Boston University Students Build Bike Share Program
Boston’s Bike director Nicole Freedman, issued a Request for Proposals for Boston’s biking future. Her priority is implementing a bike share program by 2010 and she’s on a hell bent course to tranform Beantown into an eco-friendly place to live, and commute.
Proposals for bike share programs are due in May, but it looks as though one team of students from Boston University has come up with a grand idea – BikeNow, a seemingly simplistic version of ZipCar.
Three undergraduate students have taken on the challenge to address Boston’s biking future. Amy Trus (SMG’09), James Sinclair (SMG’09), and Jeff Dang (SMG’09), have come up with an idea that is promising. BikeNow would provide multiple bike stations where each bike would be rented with a swipe card and could be returned to any of the stations. The idea was born in the Spring of ’08 in a course on strategy and innovation. Their goal was to build a sustainable project and make it easier for people to get where they need to go, without the hassle of subways or traffic infested streets.
“We all ride bikes, but we’re not avid cyclists wearing lime green spandex,” says Trus, describing BikeNow’s co-founders. The idea to to turn people who normally drive, take the T (Boston’s subway) or hoof it, to opt for two wheels. Right now, traveling from Kenmore to Harvard, it takes 45 minutes by subway, 30 minutes by car or an easy 15 minutes by bike.
Over 1,000 bikes would be available around the city, posted up on college campus, outsides T stations and around the city’s busiest downtown areas.
The idea itself is always the easiest part. Trus and partners found the next steps – price, station location, number of bikes, membership, etc., some of the most daunting obstacles. The first and foremost issue was deciding what the charge people. Multiple programs in Europe have experimented with memberships, daily rental prices and more. France’s Velib system, being the largest. BikeNow is looking to combine a few elements of it all. The first half hour would be free, accounting for roughly 75 percent of all bike rentals. Every half hour thereafter, the cost would increase. For example, it would be $9 for three hours and $16 for four hours.
The rapid price increase seems steep, but the point of the escalation is so that people return the bikes quickly. The second most pressing issue was where to put the stations. Boston is comprised of a bustling downtown with an additional five boroughs surrounding the city, all of which house the majority of subway users and walkers. They range in income, class and demographics. Metro Boston’s diversity is broad, and trying to reach everyone is difficult.
BikeNow’s plan is to follow Metro Boston’s transportation patterns and stick to the main routes. This will still require the company to provide vans which will shuttle bikes to fill other stations and help users with any maintenance mishaps.
“It was a much harder process than we thought,” says Trus. “You start with a basic premise. Pretty soon you see there are problems. And then those problems lead to other problems.”
BikeNow is aiming for the ultimate goal of less crowded streets and a healthier city environment, despite the continuation of challenges. In 2006, Boston saw more that 356,000 registered vehicles, which was up 45% from 2005. In 2008, there were additional 40,982 vehicles registered. And still, fewer than 1% of people commute to work. Yet BikeNow is ready to meet the challenge of increasing car numbers.
The only other metro-based bike share program in the U.S. is Washington D.C.’s SmartBike with 10 stations. Nicole Freedman foresees 1,500 bikes utilizing 150 bike stations. Can it be done? Boston’s initiative is an 18-month transformation with a strong backing from Mayor Menino who is committed to changing the face of Boston’s bike culture. He’s one that thinks it can be done.
BikeNow anticipates a strong response from users, expecting around 18,000 annual subscribers to their program in the first year and roughly 70,000 by year five. These numbers require some heavy sponsorship money of course. The group needs to raise between $3 million and $5.5 million for bikes, racks, locks, helmets, and hiring employees. They hope to raise a majority of that money from vendor financing and advertising contracts to be placed at the bike stations.
The cofounders of BikeNow is surely a promising start for Boston’s bike future. Regardless if their business plan is chosen or not, it a strong foundation to build off. Their hours of research and investigation will no doubt assist the program that does take off.
Related posts:
- Boston Bike-Share Program 2010 Eliminates 750 Tons of Greenhouse Gas
- Bike-Share Future
- RTC Electric Bike Program
- Biking Made Easier (a little) In Boston
- Alternate Solutions: Public transit fees for students
