Be real, B-cycle: Evaluating the city’s new bike sharing program
Chicago’s new bike sharing program, B-cycle, is pretty slicklooking. Sure, the brand new pewtercolored bikes, which members can check out from kiosks scattered around downtown, are manufactured in Wisconsin by Trek, and look plain but sturdy, down to the 20poundcapacity basket in front. But there’s something about the large London Underground inspired “B” signs perched atop the Chicago B-cycle stations and the prominently displayed logo’s mashup of bold modern type and charmingly retro script—it all looks so official, like it’s an integrated part of the city’s infrastructure.
Except that’s not entirely true. Chicago B-cycle is completely privately funded; it was formed by a partnership between Humana, Trek Bicycle, and Crispon Porter + Bogusky, and is managed by bicycle rental company Bike and Roll. The Parks District has allotted space at two park locations and its headquarters for B-cycle stations, and Mayor Daley has publicly backed a bikesharing initiative for years, but the city has not contributed any financial support. Chicago’s projected $654 million budget deficit might have something to do with that.
“It’s hard to make the city put money toward new programs when there are already tough decisions to be made,” said Margo O’Hara, communications director at Active Transportation Alliance, a Chicago public transit advocacy group and official B-cycle supporter.
So far, it looks like the business structure might be working out. In its first 17 days, B-cycle accumulated more than 1,300 bike checkouts, according to Membership Director Jonathan Schwartz. More than 1,000 have been from temporary, singleride passes (starting at a pretty steep $10 for one hour). Additionally, there have been more than 100 memberships sold. (A 30day adult pass goes for $35.)
Those numbers might not look too impressive at first, but considering there are only six stations— Museum Campus, Buckingham Fountain, John Hancock Center, Daley Plaza, Parks District Headquarters, and McCormick Place—and a fleet of 100 bikes, it’s not too shabby. The program isn’t busy enough for the stations to have a naturally balanced supply of bike comers and goers (a manager has to correct that each day), but most racks have seen a healthy movement of bikes, says Schwartz. The Museum Campus station has been especially popular, although B-cycle users have barely touched the McCormick Place site, which is likely the result of a lull in conventions and the fact that there’s no other reason to go there.
As the program continues it will undoubtedly have to deal with vandalism and deterioration from use and weather, but the bikes have a number of protections in place: The tires are punctureproof; the gears, shifting components, and chains are internal; the bikes have a GPS unit built in; and unlocking one requires a credit card. Plus, the bicycles will only be available March through November, which will hopefully help protect them against Chicago’s lovely winters. Of course, anyone hellbent on stealing a bicycle or its parts will still find a way, but as Schwartz notes, vandalizing these bikes would be a pretty unwieldy process, so it’s been “pretty much nonexistent” so far. Presumably the fact that the bike has “Chicago B-cycle” printed all over it would also deter a bike thief from riding one around town.
“One thing yet to be seen is if bike sharing can go from small to really large,” said O’Hara. “It has to be the very beginning of a longterm project.” Chicago’s program has started off considerably smaller than other major cities: In Denver, B-cycle started its initial project with 500 bikes and 42 stations. (The program is also considerably cheaper than Chicago’s.) On the more ambitious end, Montreal launched with 3,000 bicycles and Paris started out with 15,000.
For now, though, B-cycle is limited to what some Chicagoans might consider avoidatallcosts tourist spots. To Schwartz, though, locations like Buckingham Fountain and the Hancock Center allow B-cycle to advertise itself in front of densely populated and highly visible local landmarks. B-cycle has all intentions of expanding soon and he hopes that by next year the company will have doubled its operations. They’re already in talks with private property owners to try and get stations installed in indoor and outdoor parking lots and garages. Schwartz also sees additional funding from the city as a matter of “when” and not “if.”