On a peaceful plaza in otherwise chaotic Manhattan, Dan Goldman and Stephanie Ofreneo are heading to a Saturday brunch. But they're not hailing a cab, nor descending into the subway.
They're borrowing a bike.
Bike share systems are popping up across America, from Boston to San Antonio and, next year, in Portland. The Portland Bureau of Transportation's system was partly funded by a $2 million allocation of Metro's share of federal transportation money.
Portland's system, expected to launch next year, will be similar to Capital Bike share in Washington, D.C., and CitiBike in New York, which Goldman and Ofreneo are using to head to their brunch.
"Going cross-town, it's been really convenient," Goldman said.
What's notable about Goldman and Ofreneo is that they're not avid cyclists. They don't own bikes, because in Manhattan, there's nowhere to store them.
So they left their West Village home to head to the CitiBike station at Father Demo Square. They'll wind their way through Manhattan's streets – many of which are without any semblance of a bike lane – toward their weekend meal.
CitiBike isn't door-to-door service. Users like Goldman and Ofreneo drop their bikes off at a different CitiBike station. The system then logs their trip and how long they had their bikes – the first 30 minutes are free.
"You can go somewhere, drop it off and then take a cab back wherever you need to go," Ofreneo said. "It's not a commitment to the upkeep of it."
Going for a ride
Bike share systems in both Washington and New York use similar systems to get riders rolling. Frequent riders can buy an annual pass that comes with an electronic key for stations. Less-frequent riders can buy one-day or multi-day passes.
For the latter, users approach a touchscreen terminal at the futuristic bike share stations, swipe their credit card, verify the terms of service and their age and are issued a receipt and a five-digit code.
That code is active for a few minutes, and when punched into buttons on a stall at a bike share station, a bike is unlocked and ready for use.
The bikes are simple and comfortable. They come with an adjustable seat, three gears, a bell, a flashing LED headlight and a basket with a bungee cord to latch down bags in the front. (The bungee cord is not particularly effective at holding a bunch of bananas in the basket, as this reporter discovered).
What they don't come with may seem strange to frequent cyclists: helmets, locks and a place to hold a beverage.
Diane Dulken, a spokeswoman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said locks aren't included because bikes are intended to be docked at a station near the destination.
Bike share stations feature easy-to-use terminals to accept payment and release bikes to riders.
As for the helmets? The absence of head protection was troubling to Jessica, a tourist from Hong Kong who declined to give her last name when interviewed at a bike share station on Fifth Avenue in New York, in the shadow of the Empire State Building.
Jessica said bike share systems she's used in other cities, like Melbourne, Australia, make it easy for riders get and use helmets.
"They require you to wear a helmet, which I feel is a lot safer," she said. "A lot of people just leave helmets on bikes. It's a (simple) helmet, but it's a helmet. I like that more, because as a rookie rider, I feel safer."
Dulken said the people planning the Portland system are still looking at options involving head protection as they prepare for the system's planned launch.
Too many bikes, not enough bikes
Safety isn't the only issue bike share riders face as they get set to go for a spin. Finding a bike can, at times, be problematic.
On a sweltering July morning near Washington's Thomas Circle, a bike share location had just one bike, and it had a flat tire. A surplus of bikes can be just as problematic for riders – if a station doesn't have any open stalls for dropping off a bike, riders have to find another nearby location to drop off their bike.
Apps for smartphones can tell potential riders where nearby bike share stations are, and how many bikes are available. Those same programs can tell riders how many stalls are open at nearby stations. But in the case of the flat tire bike, the app showed that a bike was available.
Goldman and Ofreneo said they'd been to three other bike share stations before finding available bikes for their ride to lunch.
Bike share also has a limited reach, and in some places, the distribution of stations raises equity concerns. None of CitiBike's 300-plus stations are in The Bronx or Queens, and poorer, outer neighborhoods of Brooklyn aren't covered, either.
According to the Wall Street Journal, areas served by CitiBike are 56 percent white; the parts of New York City without bike share are 30 percent white.
Dulken said the system will focus on the central city in Portland, indicating that more diverse areas outside of the core would be left out.
"The central city and the areas where we're starting are some of the highest density mixed use neighborhoods," she said.
The key to success for the system, she said, is density, and whether stations can generate a lot of trips.
"Once we have that in place, that allows expansion," she said.
Dulken said that the system will benefit the city equitably because of a commitment by the project's private-sector leader, Alta Planning and Design, to employ people of various income levels and people who have not traditionally been included in the workforce.
Mia Birk, the president of Alta, referred an interview request to Dulken.
Exposing new audiences
Bike share exposes new riders to cycling as an option for getting around, and makes it easier for tourists to move about the city, particularly in areas not easily accessible by transit.
But how will it change Portland's already-close relationship with the bike?
As they got set to ride off for brunch, Goldman and Ofreneo said they are more aware of issues faced by cyclists now that they're riding on the streets of Manhattan.
"Being new at biking, I'm glad when you get your annual pass they tell you the rules," Ofreneo said. "I didn't know there are certain ways to bike around."
"I hope they can add more bike lanes," Goldman added.
That's part of the intent of the system, Dulken said.
"What we've seen before is that there are a lot of people in Portland who are interested, but haven't gotten started with bicycling as an option," she said. "Bike share can introduce people to bicycling as an option, and they can have a lot of fun doing it."