The Country's Largest Bike Sharing Systems
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1652152183_sGwftGL-M.jpg)
In 2011, the total number of cities with bikesharing and the total number of bikesharing stations in the country have more than doubled. How long will Jacksonville wait before becoming the next community to attempt to address mobility by methods other than additional roadway construction?
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-jan-the-countrys-largest-bike-sharing-systems
A little more information would be helpful:
1. How many of the above are privately operated? How many of those could only exist with a subsidy?
2. What is the cost per station? Or is it measured per bike?
I believe this system could work very well in Jacksonville to connect the urban historic neighborhoods to Downtown.
If it were to serve as the 'last transit mile', we could have one at each end of the skyway (Kings Ave and FSCJ) with the outliers at San Marco Square, Shands, and 3rd&Main. The Hogans Creek Greenway master plan has a bike rental element, which this would serve perfectly.
Until a streetcar comes, Riverside/Avondale residents could use the North Bank Riverwalk as their connection to DT. They would be well served with stations at Five Points, Park & King, and Shoppes of Avondale. And perhaps a certain business looking to expand on King Steeet could provide some funds for the station as a means of solving parking woes...
Downtown would have stations at The Landing (another solution to parking woes...), Heming Plaza and Florda Theater, and potentially the Sports Complex.
If the initial cost isn't too steep, we could implement the system through a partnership of the neighborhood organizations, RAP, SMPS and SPAR. Would who represent downtown? DVI?
11 to 12 stations at the onset, 10 bikes per station.
Each bikesharing station costs around $50,000 to manufacture and install (including the bikes). All are either public or public/private considering they are located on public ROW.
QuoteWhile sponsorship fees vary from city to city, a single station costs about $50,000 to equip and install plus tens of thousands of dollars in annual maintenance costs. With many bike share programs reporting ridership and membership numbers growing faster than originally estimated, Alta's Mia Birk, and her company's chief competitor, Waterloo, Wis.-based B-cycle, are seeing more requests from private sector companies, as well.
“A year and a half ago, it was very difficult to explain what bike share does. Now we are fielding more and more questions about the possibilities,†says Lee Jones, director of sales and marketing at B-cycle, which operates programs in Denver, San Antonio, Madison, Wis., and Kailua, Hawaii, among other places.
QuoteIn Boston, for instance, $3 million of the Hubway’s three-year budget comes from state and federal grants with the rest flowing from a variety of private sources. The biggest private sponsor is the Boston-based athletic shoemaker New Balance, which kicked in $600,000 for naming rights to what is officially the New Balance Hubway. Another 18 corporate sponsors pay $50,000 per station. The sponsorships come with the right to advertise their logos on the Hubway’s website, 10 bikes, and one station kiosk. The program will make the rest of the budget up on user fees and advertising revenue. If the program ends up turning a profit, the city of Boston will take 75 percent with the remaining 25 percent going to Alta, which operates the system for the city, according to Freedman.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/11/bike-share-station-sponsorship-dance/595/
San Francisco's will be public:
QuoteBike sharing is coming to San Francisco! A regional pilot program led by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) in partnership with the SFMTA will bring approximately 50 bike share stations and 500 bikes to San Francisco’s downtown core beginning in spring 2012. The SFMTA is working with a regional team to implement this pilot along the Caltrain corridor in San Francisco, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Jose and shown in this Regional Bike Sharing System map. The project is funded through a combination of local, regional and federal grants with major funding coming from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Innovative Bay Area Climate Initiatives Grant Program (BACI).
For an overview of the bike share project, read more below, take a look at this factsheet, and check out this link to an SFMTA presentation (5 mb) about bike sharing in San Francisco.
http://www.sfmta.com/cms/bshare/indxbishare.htm
Des Moines (pubic and private sponsors):
QuoteCity officials introduce bike-sharing program
Des Moines leaders rolled out a new bicycle sharing program Wednesday that emphasizes fitness, eco-friendly transportation and a new way to get around downtown.
The pilot phase of the Des Moines B-cycle program has been launched, with 18 bicycles that can be checked out and returned at any of four downtown stations.
Iowa's capital becomes the fifth U.S. city to establish a bike sharing program, following Boston, Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis, according to a news release issued by the Downtown Community Alliance.
The program is operated by the Des Moines Bicycle Collective with support from private and public sponsors. The bikes are available for rent now through November, and again next spring.
The bike-sharing initiative is meant to complement some 200 miles of recreational trails that lead into and out of downtown, as well as a growing number of bicycle lanes on city streets in Des Moines.
