The Country's Largest Bike Sharing Systems

[ChriswUfGator]

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.

[TCG]

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.

[dougskiles]

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.

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?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

If you really wanted to attract ridership you would offer 'fixed' gear bikes with a skinny jeans/wool stocking cap  kiosk located nearby.   

[AaroniusLives]

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!

[thelakelander]

lol, I never considered crotch sweat..

[finehoe]

Personally, I have never seen a CaBi bike seat wet with sweat, but maybe I've just been lucky.

[Mike D]

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.

[crofty]

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!

[thelakelander]

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.

[tufsu1]

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

[JayBird]

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.

[tufsu1]

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.

[fsujax]

i have seen bikers riding across the Main St Bridge, in the middle of the travel lane.

[JayBird]

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.

The 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?