City's Statement on the Exclusion of Bike Sharing in the Street Furniture Contract

Hidden among the paperwork for the RFP was FAQ which explains the exclusion of bike sharing in the Street Furniture Contract. Thanks to Andrew Stober, Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Mayor's Office of Transportation for forwarding the statement.

"Bike sharing represents a new public service and it is important to secure a vendor to operate the system that is primarily motivated by assuring a successful program. The City does not believe that Street Furniture contracts are the appropriate method of financing a bike sharing program. Most Street Furniture Contract funded bike-share programs were developed before the current recession and they are financially risky for the city. American cities with such contracts are now revisiting the terms of their agreement and the newest Bike-share systems in the US are not funded by Street Furniture Contracts. The City supports the concept of a bike sharing program, but given the current financial situation these dollars are not currently available for new and reasonably expensive programs like bike sharing."