New York Announces 10,000 bike bikeshare system - also Bixi/Alta

Here's streetsblog

And the New York Observer

Comprising roughly 600 stations with 10,000 bikes, the scheme will, according to two people briefed on the plans, stretch from the Upper East and Upper West sides down to the tip of Manhattan and over the bridges into Brownstone Brooklyn, reaching as far as Greenpoint and Crown Heights

The city has selected Alta Bike Share of Portland, Ore., to install and manage the system in a public-private partnership. The firm launched the popular Capital Bike Share in Washington, D.C. last year, which was expanded again this year, and this summer it opened the New Balance Hubway in Boston. With 110 and 61 stations respectively, both are considerably smaller than New York’s planned roll-out. Capital Bike Share is currently the largest such program in the country.

Comments

[charlie]

Interesting that the Boston system got a corporate sponsor.

Perhaps the "Living Social Capital Bikeshare". Or "Daniel Synder Bikeshare"

Also, perhaps someone will start making accessories for BIXI style bikes.

[cabi addict]

The NY system will be 1½ the size of those in London or Montreal.

Also, perhaps someone will start making accessories for BIXI style bikes.

Excellent idea. Let's start with: working bells.

[washcycle]

I had a post on Bixi accessories like bags at some point. Still waiting. NYC will probably be the needed catalyst.

[Steven]

RE corporate sponsorship

I'm still hoping for the intro of "CaBi by Walmart". I don't think it would endear Walmart to the hipster set (myself generally included), but it would send a big signal that Walmart can be city friendly (if it wants to be).

That said, I wonder if corporate sponsorship would make it harder for CaBi to get NPS approval for good spots on/near the mall.

[charlie]

Found this:

"Currently, 15 sponsorships have been secured for New Balance Hubway worth $1.9 million over three years including $600,000 from New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. Boston Bikes will continually seek more. Station sponsors receive naming and logo rights to a station, located typically at or near their property. Station sponsors include:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Seaport Square
Prudential Center
Boston Red Sox
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Children’s Hospital
Colleges of the Fenway
Equity Office/ Putnam Investments
Fan Pier
Harvard University
Landmark Center
Northeastern University
Procter & Gamble Gillette
TD Garden

[Eric_W.]

@Steven:

Could be. But consider that the Smithsonian has been securing sponsorships for its exhibitions for a while and not only do people not object (much) but praise it as an example of private-public partnership. So this would be the angle to work on if there ever were corporate sponsorship.

[JJJJJ]

I dont get why Bixi doesnt simply make bikes with baskets, like every other manufacturer.

[Michael H.]

Daniel Snyder Bikeshare? Would we have to restock the entire system with 1970s 10-speeds? And pay four times the market rate for those bikes? And then find the most expensive modern bike, and pay $2 million for that bike, only to see it break down within 2 months? We could name the bike the Haynesworth Special.

OK, sorry. Football season and all. (And I'm not even a true Redskins fan. It's just sad to see Daniel Snyder's handiwork, especially in proximity to Peter Angelos.)

[Michael H.]

I wouldn't mind corporate sponsorship of individual CaBi stations, as long as it was still clear that it was a CaBi station, not a separate bikeshare system.

If NPS had a problem with advertising, then DDOT could simply avoid sponsorship deals for CaBi stations on the Mall and other NPS areas. There would still be many prominent locations that would be attractive to sponsors such as the downtown stations and those in Georgetown.

[washcycle]

Based on the color scheme for CaBi, the natural sponsor is McDonald's.

[Dave]

@JJJJJ - CaBi doesn't have baskets because they would end up as trash cans or retain anything that happens to fall in them. More maintenance, more cost to the users and the city. They're also designed so you can't sit on the rack and break it. Everything on CaBi has to be public-proofed (cue "this is why we can't have nice things").

[MB]

My god, that was the first useful post I've ever seen you make, Charlie. Congratulations!

~

I've always thought that UnitedHealthcare and BlueCross/BlueShield should have been heavily recruited for CaBi sponsorship. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, Boeing/Northrup/et al.

(Well done, Michael H.)

[JJJJJ]

Dave, I think its like the vandalism thing. One of those perceived fears that doesnt materialize. It wasnt a problem when I used Velib in paris.

[Michael H.]

Wells Fargo has an even better color scheme for a CaBi sponsor. Though they have their issues, at least they aren't associated with obesity the way that McDonald's is.

[Michael H.]

Plus Wells Fargo has a wheeled vehicle in their logo. Non-gas powered too.