(Photo: Armando Luna)
Two private bike share companies have set up tiny pilot programs to help Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) cope with a five-week closure of the Aerial Tram.
Jump Bikes started offering rides on 15 of their electric-assist bikes today and Lime is scheduled to turn on their bikes Wednesday. OHSU Transportation Options Coordinator John Landolfe told us today that the bikes are available free for 45 minutes and are only for people with an official OHSU email address (staff and students) and selected contractors, vendors, volunteers, and temporary employees*. Both companies expect to have 30 bikes available by the end of this week. (*Note: A reader says he was able to use one of the Lime bikes today without an OHSU account.)
In total there are now four different bike share options available to OHSU commuters during the tram closure. Biketown (open to anyone) has installed a temporary station with 18 bikes at the Schnitzer Lot (SW Moody and Sheridan) and Go By Bike Share (run by the same folks who do the bike valet) is another option for those with an OHSU email.
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Found my non-sweaty alternative for surviving tram closure 2018: @jumpbikes! I was practically giddy going up Marquam Hill. Thanks @go_by_bike @OHSUNews! pic.twitter.com/770VKeTtIh
— Jennifer Smith (@madeyerish) June 26, 2018
Keep in mind if you use the Jump or Lime bikes, they aren’t set up to be dockless. That means you can’t just lock them up anywhere and you must return them to one of the three Go By Bike valet locations: the Schnitzer Lot, the Whitaker Lot (SW Whitaker St, one block east of the Center for Health and Healing), or up on Marquam Hill at the OHSU Student Center.
PBOT spokesman Dylan Rivera Jump and Lime were able to offer the bikes without a city permit because the trips start and end on OHSU property. “It operates as any fleet of vehicles would,” he shared with us via email today. “Therefore does not require a permit from PBOT, as private for hire transportation would.”
Interesting side note: Portland’s Biketown system is operated by Motivate Inc., which was recently reported to be in acquisition talks with ride-sharing giant Lyft. The bikes used in the Biketown system were made by a company that has since re-branded as Jump, which is owned by Uber. And then there’s Lime, a company that’s drooling over the prospect of launching dockless e-bikes and scooters in Portland. Hopefully this tiny pilot gives PBOT some good insight into how our bike share offerings should evolve in the future.
Learn how to sign up and find out more at GoByTram.com/bikeshare.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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