A Helmet for Your Bike Share Ride

If you live in a city that has a bike share program, one thing you'll see is people using the bikes to run errands, go to lunch, etc...  One thing you won't see a lot of, is people wearing helmets on those bikes.

Some cities are trying different programs to make helmets available to the bike share users - my city, Salt Lake City, offers a free Bern helmet painted up to match the bike share bikes to those who sign up for an annual membership.

Boston has come up with a unique program, rental helmets.

A group of MIT students came up with the idea of a bicycle helmet vending machine as a class project.

The Helmet Hub machine can rent and receive up to 36 helmets, in 3 different sizes. Cost is reported to be around $2/24 hours, or $20 to buy one.

For those of you who are grossed out right now about the thought of putting on a helmet that someone has returned, just think about the last time you went bowling...  All of the returned helmets will be disinfected and sanitized before being returned to the field.

App of the Day: SpotCycle

Yesterday I talked about Salt Lake City’s new bike share, GreenBikeSLC.

Today, for the App of the Day, I want to introduce you to SpotCycle.

SpotCycle is a handy little app to have if you use a bike share system – and I mean almost any bike share system around the world. SpotCycle currently tracks bike share systems in 7 countries, and 23 US cities.

What do I mean by tracking? Well, imagine a scenario: You walk down to your nearest bike share station, only to find out that all the bikes are checked out from that station, or the station is currently off-line. To make matters worse, you don’t know where the next nearest station is, and you are already running late...

When you select a city, SpotCycle will tell you where the bike share stations are located, how many bikes are currently racked and how many docks are free. You can list the 10 nearest stations by distance, number of bikes, free docks, or alphabetical. You can also view a GPS based map showing the stations with the number of bikes available at each one. You can set the refresh data rate from 15 seconds to manual.

Another nice feature of the app is a rental timer. Since most bike shares work on a 30 minute rental timer, you can set the timer on the app (it defaults to 25 minutes) so you can make sure you’re to a station before your time’s up.

You can also create a route, tag points of interest along your route, and share routes with others.

SpotCycle is available for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry mobile devices. Best of all, it's free!

Definitely a must-have if you use a bike share system.

GreenBikeSLC

Salt Lake City’s bike share program “GreenBikeSLC” has been in operation just over a month now.

For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, what’s stopping you? It’s great!

There, possibly the easiest review that I have ever posted. Thanks for reading!





What? I should talk more about the program and the bikes? Maybe include some pictures? Okay, whatever…

The GreenBikeSLC program is part of the B-Cycle bike sharing system, which is currently operating in 16 cities across the United States, with more coming soon. Salt Lake currently has 100 bicycles and 10 stations covering the core downtown area, as well as the intermodal hub.

The basic idea behind GreenBikeSLC – and any bike share program for that matter – is to use the bikes for short trips around town, cutting down on car trips and congestion in high density urban areas. You can check out a bike at one station, and return it to any other station, pick up another bike, etc… for as long as your membership is valid.

Speaking of memberships, there are 3 levels: 24 hour pass, 7-day, and annual memberships. The 24 hour pass and 7-day memberships are geared for those who may be visiting an area for a short period of time – such as on a vacation or business trip, where the annual membership is more for the person who works in the area. The cost of the memberships is $5 for the 24 hour, $15 for the 7-day, and $75 for the annual. Bonus! If you sign up for the annual membership, they give you a free Bern Watts helmet (custom screened in the GreenBike colorway – a $75 value)!

I’ve talked about the program and the memberships, but how easy is it to check out the bikes, and what about those bikes?

The system is very straight forward. Each station has a computer kiosk attached to it. If you are getting a 24 hour pass, or 7 day membership, you follow the on-screen instructions, slide your credit card, and select your bike. The dock holding your bike will start beeping, and will release your bike for use. When you are finished, just rack your bike in an open dock at any station. If you want to check out another bike, simply swipe the same credit card, and select another bike. If you have an annual membership*, getting a bike is even easier. You are mailed a membership card about a week after you sign up. To check out a bike, you simply select a bike, press the button on the dock next to your bike. Place your card on the dock over the RF sensor, and the dock will beep and release your bike.

