Is this too good to be true?
 

This is supposedly in the early stages of development for Denver: http://www.bcycle.com/



"Bike sharing is a new philosophy of going. An affordable, clean and simple way to get around town. Good for your health, your pocket, your environment.

Two years ago Paris redefined the bicycle's critical role in transportation by implementing Velib. 20,000 shared bikes in the streets of the most spirited city in the world. It literally changed the face of Paris - overnight. We think there's no reason we can't bring that change here, to the iconic cities of North America. That's why we created B-cycle..."

It seems too good to be true, but I sure would love it if it actually comes to be!!

I'm trying to figure out how the 1st half hour would be free?

On the one hand, I think that it is silly to rent a bike when you can keep and maintain one of your own. On the other hand, I guess that some people don't want to keep and maintain their own bike....

No air in the tires, no grease on the chain!! What!!??

I think they're implying that YOU will never have to add air or grease (because someone else maintains it).

The free 30 minutes is easy since they have your credit card on file.

The only time I see Denver free of congestion is when I ride late at night..... Ahh the dream of dreams.... A car-free downtown Denver where I'm not looking over my shoulder for busses and cabs and angry motorists... :)

why is the first 30 mins free?
 

Well having ridden the Paris Velibs the idea is that most rides are intended to be free (ie you pick up a bike, ride across town and drop it in at another station) - takes less than 30 mins.

You pay a deposit to use the system at all - well it was some weird Credit Card thing for me. that was refunded at the end of the day. which deters theft.

The ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the bicycles is funded through the advertisers on the stations (i think, or that may be in Barcelona). the local public pay a nominal fee of about 20 Euro a year to use the bikes.

It was really handy in Paris. but it does have some problems - the bikes continually need to be redistributed as they collect in bunches 'downhill'.

I was just in Barcelona for the holidays and I don't recall seeing adverts on their Bicying bikes or their stations.

We have a bike sharing system in DC now (SmartBike). I haven't used it, but have coworkers that do, and they really like it. The system is hooked up to your credit card. When you take out a bike, you swipe a membership card in the kiosk and it records the time you're taking it out. When you return the bike somewhere (at any of the locations around the city), you swipe your card again and you're charged for however long you've had the bike.

Many people in places like DC only use bikes to go short distances (i.e., from their office to another area of downtown to run a quick errand) and they're not avid enough cyclists to want to have their own bike and maintain it. In addition, if you live in a small DC apartment, you may totally lack the room to store a bike (although more people seem to be buying folders to solve this problem). Finally, even if you have a bike, you may not bike to work every day, but may find yourself needing a bike for a quick errand.

In DC and cities like it, cycling is often the fastest and most direct way to get to where you need to go. I tried to take the bus cross-town the other day (I didn't have my bike with me), from Chinatown to Georgetown. It's probably about 2 miles total, maybe a tad more. Anyway, I could do that in less than 15 minutes on my bike. It took 35 minutes EACH WAY on the bus due to traffic. A car would have been impossible at that time, as traffic down K st was backed up the entire way. More people in DC seem to be discovering this benefit of cycling. I think SmartBike Programs are an excellent way to try and get people used to the idea of cycling through the city. It's a non-commitment sort of way for people to try out city cycling and see if they like it.

Belt drive and solid (airless) tires?

This is such a great idea for a congested, urban environment. Walk to bike station, take bike, ride to next bike station, deposit bike, walk to final destination. I guess you have to ride to another bike station if there are no empty slots to deposit your bike? But hey, you don't have to hunt around for a place to lock up your own bike, and hope its still there when you are done.

I wonder how they are going to integrate the safety-nanny state dream of helmet use? Or would this be where the nanny state finally admits that ordaining helmet use isn't worth it if there are other benefits or practicalities to worry about? Future legal headache for providing and even encouraging use of a product without providing for basic safety needs? Hmmm.

