I’m excited to share this month’s podcast! But before we get into the topic of discussion, I want to point out a few changes: It’s now officially called the BikePortland Podcast; we’ve updated the logo; and you can now find our stream via Soundcloud. And next month, we’ve got an even bigger change in store when take a step up in recording quality thanks to our friends at Sprocket Studios who’ve agreed to host us.
Now, on to the podcast…
This month, Lily Karabaic (producer), Michael Andersen (director) and I delve into Portland Bike Share. As our long-time readers know, Portland has been planning for bike share since 2006. Yes, it was eight years ago when then Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams first got excited about the idea and pledged to launch a system in Portland. Back then, it was all about being the first major U.S. city to have such a system.
Since then of course, bike share has become a common mode of public transit and it seems like every major city (and even some minor ones) except Portland have a system in place. What gives? Why are we still waiting for it? Will it even be that big a deal? Will smaller-scale, peer-to-peer systems beat PBOT to the punch? Listen to what Lily, Michael and I have to say about those topics and much more…
Note from Michael: At one point I say that Citibank spent “what, $6 million for five years” to sponsor New York’s Citi Bike. It’s more like $8.2 million for each of five years. Still a pretty terrific bargain.
— You can download and subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, or listen to it via a direct link. If you’ve missed a past episode, browse the archives. If you’d like to sponsor an upcoming episode, contact Jonathan Maus at (503) 706-8804 or if you have feedback, drop us a line at podcast@bikeportland.org.