Tell the DOT Where to Put Bike Share Stations; Events Saturday and Tuesday

The city’s “Bike Share" program begins this summer, and in the next few days there are two chances for Prospect Heighters to let officials know where you think the bike racks should go.

The short-term, rent-a-cycle initiative will start with 10,000 bikes at 600 stations around Manhattan and Brooklyn. Users will be able to pick up a bike from an automated station and return it at a station near their destination. It will be run by a private company, Alta Bicycle Share, and be funded by private sponsorship and user fees.

Pricing for NYC hasn’t been set, but in Washington, D.C., you pay an initial membership fee which ranges from $7 for a 24-hour pass to $75 for an annual pass. After that, the first 30 minutes of each trip is free, and then it’s between $1.50 and $2 for the remainder of the first hour (depending on your membership).

However, the program is clearly designed for very short trips. After the first hour, prices increase steeply: It’s between $4.50 and $6 for between 60 and 90 minutes, $10.50 to $14 for 90 minutes to 2 hours, and, skipping ahead, $64.50 to $86 for between 6 and 6.5 hours. Prices in Boston are similar.

Help the DOT decide where to put a station in one of four ways:

• Today, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., join area bike advocates to survey for appropriate locations for the bike racks in Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and Weeksville. Spots that meet the DOT specifications will be included on an application for the bike share stations that will got to the DOT and Community Board 8. Volunteers are greatly needed, even if you can only spare 30 minutes. If you can make it, contact Chris McNally at chris.mcnally@pobox.com.  

• On Tuesday, there will be a DOT-run community workshop, where Prospect Heights and Crown Heights residents can hear about the program, see a map of the DOT’s proposed sites for the area and then give feedback on where they think the stations should go. There will be two one-hour sessions starting at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Ave. (at Montgomery Street), President's Conference Center, room B1008.