Bike Share Philadelphia Forum

[Bike Coalition]

The Bikes Belong Coalition has posted a bike sharing video. I think it is the best one produced yet, as it clearly depicts how the Paris model works.

http://www.vimeo.com/613789

[darex]

Originally Posted by jettore

I think this a great idea, especially since I bike to work 8 months out of the year. There is one downside, the additional idiot bikers this will put out on the road. There are already too many people riding on the sidewalks and riding the wrong way down one way streets. This program may potential unleash hundreds of additional idiots on the roads and sidewalks(most without helmets). Do these programs include bicycle safety information and enforce helmet requirements to be a member of the program?

My thoughts exactly, except might I suggest that 99% of bicyclists in this city fit into the category above (esp. if you include those who run red lights and stop signs).

I don't think I could handle more annoying bicyclists than there already are (spoken as both a car driver, scooter rider AND as a pedestrian [I've been hit and nearly-hit by so many ******* bicyclists this year as a pedestrian]).

Maybe a Scooter Share would we better, since scooter riders tend to obey traffic laws, unlike bicyclists?

[darex]

Originally Posted by c152atn67

You would likely have to sign up for the program, and the bikes are usually locked by an electromagnet. Here's how Paris' velib program does it:

Nice ... in theory, but having actually used Vé'lib, I can say that nearly half the bikes were vandalized in the first week, and at the very least most had flat tires. In any event, I saw a bunch of broken chains.

They put the pods in former car parking zones, and I think the locals were extracting their revenge.

Taken to Philly, the vandalism would probably be 100X worse.

I predict failure ultimately in Paris, and for sure in Philly, if it actually comes here.

In theory, it's a good system.

Like in Philly, in Paris, there's no place for bicycles. The bike lanes are shared with the bus lanes, and the buses have zero patience for bikes, and there's no room to pull over for them, except to hop onto the sidewalk, which is forbidden.

The "reality" of Vé'Lib is not so rosy as my experience from having used it in Paris. The whole time, I was thinking: "if only these were scooters... THEN this would work here, but these bicycles have no proper [physical] place on Parisien streets."

[darex]

Originally Posted by ACG

How is the bike secured when the rider makes stops along the way from the pick-up and drop off locations?

Via a skimpy little built-in cable lock that snaps into a socket on the bike frame, kind of like a large headphone jack.

You know, the kind that can be cut in two very easily!

The only thing that discourages its use is that the meter's ticking the whole while the bike is not locked to its pod.

[Bike Coalition]

I wouldn't make too many assumptions about how bike sharing would work in Philadelphia. By the time it arrives here bike sharing will have already been road tested in Washington (starting this month), Chicago and Portland OR. If it can work in DC or Chicago then it can work here.

Despite some glitches the Velib program in Paris is an overwhelming success:

• 75,000 one way trips per day (Roughly equal to the daily ridership of the Broad Street Subway or the daily traffic volume of I-95 at Girard.)
• 25% of trips are from 9PM to 3AM, when transit service is curtailed.

[sincewednesday]

Originally Posted by Bike Coalition

I wouldn't make too many assumptions about how bike sharing would work in Philadelphia. By the time it arrives here bike sharing will have already been road tested in Washington (starting this month), Chicago and Portland OR. If it can work in DC or Chicago then it can work here.

The problem is that it can't be a half-hearted attempt. I just read DC's details, and I think it'll fail there. $40 a year (no other plans listed) for 100 bicycles at just 10 locations. 2 of those locations are kitty-corner; 8 of 10 are Metro stops, which means very few one-way trips. You're also on the hook $200 if the bike is stolen. I'd love to be proven wrong, but it just seems too restrictive and too expensive.

[Litarider]

Originally Posted by darex

Like in Philly, in Paris, there's no place for bicycles.

I can't speak for Paris but there's plenty of room for bikes in Philadelphia. I've been riding a bike since an early 90s Septa Strike. I think that Bike Coalition would agree that there's plenty of room for bikes here.

[plyfreak]

They should try this in NE Philly, since the roads up here are clogged and public transit servicing us up here is a joke. I am not saying that they should avoid other areas of the city, but it certainly wouldn't be hard to setup since there is ample room for pods and the roads are wide enough for bikers.

[NinthNElls]

Here's a link to the bike share program:
http://bikesharephiladelphia.org/home/

Here's a link to send your signature to the mayor:
http://bikesharephiladelphia.org/takeaction/

Here's a short video about the program
http://www.dailymotion.com/country:u...y-bike-sh_tech

[djsbon]

Originally Posted by fietserjim

Bikes do not belong on sidewalks, unless they are being walked, but the real enemy is not the "idiot" bikers, but the four-wheeled false idols clogging up our roads and fouling the air.

share the road, share the rules. stop at stop signs AND red lights, no turn on reds, use signals, etc. if you don't follow these rules you are an "idiot" biker. oh, and i also think it's retarded that hardly anyone wears their helmet.

Originally Posted by fietserjim

While I would support a bike share program in general, I think it is kind of pointless given the hostile environment that bikes face on the streets. Creating a reasonably safe environment for bikes requires more than painting some meaningless white lines in the road and putting up a few "share the road" signs. It requires closing lanes and streets to automobile traffic, creating separate bike paths, away from cars and pedestrians wherever possible, educating drivers on their duties to yield to bikes, backed with serious penalties and presumptions when cars hit bikes. I question the political will to do any of this in light of the exalted position which cars hold in this society.

i agree that we should have separated bike lanes here in philly, but cyclists should also be penalized when they don't follow the rules (and i see more cyclists going through red lights than cars on a daily basis). cyclists ALSO need to be better educated on these rules which would make them safer from cars; who doesn't want that? bicycles are vehicles too, and they can cause damage to more than just pedestrians.

edit i forgot to mention my opinion on bike sharing in philly... i think it's a great idea, as long as what i said above is also taught to members and there are more separate bike lanes created - which will be hard, especially in center city.