In a short 6 weeks, Denver's bike sharing program is gaining momentum! But for many of us, there is still some confusion as to how the program works. Thanks to an article written by one of LIVE Urban Denver's buyers, Colleen O'Connor, and presented in today's Denver Post, an explanation has been provided!
B-Cycle, as the program is typically referred to, has nearly 8,000 registered users which includes 830 annual members for a network of 400 bikes available for use at 42 stations. To date, the number of checkouts has been 16,500 (that's a a lot of pedaling)!
To eliminate some confusion, B-Cycle is not a bike rental program, but a bike sharing program. It's designed for short, one-way trips. When you arrive at your destination, you dock the bike at the station so someone else can use it while you are not. You then check out another bike for your return trip. The bikes should not be locked up while not in use, if you see a bike locked up, instead of docked, a fee-based clock starts ticking.
How can you participate? Well, B-Cycle members pay membership dues. A 24 hour membership costs $5; the number of rides during this period is unlimited. But, keep the bike undocked for more than 30 minutes at a time, and usage fees start to rack up which may cost a member up to $65/day! Yikes!
If you feel this is the program for you, annual memberships cost $65. That's a bargain compared to downtown Denver parking rates (hint: ditch the car, and use the B-Cycle program to commute to work)!
Bike Share continually monitors the system to make sure each station has a good ratio of bikes and empty spaces to dock. And, to make things a bit more convenient for the "cyclists", B-Cycle has an iPhone app which lists how many bikes and how many docks are available at each station at the current moment.
Sounds like a pretty cool program to me! Talk about a fun way to explore Denver while getting a bit of exercise at the same time!
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