Bike Shares Stalled Across the Country

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It is important that bike share programs go slowly.
There are many different ways that bicycling can become a culture in the U.S., and though bike-sharing may be the quickest (and easiest for bike advocates)... it may not be the best.
Bike sharing <<monetizes>> bicycling, turning every ride into a transaction involving a multinational media corporation, GPS, credit cards, IDs, satellites, transfer trucks, rental kiosks, and advertising--lots of it.
The principle behind bike-sharing is that in this consumer society--where people buy cars, houses, iPods, Gameboys, light-up sneakers, surfboards, and a million other expensive or bulky items--that bicycles are somehow incredibly difficult to obtain, or safeguard against theft, or maintain.
Of course, millions of cyclists all over the world, many in much less secure and poorer societies, manage to ride everywhere, every day.
But the bike share virus appeals so directly to the typical urban planner and the typical bike advocate--it's top-down, it's quick, it's uniform, and it doesn't call for a lot of work.
But bike sharing could create a "welfare" class of rider, one that never gets any skills, never rides an inch further than neccessary, and one that eventually becomes dependent.
At that point, look for the rate hikes, and other controls, just as the Internet is facing a lot of changes designed to make the maximum in cash, while eliminating choice.
Another more important aspect is whether bike sharing is really green -- consider that for every few trips by bike, a shuttle by truck will be needed to bring bikes back after they get scattered. Nearly all bike share programs are paid for by advertising billboards--many of which are video screens or illuminated panels. What about the energy these use?
Two more points, and these may be a bit deep -- what about the increased consumption linked to these billboards? And let's remember that the new billboards and video screens will be a new media in our cities--one that shifts ad dollars from print and broadcast news media, and moves it to pure ad media--no news content is supported by these billboards.
To me, it seems like bikes are being used as icing on the cake--the cake being profit from advertising and from monetizing overtime bike trips.
Finally, I think riding a bike can be beautiful--riding a properly fitted, reasonably light bike (which can cost less than $500), is a real experience--not too mention much more efficient and fun than riding a 45 pound "public" bike.
Bike sharing may be the right way -- but let's look clearly at it, and let's make sure we encourage and develop all forms of cycling, not just corporate biking.
--Michael McGettigan
President, Trophy Bikes Philadelphia,
past board member, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
LCI 320, League of American Bicyclists
NOTE: by all accounts, bike shops in areas with large bike share programs experience a rise in sales and service, so although bike share would increase my profits, I believe principle is just as important.