While bike sharing programs are popular in Europe, they’ve been slow to catch on in the United States. Washington D.C. started the nation’s first bike share program a few years ago, and San Francisco is launching a program this year. Plans for a program in Manhattan have been underway for awhile, and now Brooklyn is getting in on the action, too. At a meeting last night, the borough’s transportation commissioner said that Downtown Brooklyn would be a key location for the program.
The Boerum Hill Traffic Task Force expressed interest in a Brooklyn bike share after a request for proposals for bike sharing programs in Manhattan was issued last year. Advocates agreed that a Downtown location would make the most sense for an initial program in Brooklyn. Currently, officials are seeking proposals for the Brooklyn-based plan, and the winning bidder will ultimately choose the program’s location.
Transportation coordinator Chris Hrones said, “The winning bidder would propose the area, but we will work with them to get the bike share program where it makes the most sense.”
The details will become more clear as proposals come in, but Patch reports that the program is slated to launch in April 2012. However, given the slow progress of the Manhattan bike share program, many believe that Brooklynites won’t be sharing bikes until about 2015.
Via AOL Patch
This (Bixi) is a huge sucess in Montreal, Qc. Hope this will be the same in Manhattan.
I live in Melbourne. Our bike share program works very well for our CBD because many people rely on public transport to get to work. As for university students, the bikes are a godsend.