Rehoboth reviews Boardwalk bike patrol

A program designed to increase bicycle safety on the Boardwalk is wrapping up its first season, and its principal champion is giving it a passing grade.

“All in all, I’d say the program was successful,” said Frank Cole.

Cole, owner of Atlantic Cycle, told Rehoboth Streets and Transportation Committee Aug. 24 that the program's young volunteers are going back to school. Cole said five young people started in the program, but two left in the middle of the summer. He said there were also two adult monitors; the adults, retirees who live in the area, are filling in as the kids leave.

Cole said the patrol no longer has the presence on the boards it had from Memorial Day through the first week of August, when volunteers patrolled the Boardwalk from 8 to 10 a.m. After 10 a.m., bikes are not permitted on the Boardwalk.

Cole said overall it did not seem there were as many people riding the Boardwalk. He said it appeared as if more bicyclists were using the local bike trails than the Boardwalk, but he had no hard data to support that. Cole said he thought bicycle-related incidents on the Boardwalk were about the same or slightly less than the year before, in part due to the presence of increased seasonal police officers and the bike patrol.

“I think the Boardwalk seems to be fine. Whatever problems were left were purely accidental. You don’t seem to see many people up there acting recklessly,” Cole said.

He said the committee should now focus its attention on reducing bicycle congestion on the streets, particularly at night, when there is a large mix of bikes, pedestrians and cars.

“It seems to be building as Rehoboth becomes more popular,” Cole said.

Commissioner Bill Sargent, the committee chairman, advocated a speed limit for bicycles on the Boardwalk, believing bicyclists were still going too fast. Sargent agreed with Cole that there are more bicyclists out at night.

Cole suggested the city and Atlantic Cycles team up for a marketing campaign encouraging bike safety with an emphasis on obeying traffic laws and staying off the sidewalks.

For summer 2016, Cole said, he would like to use retirees more than younger people for the bike patrol, because retirees showed more interest and seemed to enjoy the experience; they are also easier to recruit and  available longer, he said. Cole said he would like to hand off the program to a retired friend who could recruit fellow cyclists and allow Cole to focus on running his store.

The city commissioners gave the Bicycle Safety Volunteer Program, or B-Safe, the green light in March as a way to increase safety for bicyclists and pedestrians on the Boardwalk. The program’s goals were to encourage bicyclists to keep right on the Boardwalk and maintain safe speed. The program also focused on education to let bicyclists know pedestrians have the right-of-way.