The city of Anaheim in Orange County, California became the first west coast city with an operating public bike share with the grand opening of a single kiosk last weekend.
Bike Nation USA, an enthusiastic newcomer to the Bike Share game, plans to roll out a 4,000 bike system for Los Angeles over the next two years. They’re getting their feet wet in neighboring Anaheim, which became the first West Coast city with a public bike share when Bike Nation launched with a single kiosk at Harbor Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue on the Center Street Promenade.
The city has approved a total of eight locations for this privately funded and operated bike share, with bike share stations located mostly along Katella Avenue from Disneyland in the west to Anaheim Amtrak and Angel Stadium to the east.
Here’s what Katella Avenue looks like, incidentally.
View Bike Nation Kiosk Locations as presented to Anaheim City Council, 7/10/2012 in a larger map
Bike Nation bikes use airless tires and shaft drives to reduce maintenance. Integrated GPS enables real time tracking. Other design features include step-through frames, fenders, dynamo lights, and retro-reflective paint.
Like other bike share programs, bikes are locked to solar-powered stations, where users swipe a membership card and borrow a bike. The first thirty minutes of each ride are included in your membership, while subsequent time costs extra to encourage quick turnover of bikes.
Good luck to Bike Nation USA on this fascinating venture.
H/T Bicycle Fixation.
A single station at launch, future stations along a multi-lane arterial road with no bike lanes? All they need to do is add a mandatory helmet law for this bike share to really flop. I wish Anaheim the best, but this is not a recipe for bike share success.