Spokies

[Rover]

It cost $300,000 to implement. How about the new I-40 - it's free to use. Why do they make the bike riders pay but the cars get to drive on the road for free?

Just maybe because virtually everyone has a car and drives. Duh. And we pay for our own cars, pay gasoline taxes and for license plates.. Sometimes you just try too hard.

[OKCTalker]

Why do they make the bike riders pay but the cars get to drive on the road for free?

Motorists pay fuel taxes, excise taxes and registration fees, plus the cost to own, lease or rent a car. Those ain't free.

[Just the facts]

I was directly addressing the "value" comment from Rover.

[Rover]

And I stand by my statement. If people see any value they will pay. If not, they won't. The idea that it has to be free to be used is what I was addressing. If the city gives use away for a short period of time so as to get people to try it and to find out if they are willing to pay for it, great. Long term and permanent free use means there isn't enough perception of value to make it work.

[BBatesokc]

No city service is truly free. But there are certainly services/amenities that are provided by the city that many people do not actually take into account they are paying for but do value.

[BoulderSooner]

No city service is truly free. But there are certainly services/amenities that are provided by the city that many people do not actually take into account they are paying for but do value.

the key to this is that the city doesn't need extra expenses .... the capital costs were mostly funded by a grant ... and if the city can have a revenue system on the operations side ..it makes this a great deal ..

it is simple ..it will work with the cost structure or it won't ........ IMHO it is a great deal and i will get one of the passes for 75 bucks

[Urban Pioneer]

This is a coup. For them to not orient the rack locations to the streetcar route shows you what is thought about the streetcar among the people calling the shots behind Downtown OKC Inc.

Naw. It has little to do with them. I personally met with Jennifer Gooden and we "toured" the streetcar route extensively. She would like nothing more than for the stations to be incorporated into streetcar stops. In fact, she pointed out that co-branding/marketing would be beneficial in helping develop a comprehensive pedestrian assistance system.

However, it is simply a timing issue. It is a also a spacial issue. The stops need to have the appropriate space for the size racks needed based on the demand of the location.

In a nutshell, this year's program is a "trial run" and she hope that more stations will be added. Some of those stations could be possibly incorporated into the streetcar program stop design costs- depending on how our costs are.

[BoulderSooner]

Naw. It has little to do with them. I personally met with Jennifer Gooden and we "toured" the streetcar route extensively. She would like nothing more than for the stations to be incorporated into streetcar stops. In fact, she pointed out that co-branding/marketing would be beneficial in helping develop a comprehensive pedestrian assistance system.

However, it is simply a timing issue. It is a also a spacial issue. The stops need to have the appropriate space for the size racks needed based on the demand of the location.

In a nutshell, this year's program is a "trial run" and she hope that more stations will be added. Some of those stations could be possibly incorporated into the streetcar program stop design costs- depending on how our costs are.

also .. it should be noted that all the rack locations are within a block of likely street car stops

[Urban Pioneer]

The streetcar is still several years away and I am not sure anyone knows how 'set in stone' the current route is - especially considering the recent news around the bridges at Sheriden and Reno and built in ridership in Deep Deuce and East Bricktown. I am sure moving bike locations will be super easy when and if it becomes necessary.

Let's not mangle the thread, but the "current route" has had a dashed line, intentionally ambiguous, for us to resolve how to connect the southern portion of the system to the new CC, Park, Blvd. and Bricktown. The Robinson Broadway, 11th, 13th couplet is probably not going to change because of politics at this point. If it does change, it will because of costs associated with utilities. And yes, then we might have to look at alternative ways of serving the Core/Midtown depending on the designed impact zone and its overall impact to the program budget/said goals.

But we are not there yet. Right now, it is the intent of the committee to convey "our most desired" route to go into continued utility impact study and engineering to determine actual projected costs.

And again, moving and incorporating existing bike stations will have to do with their size and the room available at proposed stop locations.

[Pete]

I'm re-posting this information because I see the Bricktown Urban Design Committee has approved a site near the ballpark:

1. 300 Park Ave: install bike share station of double-sided rack to accommodate 32 bike slots east of the main library entrance, approximately 57 feet from the south curb of Park Ave.; install bike share station of single-sided rack to accommodate 24 bike slots approximately 6 feet from curb on south side of Park Ave.
2. 1 Myriad Gardens: install bike share station of double-sided rack to accommodate 16 bike slots
3. 620 N Harvey Ave: install bike share station of double sided rack to accommodate 16 bike slots on the south side of NW 6th St adjacent to the west side of the Journal Record Building
4. 301 N Walnut: install bike share station of two single sided racks to accommodate 8 slots per rack on east and west sides of sidewalk along N Walnut Ave at southeast corner of N Walnut and NE 2nd St
5. 1100 N Classen Dr: install bike share station of one single-sided rack to accommodate 16 bike slots on the west side of N Walker Ave adjacent to the east side of the Plaza Court Building
6. 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive

[BoulderSooner]

got a little update yesterday ... and location 2 is on the SW corner of the cox .. robinson and reno ..

