you're the New Yorker now... have you tried it? I think that'd be awesome, but there's less than zero chance that it would ever happen in LA.

I'm looking forward to participating, but it seems that the satellite stations aren't operating with consistency. I would love to pick one up at just downstairs from my office (which is near one of the listed satellite locations) and take it to the Storefront, pick up some tacos at La Esquina, then ride back to work...but at the moment it seems the only way to ride is to pick up and drop off at the Storefront.




here are a couple of cameraphone shots, taken July 6, of the storefront facade being prepped for The New York Bike-Share Project

can we extend the network?? my bike is parked at BCN for whomever wants to use it

Hey thanks MAD, I'll be right over :o)

rationalist, why do you think it wouldn't work in LA? It seems like it would work in certain pockets better than others.

I think it would never be *tried* in LA. It may or may not work if it were tried, but I can't imagine someone trying it.

speaking of Barcelona:

Schedule of events
July 7-11, all day: Free 30-minute bike rentals from 97 Kenmare Street and a second bike-share “station” whose location will change each day. Bikes can be rented or returned to either station.
July 9, 6pm: Public presentation of bike share programs in Barcelona, Stockholm and Oslo
July 10, 6pm: Pamplona, Lyon and Paris
July 11, 6pm: Presentation of the charette results and closing reception

see?? i knew i wasn't that lost...world wide biking

so i went to the Storefront during lunch today to check out the gallery and hopefully go for a bike ride. the exhibit was clear and straightforward. each of the circles is a city map with some corresponding "action photos" tacked to it. next to the circle-maps is a brief explanation of the following aspects of that city's bike share program:
-what it's called,
#of bikes to #of citizens,
how the point of sale works,
and how the project was initially funded.

point of sale was varied...Copenhagen relies on a simple coin deposit that is refunded when you return the bike to an appropriate rack. this lends itself to tourist use, while bike share programs in other cities are geared more toward residents (requiring membership at a yearly rate to be eligible to rent a bike). other programs find themselves somewhere in between, offering weekly membership...

most of the programs received initial funding via ad revenue. a large ad firm would finance the project and in return the city would give them so many ad surfaces (bus stops, billboards, banners etc.).




so, i signed a waiver, handed over my identification and credit card info, then rode off on my bike, traveling from the Storefront to the satellite station in Tomkins Square Park (alphabet city). honestly, the satellite station was considerably out of my way, but in an effort to be supportive of the cause, i took a 2 hour lunch for the team (disclaimer: the google map doesn't reflect my actual route).




satellite drop-off station, being manned by the guy in the orange shirt.

Wow. I love New York.

Good for you doing urban research!!

I went to the recap last evening. I was most struck by the figures thrown out about Paris' Bike Share program--beginning in just a few days on July 17. I think I have these figures correct: they are beginning with 750 bike stations and 10,000 bicycles this year on every intersection in the city. The fleet will grow to 20,000 by 2008. And Paris is 3/4 the size of NYC! These stats led the charette group at The Storefront to the conclusion that anything started in NYC, if not on a grand scale, will be swallowed up.

Also lots of talk about how well this concept fits into Bloombergs 2030 Initiative.

well, that means that Paris is providing bikes for approx. .5% of it's population to start with, enough for a full 1% by next year. To do the equivilant, NYC would have to start with 40,000 bikes and build up to a fleet of 80,000. When I looked up population stats, they showed Paris to be 1/4 the size of NYC, not 3/4, BTW.

Apologies on the typo.
80,000 is an enormous fleet to squeeze onto sidewalk space already at a spatial premium in the densest parts of the city - where the bikes would be most needed.

but bikes shouldn't ride on sidewalks anyways, so what's that got to do with it?

uhhhhh......all the space that the stations require.

Many cities have bike stations in actual buildings, similar to car rentals or parking garages. Actually, how many bikes is it that can fit into one parking space? I want to say around 10 or so, but can't remember where that comes from. If a couple parking spaces were rented every few blocks, that would probably take care of it.

parks, squares and plazas could certainly accommodate stations. athenaeum, what was the nature of the charrette results?

rationalist.

maybe paris is 3/4 the size of ny land-wise?

seems as though it'd be a good investigation as to derelict/
open areas in the city where bikes could be kept.

i used the oslo bike program a few years ago. it was nice but i remember feeling some anxiety when the time limit neared and the nearest bike return station was already full. i learned that it was best toi familiarize ones self with all the stations throughout town so if one station was full then a backup plan was available. in other words, much like using the bus system, it really requires some planning ahead and a keen awareness of time. obviuosly, experience helps.

oh, and since i'm not much of a bike rider, i rather famously (and spectacularly) wiped out on that big hill in the middle of town. i'll have to double-check the name of the hill but for some reason "hanshaugen" comes to mind

i studied in Copenhagen one summer and used their Citybikes a few times. on my 2nd day in town i couldn't find one of their racks to retrieve my coin deposit (10 kroner?)...i left the bike outside of my hostel, ran in to ask a question, came back less than 30 seconds later and the bike was gone...turns out there was a rack about 20 feet away.

ignorant tourist lapse aside, the citybikes were pretty crappy. shoddily made... many of them weren't in proper working order. if a rack had 5 bikes on it, maybe 2 were ride-able. most racks only had a few bikes at any given time. this was in 2002.


Bycyklen

AP - I showed up late in the presentation, so there is probably someone out there that could give a better description of the charette results. From what I did see, it looked like they translated each representative global bike share program into a Manhattan equivalent. I saw two images - showing the density of bike stations based on Paris and I believe on Stockholm. And some discussion of the different configurations and locations of bike stations - using parallel parking spots, sidewalk space, and within parks and plazas. Each has it's obvious advantages and disadvantages.

There was discourse about what this program would specifically target, and based on the fact that 95% of New Yorkers do not own cars, the short 15-20 minute subway trip seemed to be the charettes target.

The wrap up was an overview of Bloombergs 2030 Sustainability Plan:
*Congestion pricing
*2nd Avenue Subway
*Governors Island
*East Riverfront
And how the Bike Share Program sees itself as providing more options before taking some away. And how it is easily attachable to these priorities and the overall concept of the plan.

There was audience discussion regarding if/how Bike Share New York has itself positioned within the political powers of the city to mobilize from concept to reality and if not, how does it plan to do so.

If anyone can add to these snipets, please do.

thanks for the report! that final point, political positioning, is the key. it's clearly a good idea, precedent exists, funding (ad-rev) is surely there...