City to Launch Bike Sharing Program

clarkmaxwell

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.

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By Chuck Sudo in News on September 22, 2011 10:20 AM

Comments [rss]

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Rosemary_Woodhouse

I may just lack knowledge here, but it would be nice if train stations like Ogilvy and Union Station had indoor secure bike parking. That way commuters from the suburbs could then use a bike while in the city - for uses like to and from work. As it is now, you can only bring bikes on Metra on certain days/hours and locking your bike outside overnight at these stations is risky.

BlueFairlane

I know a few people who lock their bikes up on the Washington side of Ogilvie, which is covered, at least, and protected from rain/snow. It's open to the public, though, which means anybody can come wandering through at 3 a.m. with a saw and go to town. It seems the city could enclose that easily enough, with a locked door operating on the same kind of key fob system they're proposing for these bikes. Put spots like this in similar locations around the Loop, within easy distance of the Metra stations, rent the spots out cheap, and you've got something.

Don't they already do something like that at Millennium Park, or am I misremembering? Either way, you could expand that for very little cost.

Rosemary_Woodhouse

Millennium Park does have indoor bike parking, bike rentals and showers, etc. - it's rather fancy. It seems like something like you described would be pretty cheap to install and operate and would be so incredibly helpful. And of course that means it will never happen.

BlueFairlane

There's no mention in that link to how much it costs after the first 30 minutes. I think that factor combined with an individual's likelihood to go over the 30 minute period determines how useful this is to people, and whether it would be cheaper to just buy a bike.