Two demonstration projects this weekend will give local residents and city transportation staff a chance to evaluate what type and on what scale a bike-sharing program could best serve Portland. The city is familiar with the risks and difficulties of bike sharing, both from its own experience in the 1990s and from observing successful programs in other cities like Paris and Washington, DC.
Everyone is invited to participate in the demonstrations this weekend! Visit the city’s website to learn more.
We currently spend a huge amount of money waiting in and dealing with congestion, building and repairing roads, and running our transit sytem to get people to and from and around the central city. In cities of Portland’s size around in the world, bike infrastructure – including shared bikes – has increased people’s mobility choices; reduced congestion, pollution and noise; and provided opportunities for exercise and pleasure, for less money. Bikes have always been transportation’s “cheap date;” now bike sharing is the dating service.
The costs of a bike sharing program may not be as hard on Portland’s limited budget as certain skeptics imagine. The Vélib fleet in Paris has suffered from very high rates of theft and vandalism, but in other cities like Montréal and Washington, DC the risk of theft is considerably less prevalent.
A bike sharing program would be valuable in other ways, too. Paris calculates that Vélib has spared the planet close to 14,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per 20,000 bicycles. Also, it might actually make our central city safer for bicycling, since studies consistently show that a higher number of cyclists corresponds with safer cycling conditions. Investing in a small-scale program that will increase the number of cyclists riding downtown would likely result in safer bicycling conditions there.
Vélib is great for visitors who want to explore Paris by bike.
Many Parisians have observed this phenomenon in their city. Last summer, my family in Paris remarked that drivers had already learned to coexist with Vélibistes less than one year into the program. All lifelong residents of the city, they swore it was much scarier to be behind the wheel in Paris than on a bicycle. Bicycling is much more popular in Paris now that Velib puts a two-wheeled ride at everyone’s fingertips, and as a result the city has added bike-only lanes and paths to accommodate them.
While one half of all trips to downtown Portland come from within three miles – an eminently bikeable distance – nearly one half of work-bound trips come from more than six miles away. A bike sharing system in our central city would give these commuters in particular the opportunity to bike to meetings, to lunch or to meet friends after work.
These bicycles aren’t really built for fun rides or exercise – they are sturdy commuter bikes with utilitarian features like front racks, pedal-powered lights and attached cable locks. They are ideal for traveling short distances and ready for spontaneous trips, making them perfectly suited for Portland’s central city. Of course, anyone who bikes to a lunch meeting instead of driving at the noon hour knows that fun and exercise are part of the deal, no matter what your bike looks like.
A bike sharing system would also allow visitors to participate in an activity that might have seemed intimidating or inaccessible. When visitors see hundreds or thousands of bikes parked downtown the message is “If these bikes are here for anyone to use, why not me?” The hurdle of having to buy, store and maintain a bike is eliminated; the fair-weather, once-a-week, on-a-whim bike ride becomes not just possible but easy.
But if Portland is going to improve transportation options for commuters and visitors in downtown Portland, we must try to overcome any aesthetic objections to small armies of uniform bikes. It’s true the gray Vélib fleet is a little drab. Perhaps the demonstration projects in Portland could feature different color schemes, followed by an official vote if bike sharing does come to our town. I like red, myself.
Bike sharing in Lyon, France. Photo by Christopher Lewis Cotrell.
We already know that residents of this region want more opportunities to walk and bike, want to spend less time and money driving, and care about keeping their air and water clean. The City of Portland is deliberately and carefully evaluating whether bike sharing would be a successful and sustainable way to give Portlanders more of what they want.
Learn more at the bike sharing demonstrations this weekend!
Friday, August 14
Ankeny Pavilion (new Saturday Market space), Waterfront Park
10:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 16th
Sunday Parkways
SE Oak at 37th Avenue (south side of Laurelhurst Park)
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
dear bta, i live in ne portland and commute 0-5 times per week to work in vancouver,wa. i just returned from vacation in europe. i used the velib’s in paris for a week, fantanstic! i tried to use the velo bleu in nice, france 2 days after they opened but you had to have a french cel phone for each bike you wanted to rent, we only had 1 french cel phone, darn! i guess the aestitics of color are important but that seems early in the conversation, number one seems to be selling the idea of bicycle infrastructure as part of a city. paris does NOT yet mention bicycles on their paper maps of metro, bus and suburban train routes. i probably would not use the downtown bicycles too often (but i might be pleasantly surprised). I DO SUPPORT bicycle infrastructure in portland even if it is limited to downtown at the beginning. let’s go for it!
i support bicycle infrastructure in portland!
Three students and I will be working this fall to design a bike-sharing program for Cal State U. Channel Islands — we’re seeking contacts with/ references to HOW TO DESIGN successful programs. (There’s lots of info out there about how these programs work, but we’re looking for info on the planning/ designing aspect.) If anyone can point us to such references, we’ll be very grateful!
I just returned from Portland and was impressed with the public transportation options. Adding bike-sharing (a la a Paris’ Velib-like plan) would be fantastic!