The City and County of Honolulu wanted to explore the possibility of launching a bike share program.
Beginning with extensive outreach, Nelson\Nygaard conducted a bike share demand analysis tailored to the unique conditions of urban Honolulu to determine system size and ridership forecasts. We also modeled the health, economic, and environmental benefits of bike share based on the recommended service area and system size. This analysis fed into a detailed business plan that was used to determine financial feasibility and lure potential sponsors and initial funders. We recommended the development of an administrative nonprofit.
With over 200 stakeholders including local, state and federal partners as well as private businesses and local foundations, this was a collaborative process that not only provided bike share education, but also built widespread support and excitement for bike share implementation.
By the end, Nelson\Nygaard’s funder engagement process yielded $1.3 million in initial funding commitments from public, private, and nonprofit players.
Nelson\Nygaard also helped identify Executive Director candidates, established an interim communications strategy to address media inquiries prior to establishing the bike share nonprofit, and developed an interim action plan geared towards implementation in 20 months.