Friday, January 28, 2011

Wake up, Fort Collins! Boulder is Introducing B-Cycle Bike Share Program

Denver has one and so do Austin, Chicago, Des Moines, Hawaii, and Louisville.  Boulder is getting one this spring and, unfortunately Fort Collins' "bike library," will likely be left in the dust.  Maybe this is what innovation is all about.  The first City to introduce a formal bike share program clings to its fossilized, unsustainable dinosaur so long that it misses the boat entirely.

And to think, that the President and CEO of B-Cycle, that state-of-the-art, automated, sustainable bike sharing program is a Colorado State University graduate!

This just in from Marni Ratzel, the Bicycle/Pedestrian Transportation Planner in Boulder. 

"GO Boulder" announces the opening of modern "B-Cycle" the program started  

GO Boulder to host open house on B-cycle bike share program

The City of Boulder/GO Boulder will host a public open house to introduce Boulder B-cycle and its community bike-sharing strategy on Tuesday, Feb.1, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building Lobby, 1777 Broadway.

At the open house, GO Boulder and Boulder B-cycle will solicit public input from the community on the bike-share concept including proposed station locations.  Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to drop in anytime during the open house.  For those interested, Boulder B-cycle will give a presentation at 5 p.m.

“This Boulder grown bike-share system will be designed to make it even easier for Boulder residents, employees and visitors to get around town without a car,” said Transportation Planner Cris Jones.  “We would like to know what the community thinks of the initial strategy so we can help Boulder B-cycle be as successful as possible.”

Boulder B-cycle will use the public input to finalize the program and bike-share station strategy.  The program is set to go live in May 2011.

Boulder B-cycle is a local non-profit formed by Boulder residents to own and operate Boulder’s bike-sharing program.  The City of Boulder/GO Boulder is supporting Boulder B-cycle with a $250,000 federal grant.

For more information about the bike-share program, visit Go Boulder and B-Cycle Boulder.  Follow GO Boulder on Twitter @BoulderGOBldr and

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree Chicago (I moved here from there 'cuz the Fort is way mo better), Austin, (they didn't like Rio margs, we do), Des Moines (someplace I waved at when I drove out here) Hawaii (which island are we talking here?) and Louisville (Easton makes both ball bats AND cool bike forks somewhere else) need to be congratulated for adopting the B-Cycle packaged bike sharing system. We aren't Boulder, thank heaven.

Where is Minneapolis MN, Portland OR, Madison WI, Davis CA, or others that consistently rank at the top (and make this author's list of good examples) of cycling meccas? Fort Collins is the envy of many other cities for many reasons, and a lot of effort was and still is put into our Bike Library. We didn't settle for run of the mill beer, nor a canned bike sharing program. I vote for improving our "one off" rather than tearing it down or pursuing some agenda of negativity.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, a little improvement in our bike share program would go a long way - like integrating it into our transit system, linking our parking garages, and engaging private enterprise - like a few hotels and bike shops.

ShorterR said...

Re: Bike sharing in the USA see
http://kakoluri.com/?p=1512
only three bikes in MN were stolen, two vandalized and there were no injuries
over a one year period.
Do you think a real bike library here in the Choice city will speed us on our way to LAB platinum recognition?

Anonymous said...

It will take more than an efficient bike share program to achieve platinum. But a bike share program that links to our transit system, parking garages and major centers (Old Town, CSU, Hilton, Marriott) AND a viable bike safety education plan would move us close to platinum.