Recently, when I was in Washington DC, I decided I wanted to explore my surrounding area. Rather than walk, which would have forced me to stay relatively close to my place of stay, I walked a block to a bike share stand. A collection of bikes awaited me, along with a map of the city marking where different stands were available. Within two minutes I was on the road. As I biked around the city I never went five minutes without seeing a stand where I could drop my bike off and be on my way. The people I saw taking advantage of this bike share system were not only tourists, but residents of the DC metro area, and friends out for a weekend adventure. The bike share program in DC made access to the city readily available.
Similar Bike Share initiatives have sprouted up in Boston, New York, Denver, and Tampa. All of these bike share programs have faced their fair share of problems, whether it be technical, or monetary, but all have seen success. Providence, and the surrounding communities would be an ideal place to add to the list of cities with bike shares. Bike share stands could be downtown, college hill, the east side, Blackstone Boulevard, India Point park, Hope Street, Smith Hill, Federal Hill, and throughout the rest of Providence. A fixed destination point could draw new businesses to cater to those who take advantage of the system, invigorating the economy and small business growth.
Starting a Bike Share program takes the public's support, months of preparation, and considerable sums of money. While the startup of such a program would be difficult, the possible benefits to come would support, and provide growth for surrounding communities.
