5 Secrets to Bike Share Success

Thriving bike share systems in DC and NYC are models for success. But other cities have struggled to create sustainable systems (DC's first effort failed, in fact). A new report offers a comprehensive guide to establishing bike share in your town.

1 minute read

December 6, 2013, 7:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Citi Bike Rack

Joe Mazzola / flickr

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has recently published The Bike-Share Planning Guide, a comprehensive and well researched report that examines many of the 600 bike-share systems from around the world to establish best practices for everything from how to conduct a feasibility study to how to develop a sustainable financial model.

In an infographic summarizing their work, ITDP details the top five components of a successful system:

  1. Station Density
  2. Bikes per Resident
  3. Coverage Area
  4. Quality Bikes
  5. Easy-to-Use Stations

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