Earthquake leads to a spike in bike sharing

By Cornelius Nunev


City bike-sharing in the U.S. is a brand new industry. An unexpected increase in bike-sharing in Washington D.C. illustrates both the success and the efficiency of a strong bike-sharing system. There is very strong opposition to bike-sharing in some towns. Bike infrastructure has been proven less costly and more financially beneficial to cities, and bike-sharing plans are just one portion of that structure.

Bike sharing what everybody does now

After natural disasters take place, roads and public transport are often the first things to shut down or become impassable. The Metro system almost stopped on August 23 after the quake happened in Washington D.C. while roads were very crammed with cars. Capital Bikeshare, or CaBi, is a bike-sharing system. In one day's time, there was a 300 percent increase in the volume of bike rentals booked. The 1,100 bikes were fully used that day. Between 2 and 4 p.m., there were 1,236 rides taken total.

More cities offering bike sharing

Bike sharing is an idea that started in many bike-friendly European cities. Several have noticed the popularity of free bike-sharing systems in Paris and other places. In the United States, paid bike-sharing networks are popping up on university campuses, in New York Area, Omaha, Nebraska and Spartanburg, South Carolina. Cities see bike-sharing as a way to encourage less vehicle traffic, fight obesity and fight traffic congestion. Bike-sharing systems charge by the ride, day, week, month or even year. Whenever a bike is checked in or out, it is typically done with a 24-hour, charge card or membership's card center.

Paying for bike sharing

Most bike sharing systems and bike infrastructure are cheap, although it does cost cash. Even though sponsors typically will put advertising on a bike to support the system of bike sharing, typically about $4,500 per bike is needed. Even though 12 percent of trips throughout the nation are on bike or foot, only about 1 percent of federal transportation funding is put into bicycle and pedestrian funding.

Cheaper to look into bikes

Bicycle usage tends to increase, particularly with first-time riders, when there is dedicated bicycle infrastructure. Bicycle system is a good fiscal deal for governments; famously bike-friendly Portland spent $65 million on bicycle infrastructure in the last 20 years, which is the cost of one mile of urban freeways in that area. Rather than spending $75 million repaving three miles of highway, LA might have gotten over 1,250 miles of bike lanes added. Economic activity goes up over 200 percent dependent upon the area with bike parking. Whenever there's a situation such as a natural catastrophe, it can be a fantastic idea to have bike-sharing plans which are also good for the economy and lower transportation costs.




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