Walkin’, strollin’, slow goin’, sittin’, ridin’, and movin’, on a summer day downtown . . .
Monthly Archives: July 2014
BikeShare in Albany – August 9-15
On June 20, 2014, the Capital District Transportation Committee announced its CAPITAL REGION BIKESHARE MONTH. This will include short-term BikeShare pilots in Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, and Troy. There will be 25 bicycles for use between 10 am and 8 pm at one or more locations announced by the cities. The Albany BikeShare will be in Washington Park in Albany from Saturday, August 9 through Friday, August 15. There is no cost to participants, although a credit card will need to be on file as security for the bikes. More information and updates will be available here.
Other City Dates were/are as follows: Schenectady Thursday July 10 – Wednesday July 16, TroySunday July 20 – Saturday July 26, and Saratoga Springs Wednesday July 30 – Tuesday August 5.
The signature program in New York State is CitiBike. Here are some statistics on NYC followed by global data.
The Cold, Hard Facts . . . on CitiBike in New York City (as of May 2014)
Trips – 9 million+
Avg. Trip – 14 min, 16 sec
Miles – 16 million+
Annual Memberships – 10,700
Casual Use Passes – 400,000
Fleet – 6,200 bicycles
Crash Reports – 100
Carbon Offset – 5,832,377 lbs.
Flats per Month – 511
(Source: NYC Bicycle Share., LLC as reported in Bicycling, July 2014)
Global Bicycle Share
Percentage of world population in cities – 50
Fleet Size (52 countries, 600 cities; early 2014) – 570,000
China Fleet (82 programs) 380,000
World’s Largest Program Fleet (Wuhan, China; 9 million people) – 90,000
Programs in USA – 36
Predicted USA Fleet (late 2014) – 37,000
Paris Fleet – 24,000+
Paris Stations – 1,700+
Paris’s Increase in People on Bicycles in the Streets (2007-14) – 41%
Average Annual AAA Cost to Own a Car and Drive 10,000 Miles/Year – $7,800
Bike Share Annual Membership – less than $100
London Fleet – 9,000+ (launched 2010, 6,000 bicycles)
Programs in España – 132
Programs in Italia – 104
Programs in Deutschland – 43
Weight Loss Going from Driving to Cycle Commuting – 10 lb/year
(Source: Bicycle Times, September 2014)
Filed under bike share, BikeShare, Local Bike Rides, Support the Cause
Make Big Bucks With Your Bicycle
Alert reader Frank forwarded an article from the Sierra Club journal under its “green biz” section on people pumping their pedals to provide services. 
Ruthy Woodring of Pedal People hauls away trash and recyclables in Northampton, Massachusetts (which seems to not have curbside collection). Her company is a cooperative of 16 workers who collect trash and recyclables for 600 customers. The longest distance between a customer and the transfer station is 3 miles with a typical route requiring 3 trips averaging 15 to 20 miles on trailers with 300 pound capacity. Their biggest customer is the city – the Pedal People has 80 trash and recycling bins in the downtown. Further north, Julien Myette founded a bike-and-trailer moving company, Demenagement Myette, in Montreal and has been in operation since 2008. Demenagement Myette has about 500 customers per year, employs 15 people (during peak season), and uses 4-wheel trailers holding 600 pounds. Loads include beds, washing machines, armoires – all but pianos. Since Montreal is densely urban, the average move is less than 2 miles. Myette notes that driving a truck cost half an hour trying to park. 
Locally, there was a bread delivery service in the Delaware Ave. area and a compost pickup in Troy. Anyone knowing of someone operating a bicycle-powered service is encouraged to comment.
Filed under Service by Bicycles
Albany Bicycle Coalition 