Bike sharing in US cities...
 

Yay for Boston!
http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre..._selected.html

These plans have generally been failures. Is Boston trying anything new that might make their program more successful?

So, the montreal one is a failure? Are you sure about that? I know the one in Beijing has been a big success too. Where are you getting the data that says they're failures?

I agree for the very simple basic reason that bikes are a popular item to steal as they are so easy to do so. That is why these bike sharing programs fail, generally no matter where they are located.
Even the bikes that are owned by private individuals are bad enough-especially if you live in a large metropolitan area like Boston is.

I did say "generally" they've been failures. I'm aware that some have been successful.

A key to success might be to consider that a lot of bicycle loss (theft and damage) is inevitable, and it needs to be budgeted as an expected business expense. If earnings (or subsidies) aren't great enough to cover huge equipment losses, the program will probably be a failure.

Yeah, one inexpensive way to fight theft is to make the bikes very unique. Not only the paint job but the choice of frame, wheels, etc so they're easily recognizable and it's easy for them to be found.

...and a target for vandalism, fun, and general silliness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF129dki4eY

One thing velib did to prevent theft was to charge incrementally more per hour of use. This was supposed to get people to return the bikes to a docking station even if they were only going into a store for a short time. (IOW it's cheaper to return the bike every hour and get a new one, rather than to keep the same bike out for several hours.)

The past few days I have been taking velib, and it is great. Way better for getting around than the metro, and you actually get to know the city instead of just seeing it underground. A large number of the bikes are usually in disrepair, flat tire, broken shifter, broken pedal, or whatever. The company is constantly going around repairing and replacing bikes. I am not sure they are making money off of the program, but they get al of the advertising rights on street furniture so surely they make money on that aspect of it. You constantly have to race to return the bike in less than a half hour because it is free for the first half hour, and this turns it in a constant race to get where you are going...kind of fun for me.

San Francisco is also trying to get a sharing program, but I see it being a long time before it happens. People there like to complain a lot and it will likely slow the progress. Who know, I guess we'll see what happens. IMO what the sharing program does is allow people who may have been thinking of trying biking to do so without investing in a bike right off. If they decide they enjoy cycling in the city they are likely to purchase their own bike as it allows more freedom.

sharing is about as anti American as you can get so i'm not suprised most have failed. ppl also trash things when they aren't theirs or a friend's.