In the past week, B-cycle organizers said the program has saved 628 pounds of carbon from being released into the atmosphere because people chose to ride bikes instead of taking a car.
"It's a great tribute and that happened in just a few days without a whole lot of people knowing about it," Mayor Frank Cownie said during a Wednesday news conference.
B-cycle organizers hope to eventually have 100 or more bicycles available for rent.
Visit DesMoinesBcycle.com for more details.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100909/NEWS/9090364/Des-Moines-officials-introduce-bike-sharing-program
http://desmoines.bcycle.com/About/SponsorsandPartners.aspx
I doubt you make any money off these things without allowing the private sector to plaster bikes and stations with advertising:
Miami Beach’s bicycle-sharing program struggling despite loyal ridersQuoteFour months since its launch, a hyped bike-sharing program in Miami Beach has attracted an impressive 180,000 rides, but has failed to bring in enough revenue to keep rolling without financial concerns.DecoBike has installed more than 65 bike-sharing racks in the city
QuoteBut the program has yet to generate even 20 percent of its anticipated advertising revenue, according to Colby Reese, chief marketing operator of DecoBike, who said that efforts to bring in more money have been stymied by limited advertising options. The bike program struck a deal with the city that prohibited it from placing advertisements on its dozens of bike racks throughout the city. It is currently limited to selling advertisements on the baskets of its bikes, charging $100 per bike, per month. But Reese said that the baskets are a hard sell and potential advertisers are turned off by their irregular size and shape. Hoping to turn things around, the company went back to the city and asked if they could sell additional advertisements on the bike racks. The city, however, wasn’t quick to back out of the contract, fearing that the ads â€" approximately 7-by-2 feet â€" would be an eyesore on the streets of Miami Beach.
QuoteThe pricing system for the bike-sharing program is designed for short travel and is most affordable for residents. DecoBike charges four bucks for 30 minutes on the bike, with the assumption that most places in Miami Beach can be reached within a half-hour, moderately paced bike-ride. Residents can buy a monthly pass for $15 that gives them unlimited 30-minute rides. Reese said advertising revenue was initially expected to cover a third of DecoBike’s $1.8 million annual operating costs. The rest would come from membership and rental fees, which he said is on target.DecoBike is averaging about $10,000 a month from basket advertising sales. Wells Fargo just purchased 500 basket advertisements for a month, but Reese said that while this is a strong short-term deal, it doesn’t solve any of DecoBike’s long-term problems. The bikes cost about $700 a pop and the company has yet to recoup its $4 million startup cost, he said. Despite its financial woes, Reese said DecoBike is in no imminent danger of folding.
full article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/23/v-fullstory/2331265/miami-beachs-bicycle-sharing-program.html
from what I understand, cities need a minimum of 5 stations for a system to work (need enough bikes to swap)....but an ideal starter system in Jax. in n Jax. should have 10 stations, each with 10 bikes.....and the endpoints of the Skyway (FSCJ, Prime Osborn, and Kings Ave) are a must!
I love it! Mentioned something to Herb Hiller and Don Redman about bicycle racks also at Public Waterfront street ends where there is also a Pocket Pier.
Just how does the Public/Private Partnership work?
Everyone excited about the new Waterway signage that is lining our Downtown? There is an ordinance number and I'd welcome anyone to explain when this was approved by council or in front of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. I couldn't tell you. How did our council members and commissioners voted?
I always think of a triathlon. Swim, run, then ride a bike.
I always think of Jacksonville. Arrive by boat (kayak), walk, then ride a bike.
The Public Trust continues to be completely destroyed in this community. Who wants to kayak and fish Downtown under our new signage and then ride a bike? Legal or illegal?
I've used bike rentals in the train stations in Holland and Belgium. That's a nice system but different from the concept here. Bikes there are maintained and the cost of losing or leaving one is enough to defray replacement costs.
I've also seen a Florida college campus that used free bike system. Total failure. Bikes were badly treated, broken pedals, seats damaged or missing. No accountability for returning them to a bike parking area so they ended up in the bushes or in the lakes. Gradually they started disappearing from campus.
How does this system address vandalism, theft, maintenance and replacement? Jacksonville doesn't even do too good with the Skyway system - not sure of how this would be carried out.
This is something that I'd like to bring up to the BPAC.
Station advertising will be a must. And would bring far more benefit than just the income. Corporations putting their name on it would expect a much higher standard of care. I have long been of the opinion that JTA needs to brand the Skyway and the stations.
