Bike Share in Chicago

Bike Share to Chicago: “You’re my kinda town!”

Students at Saint Xavier University have a cougar between their legs rather than a tiger in their tank. In April, SXU’s Chicago campus launched GreenBike – one of the most ambitious bike share programs in North America. Each of its 65 bikes is adorned with a cougar, the school mascot.

GreenBike is one of six privately run bike share programs in Chicago. Although the city has long been expected to introduce bike sharing, talks with frontrunner JCDecaux appear to have hit a pothole. The city is talking with other providers, in particular Bixi, which operates in Montreal. For now, however, all the action in town is in the private sector, especially at universities.

At SXU, bikes are available 24/7 from 33 docking stations at 14 locations around campus. The first 15 minutes are free; after that, it costs 60 cents per 15 minutes. Students, faculty, and staff can hire a bike on the spot all year, at any station, with their ID or membership card.

“This self-service system enhances mobility and is great for the environment,” said Joe Moore, the university’s director of media relations. On a commute of 10 miles, bicyclists avoid roughly a half pound of carbon monoxide emissions compared to driving.

The system was developed by OYBikes in the United Kingdom and uses bikes built by Veloway, well-known for bike share in France. The three-speed yellow bikes have a chainless, shaft-drive transmission to reduce maintenance. A rear carrier has advertising panels, and a security cable is permanently attached to each bike.

The program is administered by the university’s Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management. Students help run it and maintain the bikes. The program was supposed to start last fall but was delayed due to software problems.

SXU has high hopes for GreenBike: fewer cars on campus, less need for parking, and fitter students and staff.

Loyola University has taken an entirely different approach – and a decidedly less costly one. Since April, students can borrow for up to three days, one of 12 refurbished bikes that were abandoned on campus.

The Facilities Division set aside a protected work space in the school’s parking structure where the bikes can be checked out for free. That location is also used to repair the bikes, which are all painted in school colors.

Tony Giron, a junior majoring in international business and entrepreneurship, thought up the idea. “I grew up in Pilsen [on the Southwest Side], which is very bike friendly, so I wanted to bring some of that positive energy to Loyola,” he said.

Giron learned to repair bikes at the Working Bikes Cooperative, which donated 15 additional bikes to the cause. The student government organization gave $3,000 to buy parts and tools, and members of a very active university bike club, with 120 members on its listserve, help Giron repair the bikes. “I love bikes and want to see more people riding,” he said.

The University of Chicago has planned to launch a new bike share program this spring. Stay tuned for details.

Bike sharing is popular off campus, too. Last September, the Sears Tower began providing its tenants three shared bikes. While three bikes for 8,000 employees may not seem like a lot of bikes, it’s a great start. The program was well received, so Sears will double the number of bikes this year, once the program comes out of hibernation on May 1.
John O’Neal, who works in the building for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, describes the program as “VIP” since the bikes are parked right inside the entrance. “The bikes have a better spot than the Maseratis,” he said. “We can buzz in and buzz out.”
The Giant Tran Send DX commuters have to be reserved online.

“This terrific program makes great sense because it’s simple and inexpensive yet greatly appreciated by those who use it,” said Randy Stancik, vice president of the Sears Tower. “Also, it encourages people to take transit to work because they can use one of our bikes to get around during the day.

“We’d love to see other buildings copy this program,” he added. “It’s easy to set up and administer. All you need are a waiver, a check list and some bikes.”

SRAM runs one of Chicago’s oldest bike shares. For five years, it has provided employees 12 bikes to use during work hours.

Even though about half the 90 employees bike to work, all the first-come-first-served bikes are often in use. “On a nice day, if you don’t get a shared bike by noon, you’re out of luck for lunch,” said Mike Zellmann, SRAM’s public relations manager.

The one-speed commuter bikes were made by Rollo and get beat up quickly due to the heavy use, so one employee acts as fleet mechanic. (Having a good mechanic around is one advantage of being one of the world’s biggest bike component manufacturers.)

The Field Museum launched its program in March 2008 with three bikes, two of which were Cannondales no longer needed by the museum’s security force. The program was the brainchild of Robert Weiglein, exhibitions designer. After his proposal was approved, he repaired the bikes and added racks. Since then, interest has been steady, so two more bikes have been added.

“Many employers encourage automobile use by subsidizing the cost of parking, reimbursing for mileage, and so forth,” said Carter O’Brien, head of the museum’s A Greener Field committee. “It’s time for employers to consider doing more for bicycling.”

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