Bike-share starts in Madison, struggles in Miami

The start-up of a bicycle rental system in Madison has received mostly positive reviews, while a similar system in Miami has struggled with a slightly different business model.

The Miami Herald reports that DecoBike has fallen well short of generating the advertising revenue it had projected, after four months of operation. Like the B-cycle system in Madison, the Miami bike-share charges for usage, but also counted on money from sales of ads on its bikes.

But the program has yet to generate even 20 percent of its anticipated advertising revenue, according to Colby Reese, chief marketing operator of DecoBike, who said that efforts to bring in more money have been stymied by limited advertising options.

In Madison, 24 of the bike rental stations have opened and the early numbers show 3,500 trips and 1,600 memberships. Ten more stations will be added by the fall, bringing the total number of bikes available to 350.

Dave Schlabowske, the director of communications with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, kicked the tires on B-cycle and rated it "excellent."

The B-cycle in Madison has the strong backing of the parent company, Trek Bicycles, and appears to have a higher rental fee than the counterpart in Miami.