Two more cities — Boulder, Colorado, and Madison, Wisconsin — are jumping on the bike-sharing bandwagon.
Following a year in which Denver, Minneapolis and Washington DC all launched major bike-share programs, the new announcements show that more cities are supporting programs that enable members to borrow bicycles for short errands.
Boulder is aiming for a May 20 launch date, starting with 200 bicycles available at 25 stations scattered around the town.
Madison's program — proposing 350 bicycles at 35 kiosk stations — is not so far along. The city's finance committee approved the plan on Monday, but it must still go to a vote by the City Council on Feb. 1. [The plan was approved by a vote of 15-4.]
B-cycle
Both cities would use the B-Cycle system used in Denver. Typically, a person who joins the bike-sharing program for an annual fee can pick up and drop off a bike at any station. Short trips of less than 30 minutes are free to members, with longer trips charged on a sliding scale. Those who aren't members are charged a fee for any rental.
The systems are coupled with web pages and phone apps that enable users to determine where bikes are available and where they can be dropped off.
The B-cycle system is a partnership of Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle Corp., and Humana health insurance. In addition to Denver, it also has demo programs running in Chicago and Des Moines and is expanding into San Antonio and Louisville.
It's major competitor is the Montreal-based Bixi, which built and operates a system in that Canadian city as well as bike-sharing programs in Minneapolis (NiceRide Minnesota) and Capital BikeShare in Washington DC.
Sufficiency
A Boulder-based nonprofit is raising $1 million to add to the $250,000 in federal funds in order to make the program self-sufficient, according to the Boulder B-cycle website, through memberships and sponsors. Google, which has offices in Boulder, recently donated $25,000 to the program.
Madison's finance officials authorized Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to pay B-cycles $100,000 a year for three years, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. That money would pay for the bikes, kiosks, maintenance, and service.
Worldwide growth
2010 was a great year for bike-sharing, according to MetroBike, which researches and consults on bike-sharing. The staff estimates the number of cities with such systems grew by 49% to 238.
Other major cities with bike-sharing systems include Barcelona, Paris, London, Mexico City, Melbourne and Taipei.
New York City is planning to launch a bike-sharing system in the spring of 2012. Boston and San Francisco also have bike-sharing programs in the pipeline.
Recent Comments