The city of Chicago announced plans for a vast new bike-sharing program Wednesday, aiming to make thousands of bikes available for rental around the city by next summer — particularly in the neighborhoods in and around downtown.

The program is aiming to launch with 3,000 bikes at 300 kiosks around the city in the summer of 2012, with another 2,000 bikes and 200 kiosks added in the next two years after that.

Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein launched a wildly successful bike-sharing program in Washington, D.C., before being hired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and he said he wants to replicate that success here.

“We’re really envisioning this not just as a bike program, but as an entirely new transit option,” Klein said. “What we saw in Washington, D.C., is that it’s a way to link people for their last mile from the train station, it’s a way to get to the grocery store or to get to your boyfriend or girlfriend’s house.”

The city hasn’t worked out all the details yet. In fact, Wednesday’s announcement was simply that the department of transportation was asking private companies to pitch the city their plans to run the bike-sharing program.

But the city has laid down a couple of guidelines. The first 30 minutes of every ride will be free for members, and there will be daily, weekly and annual membership fees. Members can sign up online, but one-time users can just swipe their credit card at the bike kiosk.

While the specific locations of the stations haven’t yet been determined — and won’t be before a winning bidder is picked — Klein said the bike-docking kiosks will be located about a quarter-mile apart and located in high-density areas.

Deb Soehlig, president of the Greater South Loop Association, was hopeful that the South Loop could be home to a good number of those bike stations.

“I see a lot of people riding bikes from the South Loop into the Loop already,” Soehlig said. “I know people who probably would ride bikes into work if they owned one.”

It could make it even easier for people outside of the neighborhood to travel down to the South Loop to visit restaurants or businesses, too.

“For people who are coming down for an event, or more sporadic visits, then I think those people would be more inclined to use it, because it does give people more flexibility. You can end up at 1501 S. Indiana without having to walk over from a bus,” she said. “I think anything that lets people get to the neighborhood easier without the expensive parking or the inconvenience of having to find parking is a great thing for businesses.”

Though many specifics of the program are still up in the air, Commissioner Klein said the program should attract people of all stripes.

“This is for all users, not just tourists and people in Lycra,” Klein said. “This is for people that haven’t been on a bike in 30 years, it’s for people who are 18, people that are 80 years old, and people who view it as a basic form of transportation and a way to get around.”

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By Lee from Lakeview
Posted: 10/10/2011 8:24 PM

Old Timer -- It's different from "renting" because of the membership model. You share the bikes with other members and can use them by the hour, similar to car-sharing. In other cities, members can use the bikes for free if they return them within 30-60 minutes. That's not a rental.

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By Old Timer from 14th and Michigan
Posted: 10/04/2011 1:11 PM

Sounds like bike renting not sharing. What kind of a journalist parrots misleading language rather than using plain (and truthful) speaking?