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Creative financing allows cities to expand public transit offerings. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23869261/)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Bike_Sharing_Service.jpgHannah Hoag - MSNBC - April 7, 2008

Rent a bike, return a bike.

Although I do not see business suit wearing man or woman riding bikes just yet, for recreation during a city visit, possibly the perfect match. -- Ed.

City commuters weary of stuffy journeys aboard buses and subways now have a better way to get to work, buy groceries and meet for a Saturday matinee. The bike-sharing programs that have transformed Europeans into two-wheeled travelers are now en route to the U.S.

Clear Channel Outdoor, an outdoor advertising company, will launch the country’s first bike-share service in Washington, D.C., in mid-May in partnership with the district’s Department of Transportation.
SmartBike DC will initially offer annual subscribers access to 100 bikes at 10 stations in the city’s central business district. Other cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, are eager to follow suit.

Bike sharing is a decades-old concept: offer urbanites and tourists low-cost access to bicycles within the inner city to ease traffic congestion, curb pollution and boost physical activity. Bike sharing, unlike renting, operates on a self-serve model (no attendants) and is geared toward short-term uses. But early bike-sharing efforts were marred by vandalism, high operating costs, and progressively tighter budgets that forced cities and advocacy groups to abandon their best intention… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23869261/

They'll have to make the bicycles distinctive looking, as in the photographs, because it seems to me that bicycles are the single most stolen item in the universe.

Harry

I really love how they did this in Paris! Now I don't have to pay expensive taxi's in Paris or bring a bike with me! But the dollar is too weak to visit France!

I used the bike-sharing service when I was in Copenhagen 3 years ago, and it seemed to work OK. They were very, very low end bikes, but it sure beat walking many times over. Some of the bikes were in poor repair, but you usually didn’t have to walk more than a couple blocks to find a bike that was available and more or less functional. All advertising supported, supposedly.

The biggest flaw I saw in the system was that if you used a share-bike for an errand, you have to either leave the bike unlocked or “check it in” when you’re shopping, sightseeing at a particular location or whatever your business is. I found that when I was done with my business and came back out to where I’d parked the bike, it was already gone because someone else had put in their 25 Kroner and gone for a ride on it. Then I had to search for another bike to get back home. That level of undependability is going to be unacceptable in the American marketplace.

A time-based rental system, where you’re guaranteed to be able to keep the bike for an hour or two, seems like a better model. That’s how Zipcar/FlexCar’s system works. With today’s technology, it shouldn’t be too hard to design a system where you still have to park the bike at an official kiosk while you’re doing your errand, but you’re given some kind of token or password that allows no one but you to check the bike back out while your rental is still in effect. A 3 or 4 hour limit to the rental period would keep people from hoarding the bikes or using them to commute and leaving them locked up all day – just as the 4 hour limit in Portland's downtown Smart Park garages deters commuters and keeps the parking spots available for high-turnover shopping use.

By the way, I've seen plenty of people wearing business suits riding bikes in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo. Of course getting Americans to consider it is a whole different ballgame.

They deter theft in Copenhagen by (as suggested) making the bikes incredibly distinctive looking with bright colors and big advertising panels; making them with the cheapest, heaviest, least desirable but still dependable parts available (and in non-standard dimensions and threading to deter parts theft); designing them to be a bit goofy to ride (odd steering and very short cranks like on kids' bikes); using solid rubber rather than pneumatic tires; and making it a crime to possess one outside the central business district.

Even so, I think they lose a fair number of bikes to theft and breakage. Regular replenishment is needed, and it's my understanding that's all budgeted into Copenhagen's system. It helps that these bikes are very cheap.

I like this idea. :)

A time-based rental system, where you’re guaranteed to be able to keep the bike for an hour or two, seems like a better model.

Wrong, I say give jetpacks to everyone instead.

But yeah, that would be pretty bad if you leave a store or something and your rental isn't there because someone else rented it.

We have the same project here at Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Last year they made a trial we few stations and bikes. Next summer the 1st phase will be fully implemented. The bike path network is very good and all this with Communauto, our zipcar company, Montreal become a leader in North America for altrernative solution to private cars, in a city having a long winter season though.

