Supporting human-powered transportation through community participation
(This is an archive of the original 1999-2000 site, by Michael Bluejay)
Supporting human-powered transportation through community participation
Shop address: 1182 Hargrave
Mailing address:
The Yellow Bike
Project, PO Box 7832,
Austin,
TX 78713-7832
Phone: (512) 457-9880
Email: austinyellowbike@juno.com
What is the Yellow Bike Project?
Austin's Yellow Bike Project (YBP) is a community project designed to promote human-powered transportation for the central Austin area. People-power is a way to limit the traffic congestion of a rapidly growing city. It also provides a sane alternative to the reliance on motor vehicles. Our projects promote cleaner air, land, and water, while encouraging people to meet their transportation needs through community participation. Our main projects are:
Yellow Bikes
We recycle donated bikes, tune them up, and give them a new coat of bright yellow paint. they're free to ride but not to keep. On January 25, 1997, volunteers released the first 24 bikes with the aid of the Bikes Not Bombs shop. To date, the Yellow Bike Collective has released over 207 community free bikes.If you find a yellow bike leaning against a wall, post, or wherever the last rider left it, get on and ride to your destination. After you get there, leave the bike in an obvious place for the next rider. It's that simple. Yellow Bikes are lock-free, and are not to be taken inside or held onto except for the time that the rider is actually on the bike. The Yellow Bike Liberation Crew is on the constant lookout for incarcerated community bikes, and we free them when we find them.
Bike Libraries
Volunteer 12 hours or $20 to get a library card, then check out a quality bicycle to ride around town.
We host free workshops on bike repair four nights a week. During these workshops we fix up Yellow Bikes and bikes for the Bike Libraries. Come on down to learn about basic bicycle maintenance & repair while creating Yellow Bikes! Call 457-9880 for the current workshop schedule.
Kids come in to volunteer in the shop, building community bikes, learning bike maintenance, and otherwise helping the project grow. They will have the opportunity to earn $2 an hour credit towards a frame and parts to build up their own bike.We are considering having a kids night as a time to have kids (and parents if desired) to come in and learn about bike maintenance and take bike-safety rides. As with other Yellow Bike Workshops, the kids night would be free of charge (although donations are gladly accepted). We need input from kids and parents who are interested in coming into a free bike workshop for kids. Please call us at 457-9880.
City Employee Bike Program
YBP is preparing a fleet of bicycles for use by City of Austin employees, in exchange for the City providing warehouse space for our shop.
Recycled Bikes Conference
We held our first Recycled Bikes Conference in January 2000. This may become an annual event.
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
Local Business Support
The YBP is a community project which relies on community support, and local businesses have given us a lot of it. We would like to thank the locally-owned and operated businesses that have contributed to the project:
Bagel
Manufactory Bicycle
Sport Shop Bikes
Not Bombs Byproduct
Graphics Eastside
Café Food
Not Bombs Freewheeling
Bike Shop Great
Harvest Bakery Kerbey
Lane Café Live
Oak Brewery Manor
Road Coffee House Ozone
Bike Shop Ruta
Maya Coffee Shop Spoetzl
Brewery Victory
Grill Waterloo
Cycles Wheatsville
Food Co-op
And to all the other businesses and other individuals that have supported the Yellow Bike Project, THANK YOU!
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
Yellow Bike Collective
All major decisions concerning the YBP are made by the Yellow Bike Collective, which is composed of active YBP volunteers. To become part of the Collective, volunteers must contribute 24 hours to the YBP per season. This ensures that people will be up to date with YBP and in a position to make informed decisions. We feel that it is essential that those who are making the decisions for the project are also actively involved.There are no directors or designated leaders of the project; it is a boss-free zone. Representatives and coordinators must seek approval from the collective prior to taking action on major decisions.
All decisions made through consensus of the collective. The entire group must agree on a decision before it is carried out. Concerns are addressed until a compromise is reached.
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
Bicycle Donations
All of the Yellow Bikes have been donated -- some by bike shops, but most from individual supporters throughout the Austin community. They YBP is supported solely through donations.We encourage people to bring bike donations to the shop (1182 Hargrave).
If you are unable to bring your bike to us, please call us at 457-9880 and we'll try to come pick up your donation. (Please be sure to leave your name, phone number, and address when calling us.) Please be patient if you require us to pick up the donation -- we are an all-volunteer organization with limited people-power, but we will eventually be around your neighborhood to collect donated bikes.
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
Support the Yellow Bike Project
The Yellow Bike Project happens entirely through volunteer labor and community support. Donations of old bicycles or financial support are tax-deductible. (YBP is a non-profit 501c(3) organization.) Right now, we need bikes, tools, good tires & tubes, a copy machine, your time, suggestions, money...
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
It's not just happening here
Other cities with community bike projects include:
San Francisco, CA
Boulder & Denver CO
Orlando FL
St. Paul - Minneapolis MN
Missoula MT
Portland OR
Burlington VT
Madison WI
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Amsterdam (Holland).
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
Awards we've received
We were the runner-up in the "Best Community Program" category of the 1998 Austin Chronicle Readers Poll.
What is YBP? .. Free Workshops .. Youth Projects .. Bike Donations .. Other Donations .. Contact Us
