Hoosier State Gets ‘Share the Road’ Licence Plates

Posted: 06/14/2010

It took four attempts, but the advocates at Bicycle Indiana were determined to get their message on car bumpers and tap into a helpful pot of money. This month, they succeeded.

On June 1, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced that it had approved a new “I Share the Road” license plate that will be available in 2011.

“We are more than a little excited for this win and thankful that our supporters hung with us for the journey,” says Nancy Tibbet, executive director of Bicycle Indiana. “We received over 800 signatures and it was largely accomplished with the assistance of the numerous bicycle retailers and advocacy organizations throughout Indiana.”

With the sale of each license plate, a nice chunk of the $40 fee — $25 — will go directly to Bicycle Indiana. That money, Tibbet says, will be key in helping the organization meet the matching fund requirement for its existing Transportation Enhancement grant. But the prospective cash is making Bicycle Indiana think bigger: they’re hoping to use the funds to revitalize a statewide bikeways initiative, too.

It’s not unrealistic. Other Alliance organizations have made significant strides with license plate funds. BikeTexas lassos more than $300,000 per year with its state license plates, including the “Share the Road, Y’all!” That money, flowing in since 2003, is crucial in leveraging other funds.

Like Texas, Indiana is thinking big. “Our goal is 10,000 plates by the end of 2012,” Tibbet says.

Go Hoosiers!