Steve Schmidt on Bike Sharing Programs
Posted By Thomas Bahde on July 31, 2010
UPDATE: Apologies to Bob Hawkins who wrote this piece, not Schmidt. See Bob’s comment and join the conversation.
The U-T’s transpo blog “The Ride” by columnist Steve Schmidt recommends bike sharing for San Diego, suggesting check-out locations for the cruise ship terminal, Balboa Park, Pacific Beach, Convention Center, Gaslamp, Old Town, and all four major university campuses. This is major. Not the program, but that a mainstream columnist in this town actually says something positive about a large scale bicycle project.
The sticking point for Schmidt is that other cities with bike share programs (including now Chicago, which Schmidt doesn’t include in his list), don’t provide helmets for riders who want to check out bikes. There are other problems with bike share programs, too, including theft, vandalism, constant repair needs, and technical glitches with check out machines. The upside, as Schmidt notes, would be fewer pedicabs(?) and fewer cars, since presumably more tourists would rent bikes.
So what do you think, is a bike share program right for San Diego?
Comments
4 Responses to “Steve Schmidt on Bike Sharing Programs”
Join in the discussion
The problem isn’t not providing helmets. For bike sharing to work you need a place where people can take bikes from place to place over a street network that is relatively accommodating to bicyclists. Bikes need to be maintained, but the vendor providing the bikes just has to build that cost into the business model. Theft isn’t a problem if there is always a secure docking station available whenever a person reaches his or her destination. Theft occurs where there is a tendency for bikes to migrate toward a few stations to the point that there aren’t enough docking stations.
Bike sharing might work in San Diego if a City is willing to let a vendor do the advertising or whatever it takes to let them make a profit. With talk of selling advertising on San Diego beach, perhaps there is the chance . I think Schmidt is wrong if he thinks the City is going to make any money on it though. Not unless it turns out to be so lucrative that vendors end up bidding for franchise rights. Committing to bike sharing should also come with a commitment to making the streets more bike friendly. OK so it is a long shot.
Seems like a touristy thing, while it might alleviate some of the congestion that tourist bring with them, but I feel if they want people to bike in more areas then just a few blocks around the tourist hubs they’ll need to (and should) work on a way to make biking safely from one part of the city to another, that’s more then a few blocks, more viable. That’s what would really help get rid of congestion.
http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15673894
Bike sharing programs are obviously a conspiracy to control us.
Thanks for reposting, Thomas, but a few clarifications:
Steve Schmidt didn’t make those comments, I did. I’ve replaced Steve as the transportation writer for the Union-Tribune. The mistake is understandable: I have been squatting in his “The Ride” column space while the SignOn site gets a redesign … like all redesigns it is taking longer than expected. My apology for that.
The new site is available in austee form at: http://www.uniontrib.com/news/transportation/
It will get better, I promise.
My comments were linked to an AP story about London’s launch of a 6,000-bike-share program with 400 docking stations around the city. ( http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/the-ride-transportation/2010/jul/30/londoners-bicycles-two-two/ ). It isn’t THE solution to anything. Just a fresh option. All the obstacles cited are not new, nor unique, to San Diego — and yet cities all over the world are finding ways for bikes and cars to co-exist.
My guess is that building a bicycle-safe infrastructure in a city is a noble goal but ultimately difficult to achieve. I do believe that a bike-aware and sensitive culture can develop over time as the density of bikes sharing the roads with other vehicles increases. More bikes= more awareness = more impetus to share the road.
Take note of the number of London docking stations. That suggests more than a tourist attraction. I believe their goal is for individuals to pick up a bike ‘here,’ use it and drop it off ‘there,’ rather than make the trip in a car or taxi. Tourists would be only one client for such bikes.
Honestly, I haven’t looked deeply into bike-share programs but I don’t see why it couldn’t work here. How about you?
Bob Hawkins (bob.hawkins@uniontrib.com)