Bikeshare Report Sees Opportunity in Portland

Grant-funded study by the EPA outlines opportunities, challenges and next steps for community bike program
Portland, Maine - Yesterday, the City of Portland released a new study funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which finds that Portland has many characteristics that are necessary for a bikeshare system, as well as identifies key issues of funding and management that need to be resolved. The report suggests a number of next steps in developing a system, including developing a business plan, resolving the role of city government and other stakeholders, and monitoring of the recently launched Zagster bikeshare station at the Portland Transportation Center.

The study, a product of the federal Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program, outlines what bikeshare is and how it might fit into a sustainable transportation system for Portland. The release of the study follows a public forum and day-long workshop held by the city and federal team, as well as a detailed site visit and several discussions with city staff.

“The report is enormously exciting for supporters of a bikeshare system for Portland, because it affirms that we have some of the key factors needed for success of a system,” says Planning & Urban Development Director Jeff Levine. “It also suggests there are some significant challenges for launching a system in a city as small as Portland.” Levine, who worked on the expansion of the Hubway bikeshare system in Boston previously, says the city is going to take some time to determine next steps, but will be working to raise funds for a likely follow-up analysis that will involve a detailed business plan for a bikeshare system.

Levine also notes that the city government is probably not the best organization to take the primary lead in development of a system. “There are several models for a system out there,” he says. “Given the other pressing needs of the city, and limited staff, Portland is far more likely to succeed with a public-private partnership model.”  In addition, he added, having one city take the lead on a system would make it more difficult for other municipalities to join the system. “For example, I know that South Portland is actively interested in bikesharing.”

Bikesharing is a system by which someone can borrow a bicycle within a certain area, and then return it quickly and conveniently. It is designed to increase mobility in urban areas without need for more vehicles or for people to bring their own bikes. Bikeshare programs help reduce congestion, noise and air pollution and support sustainable growth that encourages local economic development while safeguarding health and the environment.

Models for bikesharing vary, with the most common model having set stations where one can ride from one location to another. Newer models include a lower-cost system where the public investment is much less extensive but the bikes must be returned to the same station; and a so-called “stationless” model where bikes are not in specific locations but are within a certain part of the city and float as there are used.

Other findings and recommendations from the study include:

Fundraising for a bikeshare system should begin, both through grants and corporate sponsors,
Ownership of the system, in addition to management, should be resolved prior to launch,
The city should continue to enhance its bicycle network on public streets and trails, and
Partnering with other bikeshare systems, such as Hubway in Boston or the Amtrak Zagster stations, is a possibility. However, doing so requires a mutual agreement, as well as a decision to use the same vendor.

The bikeshare study is available on the City’s web site at http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/epabikesharereport.pdf.