Four Bike Sharing Vendors at Bike Sharing Demonstration
August 14 and August 16Portlanders can try four different bike sharing systems at the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s August 14th and August 16th Bike Sharing Demonstration. The events will be free and open to all.
Bike sharing systems are automated, self-service bicycle rental systems that allow people to rent bikes, usually for a short period of time. Bike sharing bikes are placed at various locations in the city for use and drop-off. Paris and Barcelona instituted large-scale bike sharing systems that have proven very popular and dramatically increased bicycle ridership.
The August 14th event will occur at Ankeny Pavilion at Waterfront Park from 10:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The August 16th event is part of Sunday Parkways and will be adjacent to Laurelhurst Park on SE Oak at SE 37th Avenue from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Sunday Parkways is a PBOT event that creates an eight mile car-free route on neighborhood streets connected by public parks and greenspaces..
The four bike sharing vendors at the event are:
• Bcycle – a partnership of the bike manufacturer Trek, the health care company Humana, and the media relations group Crispin Porter, which is slated for use in Denver
• Bike Share Group – a group from Seattle
• Bixi – a system created for and currently in use in Montreal and slated for Minneapolis
• Portland Bicycle Share – a product of Portland Bicycle ToursThe Portland Bureau of Transportation is studying bike sharing as a possible tool to increase the number of bicycle trips and the number of people using bicycles for transportation and recreation.
Although over 100 bike sharing systems are in use internationally, Washington DC and Montreal, Quebec are the only North American cities that have installed the latest iteration of bike sharing systems. Bikes are usually checked out by a credit card or Smart Card at an un-staffed kiosk adjacent to the parked bicycles.
More information is available at: www.portlandonline.com/transportation/bikesharing