Chicago Bike-Sharing Coming In July

Exciting article from Huffington Post about B-Cylcle.  Will Chicago be the next Paris?

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on June 23, 2010 at 1:29pm
Wasn't it discussed before how this really wouldn't work well in Chicago?
Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 23, 2010 at 2:19pm
I guess we should not expect much from the Red Eye, but it still seems pretty remarkable that the story failed to mention that the bike sharing thing is a summer only trial and not a permanent thing. At least that is the story I got from the B-Cycle people at the Bike to Work Week Rally.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 23, 2010 at 3:18pm
Yep, found it here. Thanks for calling me out Ryan! I owe you an apple now :)).

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Wasn't it discussed before how this really wouldn't work well in Chicago?
Permalink Reply by Digital Dario on June 23, 2010 at 3:44pm
Think positive people. Do I think we have a serious issue with bike theft in the city, ABSOLUTELY!
Do the police really (and I mean really) give a damn when Chicago is having one of its most violent years? That's a no.

Remember folks, nothing worth doing is ever easy! Public bikes would have little to no resale value, at least ideally. I will encourage my alderman to take this seriously as an option to combat bike theft or even just to get the most bike friendly Ward in Chicago. That's right Rey Colon, it's time for you to do your job.

Julie Hochstadter said:
Yep, found it here. Thanks for calling me out Ryan! I owe you an apple now :)).
Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Wasn't it discussed before how this really wouldn't work well in Chicago?
Permalink Reply by heather s on June 23, 2010 at 4:28pm
I want to be optimistic about this. But I don't see it working out well.

1- scale. 100 bikes is not a lot of bikes, especially considering that a certain number of those will always be incapacitated due to mechanical problems or flats or theft. 100 would be enough for a dense neighborhood, not the whole city.
2- price. For $10 a day, it would be easier and cheaper for me to just take a cab to many locations, particularly in the Loop. It should be $35 per year, not per month.
3- location. Downtown and the Loop are pretty awful for cycling. I consider myself an experienced and traffic-tolerant cyclist, and I avoid the Loop whenever possible. If I was a person who didn't already bike and accept that level of risk and discomfort in my life, no way would I ever just casually pick up a bike and ride about in the Loop (especially without a helmet). It doesn't seem very convenient to have to walk over to Museum Campus or McCormick Place or Buckingham Fountain just to pick up a bike.

Who's the target audience for this program? Is it people who already bike?-- in which case a better use of political will would be to make sure everyone who wants to bike to work has a secure place to lock up (as in NYC's new law). People who don't currently bike? Those are the people who would be most averse to cycling downtown anyhow, except on the LFP. Tourists? I appreciate the economic impact of tourism for Chicago, but it would be nice if the program were convenient and accessible for people who live here too.

I don't want to be so negative about this. I just think that for something like this to work, you have to think big and think long-term. I know that's difficult with the economy as it is right now. But I would hate for this program to falter and then have people thinking that bike-sharing is worthless.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 23, 2010 at 4:51pm
I'm excited but agree that just having bikes downtown doesn't make sense to me. What about 5 in lakeview, 5 in lincoln park, 5 in wicker park, 5 in lincoln square and 5 in pilsen. i assume some people wouldnt mind picking up and dropping off at the same location. Hopefully they will add those locations (or others soon).

heather stratton said:
I want to be optimistic about this. But I don't see it working out well.
1- scale. 100 bikes is not a lot of bikes, especially considering that a certain number of those will always be incapacitated due to mechanical problems or flats or theft. 100 would be enough for a dense neighborhood, not the whole city. 2- price. For $10 a day, it would be easier and cheaper for me to just take a cab to many locations, particularly in the Loop. It should be $35 per year, not per month.
3- location. Downtown and the Loop are pretty awful for cycling. I consider myself an experienced and traffic-tolerant cyclist, and I avoid the Loop whenever possible. If I was a person who didn't already bike and accept that level of risk and discomfort in my life, no way would I ever just casually pick up a bike and ride about in the Loop (especially without a helmet). It doesn't seem very convenient to have to walk over to Museum Campus or McCormick Place or Buckingham Fountain just to pick up a bike.

