San Francisco Demo a Success but Program Deployment Stalled

Image courtesy Streetsblog San Francisco

Bike sharing proved quite popular with Californians this past Sunday when the Los Angeles based Brandenburger Foundation, previously discussed here, brought 7 BIXI bikes to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  Kiosks run by solar panels comprised the stations that accompanied the bikes.  Hundreds of people participated in the demo, generating much excitement about the city’s forthcoming bike share program.

Yet as Demian Bulwa of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the deployment of the city’s bike share scheme remains stalled, among other reasons, due to a court imposed injunction given that a “local critic argued that some pro-bicycle efforts harm the environment.”  Bike projects throughout the city have been forced into stagnation until the injunction is lifted, the time frame for which is undetermined.  Furthermore, the original 50 bike and 5 station plan proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom has been criticized as too small; many argue that a larger initial deployment is needed in order for the program to have a noticeable impact.

While the time frame for the deployment of San Francisco bike share remains indeterminate, BIXI representatives continue to visit other West coast cities – including Long Beach, Portland, and San Jose – in an effort to spread the popular bike sharing model across the Pacific.  We’ll have to keep close watch to see will win the race to become the first West Coast US bike share city…