Can advocacy groups help address bike shop deserts? In collaboration with community leaders, the Wisconsin Bike Fed is working to do just that, creating a Mobile Bike Hub that has expanded the reach of their programs and services, and engaged new residents with less access to health and wellness resources. In our recent State of the Movement report, Jake Newborn (pictured right) gave us the inside scoop on the innovative program.
By Jake Newborn, Youth Education Program Manager, Wisconsin Bike Fed
The Mobile Bike Hub program in the Layton Boulevard West area of Milwaukee began in 2013 as a way to help meet the Neighborhood’s Quality of Life Plan goals.The local non-profit group, Layton Boulevard West Neighbors (LBWN), contacted the Wisconsin Bike Fed to partner on ideas to improve the health and wellness of the community by increasing biking in the three adjacent neighborhoods that make up the Layton Boulevard West area.
The community is a bike shop desert, but it has great access to the Hank Aaron State Trail and many neighborhood parks and quiet streets for riding bikes. With more than 30% of the population in the neighborhood under the age of 18, LBWN wanted to increase programming and opportunities to keep youth involved and engaged with positive activities.
The Hub, based on a Worksman Tricycle, not only fixes bikes for people of all ages, but also teaches them how to fix flats and make minor adjustments. The Hub recruits local youth from Carmen High School for internships to staff The Hub program for the summer. This program has been so successful that the Bike Fed just launched a second mobile repair program on the north side of the city.
Partnering with Walnut Way Conservation Corp to receive a grant from the City of Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Development Commission, the Pedal Medics launched this Fall based out of our Valid Bike Shop. Built on the same premise as the LBWN Mobile Bike Hub, Pedal Medics uses a Larry Vs Harry Bullitt cargo bike to travel to Community Learning Center sites and other non-profit community serving centers to offer skills training and free fixes to those who need it.
The most basic measure of the program’s success I think can be seen in this simple thank you email I received from a Walnut Way staff member: “The week following your visit, those bikes [you fixed] were all over the neighborhood! Healthy, active, and excited youth — and me, too!”
For more details on the program, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