For $500,000 (in public/private money) we could provide a transportation network that connects a large percentage of our population. What other infrastructure investment would give us that kind of return?
We at Bike Jax have been looking into Bike Share in Jax for sometime now and have been tracking how smaller and medium size cities are doing with a system. We want to see how each system performs and actual maintenance/operational cost for those system. We really like the BCycle system as it solar powered which considerably lowers installation and operational costs. A small system like Jax would have, could be up and running in just a few days.
We have identified 10 locations within the Urban Core for possible starter stations. 3 - Riverside, 3 - Downtown, 3 - San Marco/SouthBank, 1 Springfield. Sorry Springfield, you don't have any easily identifiable destinations. All stations are within a very easy 30 min. ride of one another. The biggest issue is crossing the river. Neither bridge is very bike friendly and ascending them on a single speed bikes is not going to be a pleasurable experience for anyone. We are hoping that we can get JTA to wake the hell up and join the rest of us in the current century and get them to finally allow bikes on the Skyway. At lease during non peak hours. (<-- I know, I laugh every time hear that term in conjunction with the skyway too.)
We are also looking at the Beaches for another 3 to 6 stations.
While we have been waiting to see how system shake out in other cities, we have been working on some key infrastructure pieces to make moving around the urban core a little more bike friendly. We should starting seeing small fruits of that labor as early as Feb/Mar of this year. With larger pieces completed throughout the year.
We at Bike Jax are still working very hard to make Jax a bicycle friendly city. It's taking 4 years of hard work, but I think things are finally starting to swing into place and those in power are starting to see the light. I'm actually excited to see what Jacksonville will look like in the next four years.
We are actually thinking of Jacksonville as having 3 systems. One for the North side of the river, one for the South side and one for the beaches. The river not having any real bicycle friendly crossing is a major barrier to a bike share. It does mean that people won't use the bikes share to cross the river. Some will, or will attempt to. Once.
Quote from: Bike Jax on January 02, 2012, 11:56:10 AM
...ascending them on a single speed bikes...
The CaBi system in DC uses 3-speed bikes, for what it's worth.
What's the deal with JTA not allowing bikes on the skyway?
Lake, We keep getting the tired stock answer of "liability." When we ask for more details we get the same thing repeated. I am gathering info from both Miami and Detroit bike groups who have the same or similar systems that have no problems with bikes on their system. I'm really interested to find out why those cities don't seem to have the same liability concerns.
We'll get them to accept bikes, sooner or later. Rest assured, JTA will eventually allow bikes on the Skyway. And if I was betting man, I bet on sooner.
Finehoe, I misspoke above, Most bike shares are now indeed 3-speed. I have been looking at these systems so long I forget that most are no longer single speed. That said, 3-speed bikes still really suck for climbing the likes of the Main St bridge. And don't don't even think about attempting the Acosta on a 3-speed.
Visit Jacksonville!
Florida just beat Ohio St. 24-17 in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
I took my bike Downtown and rode the entire Southbank and Northbank. Signage is so diverse.
The Southbank restroom was closed. Saw numerous no bicycles signs on the Southbank. Started at the school Board and rode to River City Brewing. Saw Mayor Brown's new kayak launch logo. Very nice.
On the Northbank started at RAM. The restroom was locked. The restroom by CSX was open. I rode my bike all the way to Berkman Plaza and the chain link fence next to the Historic Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier. Didn't see one no cycling sign except one at the Landing but even that had friendly instructions. Saw 3 no panhandling signs. And I counted 7 new Waterway issued signs starting at the Hyatt and continuing to the Historic Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier. Took my time and stopped but a 20 minute bike ride from the Historic Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier back to RAM on the Nortbank Riverwalk. Is everyone ready to say VISIT JACKSONVILLE!
What an opportunity at RAM and other areas for a small cluster of organic economic development if legislation would allow you to participate. It Khan Happen.
That is so cool, I love this idea. There are places in town that are more bike friendly where I would love to use a bike, but I'd have to haul my bike in my car for 7-10 miles to get there. :p
Quote from: Noone on January 02, 2012, 09:05:09 AM
I love it! Mentioned something to Herb Hiller and Don Redman about bicycle racks also at Public Waterfront street ends where there is also a Pocket Pier.
Just how does the Public/Private Partnership work?
