Starting next month, people in Washington, D.C. will be able to rent a three-speed bicycle day and night with the swipe of a membership card available for $40 per year.
A new public-private venture called SmartBike DC will make 120 bicycles available at 10 automated spots in central locations in the city and plan to eventually offer 1,000 bicyles.
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In the deal, Clear Channel will have exclusive advertising rights in the city’s bus shelters. The company has reached a similar deal with San Francisco.
Milan, Amsterdam and Portland have all had lower-tech free bike-sharing programs in the past, with Amsterdam’s dating to the 1960s. However, many bikes were stolen. The Vélib program in Paris and Bicing in Barcelona, Spain, both started around a year ago offer thousands of bicycles and appear to be more successful.
Improved technology allows programs to better protect bicycles. In Washington, users who keep bicycles longer than the three-hour maximum will receive demerits and could eventually lose renting privileges. Bicycles gone for more than 48 hours will be deemed lost, with the last user charged a $200 replacement fee.
The European programs would cost cities about $4,500 per bike if sponsors did not step in.
Martina Schmidt of Clear Channel Outdoor claims that cities “ literally have to spend no money on designing, marketing or maintaining” a program.
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by Ed Alcock
FOR FULL STORY GO TO
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/27bikes.html?_r=1&em&ex=1209614400&en=87b58a129cae0f64&ei=5087&oref=slogin
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
Published: April 27, 2008
http://envirovaluation.org/htsrv/trackback.php/5634
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