Denver launched its B-Cycle program, a system of bike rentals kiosks, this year, in cooperation with the non-profit Denver Bike Sharing, and its first season is now over as it shuts down until March.
This season it had 500 bikes and about 50 kiosks, mostly in the vicinity of downtown Denver, Cherry Creek and the University of Denver, with some points in between. "In the seven months since it launched April 22, Denver B-cycle hit nearly 103,000 rides, selling 1,784 annual memberships and more than 32,900 short-term memberships." Short term memberships were $5 to $30 depending on length, annual memberships were $65. Rental rates, in addition to the membership costs, ranged from free to $8.80 per hour, depending on the length of use (longer rentals cost more). Next season's plans include a simpler fee structure, adjustment of kiosk locations to reflect the demand levels in different locations, and improvements to the touch screen interface of the kiosks.
Notably, no Denver taxes go towards the programs, although Denver does maintain at taxpayer expense, a bike path system in the city and has made city property available for kiosks to be set up upon. The program is funded with user fees (my back of napkin math suggests that those fees are more than $300,000, perhaps quite a bit more), donations and a $210,000 grant.
Once again, the UN demonstrates its incompetence.
ReplyDeleteThey can't even conspire to run a bike sharing program year 'round.