Last week I attended IgnitePhilly an amazing event at Johnny Brenda’s that brought together a variety of speakers who talked about inspiring ideas or projects that they are working on. One such project that is close to my heart is Bike Share Philadelphia. If you aren’t familiar with bike share programs then I wouldn’t be surprised because they are very rare here in the U.S. Overseas however and in cities such as Paris, Barcelona and Oslo particularly, bike share programs have grown to an incredible size.

Bike Share Philadelphia is not a business but rather an advocacy group formed to push city and state officials to provide this service for citizens. From BSP’s site:

“Bike share programs provide bicycles to the public for free or little cost in order to encourage bicycling as a viable alternative form of transportation, to reduce traffic congestion and to enhance the livability of cities.”

To learn more about bike share and BSP’s goals I highly recommend watching Brittany Bonnette’s presentation at Ignite:

As Bonnette mentions in the video, please head over to BSP’s Take Action page and fill out the form to submit a letter to Mayor Nutter telling him that we NEED and WANT bike share in our city!

Just two months ago Drexel University deployed a bike share program of their own. Currently enrolled students are allowed to rent a bike (which includes a helmet and u-lock) for one day at a time during the week or two days on the weekend. The bikes used for the program are custom painted Schwinn cruisers with an automatic gearshift system. I wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone at the Drexel bike share office for a quote but the few times I’ve been in the garage where the bikes are stored a majority of them looked to be checked out and in use. Hopefully the city will see the success of the program at Drexel or even work with the University to develop plans for a widespread system.

Update: Just a minute or two ago an official letter was sent out by Mayor Nutter to those who have submitted letters to him through the BSP site. The e-mail reads:

Thank you for your email regarding bike sharing in Philadelphia. The feedback of citizens from Philadelphia and the surrounding region is essential to the success of my administration as we work together to bring real change to the quality of life for everyone who lives, works and visits Philadelphia.

I appreciate that you and many of your fellow citizens believe that a bike sharing program in Philadelphia would contribute to improving public health, ease transportation problems and promote sustainability in the City. One of the key results which my administration is focused on is to provide healthy and sustainable communities in Philadelphia. In fact, Rina Cutler, the Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities is creating a position in her office that is solely focused on making the City more bicycle-friendly.

I welcome your ideas and enthusiasm for bike sharing and other efforts that support vibrant and livable neighborhoods. However, this is a complicated issue, and I encourage you to continue working with Bike Share Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and other organizations that support public and shared transportation solutions, to help provide specific recommendations and suggestions about an organizational structure and financing mechanism for a bike sharing program. This would be a critical first-step towards addressing the numerous challenges and questions related to the implementation and management of such a program.

Again, thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. As Mayor, I look forward to working hard to move Philadelphia in a new direction.

Sincerely,
Michael A. Nutter
Mayor
City of Philadelphia

It looks like with Mayor Nutter and Bike Share Philadelphia’s help we’re already on the right track. With the insane price of gas we are facing for atleast another year, we can only hope this program will come to light as soon as possible.