Bike-Share Update: DC First Out of the Gate

On Wednesday Streetsblog declared Portland the leader in the race to launch a public bike-share program here in America. But as reader Chris Loos pointed out, a bike-share system in Washington is actually imminent.

"DC SmartBike" will launch as a pilot program in the coming weeks with 120 bikes at 10 stations, available for an annual subscription of about $40. It’s not exactly Vélib, but it’s a start. During an address at the Bike Summit earlier this week, Emeka Moneme,
head of DC’s DOT, said that his department is also looking at developing a
region-wide bike-share network in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia. For more coverage of the city’s bike-share plans, check out the excellent DC bike blog WashCycle. 

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Bike-Share Debuts in Washington D.C.

By Ben Fried |
Public bike-share in the U.S. hit a milestone yesterday when SmartBike DC, the first program of its kind in an American city, launched in full. Coverage in the Washington Post was heavy on the implications for D.C.’s image: Today the city will join the ranks of Paris and Barcelona with the launch of the first […]

2008: Year of the Bicycle?

By Jason Varone |
Ahead of this week’s National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, syndicated columnist Neal Peirce wonders if 2008 will be "bicycling’s best year since the start of the auto age." He writes about developments promoting the bicycle as a legitimate form of transportation around the world, many of which have been featured right here on Streetsblog: […]

Bike-Share Rumors: Portland Leading the Pack

By Ben Fried |
Bike-sharing in Lyon, France Bike-share programs are a very hot topic at the Bike Summit. Everyone is aware of how Velib has led to a huge spike in bike ridership in Paris, and they’re wondering which U.S. city will be the first to replicate that success. Based on the Q&A session at one panel, "Bicycling […]

Happy Birthday, Vélib

By Aaron Naparstek |
Here’s another transportation policy success story from France. The Vélib bike-sharing system celebrates its one-year anniversary today. In April, Streetfilms’ Elizabeth Press was in Paris to learn more about it. Here is her video and report: On July 15, 2007 Paris debuted the world’s largest self-service "bicycle transit system" called Vélib outdoing previously designed bike […]