NYC Bike Share Experiment
Bike-Share Fans Peddle NYC Experiment
By KAREN MATTHEWS (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
July 08, 2007 6:14 PM EDT
NEW YORK - It works in Oslo, it started this year in Barcelona and it's about to launch in Paris. But is New York ready for bike sharing?
A group that's hoping the answer is yes is providing 20 free bikes for a five-day experiment in green transportation, European style.
The bikes have been lined up in a gallery called Storefront For Art and Architecture, in Manhattan's trendy SoHo district, since Saturday. Anyone can stop by and take one for a half-hour spin. It's free, but cyclists must provide credit card information to ensure they bring the bike back.
"I don't typically ride a bike around the city, so I thought it would be interesting to just try it," said Sharon Jones, a lawyer who picked up a bike on Sunday. "I think that the city lends itself to actually riding a bike."
If the program is a hit, its backers will try to design a year-round bike-sharing system for New York.
"One of the major revelations for us is how real of a possibility this is," said David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban Design, an organization of architects and planners that came up with the experiment. "In major European cities they have bike-share programs that exist."
Wall displays at the Storefront describe bike sharing in eight of those cities. In Stockholm, Sweden, there are 1,000 bikes and 80 pick-up and drop-off stations for a population of 800,000. In Lyon, France, there are 3,000 bikes and 350 stations. Paris' bike-sharing system is scheduled to start July 15 with 10,000 bikes and 750 stations.
Typically, users pay a membership fee, pick up a bike and then drop it off at the same station or a different one. They can locate the nearest available bike on the Web. The programs are underwritten by companies that put advertising on the bikes.
Haskell said he hopes bike sharing will eventually be adopted citywide in conjunction with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign for a greener city.
"The amount it would cost is peanuts, compared to extending a subway line or adding another entire limited-stop bus network," he said.
Hey Emily,
My senior thesis in college was a survey of the world's bike share programs,
both successes and failures. Along with a proposal for a 'San Luis Obispo' version.
If you're ever in Cal Poly SLO Kennedy Library, it is there on microfiche,
you could read it all, and you would probably be the first since my
poor senior adviser competed his required reading of it oh so many years ago.
:-0
--Chris.
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Just like City Carshare but even better! That could be a good thing
here. HMMMM a good CBO concept. Anyone want to start that CBO????
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Rick Rickard
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 6:22 PM
To: ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Bike-Share Fans Peddle NYC Experiment
By KAREN MATTHEWS (Associated Press Writer)
>From Associated Press
July 08, 2007 6:14 PM EDT
NEW YORK - It works in Oslo, it started this year in Barcelona and it's
about to launch in Paris. But is New York ready for bike sharing?
A group that's hoping the answer is yes is providing 20 free bikes for a
five-day experiment in green transportation, European style.
The bikes have been lined up in a gallery called Storefront For Art and
Architecture, in Manhattan's trendy SoHo district, since Saturday.
Anyone can stop by and take one for a half-hour spin. It's free, but
cyclists must provide credit card information to ensure they bring the
bike back.
"I don't typically ride a bike around the city, so I thought it would be
interesting to just try it," said Sharon Jones, a lawyer who picked up a
bike on Sunday. "I think that the city lends itself to actually riding a
bike."
If the program is a hit, its backers will try to design a year-round
bike-sharing system for New York.
"One of the major revelations for us is how real of a possibility this
is," said David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban
Design, an organization of architects and planners that came up with the
experiment. "In major European cities they have bike-share programs that
exist."
Wall displays at the Storefront describe bike sharing in eight of those
cities. In Stockholm, Sweden, there are 1,000 bikes and 80 pick-up and
drop-off stations for a population of 800,000. In Lyon, France, there
are 3,000 bikes and 350 stations. Paris' bike-sharing system is
scheduled to start July 15 with 10,000 bikes and 750 stations.
Typically, users pay a membership fee, pick up a bike and then drop it
off at the same station or a different one. They can locate the nearest
available bike on the Web. The programs are underwritten by companies
that put advertising on the bikes.
Haskell said he hopes bike sharing will eventually be adopted citywide
in conjunction with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign for a greener
city.
"The amount it would cost is peanuts, compared to extending a subway
line or adding another entire limited-stop bus network," he said.
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Emily,
A free bike share program was started in Portland under the name of the
"Yellow Bike" program in 1994, but it didn't survive. Here's some
history:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000899.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program
http://c2.com/ybp/story.html
Now they are talking about bringing it back:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=55919&category=22101
Peter Schultze-Allen
Environmental Analyst
City of Emeryville
1333 Park Ave 94608
510-596-3728
fax 596-4389
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Emily Montan
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 9:42 AM
To: ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: Re: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Just like City Carshare but even better! That could be a good thing
here. HMMMM a good CBO concept. Anyone want to start that CBO????
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Rick Rickard
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 6:22 PM
To: ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Bike-Share Fans Peddle NYC Experiment
By KAREN MATTHEWS (Associated Press Writer)
>From Associated Press
July 08, 2007 6:14 PM EDT
NEW YORK - It works in Oslo, it started this year in Barcelona and it's
about to launch in Paris. But is New York ready for bike sharing?
A group that's hoping the answer is yes is providing 20 free bikes for a
five-day experiment in green transportation, European style.
The bikes have been lined up in a gallery called Storefront For Art and
Architecture, in Manhattan's trendy SoHo district, since Saturday.
Anyone can stop by and take one for a half-hour spin. It's free, but
cyclists must provide credit card information to ensure they bring the
bike back.
"I don't typically ride a bike around the city, so I thought it would be
interesting to just try it," said Sharon Jones, a lawyer who picked up a
bike on Sunday. "I think that the city lends itself to actually riding a
bike."
If the program is a hit, its backers will try to design a year-round
bike-sharing system for New York.
"One of the major revelations for us is how real of a possibility this
is," said David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban
Design, an organization of architects and planners that came up with the
experiment. "In major European cities they have bike-share programs that
exist."
Wall displays at the Storefront describe bike sharing in eight of those
cities. In Stockholm, Sweden, there are 1,000 bikes and 80 pick-up and
drop-off stations for a population of 800,000. In Lyon, France, there
are 3,000 bikes and 350 stations. Paris' bike-sharing system is
scheduled to start July 15 with 10,000 bikes and 750 stations.
Typically, users pay a membership fee, pick up a bike and then drop it
off at the same station or a different one. They can locate the nearest
available bike on the Web. The programs are underwritten by companies
that put advertising on the bikes.
Haskell said he hopes bike sharing will eventually be adopted citywide
in conjunction with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign for a greener
city.
"The amount it would cost is peanuts, compared to extending a subway
line or adding another entire limited-stop bus network," he said.
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The one in Lyon sounds fabulous. Very expensive start up costs but they
have a private corporation funding them.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/08/68576
Like I said, too bad no one thought of this in the Bay Area. Perhaps we
can spark some interest! Who wants to start the CBO and get the
funding??!!!
:-)
************************************************************
A free bike share program was started in Portland under the name of the
"Yellow Bike" program in 1994, but it didn't survive. Here's some
history:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000899.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program
http://c2.com/ybp/story.html
Now they are talking about bringing it back:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=55919&category=22101
_______________________________________________
ebbc-talk mailing list
ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
http://lists.ebbc.org/listinfo.cgi/ebbc-talk-ebbc.org
When my father worked at the General Electric plant in Schenectady many
years ago, they started a bike program for employees to get around the
huge complex of massive manufacturing buildings faster and with minimal
intrusion on the pedestrian workers. The bikes were heavy one-speed
affairs with coaster brakes -- you know, the Huffy style. The management
discovered that the bikes were a great success and were used by lots of
folks to get around. But there was one drawback -- the plant complex is
located on a gentle slope of ground, and all the bikes would eventually
wind up at the bottom of the "hill!" They had trucks that would pick up
the bikes and re-distribute them to the various buildings, but after an
indeterminate while, they'd migrate down the grade again.
There was no rental involved, just take a bike that was not in use. I
have no idea how many bikes they supplied, but the plant employed
thousands of workers. It was THE place to work in east central NYS in
the day. Everybody worked "down to the GE on-to-it, not." [You would had
to have lived in Schoharie County in the '50s to get the flavor of that
last bit of idiom.]
Donald W. Bierey, Documents Administrator
Engineering Library
Matson Navigation Co.
555 12th Street, 7th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607-3652
510-628-4090 voice
510-986-1956 fax
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Peter
Schultze-Allen
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 4:02 PM
To: Emily Montan; ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: Re: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Emily,
A free bike share program was started in Portland under the name of the
"Yellow Bike" program in 1994, but it didn't survive. Here's some
history:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000899.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program
http://c2.com/ybp/story.html
Now they are talking about bringing it back:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=55919&category=22101
Peter Schultze-Allen
Environmental Analyst
City of Emeryville
1333 Park Ave 94608
510-596-3728
fax 596-4389
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Emily Montan
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 9:42 AM
To: ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: Re: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Just like City Carshare but even better! That could be a good thing
here. HMMMM a good CBO concept. Anyone want to start that CBO????
-----Original Message-----
From: ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org
[mailto:ebbc-talk-bounces@lists.ebbc.org] On Behalf Of Rick Rickard
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 6:22 PM
To: ebbc-talk@lists.ebbc.org
Subject: [ebbc-talk] NYC Bike Share Experiment
Bike-Share Fans Peddle NYC Experiment
By KAREN MATTHEWS (Associated Press Writer)
>From Associated Press
July 08, 2007 6:14 PM EDT
NEW YORK - It works in Oslo, it started this year in Barcelona and it's
about to launch in Paris. But is New York ready for bike sharing?
A group that's hoping the answer is yes is providing 20 free bikes for a
five-day experiment in green transportation, European style.
The bikes have been lined up in a gallery called Storefront For Art and
Architecture, in Manhattan's trendy SoHo district, since Saturday.
Anyone can stop by and take one for a half-hour spin. It's free, but
cyclists must provide credit card information to ensure they bring the
bike back.
"I don't typically ride a bike around the city, so I thought it would be
interesting to just try it," said Sharon Jones, a lawyer who picked up a
bike on Sunday. "I think that the city lends itself to actually riding a
bike."
If the program is a hit, its backers will try to design a year-round
bike-sharing system for New York.
"One of the major revelations for us is how real of a possibility this
is," said David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban
Design, an organization of architects and planners that came up with the
experiment. "In major European cities they have bike-share programs that
exist."
Wall displays at the Storefront describe bike sharing in eight of those
cities. In Stockholm, Sweden, there are 1,000 bikes and 80 pick-up and
drop-off stations for a population of 800,000. In Lyon, France, there
are 3,000 bikes and 350 stations. Paris' bike-sharing system is
scheduled to start July 15 with 10,000 bikes and 750 stations.
Typically, users pay a membership fee, pick up a bike and then drop it
off at the same station or a different one. They can locate the nearest
available bike on the Web. The programs are underwritten by companies
that put advertising on the bikes.
Haskell said he hopes bike sharing will eventually be adopted citywide
in conjunction with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign for a greener
city.
"The amount it would cost is peanuts, compared to extending a subway
line or adding another entire limited-stop bus network," he said.
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There's an article about the Lyon essentially-free bike program in the
latest Velovision magazine:
http://www.velovision.com/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=868
"20 Veloveurs of Lyon: There are 3000 free bikes in this French city -
Simon Boddy gives us a resident's view of how it working."
The downhill/downtown factor is mentioned. Also, it turns out just 7%
of the free-bike trips are displacing auto trips.
On 7/9/07, Donald Bierey at HQ x4090 wrote:
> But there was one drawback -- the plant complex is
> located on a gentle slope of ground, and all the bikes would eventually
> wind up at the bottom of the "hill!" They had trucks that would pick up
> the bikes and re-distribute them to the various buildings, but after an
> indeterminate while, they'd migrate down the grade again.
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Great piece about "bicing" in Barcelona on NPR's The World.
click here
(Whoops! I just gave away the geo-quiz.)