Help Bring B-Cycle Bike Sharing To Roosevelt Island - Make Sure To Vote And Select Roosevelt Island For Bicycle Sharing

2009 You Tube Video of Montreal Bike Sharing Program

Continuing on the bicycle theme from earlier today, wouldn't it be great if a bike sharing system was established on Roosevelt Island like the one in Montreal described in video above as well as many other cities?

Are you wondering what bike sharing is all about? It's a simple concept. According to The Bike Sharing Blog, Bike Sharing is a:

short-term bicycle rental available at a network of unattended locations;

RIOC Director Jonathan Kalkin has been working to bring Bicycle Sharing to Roosevelt Island for some time. Yesterday, Mr Kalkin sends in this link to Gizmodo article on Bike Sharing recently started in Denver by B-Cycle. From Gizmodo

... How does it work? Well, there are B-cycle stations all around Denver. Once you have an account, you can grab a bike from any of them. When you're done, you can then drop it off at any other station. The GPS unit inside the bike (there's no nav screen, it's hidden inside the bike itself) tracks your route and lets you check it out online when you're signed in...

and:

...They're currently finishing the details on the next batch of cities, although they're mum on what those cities will be. You can vote for your city on their site if you want to try to get it near you.

(I was told that in order to bring the system to NYC, they need a whole lot of grassroots support...

Streetsblog adds:

...In Denver, B-cycle will be financed by ads and user subscriptions, with annual memberships priced at $65. Members get RFID cards that they can use to to check out bicycles at individual docks with a wave of the hand. The first 30 minutes of each ride are free, with each additional hour priced at one dollar...

Mr. Kalkin writes:

As you know the Columbia study (Page 38-41), I commissioned and the Hunter (Page 38-40) study both recommended Bike Sharing. It is a great idea for the island and NYC. I also approached a member of Community Board 8 about this idea. This company is having a vote competition to see what area in the country is interested. I posted it on Twitter and Facebook and we are currently ranked 7th in the US now. I would like to approach them and it would be helpful if your readers could put a vote for 10044 in and make sure they pick the Roosevelt Island, NY (full spelling) option. (UPDATE 8:16 PM - I just realized we were ranked 7th in the state at the time, not the US.)

So, if you want the B-Cycle Bike Sharing to come to Roosevelt Island, click on this link and vote.

More information on B-Cycle Bike sharing in this video below

You Tube Video of B-Cycle Bicycle Sharing

and the Denver B-Cycle program here as well.

You Tube Video Of Denver Bike Sharing Program

Let's get those Bikes!