Mexico City Initiates Bike Share Program
Mexico City has initiated a new bike sharing program called “Ecobici.” The program, based on similar systems in many European cities, allows users to access bicycles after paying an annual membership fee. The intent of the program is to encourage the use alternative forms of transportation. The hope is that getting more cars off the road will improve air quality and the general quality of life in the city. Washington DC has a similar system, which was the first such program in the United States. Last month, the city council in San Antonio voted to set up a program in the city’s downtown.
Would such a system work in Houston? It is hard to say. The inner loop area of Houston is just dense enough to make cycling convenient for certain trips. And yet, arguably, Houston has not been very supportive of cycling. When compared to other cities, Houston’s bike lane system is lacking. Most businesses do not provide adequate bicycle racks for cyclists and I don’t believe anything in the city development code requires them (although, the city does have minimum parking standards which shows where their priorities lie).
Perhaps things are changing though. Last week, Metro announced expanded hours where bicycles may be brought onto Metro light rail trains. In 2007, the City of Houston formally implemented a Bikeway Program designed to encourage cycling by providing bicycle paths along certain routes around the city. Perhaps a bike sharing system could be the next step. We shall see.
5 Comments
Permalink
You know, one of the big challenges for us to get something like this working in Houston is to get over our ‘suit and tie’ culture. If we could learn to dress for the weather in the summer months, walking and cycling would be much more practical.
Women can pull this off with sun dresses etc, the problem is men’s summer clothing, specifically the issue of wearing shorts. We’re all pretty comfortable with nice polos and short sleeve linen / cotton button-down shirts, but there’s a window here in Houston where even the lightest linen or cotton pants are tough to be comfortable in if you’re outside for more than a few minutes at a time.
That’s purely a cultural hangup. If we could get over it, we could turn up the thermostat in most buildings by about 10 degrees in the summer, and we’d all save a lot of money, acclimate to the season a bit more, and end up more comfortable.
Permalink
Andrew,
Thanks for the comment.
I certainly think that the requirement to wear a suit everyday may discourage some people from cycling to work here in Houston, especially given the horrendous weather here during the summer. That being said though, during the winter (I’ve come to realize there are really only two seasons here – summer and winter), the weather here is fairly pleasant. It is mild and snow is basically a non-issue. The same can’t be said for places like Washington DC and other major cities in the North East and Midwest.
Also, given the right conditions, cycling to work with your suit is possible and plenty of people around the world do it. The current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson cycles to work almost everyday. I think the main difference is that many in the US see cycling to work as strenuous exercise (and given our relatively sedentary lifestyle it probably is to many people). The people who cycle to work here are often decked out like they are ready for Le Tour de France, complete with expensive road racing cycle. In most countries, cycling to work is just another way to commute (albeit a cleaner, cheaper and healthier way). Here’s an interesting article about this attitude difference, in this case focusing on Berlin (which is a wonderful city to cycle in by the way).
Finally, I would note that another way to deal with the clothes problem is through the use of bike stations. They vary but most provide members with secured access, safe parking, showers, lockers and repair facilities. Here’s a link to a bike center in Tempe, Arizona (another place with horrendous weather in the summer). This bike center is located right on the light rail at a city owned transportation center. I believe they lease the space to a private business who runs the center. Unfortunately though, I don’t think there are currently any of these types of centers here in Houston. I could see them working well at park-and-ride facilities though if Metro better utilized these facilities. Again, that whole “vision” thing at Metro seems to be lacking. I often wonder if Metro employees spend any time at all studying what other cities have done.
Permalink
I agree. If we’re gonna live here then we need to adapt to the environment. It’s normal for folks who live in Antarctica to be bundled up. Likewise, we should wear as little clothes as we can get away with in Houston summer.
Permalink
I don’t fully understand bicycle rental yet. Anyone who cycles regularly would find cost savings in owning a bicycle and likely has a preference for his/her own make and model. So, to me, bicycle rental systems seem targeted for the tourist or occasional cyclist. Does Houston have much tourism? If we assume most tourism happens in the summer months, how many visitors want to bike in our summer? I like biking, but even I don’t ride much in the summer.
If we’re talking bicycling in general in Houston, then this little tidbit from Houston Tomorrow (is good news. The map shows new linear trail parks along bayous. The trails are primarily east-west (which begs for coupling to north-south street routes). Three significant routes are inside the 610 loop. In my estimate, the biggest gain is the planned trail that connects Memorial Park to downtown.
Aside: Bikeways in Houston’s GIS
Permalink
I agree that bike sharing programs can be very helpful to tourists and that, generally, Houston is not a tourist city.
That being said though, even for locals, it can be economical to use a bike share systems. For example, in the DC system, the membership cost is only $40 per year. Clearly that is more economical than purchasing an expensive mountain bike or road bike (which can run in the thousands). But even if you buy an old clunker just to cruise around, one thing you have to remember is that many people in Washington (and other similar cities) don’t have a place to securely store their bikes. Here in Houston even, I have to store my bike in off site storage because I don’t have a place to store it in my unit. If Houston had a program like this, and it was well designed, I would almost certainly use it.
On a related note, London’s bike sharing program went live today.
One Trackback
[...] a follow up to my previous post on new bicycle sharing programs, news today that Paris plans to introduce an all electric car [...]