Chicago Takes Tentative First Step Toward Bike-Sharing

A pilot station for Chicago's proposed bike-sharing program, on display a couple of weeks ago. Photo: vizcha via Flickr

Public bike-sharing is coming to yet another American city. 

The concept, first proven in Lyon, France and made famous by Paris's Vélib, offers members easy access to public bikes at stations across a city. With bike sharing, you don't have to own a bike to be a cyclist, and parking is taken care of. Unlike with most bike rentals, short trips are cheap, making bike-sharing perfectly suited for cycling as transportation. 

Earlier this summer, Denver's B-cycle program became the largest bike-sharing program in the country, with 500 bikes; Minneapolis followed with a similarly sized program just weeks later. Boston is planning its launch for next summer, while Washington D.C. intends to expand from its 120-bike pilot to a system with 1,100 bikes. 

So Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's recent announcement of a new bike-sharing program for his city, reported by member blog Livin in the Bike Lane, isn't going to be the first in the country, nor, with 100 bikes, will it be the largest. It's really just a demonstration. But it will show many Chicagoans a new way of getting around their city. Plus, as D.C. has shown, if there's an appetite for a true system, the pilot could grow quickly.

Here are the details, via Livin in the Bike Lane:

If you've had the chance to try out bike-sharing in Denver, Minneapolis, or D.C., tell us about your experience so far. Has it changed the way you get around? And what do you think about a small demo like this? Will starting with only 100 bikes help build momentum for a real bike-sharing program in Chicago, or is it so limited that the public won't understand how useful bike-sharing can be?