There si hopefulness


PierreM

One of the more memorable (aside from the machine-guns!!!) characteristics of my 2wk internship at Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab is their transportation system on the campus. It consists of a series of bright orange bicycles with big cushy seats and balloon tires. These bikes look like overgrown children's bikes (before dirt bikes became popular) with the upcurving handlebars and a low crossbar so women can sidesaddle mount. They have a kickstand, are a single speed, and use back-pedal activated braking. Some have baskets on them and all are just left anywhere on the grounds. Since the perimeter is completely enclosed by a formidable wall (with razor wire on top and armed guard :eek:) no rent, or ticketing is used. You simply grab a free bike when you need to get to another part of the campus and then drop it when you are done -- in a rack, against a building, or even on the grass. It doesn't matter.

That made a huge impression me!

I think a better alternative is a bagable bike. One that is poratable enough to take with you on a bus or in the trunk of your car, ready to be whipped out, ridden and then carried into the store or office when you get there. You know the maintenance history because you maintain it yourself. Hopefully it will be small enough to travel as checked baggage.

My 2 cents.

I'm for any encouragement to use bikes and make planners realize it is a viable alternative to a car/SUV. This availability should help people realize bikes can be used on a regular basis.

I'm for any encouragement to use bikes and make planners realize it is a viable alternative to a car/SUV. This availability should help people realize bikes can be used on a regular basis.

That sounds like a great system. I wish we could get something like that here in Cincinnati.

Arlington Virginia is rolling out their bike share program within the next year or so, and Alexandria will follow but they're slow so who knows when.

As for the editorial comment, I rode my bike to a job interview today, wearing a suit, and I looked mighty fine too if I do say so.

Starting graduate school in the Fall (and I'm pushing 40). I've already clocked the ride to class, and its 15 minutes. I'm seriously considering selling the car and going car-free for awhile. Its not paid for, and by my conservative calculation is it costs at least $500 a month (payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) just to sit. I could do without it, and rather than dumping the money in a depreciating asset, I could apply it to my educational expenses. I'd like to get a masters without incurring any debt, and I think I can do it.

Hi Aca2983:

___I hope you can do it and as for going car-free, god bless you!!!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

One of the more memorable (aside from the machine-guns!!!) characteristics of my 2wk internship at Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab is their transportation system on the campus. It consists of a series of bright orange bicycles with big cushy seats and balloon tires. These bikes look like overgrown children's bikes (before dirt bikes became popular) with the upcurving handlebars and a low crossbar so women can sidesaddle mount. They have a kickstand, are a single speed, and use back-pedal activated braking. Some have baskets on them and all are just left anywhere on the grounds. Since the perimeter is completely enclosed by a formidable wall (with razor wire on top and armed guard :eek:) no rent, or ticketing is used. You simply grab a free bike when you need to get to another part of the campus and then drop it when you are done -- in a rack, against a building, or even on the grass. It doesn't matter.

That made a huge impression me!I used to work on a (fenced-in) corporate campus that had a small fleet of similar bikes. Ours had the handlebar baskets too, which was great for carrying folders, binders, etc. across campus for meetings. Everyone used them, and they worked out great.

Specifically, the bikes we had, and likely yours too, were the Schwinn Heavy Duti (http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=634), a rig which Schwinn has made for decades, and for many years in a distinctive orange color with chromed parts (as opposed to the newer yellow/black scheme in the link above). I believe the HD also used to be made in the step-through frame design that you describe.

Holy cow! Blast from the (decade ago) past!! That's it, alright. Paint it bright orange (with chrome bars etc) with the step through frame and that's the bike. Sweet!

Thanks for digging that up! :D

I think a better alternative is a bagable bike. One that is poratable enough to take with you on a bus or in the trunk of your car, ready to be whipped out, ridden and then carried into the store or office when you get there. You know the maintenance history because you maintain it yourself. Hopefully it will be small enough to travel as checked baggage.

My 2 cents.I met a guy that does this at hybrid fest ;) . A pilot that flew into the city they want to visit with their garland nav unit. Pulls a backpack and foldaway bike out of the cargo hold, punches in the address to the hotel and starts pedaling.

Darn fine idea. All I need is a plane.

11011011

The other solution to this is to just acquire several of your own crap bikes and keep them locked at various places. I had one that I always kept at my old office (was able to lock it in the garage). I was able to use it during lunch for running errands and such.

I know several ppl who have done this, and had bikes kept at multiple Metro stations.