Sheldon S. Shafer

The Courier-Journal;

Project envisions 20 to 40 stations spread across central city, each with 10 or more bikes

Consultant finishing business plan on details of pending project

Similar program in Indianapolis charges $80 for a year and $8 for a 24-hour takeout privilege.

Western Louisville resident Nate Pederson checks out a shared bike every two weeks or so. "I use them mostly at lunchtime, but also to go to meetings, the bank or the YMCA," he said. "The program is very convenient."

Pederson has access to a bike-sharing program as an employee of Humana, which offers 30 bikes at three stations near its downtown offices free to employees.

By next spring, bike riders across the downtown area should have access to a similar sharing program. The city plans to spend $1.63 million to set up a program with 20 to 40 stations in and around downtown, each with 10 or more top-drawer two-wheelers people can pay to take to lunch, a meeting or to shop.

Fees aren't firm, a similar program in Indianapolis charges $80 for a year of unlimited use of the bikes and $8 for a 24-hour takeout privilege.

"We are not all the way there yet, but we are developing a bike culture," and the community is ready for the bike-sharing project, said Patti Clare, deputy director of the Metro Department of Economic Growth and Innovation.

A consultant is wrapping up a business plan, including recommending where stations will go, estimating revenue and suggesting pricing. Clare and the consultant, Josh Squire, declined to disclose preliminary recommendations, which should be final by mid- to late summer.

But Clare and her staff said the spread of the stations will likely be from the river as far south as the University of Louisville's Belknap Campus, while stretching east into the Nulu neighborhood along East Market Street and west to around Ninth Street.

"A good start would be 20 to 40 stations and 200 to 400 bikes," Squire said.

Officials hope the program can be financially self-sufficient. Louisville officials said they will seek sponsors, perhaps selling advertising on kiosks and even on the bikes themselves. They also are reserving the ability to sell naming rights.

Louisville's bike-sharing program "can be a success, absolutely," said Squire, CEO of CycleHop, the consulting firm based in Miami.

Squire said Louisville has a downtown workforce and population that is sufficient to support the program. And he said it has developed a "good bicycle infrastructure — bike lanes, signage."

Each bike may cost $3,000 to $5,000. A model shown by metro staff is a bright red, with a durable gray basket. The bikes may vary from three to seven speeds.

Typically, the communal bikes are unlocked from a stall in the rack with a credit card or with a card-like pass that can be purchased. The credit card information is recorded and, if the bike is not returned, the user will be charged for replacing the bike. Some programs require the users to report their locations every 30 minutes.

Squire said about 40 U.S. cities — the closest being Indianapolis — have active bike-sharing programs. Cincinnati, Columbus and Nashville are all among nearby cities that plan to launch bike-sharing soon, with more than 60 cities in line to have the programs in place by the end of 2014.

Louisville "is not an innovator, but it is also not lagging" in setting up a program, said Rolf Eisinger, the metro bike and pedestrian program coordinator.

The program will be developed with $1.31 million left over from a federal highway grant, along with $250,000 from a city bond issue and $70,000 from the University of Louisville. The funding is included in Mayor Greg Fischer's 2014-15 metro budget pending before Metro Council.

The city is ripe for bike-sharing, officials said, because it has developed dozens of miles of bike lanes and is trending toward more two-way streets, after the new downtown bridge is completed in 2016. Two-way traffic tends to slow vehicles and make biking safer and more attractive, officials said.

Humana's bike-sharing program for employees began in 2007, said company spokeswoman Kate Marx. She said more than 3,000 of the company's 12,000 downtown employees have used the bikes at some point.

Humana employee Dennis Ham, who lives downtown, said he uses a shared bike almost daily. Only "inclement weather stops me ... I can ride a bike home in just minutes. I use it for going home for lunch, personal errands during lunch, and getting to other downtown Humana meetings."

Ham said the bikes not only are a good form of exercise but also tend to be "more efficient than bus service."

The Indiana Pacers Bikeshare, a program administered by the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, opened in April with 250 bikes and 25 stations. The bikes are "a great way to explore the trail and the beautiful Canal Walk," said Karen Haley, executive director of the Cultural Trail organization.

A foundation set up by Herb Simon, owner of the Indiana Pacers basketball team, has been the major underwriter of the Hoosier bike-sharing program.

"We are thrilled with the response," Haley said. "Residents are using the bikes as a part of their daily activity, and visitors are using them to experience ... all that downtown Indianapolis has to offer."

During the first full month of the Indianapolis program, riders took a total of 13,017 trips. In that span, 775 people had signed up for the annual memberships costing $80, while 4,348 had registered for the 24-hour passes costing $8. Each bike was ridden an average of 52 times during the opening month. Usage was way above projections, officials reported.

Adam Shoemaker of Indianapolis, who rode 100 miles on a bikeshare bike, said that "the bikes are comfortable, and the system is easy to use. It's great for getting anywhere you need to go in downtown."

The Louisville system hasn't been designed, but one vendor probably will be chosen based on competitive bidding to provide the equipment, Eisinger said.

Biking devotee Jackie Green, running as a write-in candidate for Louisville mayor, said a bike-sharing program with more than 200 bikes available to the public "would be great. Louisville must embrace sustainable transportation. More bicycles on the streets, more pedestrians, slower traffic, more two-way streets, better public transit, and smarter land use all add up to a better Louisville."

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089. Follow him on Twitter at @sheldonshafer.