B-Cycle rolls out bikes and new prices in Madison

The bike-sharing system installed in Madison last year will open the 2012 season with more bikes and new prices, starting April 1.

B-Cycle, part of Trek Bicycle Corp., lowered its daily rental fee from $10 to $5, held its annual membership at $65 and added a special rate of $20 for University of Wisconsin - Madison students.

The special pricing is sponsored by University of Wisconsin - Madison Transportation Services. Madison B-cycle has four stations located on the UW campus.

In its second year, Madison B-cycle will add eight new bike-sharing stations and expand its fleet to 270 bikes, available for short-term rental. Expansion will continue through the summer to reach the full build-out: 35 stations and 350 bikes.

After debuting in May of 2011 with six stations located on the Isthmus, B-cycle grew to 27 locations across downtown Madison.

According to B-Cycle's numbers, 6,500 members rode nearly 39,600 miles in the first year. Those bikers saved 2,844 gallons of gasoline and kept 103,000 pounds of carbon monoxide from being released into the city's air. The B-cycle station located at the University of Wisconsin's Memorial Union saw more traffic than any other in 2011.

In a related development, the Wisconsin-based firm lost out on the bidding to be the bike-sharing vendor in Chicago.

According to this piece in the Chicago Tribune, city officials awarded the contract to Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., of Portland and its equipment manufacturer, Public Bike System Co. They will provide 3,000 bicycles available at 300 solar-powered self-service pick-up and drop-off locations this summer. The program will be expanded to a total of 5,000 bikes and 500 docking stations by 2014, city officials have said.

City Hall estimates the total capital and start-up costs at $21 million, adding that $18 million will be covered by federal funding aimed at improving air quality and easing traffic congestion and the remaining $3 million will be provided by the city.