The process to select a vendor that would implement a public bike-sharing system in Portland has been canceled.
In a letter just released by the City of Portland’s Office of Management and Finance, Purchasing Agent Jeffrey Baer writes:
“In accordance with Portland City Code 5.33.660, this project has been canceled in its entirety with no award or contracts resulting from the solicitation. All proposal responses will be maintained as part of the project file (reference PCC 6.33.670.B).”
I have calls into several people asking for more details, but have yet to hear back.
News of Portland’s plans to implement a bike-sharing system first came to light back in February of 2007 and a request for proposals was sent out a few months later.
Back in November, the City of Portland’s Bureau of Purchasing reported that they had narrowed down their selection to three vendors: Clear Channel Outdoor, The Portland Bike Company, and Library Bikes. A selection was supposed to be made shortly thereafter, but that decision was delayed so members of a selection committee could have more time to deliberate.
In April of this year, an executive from a Clear Channel told me that, “We believe that Portland is an ideal candidate for it” (I suspected that Clear Channel was the front-runner for Portland’s program, but was never able to confirm it).
Also in April, Washington D.C. and Clear Channel announced that they had embarked on the first large-scale bike-sharing system in the U.S. However, after much media fanfare about the launch, the bikes are still not available (boxes remain over the partially-installed kiosks) and skepticism is growing as to the cause of the delay.
See all my previous coverage of this story here.