The Twin Cities' stock of publicly shared bicycles goes up on June 10
from zero to 700. That's the number of bikes on the streets for the
launch of
Nice Ride Minnesota, a new bike-share system that's already an
overnight sensation: It instantly becomes the nation's largest.
The
Nice Ride bikes are available for rent from 75 kiosks around
Minneapolis. A future phase will see that number grow further as the
program expands into St. Paul.
The goal, says Nice Ride
Minnesota executive director Bill Dossett, is simple: "To make it easy
for more people to use a bike during the day."
The Nice
Ride organization has been preparing for the big day with twin efforts,
both massive. Programming and construction of rental kiosks was underway
at
Sieco Construction in the Seward neighborhood, while assembly of
Nice Ride's fleet of bikes took place at
Freewheel Bike, which has
locations on the West Bank and along the Midtown Greenway.
Bike
stations are in the city's busiest, densest places, from Uptown to
Dinkytown--not, Dossett, says, in areas dominated by single-family
homes.
Asked to name a sign that the program is a
success (a little old lady on a Nice Ride bike, perhaps?), Dossett
demurs. "It's one small piece of something that is a lot bigger than
us," he says. "It's already going on." People are changing the way they
move around the Twin Cities, says Dossett, and using a bike-share system
is simply a part of that.
Source: Bill Dossett, Nice
Ride Minnesota
Writer: Chris Steller