Yellow Bike Project celebrates 20 years

As volunteer coordinator Pete Wall tells it, the Yellow Bike Project launched in Austin with the aim of solving the city’s traffic problems and saving us all from a future of gridlock and pollution. The plan was to paint unwanted bikes bright yellow and “put them on the streets as an interactive advertisement for cycling itself” and for all to use. “Needless to say, we failed,” he acknowledged. “In the meantime, however, we built a sturdy volunteer base and continue to work on our original mission, but with some changes. We no longer make Yellow Bikes, but we continue to take bikes out of the waste stream and give them new lives.” On May 27, the Yellow Bike Project will celebrate its evolution into a place where Austinites can learn to fix their bikes for free and help those in need of transportation, and a center that has partnered with Caritas of Austin, Refugee Services of Texas, Travis County Integral Care, the Boys and Girls Club of Austin and others to bring programs to the city. The celebration will feature food, beer and live music from Thor & Friends and DJ Katastrophik. It will take place on May 27 at the Neill-Cochran House Museum (2310 San Gabriel St.) from 5-10 p.m.