New Haven bike program grows into a co-op, bringing more people along for the ride Bike program has grown into a co-op with a workspace

John Martin of the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op is open for business three days a week repairing bikes.Mary O'Leary - New Haven Register John Martin of the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op is open for business three days a week repairing bikes.Mary O'Leary - New Haven Register Photo: Digital First Media Photo: Digital First Media Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close New Haven bike program grows into a co-op, bringing more people along for the ride 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> A building that once housed a major electrical contractor now is crowded with refurbished bicycles aimed at adding a charge to the city’s ever-growing cycling ethos.

John Martin, an architect by training, came back to the area in late 2014 to help refurbish the brick building at 138 Bradley St. owned by his father.

Martin had a serendipitous encounter in 2015 with Joel LaChance, an owner for many years of bicycle shops, and Paul Hammer, who runs a pedi-cab service, both of whom were rehabbing bikes on a small scale.

Martin joined his two mentors and eventually took ownership of the project with the Bradley Street building as its base.

“They are real assets to the community,” Martin said of Hammer and LaChance.

One mission of the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op, housed at the former Martin Electric company, is providing a space for cyclists to repair their own bikes, or learn how to do it, with volunteers providing help.

“Your bike is making a weird squeak, you bring it in. You get a pass for the day and I will help you identify it. We encourage self-guided work always,” Martin said.

The second goal is refurbishing used bikes that can be resold at a reasonable price, between $100 and $300, as a source of income to keep the operation going, while other repaired bikes are donated to two main institutional users, the Connecticut Mental Health Center and new arrivals who come here through Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.

Sandy Parkerson, a volunteer at IRIS, said she will hold a safety class for the refugees who need a bike, to teach them the rules of the road in the U.S. She said it is usually men, but she is encouraging women also to come forward.

A big source of the bikes is the New Haven Police Department, which turns over bikes that haven’t been claimed in a year. IRIS provides a helmet and a lock. Last summer, Parkerson said they gave away more than 60 bikes and they hope to double that in 2017.

“There are so many refugees who need bikes. I love the look on their face when they get the bike. They are so proud of it. And they really use them,” Parkerson said.

Martin said making bicycles available to individuals who need them as a primary means of transportation and closing the gap between the more affluent and lower-income neighborhoods in spreading the word about the cycling community, started with Hammer and LaChance.

It was called BEEP! (Bicycle Education, Entrepreneurship and Enrichment Programs) and it has now been fully incorporated into the co-op.

“We scaled it up,” Martin said.

Given that the average cost of operating a bicycle is $308, as compared to $8,220 for the average car, according to the Sierra Club, it’s an affordable means of transportation. Martin, like many other cycling enthusiasts in New Haven, doesn’t own a car and doesn’t miss having one.

New Haven is also unique in that 30 percent of households don’t have a car, while 60 percent don’t have a car for each driver.

The oversized Bradley Street garage, with a second room for storage, has also functioned as a space for community events.

On Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the shop, which is stocked almost to the ceiling with the necessary parts and tools, all provided by Martin, is open with a base of some 10 volunteers working on a regular basis, supplemented by others.

In the storage space there are around 200 bikes, most of them already repaired. By at least 2018, they hope to have 500 “out the door” with half sold and half given away, Martin said it is something they will work towards this year as well.

Martin, 29, grew up in the small suburban community of Westbrook and went to school in Boston, where he also worked for a time as an architect. He said in comparison, New Haven is the perfect size.

“It is big enough — there are always people moving in, there are new restaurants, new activities ... popping up so you have that kind of energy and growth. But it is also small enough so generally things are only a degree or two of separation apart,” he said.

“For me there is a positive feedback loop that happens. People are excited to meet one another, people are excited to do things. People are excited to volunteer,” Martin said, which he attributes, at least in part, to its size.

In a bigger city, you are often just a number, while there is an echo chamber in small towns, with not enough change to reinforce your work, Martin said.

The program offers memberships of $10 a day to use the heated space and tools to fix your bicycle. There is a $30 membership for three months or $100 for a year. You can also sign up for instruction at $30 an hour. Volunteers working on the recycled bikes can earn up to 50 percent off the cost of a yearlong membership.

“I want to make this a real community space that has some staff and becomes a job for a number of people,” Martin said. “Our big goal is to make this a fully-funded operation. We are just not there yet.”

Five students from the Yale School of Management are helping the group build a three-year strategic plan. They now have a computer tracking system that shows they have fixed 307 bikes to date.

“I really enjoy biking. When you are in the biking world you are always surrounded by generally really good people who really care. That has certainly been the case. I got such encouragement. They keep me going,” Martin said.