Essentially, in a bike-share program bicycles are made available at special kiosks or racks that are strategically placed around a city. Users can access the bikes 24 hours a day, either by inserting a credit card or by paying an annual fee for a membership card. The bikes can then be returned at any of the stations in the city. While the details of the program vary by city, the basic concept has caught on and spread like wildfire.
Especially as gas prices rise and the concept of livable cities becomes more popular, cities around the world have begun to embrace bike-sharing as a way to improve quality of life, meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, increase tourism, and so on. Paris, Barcelona, Washington, D.C., Montreal, and Mexico City have all implemented such programs, while New York City, Portland and others are in the planning stages.
In July of 2007, 1,500 bicycle stations containing 20,000 specially designed bicycles were made available to the public for use around Paris. For a membership fee of $2 a day, or $40 a year, an individual can unlock and use any bike from any station. The first half hour of use is free, at which point the rental fee escalates incrementally (in order to discourage opportunities for theft). The project has been so successful that Paris is also considering an electric car sharing program.
Source: TreeHugger
