf Karge (2016, from West San Jose)Ian Emmons (2016, from Campbell)Janet La Fleur (2016, from Downtown San Jose)Michael Hodge (2017, from Campbell)Angel Briceno (2017, from West San Jose)Miyuki Noda (2017, from West San Jose)Ko Outlaw-Spruell (2017, from Downtown San Jose)Our 2017 Bikepool route starting points included:

• Calabazas Cyclery in West San Jose. Click here for a map of the 5.4 mile route.
• Sports Basement in Campbell. Click here for a map of the 3.7 mile route.
• Off Ramp on El Camino Real in Santa Clara. This is a gentle 9 mile round trip ride, featuring the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail, a Rose Garden, an Ice Cream Shop, as well as all that Westfield Valley Fair has to offer! The ride home ends at Summit Bikes in Santa Clara – with a discount offered for Bike to Shop Day riders.
• Martin Luther King Library downtown, via La Dolce Velo on the Alameda. Click here for a map of this 4 mile route.

These events were promoted through Westfield Valley Fair’s website, email list, facebook page and an electronic billboard on the i880 freeway. In addition, bike shops at the start of the bikepool group rides were asked to promote the event, and SVBC carried out our own promotion and used Bike to Work Day to get the word out.So… did our efforts pay off at all? Well, when you look at the initial numbers, it looks like they did! Bike to Shop Day in 2016 resulted in a significant increase in bicycle numbers at the mall compared with baselines. That means folks came specifically to the mall by bike, because of the event. However, the following year, when we went to carry out our baselines a couple of Saturdays before our event, we were disappointed to find much lower baseline bike numbers compared to the year before. A section of the mall was under construction (mainly on the Winchester Ave side), but in two parking garages off Forrest Ave, Westfield Valley Fair had installed brand new bike parking lockers available free of charge and new bike stands. Added to that, there was a gorgeous new green bike lane on Forest Avenue, which is the natural feeder for bicyclists from west, north, and east.Bike to Shop Day 2017 was more successful than 2016, resulting in an even bigger increase in bicycle numbers compared with that year’s baselines. The bike count had increased too, compared to the previous year. We were curious to find out how people had found out about the event, and discovered that all the folks who arrived in our bike corral had heard of the event through SVBC, or through Bike to Work Day. None of the folks responded to advertising through the bike shops (where the bikepool rides began) or the Westfield Valley Fair promotions. This shows that we were getting mostly ‘biking types’ at the mall, a proportion of which may have no interest in going back there by bike (on a non-event day).This brings me to the first of two issues that came up.“Why the mall?” – to which the answer is (mostly) “funding”! But also, “folks love it!”We bicyclists love to come to events where we are being encouraged to do what we love to do… which is ride our bicycles! We can’t figure out why others don’t do it. And to be frank, there are many us who don’t love Westfield Valley Fair Mall. So, of course, the whole time we have been focused on this mall, there have been regular comments like “Why do you want to do a bike ride to the mall? It’s boring/ expensive/ not my thing at all!”. But, get this: You are not our target audience! You know who is? It’s your friend with the super stylish shoes who wonders whether it’s possible to ride a bike in them. It’s your sister in law who is too scared to ride on the roads in San Jose. It’s your dad who hasn’t been on a bike in 20 years. It’s that cousin who always sports the latest fashion and a perfect manicure. It’s your friend who bought that car in college and hasn’t been on a bike since.But (and here’s the sneaky part) … you have a super important role to play. When 35 of you turn up at the mall on Bike to Shop Day, there are literally thousands of people (sitting in their cars waiting for their turn to get into a jammed parking garage) who LOVE the mall, who see you. You are a superb advertisement for the fact that it is possible to bike to the mall (and possibly even get stuff, load it on your bike and ride home). We love the fact that you turn up, because you are a living, breathing example of someone getting on their bike to get to somewhere that most people don’t imagine biking to. And enjoying it! And laughing and socializing when you get there!We ask just one thing of you. Next time, please, please, will you bring that sister in law? Your dad? Your friend in the stylish shoes? (You might even try getting on your bike in your best clothes to support her!) We need them, as well as you, to get consistent improvements in bike numbers. It’s these significant increases that make the roads safer for us all.Through all this work, we find that the one thing that gets behavior change – is a biking friend, colleague or family member - suggesting it, helping them with logistics (No, you don’t need to change out of your gorgeous shoes! Yes, you can buy a stylish shopping bike!) and going with them on their first rides.Thank you for the example you set, and the influence you have on those you know, and those around you. Not only do you demonstrate the possibility of riding to your friends, colleagues, relatives, and car drivers at the mall, you also normalize riding, and you increase safety for beginner riders, as car drivers become more alert to bicyclists around the mall. In this way, you are powerful!We are so grateful to both Knight Foundation and Westfield Valley Fair for their enthusiasm in helping us with our mission to get more folks on bicycles for everyday transportation.Alison Paulin, SVBC Bike Parking Manager & Programs Assistant