City Council approves bike share contract

As a follow-up to our Front Page story yesterday, see the City of Portland press release below. City Council voted 4-0 (Saltzman was out) to approve Alta Bicycle Share as the bike share operator. (For past coverage, see our bike sharing story archives.)

Portland Bike Share moves forward with council approval of Alta contract

Private sector takes lead in fundraising for transportation option that’s seen worldwide success

PORTLAND, Ore. – Mayor Sam Adams and his fellow Portland City Commissioners approved a contract 4-0 today between the city’s Transportation Bureau and Alta Bicycle Share for the private sector company to begin fundraising for a system of up to 750 bicycles for public use.

“I’m very excited to say that America’s most bike-friendly city is now one step closer to offering a bike share system that’s convenient, affordable and sustainable. Alta has developed an ambitious plan and will bear the burden of fundraising to cover costs. I’m proud to have a homegrown company doing this work and confident the private sector will be successful in making this system a reality,” Mayor Sam Adams said. “Bike share is a game-changer for bicycling in Portland.”

Bike share systems let people check out bicycles to ride from one point in the city to another for a small fee. In cities across the globe, bike share systems have proven popular and successful by giving residents and visitors a fast, inexpensive and easy transportation option. People use bike share to get to work, run errands, connect to mass transit, visit friends and family or enjoy a city as a tourist.

Alta Bicycle Share designs, deploys, and manages bicycle share programs and systems worldwide. The company currently operates bike share systems in Washington, D.C., Boston, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Melbourne, Australia, and is preparing to launch bike share in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada. Alta’s headquarters are in Portland.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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trixie
trixie
11 years ago

Congratulations to Portland for joining the large and happy world of bike-sharing. The time is right.

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago

Washington, D.C. = Capital Bikeshare
Boston = Hubway
Chattanooga = Bike Chattanooga
Melbourne = Melbourne Bike Share
New York City = Citi Bike
Vancouver = Bixi

I hope they come up with a better name than Portland Bike Share… I think we deserve something creative…