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Plan for launch of county bike share includes Capitol Hill

Seattle Bike Blog reports that a bike share program for King County is ready to gear up and begin service in 2013. Capitol Hill will be part of the program’s core trial area:


Eventually, it is hoped that bike sharing will spread throughout the county. However, to maximize initial success, the system will be launched in downtown Seattle, South Lake Union, the University District, Sandpoint, and part of Capitol Hill with a total of 50 stations and 500 bikes covering just over 3 square miles, before expanding to 220 stations and 2,200 bikes covering an area of 13.6 square miles in downtown Seattle, the University District, Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Renton.

Here are the planned phases for the non-profit Puget Sound Bike Share project. In addition to our adjacency to downtown, the Hill’s presence in the plan might also be helped by board member David Amiton, a traffic analyst at UW and a resident of Capitol Hill. You can learn more at pugetsoundbikeshare.org.

Phase 1A (50 stations / 500 bikes / 3.1 square miles / launch in 2013): the initial launch is intended to maximize early success in Seattle’s downtown core, south Lake Union, the University District, Sandpoint, and part of Capitol Hill. 

Phase 1B (60 stations / 600 bikes / 2.0 square miles / launch in 2014): will in-fill the initial launch area with more stations and expand the boundaries into more of Capitol Hill and north of the University District. 

Phase 2 (50 stations / 500 bikes / 3.4 square miles / launch in 2015): will expand the Phase 1 area to cover an additional 3.4 square miles. 

Phase 3 (60 stations / 600 bikes / 5.1 square miles / launch in 2017): will develop a series of sub-systems on the east side of Lake Washington in the cities of Redmond (including the Microsoft campus), Kirkland, Bellevue, and Renton. 

Phase 4: expand into other areas of the county such as Ballard, Northgate, Rainier Valley, Kent, etc. These areas can enter the system at any time with sufficient funding. 

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JayH
11 years ago

Seattle Bike Blog comments section has it right. This project will fail because Seattle has mandatory helmet laws. Renting helmets? That kinda takes away the incentive, and who wants to wear someone’s sweat? Bowling shoes are disgusting enough, but at least there are socks between your feet and the shoes.

dpt
dpt
11 years ago

2nd on the fail because of the helmet law.

wes kirkman
wes kirkman
11 years ago

I don’t want to assume they will fail because I know there are some bright minds behind this. However, I agree, they will have a challenge with the bike helmet law. (I think it will present more of a challenge than the steep topography). I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Good luck to Puget Sound Bike Share.

Frank
11 years ago

I guess this is a ok idea…but wouldn’t a smart car share make more sense? Last time I checked our streets were clogged with cars, not bikes, thus giving people incentive to leave the car at home to tool around Seattle area with clean affordable transportation.

Oh well, its better than nothing right; but +1 for the anti-helmet incentive, I dont want to “rent” a community helmet :-/

JimS.
11 years ago

You mean like ZipCar, for example?

JimS.
11 years ago

Why do they think this will be successful here when it’s been a failure in so many other places? There are stories all over the internet about what a huge disaster it’s been in Paris, for example:

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/massive-theft-vandalism-plag

Not sure why they think this will be any different. Hell, if people will even steal the plastic flags at crosswalks, why would they not steal or vandalize bicycles?

dpt
dpt
11 years ago

No he doesn’t mean like ZipCar. He means share a car like you would share a bike.

bikerider
bikerider
11 years ago

I couldn’t agree more. I’m still waiting for more bike parking spots on Capitol Hill, places to lock my wheels up that aren’t a street sign post.

One of the reasons I think that Capitol Hill is not a good fit for this is because 95% of the people I know, who live on Capitol Hill, already own a bike and use it all the time. Who is the demographic on the hill that they’re looking to court?

In response to Jim S., no, not like Zip Car. I’m a bike rider and Zip Car member and I use both so I don’t have to own a car. But the car2go with the Smart car is a different program, much simpler (although in theory not quite as reliable as the reservation system style of Zip Cars) and easy to use car rental system. It’s in Portland now. I’d love to see it venture up here.

http://www.car2go.com/portland/en/concept/

JimS.
11 years ago

I guess I’m not getting it, I don’t see any huge difference between the car2go and ZipCar other than the logistics of it– they are both a form of short-term car rental, the only difference being terms, maybe pricing. Definitely not something we need public funds getting involved in anyway.

