"We sincerely believe that a lot of citizens who are not presently commuting with a bicycle will use the bicycles," he said.
The service will cost $28 a month, or $78 for seven months. Users can buy a day pass for $5When it's fully in service there will be 300 BIXI stations around the city where the bicycles can be rented or returned.
The $15-million system is being paid for by Stationnement de Montreal, the company that manages the city's on-street parking.
It hopes to recoup its investment through the membership fees.
The bikes are designed entirely in Quebec, and are made of 100 per cent recyclable aluminum. The bike parking stations are powered by solar energy."
http://uk.franceguide.com/press/Velib-Paris-new-bike-transit-system.html?nodeID=422&EditoID=88863
D: based on Paris Velib program.
On July 15, 2007, the city of Paris will debut a new self-service "bicycle transit system" called Velib’. Parisians and visitors alike will be able to pick up and drop off bicycles throughout the city at 750 locations—offering a total of 10,648 bikes. By the end of the year, there will be a Velib’ station approximately every 900 feet for a total of 1,451 locations and 20,600 bikes.
D: Europe tried the honour system in the 60s. And shortly had no bikes left, LOL.
D: we could do this in K-W just fine.
It would go a long ways towards reaching 'mandatory cycling density' for safety in #s.
And those are some sweet city cruisers in the pic!
Integrated lights would make them useful at night too.
See the Citystorm by Giant.
D: pic 1 is Father David Bauer and Erb.
"An article on the front page of The Record today sheds some light on the recent death of Paul Brenner on the Iron Horse Trail, a death I wrote about recently.
It appears that he was riding in the dark, without a helmet or possibly lights, when he hit a gate adjacent to a set of railroad tracks that cross the trail at at oblique angle outside Victoria Park. He appears to have gone down hard and died due to head injuries.
Would a helmet have saved him? The odds are good in this case. Lights would surely have helped illuminate the gates, which have reflective surfaces.
We can take basic, simple steps to make our cycling lives safer. No one should have to die to underline that point."
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D: I was gonna build a 'ghost bike' for the guy (see earlier blog).
But no light, no helmet. If those barriers had reflective material on them, I'm afraid to say he all but ensured he'd be hurt or killed. And he was.
There is no law requiring adult cyclists to wear helmets.
I admit, sometimes if I'm already too hot or I want my hair to look nice, I don't.
I read that kids growing up with helmet laws are continuing to wear them as adults.
And is it just me, or is it kinda weird that the new University frosh students are still so young that they hafta wear helmets? A lot of them are 17. Nice that the schools offloaded a year of free public education onto private tuition which are not so subsidized these days...
