Denver B-Cycle
Denver has a new bike sharing program. It’s called B-Cycle, and launched April 22nd. I’ve been noticing these red and white stations all over town, and this morning visited one up close at the University of Denver Light Rail station.
I’m extremely impressed with the number of locations. When I thought of a bike sharing program I imagined a few simple racks at tourists points or busy commuter hubs. There are over 25 stations, in all parts of downtown, and also stations in Cherry Creek, Washington Park and as far south as the Tech Center. This many stations makes it usable on a regular basis rather than one time novelty.
I’m also impressed with the utility capacity of the bikes. A commuter bike is best when you can actually use it to accomplish errands and tasks, hence onboard storage is a must. All B-Cycle bikes are equipped with locks and baskets, so you can park your bike and do stuff, rather than just circling around City Park dodging geese. And since I didn’t see a sign forbidding it I assume it’s ok to put your chihuahua or other small dog in the basket.
I haven’t ridden one, but they feel sturdy, solid, are have lights and an adjustable seat.
Another plus: You can rent and return at different stations. The system is far more intelligent and complex than I expected any bike sharing program to be. You can see online in real time which stations have bikes available, and which can accept returns. If your destination rack is full the kiosk will direct you to the nearest open station and give you “free time” to cover transit. Another technological integration: Each bike is equipped with GPS and RFID – and as a member your trips, mileage and logged to your account.
The only negative? I see it as cost prohibitive for some. In order to compensate for all the great things listed above they seem pricy. The $5 “one day membership” fee could be ditched. It’s akin to an airport WiFi “one time charge,” in that you’re being forced to purchase a membership for something you may use only once.
The pricing structure encourages people to use the bikes for point A to B transit, then park them back at a station. With a membership 60 minutes of use is only $1.10, an excellent rate, but conversly keeping a bike for a full day will cost $65. It would be nice to have a reasonable day rate, but I can understand the need to keep bikes available for all and not locked up at coffee shops unused for hours.
If you and your sweetheart visit Denver for the weekend and want to see sights by bike, (rather than renting a car or using transit,) it will cost you $5 per day for the membership, and two hours per day would be $6.60. That rate times two days and two people that would be $46. Judge for yourself.
If I were visiting town I wouldn’t hesitate to take one out for a few hours. And if I didn’t own a bike, (or car,) I could see myself picking one at times for errands
It appears that Denver is the unaugural city for B-Cycle, as I don’t see any others listed under “other cities.” I think it’s a great program, I’m proud to see it and I hope for its long term success.
Check them out and take a ride a http://www.bcycle.com/ The slick video demo is well done and informative, but one nit-picky observation: As a bike commuter of seven years I recommend keeping your white dress pants AT work and ride around with dark pants. Trust me.
Photos and additional info by Caleb Cross
I believe your math is wrong, wouldn’t it be just $36 for two people, two hours over two days (four hours) + $10 for two membership fees? 6.60*4+10. But still, I see your point
Thanks for the comment. I’ll have to check into that $10 discrepancy.
I’ve been meaning to write about this, but I tried a B-Cycle for the first time a couple weeks back. I was headed downtown, (to a bar,) and didn’t want to ride MY bike since I didn’t know where my friends and I would end up.
One positive that I didn’t write is that the first 30 minutes are free, in keeping with the incentive for short term use. I took one out at the Botanic Gardens by my house, swiped my card and checked out a bike. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to ride downtown, so I only paid $5, for the one day membership.
The bus is $2, and often limited schedules on weekends. A taxi is about $12 with tip. $5 is an excellent point A to B price, and had I checked one out to ride home my daily membership still would have be valid, making no charge for under 30 minutes. (Making each trip $2.50 then.)
B-Cycle is definitely priced for that method, and I’m lucky to have one just blocks away from my house.
I live very close to the botanical gardens as well but don’t feels so lucky to have one of these b-cycle stations near me. I consider them a total rip off! I rented 2 bicycles for a little less then 24 hours and was charged $65 dollars, plus the original $10 I put down to even rent them in the first place. I could have bought a bicycle for these prices!! Beware of the fine print of “usage fees” because every person I have come across in Denver who is renting a b-cycle didn’t even know they’d be hit with such a heavy cost for renting more then a couple hours.
Thanks for the visit Ariana. The pricing structure is set up to encourage short to medium trips, similar to a car share or taxi. I addressed that halfway through my review. That rate keeps the bikes in circulation and available. The 24 hour rate is steep, but it were cheap then all the bikes would be overnighted in backyards rather than ready for use.
I don’t find it a rip off nor buried in fine print. The rates are clearly posted at the stations and on their website. Even before renting one (when I wrote this in April) I was easily able to find and calculate what a daily rate would be.
I recently rented one from our Botanic Garden station and rode downtown, and “stationed” it within the 30 minutes and was only charged $5.
All the best.
Yeah, the fine print is hidden – like on a sticker on the handlebar right in front of your face that says:
“All rides over 30 minutes will incur usage fees” or on the kiosks.
If you can’t comprehend the concept of Bike Sharing, please don’t bother using the system.
A follow up — B-Cycle is done for the season, and will resume March 1st. With the number of beautiful winter days Denver has hopefully next season they’ll remain all season.
DP article here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16802509