If we’re talking about private individuals sharing a car, as they might a bike– individuals can do that now, who needs a program for that? I guess I must be missing the point.

David Amiton
11 years ago

Thanks for the great write-up on Puget Sound Bike Share!

I want to make a comment regarding the suggestion that my living in Capitol Hill and sitting on the PSBS board might have influenced the Hill’s inclusion in the proposed service area. This simply isn’t the case. In fact, the part of the Hill that I live in isn’t even included in the proposed implementation strategy. It’s not in Phase 1A. It’s not in Phase 1B. It isn’t even included in Phases 2 or 3!

Generally speaking, the phases developed as part of the proposed implementation strategy reflect forecasted demand for bike share, not the locations where board members happen to live. Demand estimates were based on a variety of factors including population and employment density, retail and commercial land uses, parks/schools/other attractions, transit boardings and alightings, and social and geographic equity, among others.

I hope this helps to clarify the process somewhat. You can read more about the process that went into developing the proposed implementation strategy and business plan on the PSBS website: pugetsoundbikeshare.org

carolm
11 years ago

Looking forward to Bike Share coming to Seattle. As a commuter either by carpool, transit or train I like having the option of having a bike available to run errands, or go to a doctors appointment. I’m just planning on keeping a helmet at my office.

Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor
11 years ago

the Car2go people are busy taking to the city about introducing it here.
In a nutshell:
Smartcars
Cars can be parked anywhere legal, and the next renter locates them via GPS/phone/phone call etc. Rentals by the minute, hour or day.

System owned by Daimler, which makes the Smartcar.
http://www.car2go.com/portland/en/concept/

Kay
Kay
11 years ago

Bike share is just a few years old in other U.S. cities and it’s a huge success, particularly in D.C. where I’ve seen it in action. Would be great to give people another transportation option besides cars and buses, just to keep things moving a bit better downtown. I think it’s exciting and about time. We need more options for getting around as downtown gets even more crowded.

Jimbo
11 years ago

They will prolly come up with some kind of syrofoam disposable helmets and or liners…

shanedphillips
11 years ago

I completely agree that the helmet law needs to change for this to be completely successful, but JimS’s point about bike share being a failure in general (or even in Paris in particular) is incorrect.

According to Wikipedia, a company named JCDecaux financed all of the startup costs for the bikeshare program in Paris ($140 million – it’s a much, much bigger program than we’ll have here). In return they get a bunch of advertising. The city gets a fee of $4.3 million per year plus all of the revenue from the bikeshare program. Vandalization is a problem, but according to Wikipedia it’s expected to cost about 2 million euro a year. So in other words the city is making money in return for offering a program that nets 70,000 bike rides per day. Even if the program were losing money it’d still be a worthwhile investment, thanks to the congestion mitigation and health effects associated with more bicycling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lib%27#Financing

shanedphillips
11 years ago

I own a few bikes but don’t always leave my home with one when making short-to-medium distance trips. I would definitely find a use for bikesharing to speed up those trips when it was convenient. Sometimes you just don’t want to worry about your bike once you get to your destination, or be obligated to return it home if you find another way home or what have you.

TN
TN
11 years ago

Saying a proposed launch in 2017 is a “plan” is laughable. Downtown Redmond is very compact, with close proximity to residential, and filled with services from small local shops to big box retail, all within a compact and flat space already served by bike paths and a much safer on-street experience than Seattle. Plus, Microsoft is close by and cycle-able from most Redmond neighborhoods once you have conquered the inevitable trek up the hill along 520 or some other street. Redmond is ready now. And interoffice travel by bike at Microsoft is long overdue. C’mon!

Joseph Singer
Joseph Singer
11 years ago

If Seattle is truly considering a bike share being any kind of success in Seattle it won’t be as long as Seattle has a mandatory law that you must wear a bicycle helmet or face a $100+ fine for not wearing one. No city that has had a mandatory bicycle helmet law has had a successful bike share program.

Frye Art Museum
11 years ago

Over here at the Frye we couldn’t be more excited to see that a station is planned to be placed near our corner. The more stations, the more likely this program is to be successful the way it has been in over 20 other American cities. If LA and NYC can do it, so can Seattle!

helmeted and happy
11 years ago

There is hardly a problem with requiring a helmet. Buy your own if you are worried about sweat. what next, abolish seat belts, smoke alarms?