When Mayor Richard Daley visited Paris in September 2007, he was so taken with that city’s bike-sharing program that he said Chicago should implement one “very shortly.” We thought that was a great idea. We envisioned commuters grabbing a bike from the Metra station and riding to their jobs. We foresaw workers using bikes to get to lunchtime meetings. We expected parades of baseball jersey-clad fans, taking two-wheelers north to Wrigley Field, and south to U.S. Cellular Field.
That evolution would reduce congestion, cut carbon emissions and make it easier to move around the city.
The program was supposed to be up and running — rolling? — by the summer of 2008. So it’s 2009 and: Where are the bikes?
The answer: Not likely to wheel up soon.
The city issued a request for proposals from vendors interested in operating a bike-sharing program here. But that yielded only two proposals, says Brian Steele, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation. And neither was judged adequate to meet Chicago’s needs.
Since then, the city has begun considering alternative bike-sharing systems. One idea: to partner with a non-profit group that would set up a bike-sharing system modeled on the I-GO car-sharing service.
The city has also been looking more closely at some of the potential pitfalls that a bike-sharing program might face. Could a rider hurt while using bike-sharing sue the city for damages? What style of bikes would work best in Chicago? Where would the bikes be located? And what would be the best way to minimize vandalism?
Answering those questions is taking longer than bike enthusiasts might like. But in this instance, we’re glad to see the city pedal cautiously. Haste could prove costly, as Paris learned. That city’s program, which has 20,000 bikes placed at 1,000 stations, was supposed to cost taxpayers nothing. Advertising giant JCDecaux had contracted to operate the program for free, in exchange for outdoor ad space.
But vandals routinely smash bike frames, cut chains and slash tires. JCDecaux has had to replace 16,000 bikes, according to a National Public Radio report. Eight thousand bikes have been stolen. Given the extent of the damage, the city of Paris recently agreed to subsidize $500 of each replacement bike’s cost. That’s expected to total $2 million per year.
Chicago can’t afford that kind of cost overrun. We still look forward to the days when the fantasy of grabbing a shared bike to run an errand is a reality. For now, though, we’ll gratefully walk and hope a Chicago bike-sharing program won’t be one more open drain on City Hall’s treasury.
