What We're Doing
With support from AARP's Community Challenge Flagship Grant, we're launching a bikeshare education and activation program for adults aged 50+ called Golden Gears. Our program partner is MassBike. We are planning to support 20 older adults each in Everett, Worcester, and Springfield to participate in a bikeshare confidence clinic to familiarize themselves with their local bikeshare program and bicycle infrastructure. The clinics — which include hands-on riding instruction, classroom learning, guided group rides, peer conversations, plus free cycling equipment and bikeshare passes — are designed to support older adults in feeling confident to continue using bikeshare after the program. The program design intentionally links gentle physical activity with a social environment, intending to address two public health challenges in the process.
We believe that bikeshare systems can create more accessible paths for older adults to engage in micromobility but acknowledge that many barriers may make them confusing or stressful to try without guidance. Golden Gears aims to empower older adults to overcome those barriers through immersive education. Our hope is that by increasing their confidence and awareness, older adults will see the many benefits of their local bikeshare system and perhaps use it more often.
Interested in participating in one of our programs in the fall? Please email thelab@dot.state.ma.us or leave us a voicemail at 857-278-4563.
This project is made possible due to the generous support of AARP.
Why We're Doing It
While supporting the Special Commission on Micromobility, we noticed much of the discussion of micromobility centered on young people and keeping them safe. This makes sense. We believe that micromobility can be accessible, sustainable, and joyful for everyone, though. We wanted to ensure the conversation broadened to include older adults, too. We applied for the AARP Community Challenge Flagship Grant because we believe that educating older adults about bikeshare systems can engage them in the micromobility conversation and might build their confidence to use these systems for practical and recreational trips.
Bikeshare eliminates many of the burdens of owning a bicycle, such as maintenance and storage. Additionally, certain bikeshare systems in the Commonwealth have e-bikes or adaptive bikes, which provide a more supportive ride than traditional, upright bikes for those with mobility concerns. These attributes can make bikeshare a great choice for older adults. We want to ensure that older adults are aware of the many benefits of bikeshare and address any questions or concerns that may be preventing them from using their local system.
What We Hope to Learn
How can we best empower and encourage older adults to use their local bikeshare systems? What questions, concerns, and barriers exist that may prevent this demographic from choosing bikeshare? Does the design of this program help address them? What methods does this program not use that should be considered in the future?
How can this program be "kit-ified" to be used in other cities and towns across the Commonwealth? How can we take the lessons we learn from this program and expand on them to create a replicable approach that can be adopted by other municipalities or bikeshare systems in Massachusetts?
How can we be more inclusive of older adults in discussions about micromobility? How can encouraging bikeshare use in older adults further the goals we have for micromobility in Massachusetts? What messaging and outreach works best to engage on this topic with older adults?
Who's Involved
- AARP
- MassBike
- Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative