Could a bicycle sharing program work in New York City?

cycle-hire-scheme-artist-impression

In the “Eco Wordly” blog this morning a story surfaced that London is planning a major bicycle sharing program similar to the ones in place for other major cities like Paris, Frankfurt, Montreal, Berlin, Stockholm.

The Guardian Environment Network writes:

Londoners will soon be able to hire bikes in the centre of town for short journeys, under plans announced this week by the mayor, Boris Johnson. London wants to allow cyclists to pick up one of 6,000 bikes at the 400 docking stations planned for the capital by 2010. more…

I know from personal experience and from talking to Frankfurt colleagues that the system there, which is run by the “DB” German Rail program, is working well and is being used extensively. Many other cities have worked out how to make this work:

Bycyklen, Copenhagen inaugurated in late 1995, Call a Bike, Munich inaugurated in March 2000, Cityräder, Helsinki inaugurated in June 2000, Call a Bike, Berlin inaugurated in March 2003, Citybike, Vienna inaugurated in June 2003, Bicicletas públicas, Chile inaugurated in December 2008, Peking, inaugurated in 200, Vélo’v, Lyon (France) inaugurated in May 2005, Bicing, Barcelona (Spain) inaugurated in March 2007, Stockholm City Bikes, Stockholm (Sweden) inaugurated in April 2006, Sevici, Sevilla (Spain) inaugurated in April 2007, Vélomagg’, Montpellier (France) inaugurated in June 2007, Vélib’, Paris (France) inaugurated in July 2007, HZ Bike, Hangzhou, China inaugurated in October 2008, Vel’oh, Luxembourg (Luxembourg) inaugurated in March 2008, Bizi, Zaragoza (Spain) inaugurated in May 2008, BikeMi, Milan (Italy) inaugurated in December 2008, Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, SmartBike DC, Washington, D.C., launched August 2008[18], Bixi[19], Montreal (Canada) launch planned in Spring 2009, OYBike [20], London, UK, Rome’s Roma’n'Bike[6], Melbourne, Australia, bicycle hire scheme is planned,  Blue Urban Bikes, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, North Carolina, FC Bike Library, Ft. Collins, Colorado, Bike Emory, Atlanta, Georgia ,The Field Museum began a Shared Bike program for employees in April, 2008, the press materials are here: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/museum_info/press/press_shared_bike.htm

My question is this: How can we make this work in New York City?

What would it look like to have this in NYC?

Could we utilize the existing bike paths on the west side highway, with a few strategically placed east to west bike paths and lanes?

Related Links:
Bicycle Sharing Systems Worldwide: Selected Case Studies
Map of community bike programs in North America
New York Times Nov 9 2008 European support for Bicycles Promotes Sharing of the Wheels
Bicycle Sharing Consultants Cityryde – Bicycle Sharing Consultants

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 10:58 am and is filed under General Musings, Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Could a bicycle sharing program work in New York City?”

  1. T. Caine Says:
    May 3, 2009 at 2:03 pm | Reply

    The European models are something American urban centers should envy but the conversion of these European plans to the US requires a bit of elbow grease and acceptance of change (rarely in inventory these days in our fair country.)

    I do think that if there is a major city in America for a bike sharing program to take hold it is New York and its boroughs. As a resident of the city I am continually impressed with the steps taken to make bike travel more easy in the city. New covered bike storage stops near subway entrances pop up everywhere and now 8th Ave has a dedicated bike path similar to 9th.

    Biking has become a part of Manhattan culture and exponentially expands the radius of non-car use beyond the city’s inherent “walkability.” I am confident that it will only be a matter of time before we see bike sharing in Brooklyn and NYC at least.

    • JuergenB Says:
      May 3, 2009 at 3:53 pm | Reply

      Hi Tyler:

      Thanks for your comment, and I’m very excited to hear your view on this, I was not aware that covered bike storage spots are popping up, that’s great!

      I travel by ferry and work downtown, so sadly I don’t personally get to ride to work, but we have lobbied for our workplace to allow secure bike storage on site somewhere. Also there was news recently of a plan to introduce a Battery Park central storage area. Overall I think the introductions of bike lanes, the current plans to turn parts of 5th Ave into a pedestrian zone and the increased interest in bike commuting are all steps in the right direction…

  2. Topics about France » Archive » Could a bicycle sharing program work in New York City? Says:
    May 4, 2009 at 12:38 am | Reply

    [...] Eazy Search added an interesting post on Could a bicycle sharing program work in New York City?Here’s a small excerptFrance) inaugurated in June 2007, Vélib’, Paris (France … Map of community bike programs in North America. New York Times Nov 9 2008 European [...]

  3. Three Wheel Bicycle Says:
    March 7, 2010 at 2:38 pm | Reply

    I love going out to ride my bicycle and feel the sun and the wind in my face. That is the perfect life.

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