Portland, already known for being pedestrian and bike-friendly, may get into the bicycle-rental business.
Apparently inspiration for the idea comes from France, where nearly 21,000 bicycles will soon be available for public use in Paris alone. Portland’s proposal calls for advertising on the bikes to subsidize the program. The question is whether taxpayers, who gladly subsidize the cost of roads, will be willing to pick up the remainder of the tab.
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3 responses to “Portland may get into bicycle business”
Didn’t Seattle try something like that a number of years ago? I recall pink spray painted bikes showing up around the city, but it must not have caught on.
The Oregonian article mentions that Portland set out free ones in its “Yellow Bike Project,” but they disappeared. Did Seattle try something similar?
The best I can find in Seattle is the bicycle master plan, which is currently under development: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikemaster.htm
I was wrong. It was Olympia that did it a few years ago. Here is a link to an article about it. As far as I know it is not still going
http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/freebike-details.htm