Portland needs a public bicycle option

California has done it. So has Massachusetts and Georgia. Even parts of Europe did it, and China too. What have they done? They have created a public transportation system, for bicycles. And depending on the type of program used, some are completely free.

An example of one of the many community bicycle programs around the world is “bixis,” located in Montreal, Canada. Last September, an article posted by Montreal’s The Gazette titled, “It’s a bike, it’s a taxi, it’s a self-serve bixi,” made one thing clear: Why on earth hasn’t Portland gotten around to doing this?

According to the article, a “bixi” is a combination of a bike and taxi. They are free for the first 30 minutes and only $5 a day or $28 a month for natives and tourists. More so, “bixis” are “100 percent aluminum and weigh 20 kilograms and have three gears.” And it doesn’t stop there—Montreal also added a “green factor” to the production of “bixis” by locating them at 300 solar-powered stations.

For being such a “sustainable city,” as we like to call ourselves, and one that certainly shows a commitment to bikers in downtown Portland, we have yet to create a program such as the one in Montreal, or even better, like that of Carrboro, N.C., which has an estimated population of 17,931. That is about one-thirty-second the population of Portland. But I am sure there are reasons as to why Portlanders believe such a program would not work.

Many people might ask: Who would use them?

The bike culture in Portland has definitely grown in the past couple of years, and even more recently, the website BikePortland.org announced on Aug. 31 that Mayor Sam Adams, PSU President Wim Wiewel, BTA Executive Director Scott Bricker and City of Portland staff have officially introduced a new kind of bike lane for cyclists. According to the article, “the cycle track runs from SW Clay to SW Jackson and the project cost the City around $80,000. People riding bikes on that stretch will now be separated from moving motor vehicle traffic by parked cars and a three foot, striped ‘buffer-zone’ will protect them from car doors.” So now since Portland has approached such a critical mass of bikers, they needed to have their own lane.

Everybody who might want to ride a bike already has one, right? Wrong. Because “bixis” are meant to be for short trips, not for people who commute from Beaverton and take their bike on the MAX, and then climb up Broadway to lock their bike up on campus for the entire day.

But now since that is out of the way, you are now probably wondering about vandalism. Well, of course there will be vandalism, but it is no different than your custom-made bike seat, or your Velocity Deep-V 700c rims in neon yellow that are stolen multiple times every day. In fact, “bixis” would more likely not be targeted because they are specially designed to prevent theft of parts, as well as being designed to be easily recognizable. And if your bike does get stolen, you have a free “bixi” to borrow to get yourself home.

The Blue Urban Bikes (BUB) bicycle loan program in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, N.C. describes its community as ideal for getting around on a bicycle. “When you think about the time it takes to find a parking space, riding a bike simply takes less time and leaves you feeling strong, able and healthy. The BUB Fleet offers a transportation alternative to citizens so that they may play an active role in lessening the environmental footprint of our community,” according to the Recyclery, the non-profit organization that manages BUB.

And if you are worried about the funding, the “bixing” system in Barcelona, Spain, for example, is paid for mostly by local car drivers—not much different than taxes you already pay. According to the “bixing” website, this money is then used to pay 2.23 million euros annually to the system operator for a period of 10 years. This sets the yearly fee for the user at 30 euros, making it Barcelona’s cheapest public transport service. In comparison to fees in Portland, 30 euros is equal to approximately $44, about half the price of an adult Trimet monthly pass.

So if you still want to ask questions about “bixis,” I think the one you should ask is: What are we waiting for?