In case you’re curious how the City of Portland arrived at the $4.7 million figure to get the city’s slightly tardy bike share system off the ground, the city’s contract with Alta Bicycle Share provides some helpful information.

Here, for instance, is what the system’s components are projected by Alta to cost.

bike_share_cost.jpeg

So at least $3.6 million, with the balance of that $4.7 figure going toward setting the system up, hiring and training workers, etc.

Bike share bikes are built like tanks. They sacrifice swiftness and nimble handling to withstand the rigors of public use, so a little over $1,100 per bike is perhaps not surprising. They’ll all be equipped with at least three speeds, racks, lights, and locks. The city will consider upgrades like GPS and seven speeds if the money’s there, Project Manager Steve Hoyt-McBeth tells the Mercury.

Remember, none of this is coming from city coffers. Portland’s using $2 million in federal money to get off the ground and casting about for something like $6 million in corporate sponsorship cash to purchase and construct the system, and run it for five years.

I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters...

10 replies on “One More Thing on Bike Share”

  2. Didn’t you say yesterday that it needs an additional $3 million? Or is it $6 million?

    I am not in the corporate sponsorship business, but that seems like a lot of clams to sponsor something like this. That seems more like “name the city’s new sports stadium for the next 20 years” type of money.

  3. Geez, I got a fairly decent commuter bike brand new for 700 bucks. Does this program really need bikes that cost over a grand apiece? Also, cable locks? Really? Sounds like there’s about to be several hundred expensive bikes stolen if and when this ever does get off the ground.

  4. @Blabby: Good question. It’s an additional $3 million or so to pay for the system and set it up. But the contract also asks that Alta corral the money to operate the system for the five-year length of the contract. According to Hoyt-McBeth, that’s in the neighborhood of $6 million total in sponsorship money. It’s still a rough number, though.

  7. A better idea would be to create a grant program to give Portland residents that wish to start a bike rental business. At 4.7 million you could give out 188 $25,000 grants.

  8. Anyone who doesn’t think that city money has paid or will pay for this thing in part is delusional.

    Once this thing is in place, does anyone seriously think the operations will scale down or terminate if user fees and “sponsorships’ don’t cover expenses? No, PBOT will find some “contract savings” or other sort of budget contrivance to keep the consultant and government insider’s wheels greased.

  10. Now, I thought I’ve read before that there is some City money going into this project….
    Regardless, I bet the folks in the bike rental market here just love this idea.
    I wonder how many will be ‘shared’ in the winter months?

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