Over the Summer, the Better Bike Share Partnership team had a unique opportunity to partner with the Food Trust and Cadence Youth Cycling team to lead rides from the Food Trust’s Common Ground Marketplace (Broad and Mt. Vernon) to various urban farms throughout North Philadelphia. Through this partnership, we met many folks in the community interested in learning more about Indego and the Urban Farms movement.

First stop: We were set to visit the Philly Urban Creators (PUC) Farm on July, 12th. We had a fun group that day, including three sisters from the community (they took a break from shopping to go on the ride with us). 

As we rode to the farm, riders rang their bells and waved at folks as we passed. The Cadence youth engaged with riders in conversation, telling them about their program and how fun it is to bike in the city. Once we arrived at the PUC farm, we received a warm welcome, met the organizers and many community members of all ages involved in the effort. They gave us a tour of their farm and talked to us about their overall goals. The produce that they are growing in North Philly was being sold at the The Common Ground Market Place and other farmers markets throughout the city.

We made many great connections on this ride. One of the participants, Susie Paige, happened to be a member of GirlTrek Philly and invited us to coordinate a group ride later in the year with 10 members of the GrilTrek crew. When asked about her experience with Indego, Susie shared, “the ride was great. It was a wonderful way to visit the urban garden. I took my first solo  Indego ride today. Did very well thanks to the GirlTrek training.”

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia does outreach and education on behalf of Indego, and their work is made possible by the Better Bike Share Partnership, an initiative funded by the JPB Foundation, which seeks to create a socially equitable and replicable bike share model for Philadelphia and beyond.