[Pete]

got a little update yesterday ... and location 2 is on the SE corner of the cox .. sheridan and reno ..

Sheridan and Reno don't intersect. SE corner of the Cox Center would be Reno & EKG but that can't be right.

[metro]

got a little update yesterday ... and location 2 is on the SE corner of the cox .. sheridan and reno ..

That's odd now considering they just added the Bricktown location. Seems like the Myriad gardens across from Colcord, Devon, and near the Sheraton, and future convention center would be a better location.

[BoulderSooner]

Sheridan and Reno don't intersect. SE corner of the Cox Center would be Reno & EKG but that can't be right.

sorry pete they said SW corner of the cox .. at Robinson and Reno

[Skyline]

Adding the Bricktown location sounds like Okctalk worked it's magic.

[Rover]

The issue will be identifying the early adopters and getting them using them...to be visible so others try it. I hope they have noticeable stands and signs (maybe small bright LED beacon) so they are obvious, and easy instructions at the point of use. Anyone seen any renderings of the actual stations? These need to be "sold", not just "available.

[Skyline]

Also, what color will the bikes be?

I would suggest using the Okc Thunder Blue as the color.

[Pete]

There really needs to be a location somewhere between 8th & 10th on Broadway.

I still don't understand the omission of Auto Alley. Perhaps it's yet to come.

[Urban Pioneer]

There really needs to be a location somewhere between 8th & 10th on Broadway.

I still don't understand the omission of Auto Alley. Perhaps it's yet to come.

I think they just don't have the money as of yet.

[Bullbear]

Downtown Denver has a similar program and it is really set up nice.

[Spartan]

I looked into these programs a little more, and evidently the rack kiosks are modular so they can be added to or subtracted from depending on how ridership figures come out. I imagine that OKC is using the well-optioned bicycles, so they should have odometers and may even have GPS tracking so we can monitor where people want to go. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think these are cemented into the ground, so they can be moved quite easily?

I don't understand the comment about them being within a block of streetcar. The library is certainly not on the streetcar route. All of these locations are within 1 block of being spot-on it seems, but tweaking them just slightly could make a big difference--except for Bricktown, I think they definitely got that one right. Lots of space in front of the Ballpark that could use more pedestrian programming AND a great, iconic backdrop. Hard to beat that. But still think 1 and 2 are too close and 3 should be moved around to the other side of the Memorial, especially if they want to capture more casual tourist traffic.

But with their price table, maybe they don't want casual tourist traffic. I will also say that it seems pretty revolutionary to expect a system like this to achieve self-solvency. I think if OKC was doing this the same way Denver, DC, Madison, and other Bikeshare cities have and are, we'd get a system that DOES cost a little bit, but would be wildly more successful than any of us could dream. I really believe we could out-bike Denver and Minneapolis if we wanted to (well, maybe not Mpls). So we have to ask ourselves, do we want this to be majorly successful, or do we need it to pay for itself that badly?

We're talking $300,000. Maintenance costs $50/year/bike. So 100 bikes = $5,000/year in programming maintenance. This is a pretty dirt-cheap deal for an innovative transit system that could bring even more acclaim to OKC.

[Just the facts]

One of the highest cost associated with collecting a fee is actually collecting the fee and accounting for the money.

[OKCTalker]

Maintenance costs $50/year/bike. So 100 bikes = $5,000/year in programming maintenance. This is a pretty dirt-cheap deal for an innovative transit system that could bring even more acclaim to OKC.

$50.00 per year to maintain a rental bike is entirely unrealistic, and this casts suspicion on every other cost estimate of the program. I'd like for this to be successful - defined by lots of use - but I don't want people later to feel that they were sold a program based upon fudged numbers. We have too much of that in government already.

[BBatesokc]

$50.00 per year to maintain a rental bike is entirely unrealistic, and this casts suspicion on every other cost estimate of the program. I'd like for this to be successful - defined by lots of use - but I don't want people later to feel that they were sold a program based upon fudged numbers. We have too much of that in government already.

I would tend to agree. I own TREK bikes and only ride a few months of the year and my maintenance costs would be about $140 a year (two tune-ups a year, etc.) if I didn't have the Al's lifetime warranty. Even with that I still have to replace parts that are not covered and I won't put anywhere as many miles on my bike as these will hopefully see.

[Just the facts]

I have owned the same Huffy mountain bike for 18 years and I have spent a grand total $0 on maintenance - and it rides fine. Of course, I do know how to use a screwdriver to adjust my own brakes and gears and can air up my own tires.

on edit - i take that back. I ran over a thorn about 2 months ago and had to buy some patches - 5 for $4. Since I used one that is $0.80.

However, a rental bike will probably not be subject to the same care my personal bike is and my labor is free to me.