Equity & Acces in Akron’s Bike Culture

Is there any childhood memory as vivid as that first real taste of independence—hitting the roads and trails on a bicycle with the hope of discovering new places, new people, new things? Even in today’s high-tech world, nothing gives you the promise of freedom and possibility more than a bike. 

We caught up with two local leaders and narrative shapers to get their perspective of the thriving Akron bike culture. Meet Joe Tucker, executive director of South Street Ministries and City of Akron Director of Planning and Urban Development Jason A. Segedy. These gentlemen have been instrumental in helping revitalize Akron with new bike lanes and infrastructure, and youth outreach programs to provide access to bikes for urban families. 

How Kids Work Together to Earn Bikes
For Joe Tucker, the passion for providing access to bicycling through the Bike Shop youth program is personal. When Joe was 17, as his Eagle Scout project, he helped organize and renovate the Bike Shop.

“For more than 20 years, kids have come to 130 W. South Street to work on and earn a bicycle,” states Joe, who grew up biking in Firestone Park, where he now lives and works. “One of our longest-standing programs within South Street Ministries, through the Bike Shop, happens each year from mid-spring to late summer local youth from three to 19 years old come on Monday and Wednesday evenings and work, maintaining their own bikes, cleaning the shop and assisting others to earn their bikes. Depending on the age of the child, after a certain number of hours, he or she can take the bike home.”

Run by a group of local volunteers, each year the participants earn an average of 100 bikes. He reports the approach builds children’s confidence and self-esteem as they learn new skills to earn their bikes while opening up equitable access. The best part: while they are adjusting seat heights and affixing training wheels, they’re sharing stories and making real connections.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, they took the program on the road. Joe and his crew started delivering bikes directly to the families. They’d set up a mini repair shop in the driveway.

“We had parents sign up ahead of time with what their families needed and we would drop the bikes to their home,” he says. “It worked out well. The one thing it elucidated for us was the fact that parents and guardians wanted bikes, too, so they could ride together.”

When Joe reported this to the Knight Foundation, South Street Ministries was awarded a $12,000 grant that allowed them to take the program to the next level. They were able to buy a trailer and install hitches to their vehicles so they could move more bikes to more people.

“Last year, we started a Bike Share program too, going to the Famers Market on Tuesdays and Kenmore First Fridays, bringing a fleet of bikes that kids and families could borrow, share, and ride together,” says Joe. They are also exploring the potential of selling bikes in the future.

Each October, through its Trails ‘n’ Rails fundraiser, South Street Ministries invites local families and sponsors to take a six-mile bike ride starting at Cascade Park and following the Towpath Trail north. Then they load up their bikes onto the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train and head back to unload at Northside Station.

“For some of these kids, they’ve never ridden on the towpath or even been on a train before,” says Joe.

The Building Blocks to Becoming a Bike-Friendly City
Connecting residents through avenues of access is a means of fostering community and economic development.

According to Jason Segedy, about 20 years ago there was a fundamental shift in American cities from considering biking as a recreational pursuit for children to seeing it as a viable mode of transportation for adults to run errands and get to work.

“Similarly, there was a shift in cities—such as Akron—that are appreciating what a great asset it is to add infrastructure to encourage biking,” he states. 

In 2018, Mayor Dan Horrigan announced $127,000 in funding from the Knight Foundation to support the development of a consistent and connected bicycle grid across the City of Akron.

He said the motivation behind the initiative was to create a “core network of connected bike lanes that will link our neighborhoods to key destinations and business districts across the city.”

The timeline of building downtown bikeways began at the south end of the city four years ago. The section along Main Street connecting the Towpath Trail to downtown was completed late last year. And the final two blocks, a lane about ¾-mile long between Mill Street and Perkins Street, is currently under construction and slated to open in 2022.

Painted bright green and protected by planters, the 10-foot-wide lanes of the bikeway run parallel to the sidewalk and street, providing ample space for bikers heading in both directions and protecting them from car traffic.

“We continue to be interested in creating trails coming off the main Towpath Trail to connect more people to downtown,” says Jason. “We think of the Towpath as the spine and we want to put ribs on it. The main idea is that when you ride the Towpath, you’re going along the Ohio and Erie Canal and not experiencing everything that’s going on downtown. There are many amenities and reasons for bikers to stop and enjoy.”

Beyond recreational use, he points out the large number of people who use their bikes every day as the sole mode of transportation.

“When the METRO RTA added bike racks onto their busses, we saw how full they quickly became and realized that people from all levels of income were becoming dependent on bikes as their sole mode of mobility,” he says. “We’re always thinking of ways to make their routes safer and more convenient.”

If you’d like to donate a bicycle to the South Street Ministry Bike Shop, contact Joe at joe@southstreetministries.org. For a detailed bike map of the greater Akron area, go to
amatsplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/AMATS-Bike-Users-Map.pdf​.