Editor's Note: With this post we welcome Andrew Plambeck to the writing team! Andrew writes out of Eugene, Oregon, and has a lot of valuable hands-on experience in sustainable living practices. Watch out for future submissions from Andrew!
Transit stations similar to this one in
Barcelona may soon be arriving to Portland |
The folks in Portland, Oregon, are working on making that idea a reality. The city just issued a request for proposals (RFP) to implement a high-tech bike sharing system similar to those found in many European cities. Portland will join the likes of Lyon, Rennes, Cardiff, Vienna, and recently Paris – as noted in a recent Celsias post – in providing such a service.
The RFP contains provisions for an initial fleet of 500 bikes to be rented out at low cost to Portlanders. Contractors will also be required to maintain the bikes, alleviating the need for additional subsidization by the city. The RFP also welcomes proposals for advertising on the rental kiosks, information panels, and bicycles to partially sponsor the program.
After being named North America’s most cycle-friendly city last year, City Commissioner Sam Adams is looking to upgrade Portland’s Bicycle Friendly Communities rating from gold to platinum. With a variety of light rail, bus, and streetcar options for public transportation, the bike-sharing program will provide an added means of getting around for Portlanders looking to ditch the SUV.
Essentially, the program is a subscription service, in which each renter has an electronic card that allows him or her to check out a bike from a kiosk for a prescribed amount of time, then drop it off at any other kiosk around the city. No worries about leaving your bike outside in a bad neighborhood, paying for parking, or having to power-walk a quick errand on your lunch break.
Portland tried a community bike sharing service years ago, but all of the “Yellow Bikes” were stolen or vandalized. Newer, high-tech versions of the system track when someone checks out a bike through the card, and will charge the rider if the bike is not returned in time. The bikes are also made virtually vandal-proof, with puncture-proof tires and unique parts that require special tools to dismantle.
Cities with similar programs have reported drastically increased mass transit ridership because of the convenience of taking a bike to a transit station rather than driving or having to walk a couple of miles. Portland is hoping to fuse this system with extensions of their Streetcar and redevelopment of the downtown transit mall.
Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, are all considering similar bike sharing systems, and we can expect to see many more cities exploring the idea in the near future. It’s an excellent way for people to cycle on a trial basis and discover the benefits of relieving traffic congestion, cutting down emissions, and getting some old-fashioned exercise.
Editor's Note (yes, another one!): It's great to see schemes like this gaining ground. 'Developed' nations like the U.S. and Europe need to be setting an example to countries like China - who thirty years ago rescinded their rule about private citizens not being able to own vehicles....
