Pacific Northwest - Bike share in Seattle

I just saw on Komo 4 about a demo today of three bike share proposals for King county. I might have had something to do with one of them.

But maybe we can get a little discussion going here.

I heard about it this morning on KPLU. I guess they met with 3 bike-share vendors and are working out some logistics and such before making a final decision.

They compared it to the Paris program, which is unfortunate because I've heard (may not be true) that the maintenance on the bikes outweighs the money they bring in, and many bikes end up stolen and located as far away as Romania and Czech Republic. Anyone able to back up those statements?

The one I can verify is that some of those Parisian bikes get abused pretty badly. There are YouTube vids of kids using them like urban trials bikes; doing stair hits and skate/bike park ramps.

I've heard the same thing about them getting systematically stolen and sent to other countries by the shipping container (I think it was Algeria in the version I heard) but have no more evidence of it. I don't really see this being successful regardless. Anyone that wants to ride a bike probably has one, and helmet laws mean either gross rental helmets, or bring your own. If you have your own helmet... you probably have your own bike. Seems like another "green image" thing for mayor Nickels to get behind :rolleyes:

The BCycle was my favorite, but I think the BIXI may have a wider, broader audience? BIXI has many locations already and you can use the rental key at any other BIXI location, anywhere, which is very cool. But the bikes were heavy. I didn't feel that any of the bikes there would be comfortable climbing the larger hills nor would I want to ride them on a busy street (speed and handling) but they felt good on the level and on a sidewalk ride. I wouldn't want to ride one up Avalon Way in West Seattle for instance. Nor tackle the ride up Western for that matter. We would be the hilliest city ever for bike sharing. Nor would they be easy to get onto a bus rack due to the weight factor. The bike lockers for the Bike Share Group were excellent although their bike geometry was uncomfortable.

I asked the BIXI guy about hill climbing and he said, "You felt lower gear, right?" I said, "But it's also about geometry on these hills, I still wouldn't want to ride it up the hills I have to ride up." The BIXI and BCycle had three gears the Bike Share bike had I think up to 7 and were locally (Ballard) made. The BCycle had disc brakes. Most people riding the bikes were already cyclists and these are made for beginners or for short errands only.

Seattle should catch up on better, more cyclist friendly bike infrastructure, before implementing this.

I've heard the same thing about them getting systematically stolen and sent to other countries by the shipping container (I think it was Algeria in the version I heard) but have no more evidence of it. I don't really see this being successful regardless. Anyone that wants to ride a bike probably has one, and helmet laws mean either gross rental helmets, or bring your own. If you have your own helmet... you probably have your own bike. Seems like another "green image" thing for mayor Nickels to get behind :rolleyes:


very good point, I think you guys have it right. invest in bike infrastructure, maybe some inducements for companies to support riding to work. I really don't see people borrowing a bike to ride in the city especially E/W directions

I've heard most of these bikes end up at the bottom of hills, requiring a truck to drive them all back to the top! Clifton, can you post those youtube videos?

These are good comments.

What would you think if the bike stations had a space for anybody to use as a rack?

I agree with the comments that investments in better bike infrastructure would be wiser than a bike sharing service. I can see the value of a service in a small dense corridor in Seattle such as SODO to Lake Union and Elliot Bay to Capitol/First Hill. I think for this area, it would be better for Metro to simply expand the ride free area and increase frequency of bus service instead of bike sharing until cyclists have safer routes of travel. I especially agree that most of these bikes are simply not practical for the numerous hills we deal with.

The local bike had an 8 speed internal hub, the others had a 3 speed.