New York's Bike Share Project Takes Off - But Where Will it Go?

After much anticipation, New York's long awaited bike share program is set to arrive this summer. But locals are unsure what to think of the program, and don't know if they will even get a chance to use the bikes in South Brooklyn.

Last Thursday, a public demo was held at the Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn. The weather was slightly overcast, and visitors to the green and blue booth had not been plentiful.

Perhaps this was due to local skepticism on how well certain southern-lying neighborhoods, such as Carroll Gardens, will be served by the project.

"We've waited so long to see this come to us," said Gowanus local Shirly Edmunds. "But it might be a while until we see the stations come close to where I live."

Edmunds, like many others, will be visiting the NYC Bike Share website to vote on which areas deserve a station for cycling commuters, and why.

Another public demo is being held this Sunday at the .

Mayor Bloomberg announced city cycling expert Alta Bicycle Share as the New York City Bike-Share vendor this month. The company has been responsible for model bike-share programs in Washington, D.C., Boston and Melbourne, Australia and has had its eye on New York City for some time.

What's different about tackling the city of New York?

“The size and density alone is more than anything we've worked with (on previous projects),” said Alta Member Care Specialist Jocelyn Gaudi.

Alta is launching the project with 600 bike-share stations and a total of 10,000 bikes.

“D.C., which is currently our biggest project, is not even a quarter of that size right now. But that's what we have to do – in order to have an impact, we have to go big!” said Gaudi.

Alta Bicycle Share understands the concern for local residents over where the 600 stations will be placed – they've received well over 5,000 online bids for bike-share stations. But their method of selection will be systematic.

“This project is still in the very initial phases, and will definitely expand and improve with time,” points out Gaudi. In the end, station locations will have to rely in a large part on bike lane locations, and “what makes the most sense for the bike-share.”

Over the next several months, Alta will work closely with New York's Department of Transportation, as well as community boards, businesses and business improvement groups, neighborhood committees and other groups to find a way to make New York's first commuter bike-share program work as smoothly as possible.

The service will be available for members only and is designed to discourage long time rentals.

“This is a commuter service, not a holiday service,” emphasized Gaudi. Casual memberships can be purchased at a bike-share kiosk by swiping a credit card, while monthly memberships, which will cost less than $100 a year – significantly less than a monthly Metro Card, pointed out Gaudi – can insert a key pass to release the mechanical lock of the bike rack. Short rides, lasting 30 to 45 minutes, will be free, while longer rides will incur rapid user fees to riders' accounts, to discourage long-term, leisure or non-commuter use."

Gaudi said they often look to Europe "as a model and inspiration."

“We see cities that are so populated, yet so functional, and we think 'Why reinvent the wheel?'” she said. “So we're just putting a New York twist on it.”