Everyone excited about the new Waterway signage that is lining our Downtown? There is an ordinance number and I'd welcome anyone to explain when this was approved by council or in front of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. I couldn't tell you. How did our council members and commissioners voted?
I always think of a triathlon. Swim, run, then ride a bike.
I always think of Jacksonville. Arrive by boat (kayak), walk, then ride a bike.
The Public Trust continues to be completely destroyed in this community. Who wants to kayak and fish Downtown under our new signage and then ride a bike? Legal or illegal?
Let the pier thing go, Noone. It's just not going to work given your inapposite political leanings. Personally, I pay for my boat and dockage to access "our" waterways, so given your positions on welfare, health insurance coverage, and pretty much everything else, I'm not seeing why I should pay for YOUR river access. According to your logic, either you can afford a boat like the rest of us, or else you have no business on the river and should get a job, or a higher paying one. Again, this is your own logic. So STFU already, you're actually harming your own cause at this point just because it's you. It's gotten to be something of a well known joke.
But anyway, as to the bike-sharing issue, well that's got potential. I think something like that would work well here, especially in otherwise close-knit neighborhoods like Riverside and San Marco. It would probably be quite a success.
I love this idea for the neighborhoods in and around the core. I've definitely noticed more bikes lining up the gate at Jag games. I also think Jax Beach would be a great fit for a station given the abundance of people on cruisers in the area. Even a few shops run out of rentals on busy weekends in the summer (4th of July immediately comes to mind) so that would help offset the demand.
Quote from: thelakelander on January 02, 2012, 01:19:13 PM
What's the deal with JTA not allowing bikes on the skyway?
Even if it were allowed, I think it would be so much of a pain that most wouldn't do it...more than once or twice.
Getting the bike through the turnstile and up the escalator would be the first challenge. Then there really isn't much room in the car for a bike. You would either be blocking the doors or both seats at either end.
But if we think of the bike system as the first or last mile of the transit system and have bike share stations at each end then it doesn't matter that you can't get the bikes on the train.
Quote from: Bike Jax on January 02, 2012, 11:56:10 AM
We at Bike Jax have been looking into Bike Share in Jax for sometime now and have been tracking how smaller and medium size cities are doing with a system.
Will Bike Jax be the operating entity or are you working with another company? Or are you advocating the city to take on the operation?
If you really wanted to attract ridership you would offer 'fixed' gear bikes with a skinny jeans/wool stocking cap kiosk located nearby. ;D
thelakelander, part of the reason that Miami Beach's system is having trouble attracting ad revenue involves how limited that system is (and how most of South Florida is disjointed and downright dangerous to bike on/in.) Miami Beach isn't enough: Dade County is.
The DC system works well because it's everywhere: the city, the transit-connected 'burbs, etc.
However, as an avid biker, I can't bring myself to use them, and is has little to do with the quality of the bikes, which are quite good, actually. There's something, errrr...less than hygenic involving bike sharing. Or, to put this another way, my crotch sweats a lot when I bike. Do you really want to rest yours on my caked and dried crotch sweat, once I'm done with my bike journey? (And that's assuming it's me...do you want to do that with some random, less bath loving person?) There's just a difference between sitting on a plastic seat on a bus or a train, and straddling your junk over a seat quite intimately.
The 'main' issue the bike sharing thing seems to overcome is storage and transport of the bikes themselves, and I've yet to have an issue with it, so no bike sharing for me!
lol, I never considered crotch sweat..
Personally, I have never seen a CaBi bike seat wet with sweat, but maybe I've just been lucky.
Several have mentioned the difficulty of the river crossing. It's a valid point, but I have found the Main Street bridge pretty manageable. The sidewalk is fairly narrow, so it's usually easiest to walk the bike on the uphill side...especially if you see pedestrians ahead. It's not a bad walk, the view is very pleasant, and once you've reached the top it's easy going. The Acosta bridge is another story...still do-able, but more work.
was this article really written over 18 months ago and no one has done this in jax ???
Want to start a company doing it - im in!
Quote from: Bike Jax on January 02, 2012, 11:56:10 AM
We have identified 10 locations within the Urban Core for possible starter stations. 3 - Riverside, 3 - Downtown, 3 - San Marco/SouthBank, 1 Springfield. Sorry Springfield, you don't have any easily identifiable destinations. All stations are within a very easy 30 min. ride of one another. The biggest issue is crossing the river. Neither bridge is very bike friendly and ascending them on a single speed bikes is not going to be a pleasurable experience for anyone. We are hoping that we can get JTA to wake the hell up and join the rest of us in the current century and get them to finally allow bikes on the Skyway. At lease during non peak hours. (<-- I know, I laugh every time hear that term in conjunction with the skyway too.)
