Vendor selected for bike share expansion

From the Tribune expansion of Chicago's bike share program will be handled by a new vendor.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-bike-sharing-plan-0...

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on March 14, 2012 at 3:32am

Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., of Portland and its equipment manufacturer, Public Bike System Co., were chosen over two competing bids to make 3,000 bicycles available at 300 solar-powered self-service pick-up and drop-off locations this summer. The program will be expanded to a total of 5,000 bikes and 500 docking stations by 2014, city officials have said.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Gregorek on March 14, 2012 at 5:26am

Not surprised at all by the choice, that it will kick off this summer is great!

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 14, 2012 at 5:39am

I'm really looking forward to it.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on March 16, 2012 at 5:43am

Grid Chicago gives information on their blog as well here. 

Permalink Reply by David on March 16, 2012 at 7:06am

Does anyone know what exactly the relationship is between Bixi and Alta?  Is Chicago another BIXI/Alta joint venture like NYC or DC, or are the companies so joined at the hip now that this goes without saying?   Or is Alta the US front for Bixi?   They always seem to be mentioned together, but I've never quite figured out who does what, and then I occasionally see references to the idea they they're competitors.

And I guess this is a real inside-baseball kind of question, but whatever happened to JCDeceaux?  Did they even make a bid here, or have they decided they don't want to be in the bikeshare business anymore? A couple of years ago, they would have been the leading candidate for this.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on March 17, 2012 at 9:14am

I'm going to try and answer both your questions. 

Bixi is the name of the public bike sharing system in Montréal, nothing more. Public Bike Sharing Co. is the name of the equipment and technology manufacturer that was created out of the Bixi system (which was created by a local government). Read more on the Biki Wikipedia page. 

The next question is tougher and is based mostly on information I've overheard and is very much paraphrased. Chicago, already having a decent relationship with JCDecaux for its (always black) street furniture, asked if JCDecaux would launch public bike sharing (ad supported) in the same way it runs Paris's Vélib'. JCDecaux was willing but wanted the city to shoulder a lot of liability if the system failed to bring revenue, which it wasn't able to do. Or, another version of this story is that there was an RFP, receiving proposals from only two companies (JCDecaux and Clear Channel). The city wasn't satisfied with either proposal (and the liability it was to shoulder). Again, I could be wrong. 

JCDecaux WAS at the pre-proposal conference. Here's the full list of attendees. I do not have the proposers' proposals, as they were private while negotiations were under way. They are now public information and can be obtained through a FOIA request.  

Complete Grid Chicago coverage. 


David said:

Does anyone know what exactly the relationship is between Bixi and Alta?  Is Chicago another BIXI/Alta joint venture like NYC or DC, or are the companies so joined at the hip now that this goes without saying?   Or is Alta the US front for Bixi?   They always seem to be mentioned together, but I've never quite figured out who does what, and then I occasionally see references to the idea they they're competitors.

And I guess this is a real inside-baseball kind of question, but whatever happened to JCDeceaux?  Did they even make a bid here, or have they decided they don't want to be in the bikeshare business anymore? A couple of years ago, they would have been the leading candidate for this.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on March 17, 2012 at 10:21am
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 18, 2012 at 2:26am

This IS Chicago.  Did anyone expect anything different?

Steven Vance said:

Permalink Reply by David on March 18, 2012 at 3:03am

Well, Bixi is also the name of the systems in Ottawa and Toronto, but that's really beside the point.  Bixi (yes, technically that's the Public Bicycle Share Company, I realize that) and Alta are often mentioned as running the Boston system together (here, for example).  On the very wiki page you link to, it's said that Bixi set up the systems in Boston, Washington and Minneapolis, which are exactly the systems that Alta takes credit for. 

Also, from all I've read, the NYC system was basically pure BIXI with Alta acting as a US company since cities are often required to buy American (see here, for example, and follow the links).    

I appreciate the answer, but I think the situation is more complex than what you're suggesting here.

The JCDeceaux info is interesting.  If they're asking for full indemnity, though, then it does sound to me like they're not interested in bike share anymore.  It just doesn't sound serious. 



Steven Vance said:

I'm going to try and answer both your questions. 

Bixi is the name of the public bike sharing system in Montréal, nothing more. Public Bike Sharing Co. is the name of the equipment and technology manufacturer that was created out of the Bixi system (which was created by a local government). Read more on the Biki Wikipedia page. 

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on March 19, 2012 at 3:41am

For folks seeking basic information on bike-sharing in Chicago, it can be found on the Active Trans website at http://www.activetrans.org/bikesharing. You can also join our mailing list to receive updates as the City releases new information.

 

Enjoy,

Amanda Woodall – Active Transportation Alliance

Permalink Reply by David on March 21, 2012 at 4:01am

Thank you very much for the info.  I've been half-curious about that for a while but was never sure.

I'll be very impressed if Alta manages to get 300 stations identified and installed by June.   I wish we knew more about the contract though.  Bike distribution and discovery are incredibly important aspects of a bike sharing system, and I haven't heard anything about what resources are dedicated to that. 



Stefanie said:

Alta plans and manages bike sharing systems -- redistribution of bikes, memberships, assistance with planning dock placement, permitting, etc. Bixi/Public Bike Share makes the bikes, docks, etc. Alta formed a partnership with that company, so when they bid on bike share projects, they use Bixi "hardware" with their "software".

Permalink Reply by Melissa on April 27, 2012 at 10:07am

Talking Transit: Chicago gearing up for bike sharing

http://metroplanning.org/news-events/article/6400

 

Here is the latest on the fully-fledged bike share program coming our way!  The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) provides a great little analysis in this post.  Their transit blog, The Connector, is also incredibly well-researched and chock-full of interesting tidbits.  (They examine transportation in relation to other pressing issues like economic development and water supply.)  From this article:

 

Chicago bike share members will pay an annual fee of $75 for unlimited rides under 30 minutes, the expected time for most trips.


I think $75 more than pays for the number of short cab rides the average Loop employee takes in a year for those time-crunch moments and just-beyond-walking-distance meetings.  Not to mention the benefit of unlimited short bike rides.  Sign me up. 

 

 

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