I'm starting to hear talk of bike share programs becoming a reality in the US. The whole idea is to have various checkout stations around a city, where you can swipe a credit card or pay by phone to rent a bike. You then return the bike at any other checkout station. It provides an economical means to travel from place to place around a city. It appears that NYC is testing a bike-share program, I haven't read about any other such programs in the US. I think you would need a fairly large city or a very progressive city, where few people own or drive cars, to make such a program work. It will be interesting to see how the test works in NYC.
Speaking of NYC, I saw an announcement for the upcoming PARK(ing) day on September 21st. This is a one-day, global event started in San Francisco where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform parking spots into a "PARK(ing) space", a.k.a a temporary park. This is certainly an interesting idea, I just wonder how many motorists it really annoys. I guess motorist can't complain too loudly, as long as they abide by the parking meter rules. As most meters I've ever parked at have a two hour maximum stay, some of these people sure put in a lot of work. I wonder if they start feeding the meter upon arrival or when they are finished setting up?
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Buffalo NY appears to have a community based program, more info at Buffalo Blue Bicycle. For twenty five dollars per year and six hours of volunteer time helping run the program, you have access to make reservations at any of the bicycle hubs. It’s hard to beat the price, especially if you live within walking distance of a hub. Depending on how many bikes and users they have, this might work out fine for last minute trips or you might be left without wheels. I do wonder how many more programs are out there that just don’t make headlines.
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Here’s an encouraging article on a Paris BikeShare program that is thriving. I’ve read about many places trying such a system before, but perhaps the French have finally figured it out.