The project first took a hit at the start of this year when Bixi, the Canadian company contracted to supply the bicycles and equipment, filed for bankruptcy. Fear not, city officials said at the time, funding for the project remained in place and a new supplier would be found. 

A month after Bixi’s bankruptcy filing—not completely unexpected—Robinson, at Bike Maryland’s annual state symposium in Annapolis, said Social Bikes, a New York-based company bicycle supplier (above photo), had been selected to replace Bixi. Although a contract hadn’t been signed yet, Robinson noted at the time, Social Bikes was partnering with Portland-based Alta, the company that will operate Charm City Bikeshare, in other cities and that he expected the deal to be finalized soon.

That’s not going to happen now. At least not right away.

Robinson said the Baltimore City Department of Transportation (DOT) had been working on the assumption after Bixi’s bankruptcy filing that the State Highway Administration and Maryland Department of Transportation would not require the city’s DOT to put out another Request for Proposal (RFP) before identifying a substitute bicycle supplier. That turned out not to be the case, Robinson said, adding that he expects the new RFP to be finalized this summer. The start up cost of Charm City Bikeshare is being funded through the state’s Cycle Maryland initiative.

The projected launch of Charm City Bikeshare is now June/July 2015.

Robinson said Social Bikes still remains, along Bixi, recently purchased by Quebec businessman Bruno Rodi, B Cycle, whose previous attempt to bring bike sharing to Baltimore never came to fruition, and the new Bicycle Transit Systems, among the handful of companies likely to respond to the RFP. “It’s not like there are a lot of companies out there that do this,” Robinson said.

Phase I of the Charm City Bikeshare project calls for 250 bikes at the 25 stations. Phase II, which would double the size of Charm City Bikeshare, doesn’t have a firm timetable, Robinson said, adding that the city needs to find a lead sponsor, or several sponsors, to support the project before it can move forward with Phase II.

Capital Bikeshare, also operated by Alta, now has more than 300 bicycle docking stations in Washington, D.C. and surrounding metro area, with 2,600 bikes, 24,000 members—and 6.1 million trips under its belt since launching more than four years ago. According to Bikeshare.com, almost 50 U.S. cities now have bike-sharing systems, with more than two dozen, including Baltimore, in the works. New York City’s new bike-sharing program, Citi Bike, already has surpassed 7 million rides and has more than 100,000 members.

A Google map of bike-sharing programs around the world can be found here.

Source

At Bike Maryland’s annual state symposium in Annapolis on Tuesday, Barry Robinson, Baltimore City’s transit and marine services chief, said Social Bikes,
a New York-based company, has now been selected to replace Bixi.
Although a contract hasn’t been signed yet, Robinson noted that Alta,
the Portland-based company that will operate Charm City Bikeshare, has
partnered with Social Bikes in other cities and that he expects the deal
to be finalized soon.

“It’s a little like changing horses in
mid-stream, if that metaphor makes sense,” Robinson said, noting the
sudden switch in bicycle suppliers with a scheduled summer launch date
for Charm City Bikeshare. “But it might also be a blessing in disguise.
This is a much less expensive platform and allows for a flexibility that
we didn’t really have before.

“The Bixi deal was much more
expensive,” Robinson said, adding the savings will help defray initial
start-up and operating costs. “This will be about a one-third of the
cost.”

In terms of cost and flexibility, Robinson noted that the
Social Bike “stations” look more like traditional bike racks than the
heavy duty docking stations that Bixi manufactured, such as the ones
used in the Washington D.C. metro area Capital Bikeshare
program. And, bicyclists will be able to lock rented Social Bike
bicycles for short periods of time to other generic racks, railings,
parking meters, and sign posts, for example, while renting and using the
bikes. Ultimately, Social Bikes will have to be returned to one of the
25 planned official Social Bike stations around the downtown commercial
area.

Generally, once a bike-share membership is purchased, the
first 30 minutes of usage is free, with costs going up each subsequent
half-hour. Bike-sharing systems, designed for short urban trips, are now
in 650 cities worldwide, according to Bikeshare.com.

Phase
I of the Charm City Bikeshare project calls for 250 bikes at the 25
stations, and remains scheduled to launch July 1, Robinson said, to
coincide with the new fiscal year. Phase II, which would double the size
of Charm City Bikeshare, doesn’t have a firm timetable, Robinson said,
adding that the city needs to find a lead sponsor, or several sponsors,
to support the project before it can move forward with Phase II.

Anne
Root, Montgomery County’s bikeshare program manager, said the recent
expansion of Capital Bikeshare there continues to grow in membership.
Overall, she said, Capital Bikeshare now has 308 docking station, 2,600
bikes, 24,000 members—and 6.1 million trips under its belt since
launching four years ago. Capital Bikeshare is also expanding to College
Park and Prince Georges County.

Ideally, said Chris Merriam, executive director of Bikemore,
Baltimore City’s nonprofit bicycling advocacy organization, Charm City
Bikeshare members will be able to use Capital Bikeshare bikes—and vice
versa—making travel, whether for work or visit, that much easier between
the two metro areas, particularly now that MARC train service is available between Baltimore and D.C. seven days a week.

Source