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Bike Sharing Debuts in DC

$40 a year gives locals access to cycles parked citywide

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 15, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

(Newser) – With its residents battling high fuel prices and heavy traffic, Washington, DC, has instituted a bike-sharing program: pay $40 a year, and you can borrow wheels from one of 10 stands across the city. Inspired by similar schemes abroad, SmartBike DC is using technology keep the system running smoothly, keeping the bikes in electronic racks that require  swiping a smartcard for access, the LA Times reports.

“People are familiar with car-sharing--Zipcar and Flexcar. Now, we have bike-sharing,” said the mayor. ClearChannel Outdoor is running the program in exchange for ad space in local bus shelters. “If we are only half as successful as the European model”--Paris’s program boasts 200,000 subscribers--“it will be a huge success,” says a transportation official.

Jim Sebastian, with the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation, poses with a SmartBike DC prototype bicycle in Washington on Thursday, April 24, 2008.
Jim Sebastian, with the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation, poses with a SmartBike DC prototype bicycle in Washington on Thursday, April 24, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe sits on a bicycle as he launches Velib, a bike-sharing program, in Paris, in this July 15, 2007 file photo.
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe sits on a bicycle as he launches "Velib", a bike-sharing program, in Paris, in this July 15, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Laurent Baheux)
Jim Sebastian, with the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation, poses with a SmartBike DC prototype bicycle in Washington on Thursday, April 24, 2008.
Jim Sebastian, with the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation, poses with a SmartBike DC prototype bicycle in Washington on Thursday, April 24, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Philly Mayor Michael Nutter rides a bicycle which Bike Share Philadelphia supplied to promote their proposed bicycle-sharing program, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 16, 2008.
Philly Mayor Michael Nutter rides a bicycle which Bike Share Philadelphia supplied to promote their proposed bicycle-sharing program, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 16, 2008.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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