Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bike Sharing

FHWA Offers a Guide for American Cities and Towns Considering Bike-Share

false

The Federal Highway Administration has come out with a handy report [PDF] for communities thinking about getting into the bike-sharing game. Based on a study of 12 planned and existing bike-sharing systems from around the U.S., the report is intended to help explain the basics of bike-share and guide cities through the choices they'll face when launching a system. While the specific advice isn't exactly groundbreaking, the mere fact that the FHWA has produced the guide indicates that bike-sharing is becoming increasingly common in America.

In the report, FHWA offers guidance on topics from bike-share business models to station planning and implementation. It outlines typical costs per bike and per station, as well as pricing structures for bike-share members. The report also provides a useful guide to the potential sources of federal funding for bike-share systems. (Most systems rely on a combination of federal, state and local funding sources.)

All of the lessons collected in the report come from U.S. cities, not from the world's leading bike-share systems, which limits the document but perhaps makes the idea of bike-share seem more attainable to other American cities. Among the existing bike-share systems examined for the report, Washington DC's Capital Bikeshare is the largest, with about 1,700 bikes and 175 stations currently. By comparison, Montreal's Bixi has 5,000 bikes, and London's bike-share system has about 8,000.

Here's a look at what the FHWA is telling prospective bike-share cities.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Cough, Cough: DEP Considers Largest Ever Exemption Request to City’s Anti-Idling Law

Academy Bus claims no technological alternatives exist for heating and cooling buses without idling. Advocates warn an exemption would "gut" the city's 50-year-old idling ban.

October 23, 2025

Truckers to US DOT: Busways Are Good for Us!

The federal government has obviously lost its trucking mind.

October 23, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Protect The Election Edition

How to be a bike monitor at election sites. Plus other news.

October 23, 2025

Who’s Your Train Daddy? Penn Station Boss Andy Byford All But Solicits Bribe For Donald Trump

Andy Byford is back in New York to build a shiny new Penn Station, but he's already admitted he's not the guy in charge.

October 22, 2025

HEAVY TRAFFIC: Driving Continues to Rise, Undermining Literally Every Effort to Make the City Better

The trend of increased vehicle miles traveled undermines safety initiatives, pollution reduction efforts and the traffic mitigation of congestion pricing, a new report makes clear.

October 22, 2025
See all posts