Alta Bicycle Share Announces New Positions and Aims for Philly

Alta Bicycle Share a spinoff of Portland's Alta Planning and Design has announced that Philadelphia based Alison Cohen will be assuming responsibilities as President of Alta Bicycle Share, while Eric Gilliland has been named the General Manager of Capital Bikeshare, the nation’s largest bike sharing system in Washington, DC and Arlington, VA.

Alison Cohen has led Alta Bicycle Share from being a startup, to managing the largest bikesharing system in the nation with over 40 people on staff across two continents in one year. She leads all executive functions for Alta Bicycle Share from the office in Philadelphia, where she was born and raised. As a former professional tennis player, Goldman Sachs financial analyst with a Master’s degree from MIT, she started her own business in bike sharing prior to leading Alta Bicycle Share. She graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1992.

Cohen's quote in the press release is intriguing: “I feel privileged to help lead a transportation revolution in the nation and throughout the world. Public bike sharing fundamentally changes the way people get around cities, and is an incredible complement to already existing transit systems. I look forward to bringing our lessons learned in other East Coast cities such as Washington DC and Boston, and helping to implement this system in Philadelphia. I want to continue to help Philadelphia improve the economic vitality and quality of life for all its residents, and be on the cutting edge as a leader in becoming a healthy and environmentally sustainable city.”

Gilliland comes to Capital Bikeshare with a wealth of experience in bicycle transportation and organizational development. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), an organization made up of the transportation departments of 15 major U.S. cities to improve communications between city departments of transportation and facilitate the exchange of best practices across a variety of transportation modes, including cycling.

Prior to NACTO, Gilliland spent ten years with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), the last five as the association’s director.

Alta Bicycle Share consults, launches, and operates bike sharing systems globally. Currently, they operate Melbourne Bike Share in Australia and Capital Bikeshare, and will be launching two more systems in the U.S. in 2011. They are working closely with Alta Planning + Design on bike share feasibility studies for Providence, RI, Chicago, IL, and Seattle, WA.