November 3, 2009

Unlike Paris, NYC's free bikes survived the summer

In Paris, more than 80 percent of the bike-sharing cycles have been trashed or stolen, the New York Times reported over the weekend.

In New York, it’s an entirely diffent story.

Downtown Alliance’s 30 free bikes were used more than 7,000 times this past summer. There were “no thefts and no vandalism,” a spokesman told NewYorkology on Monday.

The free rentals were available in two-and-a-half-hour windows from May 13 through Sept. 30 through Bike and Roll. The catch was that you needed to provide a credit card, which would be billed for the bike if you never returned.

The program may return for summer 2010 if funds are available, a Downtown Alliance spokesman said.

Details on the 2009 Bike Around Downtown program:

- Approximately 7,612 bike reservations were made, an increase of 52 percent over 2008.

- 87 percent of riders were New York City residents; 4 percent were from New Jersey; 2 percent were from Long Island; and 1.2 percent were from California.

- Among the NYC residents 65 percent were Manhattan residents, including 46 percent from south of Chambers Street. Half of all participants described themselves as Downtown Workers.

Picture credit: Brooklyn Bridge bike lane. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.

Earlier: In demand: free bike program at max on weekends

November 3, 2009 10:23 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Kids, Transportology

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