Looks like New York City may join D.C.'s ranks, according to the New York Times' City Room blog:
One year after a nonprofit group hosted a five-day bicycle-sharing experiment, the New York City Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday that it was considering creating such a program on a permanent basis.
"If feasible and adopted, such a program would create a network of publicly accessible bicycles at minimal cost, and could provide an important transportation link at transit hubs and commercial and social areas greatly increasing mobility citywide," the department said in a news release.
The announcement signaled yet another example of how the Bloomberg administration is trying to find ways to ease congestion and vehicle emissions and make the city's streets more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists, despite the defeat in Albany of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's ambitious congestion pricing proposal, which would have charged drivers $8 a day for operating vehicles in the most congested parts of the city.
Incidentally, it's not all full-steam ahead for these kinds of bike-sharing programs. Portland, arguably the most bike-friendly city in the country, recently ditched its bike-sharing plans after failing to find a vendor.
Photo via Flickr, from sierrams
