The newest and largest bike-sharing program in the U.S. begins operation on Thursday as Nice Ride Minnesota puts 700 bicycles on the streets of Minneapolis at 65 kiosks.
Phase 1 plans call for 1,000 of the distinctive lime-green bikes parked at 75 kiosks around town, including 10 kiosks on the University of Minnesota campus. Long-range plans call for spreading the system to St. Paul as well.
The Nice Ride Minnesota launch follows the Denver B-cycle launch in mid-April; it's now operating with 400 bicycles at 42 stations. Boston will be the next bike-share system to roll out in the U.S. later in 2010, followed by a second bike-share program for the Washington DC-Arlington, VA area.
Launch ceremony
Thursday's launch of Nice Ride Minnesota begins with a ride by dignitaries and others from Central Library to Nicollet Mall to Peavey Plaza starting at 11:30 a.m. According to the Nice Ride Minnesota Facebook page, the program still needs help to get all the bikes delivered and online by Thursday start date. [Contact info is posted on Facebook.]
Memberships into Nice Ride Minnesota cost $60 a year ($50 for students), $30 for a month or $5 for a day. Rides are free for the first 30 minutes, but additional charges are levied after that. Operators encourage users to “cheat” the system for longer trips by docking the bike at a kiosk, then scanning their card again and taking another bike.
Because of severe winter weather in the Great White North, Nice Ride Minnesota only operates from April through November. In the off-season, the kiosks and bicycles are stored away.
Bixi
The new system is built and operated by Montreal Public Bike System company, aka Bixi. The company built the bikes and self-service kiosks for Montreal's 5,000-bike system and is doing the same for systems in Boston and Washington DC.
The bikes and kiosks will be assembled and maintained by local companies Freewheel Midtown Bike Center and Sieco Corporation.
The bike-share system was paid for by Federal Highway Adminstration funds and money from the tobacco litigation settlement.
We hope this bike-share system is successful at reducing traffic congestion for short trips in Minneapolis. The systems rolling out in other big cities around the world — most notably the Velib in Paris — appear to be wildly successful.
Washington DC
Meanwhile, the Bike-Sharing Blog reports that a joint system for Washington DC and Arlington is preparing for a Fall 2010. This regional system will have 1,100 bicycles available at 114 stations.
The new bike-share system, to be operated by Bixi, will dwarf the city's current SmartBike system that has only 100 bicycles at 10 stations.
Bixi also announced an agreement to supply a 30-bicycle system for Washington State University in Pullman.
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