Now that Evanston’s City Council has voted to seek grant funds to bring a bike sharing program to town, news of how it’s going next door in Chicago may be of interest.
A new report Chicago’s Department of Transportation says the two-month-old program there is catching on well.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, officials say the system is already very popular with tourists and is gaining converts among commuters.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that bike sharing in New York has grown so popular that the city is having to add additional trucks to redistribute bikes from where riders leave them to where the demand for more bikes is.
The Evanston City Council voted unanimously Monday to apply for a grant that would cover 80 percent of the cost of setting up a bike-sharing program in Evanton after the map of planned stations was redrawn to provide some service in south and west Evanston.
Top: One of the Divvy bikes used in Chicago. Evanston plans to use the same system Chicago does, if its grant application is approved.
Bike sharing racks
Wonder if the Council members went into Chicago and looked at some of the bike sharing locations. Doing it is one thing but looking at the placement and sidewalk space is another. They did a poor job on some of the sidewalk cafes they allowed since in some areas it creates areas where pedestrans need to wait for the small space between to clear before they can continue in the direction they were going. They forgot about parking meters and bike racks blocking sidewalk space. (Look at a couple locations on Church and you will see what I mean.)
I just wish the bikes would stay off the sidewalks
In this walk and roll world, we are paying way more attention to the roll than to the walk.
As a pedestrian, I am regularly forced to the parkway to make way for cyclists zooming by.
Share the bikes, share the love
Share the love, I say! Bike sharing is not an easy task to maintain in any city, let alone Chicago. While I see a lot of improvement, such as more efficient bike maintenance.. the problem is perhaps tilted towards the users who niglect and misuse the system. But those who respect the system, such as myself simply love it. Much thanks from me to the great city of Chicago, wishes, Hen.