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What U.S. Cities would work well with a Bike Share System..?
Obviously smaller cities first like Missoula Montana or Bellingham Washington sized
or
Large flat cities with colleges like Columbus Ohio or Fresno CA.
The bay Area (almost entirely)

http://thedesigninspiration.com/article ... ing-system" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Washington DC and Arlington VA have a system called Capital Bikeshare...there is a bike stand just outside my office building...

http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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I remember back around 1992 when Missoula tried a free bike share program because I donated my time as a bike mechanic to get the donated bike working and safe. There were around 50 bikes that were supposed to be free to use within the center of town.

I think it took all of about 3 weeks before all the bikes were stolen.

Not saying it couldn't work, just remembering back on the first experiment.

SeattleGriz wrote:I remember back around 1992 when Missoula tried a free bike share program because I donated my time as a bike mechanic to get the donated bike working and safe. There were around 50 bikes that were supposed to be free to use within the center of town.

I think it took all of about 3 weeks before all the bikes were stolen.

Not saying it couldn't work, just remembering back on the first experiment.

They have one on campus now, and AFAIK, there hasn't been a big problem with theft so far.

Also, if you have bikes that require your credit/debit card info, I'd think that people would be far less likely to steal them.

Grizalltheway wrote:

SeattleGriz wrote:I remember back around 1992 when Missoula tried a free bike share program because I donated my time as a bike mechanic to get the donated bike working and safe. There were around 50 bikes that were supposed to be free to use within the center of town.

I think it took all of about 3 weeks before all the bikes were stolen.

Not saying it couldn't work, just remembering back on the first experiment.

They have one on campus now, and AFAIK, there hasn't been a big problem with theft so far.

Also, if you have bikes that require your credit/debit card info, I'd think that people would be far less likely to steal them.

Yeah, these bikes were free for anyone to use. Didn't need any credit/debit information.

seagriz - we had that in minneapolis in 92-93 as well...

now we have niceride - which requires a credit card - but you pay 5 bucks for a day and then you ride the bike and if the trip is less than 30 mins you pay nothing, an hour is like 1.50... etc. it's pretty popular with college students, and they have stations at all the places you'd want to go (U of MN, Xcel Center, Light rail stops, Metrodome, Target Field, Guthrie Theater, etc)

SeattleGriz wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:
They have one on campus now, and AFAIK, there hasn't been a big problem with theft so far.

Also, if you have bikes that require your credit/debit card info, I'd think that people would be far less likely to steal them.

Yeah, these bikes were free for anyone to use. Didn't need any credit/debit information.

I am pretty sure that's still in effect SeaGriz cuz there are free bikes downtown in the summer all the time. There are some that require a key now though but once you have it it's all good.



Seriously though, I think the free bikes are still available. They are painted green in the downtown area in the summer.

Ursus A. Horribilis wrote:

SeattleGriz wrote:
Yeah, these bikes were free for anyone to use. Didn't need any credit/debit information.

I am pretty sure that's still in effect SeaGriz cuz there are free bikes downtown in the summer all the time. There are some that require a key now though but once you have it it's all good.



Seriously though, I think the free bikes are still available. They are painted green in the downtown area in the summer.

Those are the ones! Must get new stock every year!

I would think relatively flat and trails and/or roads that feel safe would be prerequisites. If you are going to have to climb hills or be out in steady 35mph traffic, it seems like most people who would be comfortable doing that would already have their own bikes.

Plus, from the looks of things, most of those programs use bikes that are geared far more towards a comfy ride than getting anywhere fast.

SeattleGriz wrote:

Ursus A. Horribilis wrote: I am pretty sure that's still in effect SeaGriz cuz there are free bikes downtown in the summer all the time. There are some that require a key now though but once you have it it's all good.



Seriously though, I think the free bikes are still available. They are painted green in the downtown area in the summer.

Those are the ones! Must get new stock every year!

Yeah man. They are still around then. Funny that it's been around for 20 yrs. now. I don't even know that they reall get stolen they just get ridden to someone's house and then left there for a while but I think at some point they end up back where they are supposed to be. I saw a guy run one out and put it in the back of a Missoula City truck to have it taken back downtown. He was the neighbor of a house I was working at and he said he'd had for a couple months and felt guilty that he kept forgetting to drop it off.