Community Corner
Chicago Bike Share Program Also Delayed
The company behind New York City's bicycle sharing initiative is now stalled in Chicago.
Feeling down about New York City’s bike share delays? Chicago feels your pain, says the New York Times.
Alta Bicycle Share, the company operating New York City’s bike share – named CitiBike, after its lead sponsor – is also experiencing delays in starting up the program in Chicago. While , the problem in Chicago appears to be related to equipment manufacturing and choosing dock station locations, according to the Times.
The kiosks—56 of which are to be located in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights—include touchscreen monitors allowing riders to pay with credit or debit cards.
Find out what's happening in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
And while Alta did not comment to the paper on the delays, it reports that the company has also encountered software problems in their Chattanooga, Tenn., bike share program, which began last month.
Questions to CitiBike’s Twitter account – @CitibikeNYC – about the new launch date have so far been met with the same answer: “Details are being finalized.”
Find out what's happening in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In any case, than most, with no designated sites planned for the first phase of installation.
Carroll Gardens Patch recently was able to witness the bike share program in London which CitiBike will imitate. The number of blue bikes being used throughout that city was truly remarkable—almost as ubiquitous as the old fashioned black cabs—with many parking stands empty during a random midday inspection.
Are you worried about Alta's delays in launching the program in major U.S. cities? Or would you rather have all of the kinks worked out before launch, even if it means waiting?
