I chanced to sit next to Charlotte Department of Transportation chief Danny Pleasant at this afternoon's Charlotte City Council meeting (where the council voted against building Phase II of the streetcar, but the mayor vetoed it).
So, I asked, is Charlotte going to start a bike-sharing program or not? I was just in Paris, I said, and their program is awesome. Bicycles everywhere. What about Charlotte?
Yes, he said, we're launching one. My follow-up: Absolutely sure? "Absolument," was his reply (in French).
The reason I was asking: A bike-sharing program has been in planning stages for weeks, after enthusiasts have pushed for one to open before the Democratic National Convention. See: "Bike sharing in Charlotte - soon?" and "Charlotte rolls toward N.C.'s first bike-share system." But no one yet would confirm that it really was going to happen.
Why not announce it? I asked Pleasant. He said the city is waiting for the bike-share program's sponsor to set the publicity timetable.
Bike-sharing programs, if you're not familiar with them, are set up to let users rent bicycles short-term – for a half-hour up to a day – from one bike-share station and return them to another. Many cities have them, from Paris (see photo at right, for a fleet of to-be-rented bikes early last Sunday in Paris) to Boston to Washington to Spartanburg. Here's a piece on the remarkable success of the Velib bike-share program in Paris.
So, I asked, is Charlotte going to start a bike-sharing program or not? I was just in Paris, I said, and their program is awesome. Bicycles everywhere. What about Charlotte?
The reason I was asking: A bike-sharing program has been in planning stages for weeks, after enthusiasts have pushed for one to open before the Democratic National Convention. See: "Bike sharing in Charlotte - soon?" and "Charlotte rolls toward N.C.'s first bike-share system." But no one yet would confirm that it really was going to happen.
Why not announce it? I asked Pleasant. He said the city is waiting for the bike-share program's sponsor to set the publicity timetable.
Bike-sharing programs, if you're not familiar with them, are set up to let users rent bicycles short-term – for a half-hour up to a day – from one bike-share station and return them to another. Many cities have them, from Paris (see photo at right, for a fleet of to-be-rented bikes early last Sunday in Paris) to Boston to Washington to Spartanburg. Here's a piece on the remarkable success of the Velib bike-share program in Paris.
