(Photo: UO Bike Program)

The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) has approved a $199,000 investment to launch a bike share system on the Eugene campus. The system will be initially launched with four rental stations and 40 bikes and it will be managed by the UO Bike Program.

UO Bike Program Coordinator Ted Sweeney says the bike share system will help get more people riding, "Without the individual ownership costs and hassles of maintenance, storage, and fear of theft."

The system will consist of rental hubs located strategically throughout UO's 295 acre campus. Also, thanks to a partnership between the ASUO, Lane Transit District, and the City of Eugene, the bike share system could eventually expand beyond campus. LTD and the City have applied for a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant that would expand the system to 10 rental stations and 100 bikes covering campus and locations in Eugene's downtown core. (more...)

Kenji Sugahara, Michael O'Leary, Tom Archer, and other Oregon advocates, take the lane on Constitution Avenue with the National Cherry Blossoms in the background.

During a break between meetings on Capitol Hill today, I joined several members of Oregon's bike advocacy team here at the National Bike Summit for a spin on D.C.'s Capital Bikeshare. (more...)

Headlines in Chicago not what
Alta was hoping for.

Portland-based Alta Bicycle Share chalked up another huge victory last week when they were chosen by the City of Chicago to develop their $21 milllion bike sharing system. Alta already runs the highly successful Capital Bikeshare system and they were chosen last fall to implement New York's City's system, which will be the largest in the U.S..

While this should be a time of celebration over at Alta headquarters in Portland's central eastside, the company is being forced to answer questions about the Chicago contract because a competitor who lost out on the bid is alleging that Alta used its high-level city relationships to unfair advantage in the selection process. Here's more from the Chicago Sun-Times:
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We could see bike share on the streets (at least in test form) by this coming fall.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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It'll be here sooner than you think.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland City Council authorized the Bureau of Transportation to move forward with a search for a "request for proposals to solicit a private sector operator."

The action by Council comes just days after PBOT launched their Portland Bike Share website. An interactive map launched as part of the site that allows anyone to suggest a rental station location has gotten a huge response.

In a statement released today, Portland Mayor Sam Adams said bike share, "will be a great addition" to Portland and that it's a, "simple, attractive alternative to making quick trips by car."
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Adams on the streets of DC. (Note: This is
a still from a video, he's about to roll up onto
the sidewalk)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams took a ride on Washington D.C.'s bike-sharing system last week. Adams took a break from the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting to rent a bike from D.C.'s Capital Bikeshare service and his office has released a short video of it.

In the video (below), Adams swipes his credit car in the kiosk and checks out a bike. His analysis? He noted how light the bikes where (compared to ones he tried from Lyon, France several years ago) and said, "I like them, they're cool," and then added, "We're going to have them on Portland streets very soon."

Watch the video below: (more...)

JPACT came together this morning to green light $16.8 million in federal grants for active transportation projects.
(Photo © J. Maus)

A Metro committee unanimously approved a $70.7 million package of federal "regional flexible funding" at a meeting of their Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) this morning. 14 projects (totaling $22.9 million) — including $2.0 million for the Portland Bike Sharing Project — were included in the passed resolution.

But prior to the vote, there was a heated exchange between Mayor Sam Adams and Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury. It came after two citizens gave testimony to the committee about concerns that equity considerations and public input around the bike sharing project has been inadequate. Kafoury supported the concerns and tried to delay a vote on the project, while Adams spoke up in its defense. (more...)

Mia Birk, President of Alta Planning + Design and Principal of its sister company Alta Bicycle Share photographed yesterday at a celebration of their selection as operators of New York City Bike Share.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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Promo photo from New York City Bike Share website.

Local staff of Southeast Portland-based Alta Bicycle Share are celebrating a huge victory this morning. New York City has formally announced that they've selected the company as the vendor for their massive 10,000 bike, 600 station New York City Bike Share system.

Officials estimate that bike share in New York City will lead to 27.5 million new bicycle trips every year.

New York City's system will dwarf Capital Bikeshare in Washington D.C. (also run by Alta Bicycle Share), which is currently the largest system in America with about 1,100 bicycles and 114 stations (Portland's plan is to have about 740 bikes and 74 stations). Bike share in New York City is expected to be similar to D.C.'s system because they'll use the same "Bixi" bikes (from Montreal) and the same vendor.
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