City to Launch Bike Sharing Program
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 22, 2011 3:20PM
Bike sharing in Chicago has thus far been more of a token gesture than a long-range plan for alternative transportation in the city. Some of us here on the Chicagoist staff have noted previously that it costs nearly as much to use the bike sharing program as it does to rent a car through a car sharing service like I-Go or Zipcar and, if that's the case, why even enter a bike sharing plan.
We've taken advantage of bike sharing programs on visits to Washington, DC and Denver in the past two years and they're less expensive and larger in scale than in Chicago. But that's set to change under a plan proposed by Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein.
Klein announced yesterday plans for a large-scale bike sharing program with a company to be chosen. The proposal calls for an annual membership of $75. Participants would be given fob keys with which to check out bikes, with the first 30 minutes of their rentals free. Klein said 30 minutes is what CDOT estimates the average bike trip to be. The company to help roll out the program would also offer liability insurance for accidents and be available year-round.
The program would begin its expansion next year, then expand in 2013 and 2014 to include 5,000 bicycles at 500 docking stations. Former Mayor Richard Daley first launched the bike sharing program last year after a 2007 visit to Paris. Mayor Emanuel made bike sharing a campaign pledge and Klein helped implement the bike sharing program in DC.