New York gets it's Bike Share

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson today announced the selection of Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. to develop and operate a privately funded bike share system in New York City, the first step in the process of bringing a low-cost and accessible 24-hour transportation option to New Yorkers. The New York City bike share system will launch in 2012, and will include approximately 10,000 bicycles, distributed at 600 stations in Manhattan south of 79th Street, as well as in Brooklyn neighborhoods from Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant to Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. Options for additional stations in other boroughs are also being explored.  “With bike share, we’re reinventing the wheel by providing an affordable transportation option that’s there when you want it,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “Whether it’s covering the last quarter mile from the subway or reaching that dead zone between stations, bike share offers a great, new way to get around in a New York minute and will bring needed jobs and revenue to the city.” In addition, DOT is launching an online Web portal VeloMondial congratulates New York, TA and Alta Planing.