Bike Share programs are starting to catch fire around the globe, popping up in Washington D.C, Denver, China, Brazil and Taiwan. The wave of programs sweeping Europe recently has been an up and down ride. Many are successful while others are experiencing high levels of theft, abandonment and damage to their bikes. However the U.S is learning from their mistakes and may very well innovate the bike-share future.

Roma’n'Bike just recently was cut by its private contractors, Cemusa, a Spain-based multinational company. The Roman Forum reported the story on March 13th. 

Paris’ famous Vélib program has seen better days. Telegrah.co.uk reported on Velib in February, highlighting the program’s roller-coaster progress.  Of the program’s 20,000 bike fleet with 15,000 during winter months, reports have shown roughly 7,800 have disappeared, presumed to have been stolen. Another 11,600 have been reportedly vandalized. JCDecaux, the company that runs the program and monitors the entire fleet in 1,250 positions around Paris can no longer afford the maintenance costs and has begged mayor Bertrand Delanoë for financial support but has received nothing. All the while, mayor Delanoë has just signed with Boulogne-Billancourt, the largest city outside of Paris to adopt the Velib program with 21 new stations. 

Granted, since its July 2007 launch, Vélib has had some 42 million bike riders but repairs are up to 1,500 a day and with expanding locations, the  man power to maintain the program may begin to wither. 

Yet the U.S is making strides with its multiple bike-sharing programs on the brink of implementation. Bike-Sharing.com ran some great roundups on emerging program. Denver, CO plans to launch 30-40 stations this summer, integrated roughly 500 bikes into the program. This will be on top of the B-cycle program which was initiated during the Democratic National Convention for employees. Below – Alex Bogusky, co-chairman of Crispin Porter+Bogusky unveiled the protoype for Denver’s new program which is scheduled to launch this summer. 

In Washington D.C, Arlington plans to add 10 stations to its already 120-bike, 10-station Smarkbike program. Even with this improvement, officials are asking for more. The recent DDOT oversight hearing, Mount Pleasant ANC Comissioner and bike and pedestrian supporter Phil Lepanto asked, “why not 50 new DC stations this year, and another 50 every year?”

Montreal’s brand new public bike system, Bixi (a hybrid of “bike” and “taxi”) is set to launch on May Day 2009. Montreal was voted one of the top international cities to visit by bike by Bicycling Magazine. 

The self-sustaining program won’t have to rely on any outside funding, advertising or public. Montreal authorities fronted $15 million to design and build the system. The investment is hoped to be recovered through user fees. The annual pass cost is $78 but monthly, weekly and day passes are also available. By spring of 2010, city officials plan to have 2,400 of the custom-built Bixis available at the 300 solar-powered docking stations six Montreal boroughs. 

The city of Minneapolis just formalized Nice Ride, a new non-profit corporation to operate the bike-sharing program planned for Spring 2010. $1.74 million of federal funding has been allocated to purchase kiosks and bikes through the Bike/Walk Twin Cities program. 

Philadelphia hosted North America’s first bike-sharing conference in January ’09 gathering  over 400 attendees to discuss the future of bike-sharing in the U.S. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia presented representative speakers for the crowd and co-sponsored the event. Mayor Michael Nutter, a supporter of green transport was there in full support to transform Philadelphia into a eco-friendly city, following stride of many others across the nation. 

Speakers at the event included Gilles Vesco, VP Communauté urbaine de Lyon, Nate Kvamme, Director of Humana’s Innovation Center, who assisted in developing their Freewheelin’ program  available for employee use  in Louisville, Kentucky; and Mitch Franzos of Friends of the Riverfront, who with Dasani, piloted a high-tech recreational bike rental program called Blue Bikes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And finally Boston. Beantown is still on track with its proposed Bike-Share program for Spring 2010. Mayor Menino announced a  Request for Proposal (RFP) for the system. Mayor Menino and Boston’s Bike director, Nicole Freedman, are calling for a integrated network of over 150 stations and 1,500 bicycles which would be readily available at a swip of a card for students, commuters and visitors. RFP submissions are due by May 15, 2009.

Related posts:

1. Boston Bike-Share Program 2010 Eliminates 750 Tons of Greenhouse Gas
2. Boston University Students Build Bike Share Program
3. RTC Electric Bike Program