<peewee voice >
but why do they have to be girl's bikes??
<peewee voice />

I hope every person in Seattle rides these bluegreen bikes. Then I think I finally have a case for changing the city name from Seattle to Nerdville.

No bike stations west of I-5?

...north of the Ship Canal, that is.

@1, girl's bikes? I can't wait until you are old and creaky and have trouble swinging your leg over the frame of a "boy's bike".

@6 - The day I can no longer fling my leg elegantly into the air and clear the bar on a man's bike, why, that's the day you can put me down like a dog.

Two months? Just in time for all the rainy seasons!

@5

Municipally owned bike-rental programs in other cities have experienced major funding problems, even bankruptcy, when they've been designed to function like public transit, with equal access and prices low enough for the poorest to afford.

Therefore, Seattle has decided not to run its municipal bike-rental program like public transit.

It will be accessible to people who work in the city center, and to people who live in wealthy neighborhoods close to that urban core.

It will not be affordable for the city's poorest, and it will not be available at all to people who don't have a credit card, checking-account backed debit card, or prepaid debit card.

Of course, a lot of people who won't be able to benefit from the system happen to be nonwhite, but rest easy-- these decisions were made for purely economic reasons!

I can't wait to use them on my next visit. I had a hell of a time finding a bike rental place in November last time I was there. A couple weeks ago while attending a conference in Chicago, I made great use of Divvy bikes, their bikeshare. Had to tote along my own helmet, but having a 2.5 mile commute along the LSD bike path was well worth it!

Cincinnati gets ours this summer, and I'll buy an annual pass in my own city just to support it.

@8, I'll get my Don Rickles records ready. That day is coming.

unlimited 30 minute trips for the period of your purchase

Does this mean I can check it out, check it in 30 minutes later, and then check it out for another 30 minutes all day long?

@15

Yes.

To finagle yourself a bike for an entire day from the program, all you need to do is get it to a station, check it in, and then check it (or another bike) out again.

Every 30 minutes.

@12 These aren't really municipally owned systems. They are funded by sponsorships and user fees. Should they by municipally owned? For the very reasons you state, absolutely fucking yes. The systems have been shown to function very well as a component of transportation systems, not so much for tourists. So yeah, SDOT should be budgeting money to expand the system and keep it cheap.

@15 It's designed for short trips between multiple stations. As if you were doing errands/shopping in multiple locations. So yeah you can extend the free period for as long as you want by continuing to dock it. The reason it isn't a good solution for tourists is because you can't re-dock it if you are cruising out into the burbs on a multi use trail.

#16

Well I was going to make the snide comment about how you could "buy a bike" but if all you want to do is get around that area, $85 wouldn't buy you the lowest rung Cannondale for about six years. Plus no repairs or worries about theft. This seems like it may be a practical program.

I still think the integration with transit leaves the "last mile" problem though because those red dots seem rather widely spaced your still going to be doing a lot of walking. Maybe as much as if you didn't use the bike at all.

@18: I disagree that it's not useful for tourists. So far, that's the only mode I've used them in (at least, if business trips count as tourism). Cities so far: Chicago, DC, Columbus OH, Lyon France. It's very convenient compared to public transit and generally cheaper, too.

I rode one in Boston as a tourist. It works great.

@18, how many tourists are "cruising out to the burbs on a multi use trail"? Most tourists are looking for a convenient way to get between points within the service area. Looks perfect.

The interesting thing is going to be seeing if all the racks on Capitol Hill are emptied by people riding down but never back up again. I assume they'll have a truck redistributing the bikes, like they do in other places.

Tourists are cruising around on Segways now, so this will be a small improvement in that regard.

I used these in DC and it was awesome. We would bike to one place drop it off and then once we were done there, pick up a bike at the closest hub and go somewhere else. Can't wait for these to be all over the city.

OIC from the maps, this service is only for the affluent, transient white folks, who ride for hipster acceptance, not for exercise or to save $$. I'm guessing they'll never put a station @ 23rd and Jackson, where it might actually be useful.

Looking forward to your failure, Pronto Cycle!

I happen to ride my bike everywhere... for exercise. I look forward to the bikes on those days I find myself without my bike and want one immediately. I don't usually take my bike on work commutes out of town, I use SoundTransit for that.

@27 I'm rather affluent. I use alternative transport for exercise and for the environment.

@27 says "this isn't perfect for me personally, so fuck everyone else". Fuck you too buddy.

@27: "hipster acceptance"? do you really believe that "hipsters" ride bikes just to be seen by other hipsters?

why don't you get really angry and righteous over the initial, conservative deployment in the location where the model has the best chance of success? my observation in MPLS was that the bike stations in low-income neighborhoods sat full and unused.