D.C. Bike-Sharing Program Launches Today, First in the USA
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.13.08
First Modern Bike-Sharing Program in the USA
The District of Columbia joins Barcelona and Paris today with the launch of its high-tech Smart Bike Program (other cities have bike-share initiatives, but not as big and sophisticated as Vélib-style programs). At first, 120 bikes will be available at 10 self-service racks, mostly in the downtown area, including near the Gallery Place, Shaw and Judiciary Square Metrorail stations. Not exactly Vélib with its 1,500 stations and 20,000 bicycles, but it's a start.
How Does it Work?
"A $40 annual fee gets riders a membership card, which allows them to pick up a cherry red three-speed bike." Once you pick up a bike, you have it for up to three hours. If you need it longer, you need to go back to a station. There are no limits to the number of trips. Unfortunately, short-term memberships will not be available at first, so the target audience isn't tourists.
Security
Sebastian said several steps have been taken to deter theft. Unlike Vélib, only those with a membership card can rent bikes, and the replacement fee for a stolen or damaged bike can reach $550. In Paris, bikes can be rented by the day or week using a credit card.
For now riders will have to provide their own locks, but maybe that will change as district officials try to figure a way to provide them with the bikes.
Lets hope that the program will be a success, that D.C. will add stations, bikes, and bike paths, and that other US cities will follow their example. You can find more information on Smart Bike DC's official website.
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We also have this system in Seville, Spain (www.sevici.es). It's absolutely amazing. Hopefully the program in DC can expand quickly. Part of what makes it successful is having locations all over a city. In Seville we have 2,500 bikes available at 250 locations. Still, you'd be amazed at how often there are no bikes available or no places to park. Still, overall an amazing program that many more cities should take advantage of!
It's not the first bike sharing program in the US.
Madison has had a FREE bike sharing program for years, the red bikes. You see them all over downtown.
Please correct your headline and give Madison some credit :)
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ed: Unless we - and the washington post - are wrong, D.C. will be the first with a 'velib' style system that uses subscriptions and high-tech stations. Is Madison like that?
Portland has had Yellowbike for years, and its free. Doesn't that count?
Sounds like zipcar for bikes.
I hope this works just as well.
This is a really cool program, and it shouldn't be hard to get the 120 bikes on the road for a conservative start. But most of the bikes are placed in a very centralized area, within about a 2 mile radius, much of which is not residential (Dupont and Adams Morgan do not make up the majority of where most Washingtonians live). Until this is changed, I can't see how it will have a big impact on increasing bike commuting.
Additionally, as DC is a 10 mile square in between MD and VA, it is surprising that they do not allow bikes to move outside of DC. In fact, one of the photos on Clear Channels's website is taken of a biker in a region that they are not allowed to ride these bikes (the Lincoln memorial using the memorial bridge in VA) Hopefully this will also change as the program grows.
I hope Tree Hugger will continue to do updates on this program. It makes no sense for me to use it yet (I don't have a reason to go to those places to get a bike at this point), but I will happily use it once it grows.
NYC is like the bike capital of the world, or so it seems. Yet we need this.
We need this in Honolulu. The bike rental shops in Waikiki would be up in arms though. But then again, if it's a monthly pass, maybe they wouldn't compete directly.
Extremely high dense cities benefit from this - too spread apart and it's too much for a bike. Also, the climate needs to be somewhat temperate - no freezing or high humidity (cuts out much of US). I do hope more of these pop up - but tourists would use this heavily so provisions should be made.
Humana Starts Bike Sharing Program for Employees
Thursday October 4, 2007
Louisville kentucky has had a bike sharing program similar to this for over a years now thanks to Humana. Check facts!
http://bicycling.about.com/b/2007/10/04/humana-starts-bike-sharing-program-for-employees.htm
I would love for these systems to be available in Australia, but we have compulsory helmet rules...so unless you want to carry your bike helmet around with you just in case...not sure if 'helmet sharing' would take off :o)
Montreal, Canada is going to be testing a program like this very soon.
That's a good point about helmets. What do they do about helmets? I know frist had that they can safe you from very bad things... or so I'm told because I don't actually remember crashing.
I disagree with the article where it comments "Unfortunately, short-term memberships will not be available at first, so the target audience isn't tourists."
Would I pay $40 to get access to these bikes for a 4-day sightseeing visit to DC? Such a deal!
I'd say $40 is close to what you'd otherwise rack up in taxi and Metro fares. It's less than renting from a local bike shop, and far less than renting a car. It pales in comparison to a hotel room or supper in a fine restaurant.
Would it be even more attractive to get a family pass for the same price? Or a 7-day pass for $10? You bet! Yet I wouldn't automatically rule out the full-price annual ticket for short-term use.
I wonder whether they have enough bikes to serve the hordes of cycling tourists.
It's not the first bike sharing program in the US.
Madison has had a FREE bike sharing program for years, the red bikes. You see them all over downtown.
Please correct your headline and give Madison some credit :)
--
ed: Unless we - and the washington post - are wrong, D.C. will be the first with a 'velib' style system that uses subscriptions and high-tech stations. Is Madison like that?
Response:
No, it isn't a high tech program like Velib.
Does that matter to Treehugger.com?
Isn't the benefit of the bike sharing service - and in fact the reason it is discussed on Treehugger at all - that easily sharing bikes promotes greener transportation options?
I think we all agree that of two solution with equal effectiveness the solution with the least resource consumption is superior.
Low-tech free or small-deposit bike sharing programs should get at least equal if not greater credit from Treehugger.
If I want tech or business news I'll go somewhere else. But here I expect to get the bottom line on green issues, and this article feel short.