Steve Schmidt on Bike Sharing Programs

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?