*Another feature of the annual membership, you can track the number of miles ridden (each bike has a hidden gps sensor), carbon offset, calories burned, and money saved (compared to driving and parking downtown).

What if you go over the 30 minutes? Run! They will hunt you down and… just kidding! If you go over, you will be charged for the additional time. It is $2 for the next 30 minutes, and $5 for each half-hour after that. Again, the service is for short trips. It can get expensive if you keep the bike out longer.

The bikes…

What can you say about the bikes? They are perfectly suited for their job. Heavy, 3-speed cruiser bikes with a step-thru frame, front basket, fenders, and skirt guard. They also have an attached cable lock if you have to temporarily stop somewhere and there isn’t a station nearby. You aren’t going to be winning any sprints on one of these bikes. The only complaint that I have, is that they need to put a cup holder in the basket.

mmm... lunch!

some times you have to get creative...

The GreenBikeSLC program launched on April 8. During the first month of operation, there have been 160+ people who have purchased annual memberships, and 900+ daily/weekly members. All together, there has been more than 3,300 trips taken. According to Phil Sarnoff, the program manager, that has far exceeded their expectations.

Looking at the numbers, and the fact that at several times I have encountered stations without any bikes, it sounds like the program is working. Like I said at the start of this post, If you haven’t tried it yet, what’s stopping you? It’s great!

It's Like it was Meant to Be...

Today I had an epiphany. It wasn't as painful as it sounds.

What are two things that would be great together – aside from the obvious answer of frozen banana slices and dark chocolate?

Yummy, but absolutely not worth the price.

Bike Share and Bicycle Benefits!

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There are a couple of reasons that this is a potential match made in two-wheeled heaven: Most of the participating Bicycle Benefits locations (at least here in SLC) are in the downtown area – the same area that the GreenBikeSLC stations are located. And, if you purchase the annual membership, they give you a free helmet – You’re supposed to put the Bicycle Benefits sticker on your helmet.

See! It’s like it was meant to be!

Only one problem…

I went over to my favorite downtown local bike shop that is a participant in the Bicycle Benefits program, and they told me that they are out of the stickers, and have been for a while. They also said that someone else had been in recently to get a sticker (apparently, inspiration didn’t strike me first), and that person couldn’t find any stickers anywhere in the city.

I was going to put a public call-out to the Bicycle Benefits people to get some stickers back in stock, but I just got an email from them saying that they are working on reviving the program in SLC. So soon, you will be able to ride a bike share bike to your favorite downtown establishment, present your helmet, and enjoy a discount. Sounds perfect to me!

btw... I'll be writing about the GreenBikeSLC system sometime next week.

Bike Share coming to Salt Lake City: updated with Video!

In a press conference that is going on right now (no, I have to work, and cannot be there - except thru twitter) Mayor Ralph Becker is unveiling the plan for Salt Lake's Bike Share - which looks like it will be called Green Bike.

photo from DowntownSLC

What I have heard from the twitterverse, is that the program will officially kick off March 2013, and they are anticipating that it will be open for 9 months - from March to November (tentatively). It will kick off with a minimum of 100 bikes at 10 stations.

Corporate sponsors of the program are RioTinto, SelectHealth, Backcountry.com, Fidelity, Visit Salt Lake and LDS Hospital.

One note of interest is that SLCBikeShare will have a helmet sponsor - which is unique for SLC. I wonder how they will keep track of the helmets, and I don't know how excited I would be about using a "community helmet". Of course since I'm not there, I don't know if this has been addressed yet. **It appears that the helmets would be for those who purchase annual memberships, sponsored by LDS Hospital**

I'll update this post as I am able to get additional information.

mock-up of what the bikes should look like

Updated: check http://www.greenbikeslc.org/ for more information.

Updated, part deux: I found a video of the press conference on the YouTube today. Enjoy.