Marisa in the middle!

The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) is an effort led by the City of Philadelphia that works to ensure that Indego bike share is accessible to all Philadelphians. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is a non­profit advocacy and education organization working as part of the Better Bike Share Partnership to support bike share and biking education. The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by the JPB Foundation.

This year, BBSP is creating a monthly mini-blog series highlighting recent community ambassadors. We will be featuring the work they’ve done as past ambassadors and update you on the amazing work they’re doing now.

We recently sat down with Marisa Jones, one of our very first ambassadors from Philly’s Francisville neighborhood. Marisa spends her time living in both Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.

During her time in Washington, DC, Marisa had experience using Capital Bike Share for her everyday commute around her community. She believes bike share is a good source of transportation.

“I rode capital bike share everyday in DC. I just love it. Every time I came to Philly, I wasn’t sure how to get around since I didn’t have a my bike at that point. Once I heard bike share was launching in Philadelphia I got so excited,” said Jones.

“I remember seeing that the Bicycle Coalition and Better Bike Share Partnership were looking for ambassadors in certain neighborhoods to do community outreach and my neighborhood was on the list!,” said Marisa. “I love bike share so much. I wanted the program to succeed in Philly.”

Marisa on the left!

“One of my biggest highlights of the ambassador program was riding from Eakins Oval alongside a group of people from all ages, races, ethnicities, body shapes and sizes and I remember having this amazing feeling that the program itself would be successful and everyone would ride Indego to create connections.”

Jones now works for Safe Routes to School National Partnership, as the Healthy Communities Manager. Her role in the organization is to make easier and safer for kids and people of all ages, to walk and bike to school from places that matter to them in their communities plus support communities by improving opportunities for active transportation and healthy food access.

“We are a transportation organization, we really care about people getting around safely and conveniently, but we also care deeply about equity and we know that not all people have the same opportunities to walk and bicycle safety,” said Jones. “We view bike share as a definite travel option for people of all ages who are in need getting through safety in their communities.”
Marisa looks forward to getting more parents and community members involved. One of her goals is to get more communities and organizations to conduct walking audits on their own to create more better routes.

We at Better Bike Share would like to thank Marisa for the work she did as an ambassador, and look forward to sharing more amazing stories from other past ambassadors.