We can create our own bike share

Does the benefit justify the cost?
That’s the question we find ourselves asking after multiple presentations to Portland City Council about the possibility of creating a local bike share program.
There’s no question about the benefit.
It would be nice to make bicycles available to Portland residents who can’t afford them or have nowhere to store them. Cycling is a fun recreational activity. It offers health benefits. And having bicycles at the ready would allow more residents to enjoy the trails at our city parks and elsewhere.
But, like council member Bill Gibson, we find the cost sends us flying over the handlebars.
The proposed BCycle program, which would provide five bicycles, requires $31,000 in start-up costs. After that, there would be a $2,000 to $2,500 maintenance fee.
Over a five-year span, that’s $41,000 for five bikes.
For reference, Ford Motor Company lists its manufacturer’s suggested retail price at $14,090 for a new Fiesta. A new Mustang runs about $25,000.
To be fair, it seems the bulk of the BCycle start-up cost is in the kiosk, website and other necessary technology. And advocates say funding pledges and grants will cover all but $5,000 of the initial cost.
Still, it just doesn’t add up.
If local residents and organizations are going to pledge money, there is a responsibility to make sure those funds are used effectively. Spending more than $41,000 over five years for five bicycles doesn’t seem to meet that standard, especially given that there is also a usage fee for members of the public.
BCycle currently has programs in about 30 cities. Most of them — Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Philadelphia, Miami and Indianapolis are all on the list — dwarf Portland. This would be, by far, the smallest city to partner with the company.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s great to be thinking big and trying to be ahead of the small-town curve. But there’s likely a reason BCycle makes sense in larger markets, and it has to do with economies of scale.
Here’s our suggestion: Let’s work together locally to create our own bike share program that would cost far less than BCycle and offer the service free to Portland residents.
Here are some possible paths forward:
•The city already has possession of couple dozen bicycles that have been found over the years and remain unclaimed by their owners. They are offered at auction each year, and they could easily be purchased for a song, fixed up and painted for use in a bike share program. (Beyond that, the program could also buy bicycles from a local retailer.)
•It should be possible to partner with existing facilities to administer the program. Instead of a kiosk, the transaction to get a bike could be as simple as copying a driver’s license at a host site like the police department/city hall, the street department, Jay Community Center, Jay County Hospital or others. (Portland Water Park would be a great site during the summer months.)
•Bicycles could be kept with a simple bike rack and locks at any of those locations. Building trades and art classes at Jay County High School could be asked to help design, build and decorate the the racks.
•Instead of soliciting large donations, sponsorships could be offered. Jay County Hospital, Wal-Mart, Tyson Mexican Original, T.J.’s Bicycle shop, AeroCat, FCC or any other local business could have their logo on a bicycle or two.
Yes, such a program would not have all the bells and whistles — distance tracking, calorie counting and web-based sign-ups — of BCycle, but it would be far more cost-effective. It would also carry with it a sense of community ownership and pride.
And, if successful, it would be something that could be easily copied in Dunkirk and other small communities.
So by all means, let’s make going on a bike ride more accessible to all Portland residents.
But let’s not spend the cost of a new car (or two) to do it. — R.C.