By Bruce Ewert — Over ten thousand trips in only 70 days. That is an impressively fast uptake for the new GREENbike Bike Share program here in Salt Lake City But the quote of the day regarding the nascent bike sharing program has to be this one from the comments on a Satl Lake Tribune article: “I was waiting to cross Main St. last week when a tourist rode up on a [GREENbike], pointed to the Temple and asked what that building was. She had a bike first.” Bike share has come to Salt Lake City and it looks like it’s here to stay.
According to Director Ben Bolte, as of June 24th (the program began on April 8th) there have been over 10,000 trips made with no flat tires, no bikes stolen and no accidents. The most popular station is the Key Bank station on Main St., but several others are right behind it:
Checkouts (Cumulative)
- Key Bank 1364
- Rocky Mtn. 1313
- Tour of Utah 1205
- Squatters 1160
- Harmons 1059
Returns (Cumulative)
- Tour of Utah 1283
- Key Bank 1256
- Rocky Mtn. 1234
- Squatters 1136
- Exchange 1055
There are already 237 annual members and more than 2494 daily users, well over 5000 users total. With over ten thousand trips already Salt Lake compares very favorably to Boulder’s program, which recorded over 17,000 trips in its first full year of operation.
Bolte has mapped out another 30 potential bike share stations downtown. SLC’s GREENbikeSHARE program has been so successful thus far that enough funding has been secured in 2014 to add an additional six stations in addition to the two new stations and existing expansions taking place this August. The majority of the funding is coming through private sponsorships with the City’s Redevelopment Aogency and Transportation Division covering a significant portion of the infrastructure expenses. The 2013-14 proposed Salt Lake City budget allocates almost $250,000 to develop the bike share program through the RDA fund.
With the Clean Air Challenge coming up in July the GREENbike program will make it even easier to leave the car parked for short trips around downtown. The bikes have front handlebar baskets to haul grocery-bag size items, and the rental fee includes a stylish green helmet for safety. It is incredibly easy to use a GREENbike, just grab, go and drop off at your destination station.
For more information on how to access and use GREENbikes see greenbikeslc.org/ Take a GREENbike out yourself the next time you are traveling around in downtown Salt Lake City.