You could solve the river crossing issue by having a few bike stations at the Skyway's busiest stations. That way, you'd ride the Skyway across the river instead of a bike. For example, a bike station at the Skyway's Kings Avenue Station would make it very easy for someone to get to Hendricks Avenue or San Marco Square.
Quote from: crofty on August 04, 2013, 08:18:34 PM
was this article really written over 18 months ago and no one has done this in jax ???
Want to start a company doing it - im in!
actually UNF is moving forward with a small on-campus system....and there is movement for a system in the urban core area as well
Quote from: Mike D on August 22, 2012, 08:57:16 PM
Several have mentioned the difficulty of the river crossing. It's a valid point, but I have found the Main Street bridge pretty manageable. The sidewalk is fairly narrow, so it's usually easiest to walk the bike on the uphill side...especially if you see pedestrians ahead. It's not a bad walk, the view is very pleasant, and once you've reached the top it's easy going. The Acosta bridge is another story...still do-able, but more work.
Believe it or not JSO will cite you if they see you riding a bike across the Main Street Bridge sidewalk, they have had signs posted for years saying you must walk them, and when the new recruits come out they love hassling bikers during the lunch hours. The only legal crossing for riding bikes across the river is the Acosta Bridge. FDOT does not permit crossings on any other bridge in Duval County. This doesn't mean you will be stopped, however if you are hit it does mean you share the legal burden.
CitiBike started in NYC this spring and had blown all expectations, they can't keep up with the demand. I think the big factor is the corporate sponsor, that's what seems to make these programs work. Until a company like EverBank or Fidelity or CSX commit to such a program, Jacksonville will not see such a thing.
Quote from: JayBird on August 05, 2013, 09:14:37 AM
The only legal crossing for riding bikes across the river is the Acosta Bridge. FDOT does not permit crossings on any other bridge in Duval County.
that is not true....you can legally ride on many of the bridges in the County, including the new Beach Boulevard bridge over the intracoastal....as for downtown river crossings, I think you may legally ride on the Main Street Bridge travel lanes themselves.
i have seen bikers riding across the Main St Bridge, in the middle of the travel lane.
Perhaps in your haste to correct you missed this. Which then means everything that follows would be dealing with the crossing of the St Johns River, which Beach Boulevard doesn't and bicycles are explicitly forbidden from being on the Hart Bridge.
QuoteThe only legal crossing for riding bikes across the river is the Acosta Bridge.
As for the rest, you may simply go see for yourself, each bridge crossing the river Dames Point, Mathews, Hart, Buckman, Fuller Warren forbid crossing other than in a motor vehicle. On the fuller warren and Main Street you are legally required to walk your bike across on the provided pedestrian pathway.
So which point, exactly, wasn't true?
^^which of course only proves the need for dedicated bicycle infrastructure so that they can coexist with cars. But I like Lakes idea of integrating the Skyway, after all any use for that is good use
^That's pretty much how DC's Bike Share program is set up. Most Metro stations have them, so you don't have to worry about bringing a bike on the train. However, by utilizing the transit system, you stretch the accessibility and reach of the bike sharing program.
Quote from: JayBird on August 05, 2013, 10:23:59 AM
Perhaps in your haste to correct you missed this.
I did not miss anything. They were two separate sentences, with the second one saying FDOT did not allow bikes to use any other bridge in Duval County. Perhaps you meant it to say FDOT doesn't allow bikes on any other bridge crossing the river crossing?
The way it works here in the District with the Metro is that one cannot bring bikes onto the Metro during the rush hour times (6am-9:30am and 3pm-7pm weekdays). Otherwise, one is allowed to bring bikes on, provided one uses the end doors of the car and not the center doors. You can also use the Metro on weekends for bike transport. However, for many of the stations, the escalators are so long and are frequently out that carrying a bike up or down becomes sort of impractical.
The Capital Bikeshare works well in that it is located at most of the Metro stops in the district and nearby to the several tourist sites. There is less of a presence in the Anacostia area and south in Alexandria. As the bikeshare hourly fee only kicks in after :30 minutes, it would not be cost effective to bring a bike onto a train as one can simply switch out before and after riding a train or bus.
^smart setup, NYC isn't exactly like that but similar. I think all of the bike share programs have proven that even in smaller areas the need is there.