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Personally, I think the city should focus on the infrastructure part before bringing in Bike Share. Once we have a good network of protected bike lanes, casual riders will feel more comfortable about trying out Bike Share. Until then though, launching a system without adequate bike infrastructure could be detrimental to the system.
I just don't know.......it'd be useful for tourists or people who work downtown but a major problem is that most people in Raleigh do not live within biking distance of where they work to make Bike Share a significant player in transportation.
My thoughts are that it's sort of like Uber for bikes. If it's available where it's actually needed, and priced right, and accessible, it may get some use. I'm an avid biker too, and I travel a lot. I've seen these in other cities, and for whatever reason (as bad as I want to ride when I'm not at home), I've never tried it.
I fear that Raleigh is not densely populated enough to make it work. The best hope (IMO) is having them all over all of the big college campuses, so people can use them to get inter and intra campus. Big if though.
Every fiber of me wants things like this to happen and succeed, but I really can't say I have a great feeling about it here and now.
My sentiments mostly.
I'd really want this to happen, too. But there are legitimate concerns. Maybe if the scale of the plan was reduced?
Personally, I think the city should focus on the infrastructure part before bringing in Bike Share. Once we have a good network of protected bike lanes, casual riders will feel more comfortable about trying out Bike Share.
I'd really want this to happen, too. But there are legitimate concerns. Maybe if the scale of the plan was reduced?
This is tricky though because you would need a docking station to end the bike trip. Scaling down the plan would mean even less trips would be made. If it happens it needs to be a large network or as close to it as possible.
This is tricky though because you would need a docking station to end the bike trip. Scaling down the plan would mean even less trips would be made. If it happens it needs to be a large network or as close to it as possible.
What if the initial phase of it only included docking stations downtown, a central location on college campuses, Warehouse district and Glenwood? That's where the majority of the activity would be, right? Especially considering the lack of infrastructure.
Would that make economic sense?
A docking station as far out from the downtown area as Mini City wouldn't make any sense at this point, right?
A docking station as far out from the downtown area as Mini City wouldn't make any sense at this point, right?
Maybe not Mini City, but definitely places like the NC Art Museum where there's a direct connection via trails and bike routes to destinations of interest.
Well, since I was tagged for this by the OP, I suppose that I should weigh-in on it.
As both a DT property owner and an extensive user of Miami's bike share, I have more than a few comments.
First of all, I'd like to address the tax payer issue. A bike share program is an infrastructure program that is partially user funded. One might complain that tax payer money is needed. Having objection to it being tax payer funded is inevitable but please indulge me on why it's perfectly reasonable for the city to consider its funding.
The city has a vested interest in encouraging development in its core, if for no other reason than tax revenues. DT real estate outperforms more suburan development per acre and provides more than its fair share of revenue to the city. The city NEEDS to invest in infrastructure that will keep that development going and the people who are paying those taxes supported.
The outperforming tax revenues generated in the city center support huge inftrastructure spending across the entire city that makes this investment pale in comparison.
In order for the city's road infrastructure to remain effective as the city center grows, it needs to get more people out of their cars and into transit, onto sidewaks and onto bikes. Bike share programs prove to be effective in supporting that strategy.
Many DT residents pay a DT overlay tax in addition to their property taxes, whch are already likely to be higher than many corresponding taxes paid by people living in similar sized homes in other parts of the city.
Nonetheless, I am sure that there will still be some who will complain about the spend. To them, I say this: I don't use the suburban area parks or roads. I don't have kids to send to public schools. I don't use a lot of the infrastructure that others enjoy. I also don't complain about it.
Now, let me weigh-in on how these things actually work.
I am VERY happy to hear that the city has decided to make the system compact. That is absolutely the right decision. Bike share programs will fail if they are dispersed to places that are isolated and the users don't have options to use the system to a variety of nearby locations. Typically, I use the bikes to travel distances of a mile or less to a variety of places in Miami Beach. This includes the grocery store or other shopping adventures, visiting friends in other high density housing areas, going to cultural events and, frankly, just tooling around town for some light exercise.
In Miami Beach, CitiBike costs local subscribers $15 a month plus tax for unlimited 30 minute rides (meaning, you have to dock the bike every 30 minutes to not incur surcharges). This gives a casual rider enough time to get at least a few miles on a bike and get to their destination. If you want to ride longer, you just dock the bike at a station and take it out again without additional charges.
When I am in Miami Beach, my car usually just stays in the garage. I even use CitiBike for most grocery runs. The basket on the front is large enough to balance the huge Costco refrigerated bag and navigate home. FWIW, the distance from my place in Miami Beach to Publix is similar to the distance from my Raleigh Place to Fresh Market in Cameron Village.
So, my recommendation for the bike share program would be aligned to what the city is already thinking in terms of station locations. To be more specific, I'd recommend the following general locations for bike share:
Johnson & Boylan near Glenwood South to leverage all those apartments and condos within a block.
Tucker between Glenwood and West to support the core of Glenwood South and the West Condos.
North and Glenwood to support Glenwood South businesses
Jones between West and Harrington to support the residents in Link, nearby condos an entertainment businesses
@Citrix
@Union Station
@Nash and Moore squares
@RedHat Amphitheater
@Convention Center
Davie between Fayetteville and Wilmington
Hargett between Fayetteville and Wlimington
@ Bicentennial Plaza by the history musuem
@ The Nature Research Center
@Krispy Kreme on Peace and Person
@Seaboard and Halifax for Seaboard station and Peace Univ.
@ future park on Peace where the garbage trucks are currently stored
South and Wilmington for Shaw Univ and arts center
@Cameron Village Harris Teeter
@Cameron Village Library/Fresh Market
@NC State Belltower
@Dan Allen and Hillsborough
Maybe at Meredith but that's a real reach in my opinion for a phase 1
@ Hillsborough and the YMCA
@Hillsborough & St Mary's College
Somewhere in the center of the "Bishops Park" area
Five Points
South & S. Saunders
I am sure that I have missed somewhere that makes sense. Those are just off the top of my head. I'll add that stations make sense at heavily used bus stops where people are coming into the city center. For now that mostly means the Moore Square Station, right?
Lastly, I'd add that stations should be supported with either "safer" street options or well marked bike paths. Well, that's enough from me for now.
I saw it in Austin, TX when visiting there last fall and was deterred by the expense. Can't remember exactly how much it was, but just to rent a bike for 30 minutes was not cheap. I'm generally all for stuff like this, but I just don't think it would be very successful in Raleigh.
How much will bike share cost to use?
The City of Raleigh is in the process of assessing the feasibility of a bike share system, thus the costs are yet to be determined. However, U.S. bike share systems generally offer the following membership options (this is a sample only):
One-day memberships: $5 to $10
Weekly memberships: $15 to $25
One month memberships: $25 to $50
One year memberships: $50 to $100
Once you are a member, the first 30-to-60 minutes of every ride are typically free. If the user rides longer, fees are added to a rider’s total cost.
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