Who's the target audience for this program? Is it people who already bike?-- in which case a better use of political will would be to make sure everyone who wants to bike to work has a secure place to lock up (as in NYC's new law). People who don't currently bike? Those are the people who would be most averse to cycling downtown anyhow, except on the LFP. Tourists? I appreciate the economic impact of tourism for Chicago, but it would be nice if the program were convenient and accessible for people who live here too.

I don't want to be so negative about this. I just think that for something like this to work, you have to think big and think long-term. I know that's difficult with the economy as it is right now. But I would hate for this program to falter and then have people thinking that bike-sharing is worthless.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on June 23, 2010 at 5:37pm
Can that be a pineapple?

Julie Hochstadter said:
Yep, found it here. Thanks for calling me out Ryan! I owe you an apple now :)).

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Wasn't it discussed before how this really wouldn't work well in Chicago?
Permalink Reply by Digital Dario on June 23, 2010 at 5:55pm
Thanks for the flip-side heather. While I agree with those solid arguments why a bikesharing program would struggle if not fail, I think Chicago is different in its structure than most cities. We should consider what is unique to Chicago and try to work with it, if not improve it. (Not to be interpreted as "Millennium Park/Mag Mile/Loop is great, let's throw some bikes in there" for reasons mentioned previously.)

I don't think we can afford to think why we shouldn't, but rather why we should offer this program en masse.

1: Chicago is the most segregated major metropolitan area in the country.
2: For better or worse, the CTA is functional.
3. We live in a car dominant city but significantly less so than cities both larger and smaller than ours because of the CTA and the segregation.
4. Many under-resourced areas are already lacking appropriate means of transportation vital to a community's survival for access to work and education.
5. It benefits under-resourced neighborhoods and local businesses the most; for relatively cheap.

I think there are probably enough commercial property owners, businesses, whatever the plural of chamber of commerce is, that are struggling and would kill for more traffic through their neighborhoods; car, bike or pedestrian. When you convince enough of those guys you can get anything taken seriously.

Best if it would be in neighborhoods all over the city. And honestly I don't think there is getting around that. Either the city must be VERY selective or not at all.

And from the cynical side of me, it is both cheaper and easier than upgrading the CTA, Metra or our highway system to modern standards which we are in desperate need of.
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on June 23, 2010 at 6:36pm
The whole concept of bike sharing programs still confuses me. Heather brought up an excellent question - who exactly is the target demographic here? Anybody that commutes by bicycle already owns one, and occasional bike commuters would probably not find the fee* to be worth it. I also can't imagine tourists being interested save for the exception of the few that might be seasoned cyclists already familiar with and comfortable riding in the city.

Anyway, here's an interesting followup from last year to the Paris program that began about three years ago, if I recall correctly. Make of it what you will.


*The author of the article in redeye posted the following clarification in the comments: I'm told $10 daily pass covers checking out the bike out and the first hour of usage. Then, you'd have to pay $2.50 for each additional half hour. The daily maximum charged is $40.
Permalink Reply by Shawn C. on June 24, 2010 at 1:43am
Overall, I think it's a great idea. My suggestion is to have bike stations at L stops so that it's convenient for tourists, public transportation user and city residents.
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on June 24, 2010 at 6:34am
Either I completely missed this the first time or subconsciously blocked it from my mind...

Will Chicago be the next Paris?

For the love of all that is decent and civilized, I sincerely hope not.
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on July 22, 2010 at 6:08am
London launches their bike sharing program on the 30th.

He said a fleet of electric vehicles would re-distribute bikes if they ended up with too many at popular drop-off spots. In Paris, bikes famously bunched at docking stations at the bottom of hills, as no-one wanted to cycle them back up.

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