This is being introduced in Montreal - http://www.canada.com/montrealgazett...8-7cd92bfe6c40

I don't know if DC is requiring helmet use for adults riding the bikes. That being said, I've been in an accident in which my helmet was cracked in half (head was fine), so I can attest the benefit of a helmet. I never leave home without one affixed to my head. In DC this is of particular interest since the majority of people who come into the city each day are not DC residents. So, if they get hurt in the District and have to be transported to a hospital, it's on the DC taxpayer's dime and not theirs. If they don't have health insurance, it's a double-whammy. From a health care perspective, something as easy as wearing a helmet should be done to avoid costly brain injuries.

That all being said, I agree that there are probably more important things to be worrying about. More people die from obesity than head injuries, so it would behoove cities and states to pay more attention to reducing obesity than enforcing mandatory helmet laws. In addition, in DC, the biggest threat to cyclists is the behavior of automobile drivers. IMO, enforcement efforts should be directed at those people who cause the most damage or have the potential to do so. You're probably far more likely to be struck and critically injured by a motorist in DC than you are to fall off your bike and sustain a head injury.

carry your own helmet if that is your biggest worry

This is an outshoot of the FreeWheelin program from the DNC last fall. The program left some bikes here and they are supposed to set up a kiosk somewhere in town. It comes from Humana Health.

The FreeWheelin program was a huge success at the DNC (I was a mechanic at the Highlands Bridge station) and was listed as one of the top ten things to do at the DNC. It was quite fun to see all the people borrowing and using the bikes to get around. The bikes were nothing to write home about but they did get used.

Years ago I've saw a similar scheme in the UK but without the technology, it was called "The Green bike Scheme" and the idea was that there was all thee green bikes just left around and you could use them whenever you needed to. Of course most where stolen within the first week or ended up being thrown in the river, it was based on an idea from Amsterdam.

I like this idea as at least it attempts to prevent theft and vandalism. Mind you I would think you would need large amounts of stations at the work centers, for people coming in from the edge of the city. It looks good though and the presentation was nicely done.

Tempe, AZ (city adjacent to me that I often ride through) has a declared goal of getting everyone out of their cars. They have made it extremely inconvenient to drive, have provided shuttles, a train, and bus service that all transport bicyles, and work to provide a bike and scooter friendly atmosphere.

Still, many fools in Tempe insist upon lugging tons of steel with them everywhere they go. (sigh)

And B-cycle still brings tears of joy to my eyes. Someday, people will get it.

Yes we had the same scheme in my town, same problems. Its evolved into a cheap source of beater commuter bikes mainly for the university students.
Flat tyre? Take the bus to university and get another bike to ride home on.
A friend has had 5 bikes through them, leaves them in the garden whenever she moves. :notamused:

This is why paying a small amount is a good idea.

In order to get a bike out of the kiosk, you have to insert a credit card. At the Democratic convention, the borrower had to fill out an ID form and provide a credit card. While this doesn't stop ID theft, have a $300+ charge to your card would certainly stop the leaving the bike where ever you happened to drop it.

We've had a loaner bike program in the Denver area too. Those bikes just evaporated. Colorado State University had a 'bike library' program that uses abandoned bikes for their loaners. It's highly successful with a fairly low attrition rate. But, again, there are penalties for not returning the bike.

Vancouver is considering a Velib system but I'm wondering if it's going to be implemented any time soon.

A report on how to implement it took a year to finish and when it was finished 4 months ago it said it was important that decisions to accept the proposal had to be made quickly in order to complete the program in time for the 2010 Olympic games. The PBS would include 3540 bicycles and 235 stations.

I haven't heard anything about it since.

This proposal may not get approval in time to showcase the system for the Olympic audience and without that deadline to serve as a goal, the idea may die.

The did that two summers ago in Lexington Ky. They bought 50 Trek hybrids and gave out over 300 licenses to people who showed up at the meeting. With the license you got a universal key that could open all the u-locks that came on the bikes.

The problem came about two weeks in when people were riding them out of the city limits, and of course theft. By the end of the summer there were only 3 bikes known to still be in the city...It could work if people would be honest.