The Adaptive Biketown system hit the streets in Portland on July 21, 2017.
"Portland now operates the nation’s first partnership between a private bike shop, a bike share system and a city government to provide access to adaptive bicycles," reports Jonathan Maus.
Adaptive Biketown is the latest evolution of the Portland Biketown bikeshare system. Planetizen covered the announcement of the adaptive bike rollout back in March 2017.
Maus, however, sums up the importance of Adaptive Biketown after attending the program's launch on July 21:
What I realized being at the launch today is that this isn’t about access for people with disabilities. Yes, simply having these adaptive bikes available is the key. But this is really about acceptance. When a city has an official program for something it sends a signal that transcends the nuts-and-bolts details. In this case, Portland has just said: 'Everyone with a disability who hasn’t been able to ride a bike for whatever reason, come on out and give it a try. We welcome you!'
Hat tip to Angie Schmitt for sharing the news about Adaptive Biketown.
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