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Blog Bike-sharing, again

We talked here recently about Velib, the Parisian bike-sharing service, and how excellent it would be to have something similar in Seattle environs. Apparently I’m not the only person to think of this… Michele, at the Washington State Department of Transportation, informed me that the University of Washington is launching a similar on-campus program with automated rentals of electric bikes, in partnership with Scootabella Incorporated and Intrago Mobility Corp. of Boulder, Colorado. First in the nation. We are so cutting-edge.
AND it’s electric.
Sure, you can strap your own bike to the Metro bus, or just ride it hither and yon. But while some Huskies may not mind getting all fragrantly sweaty, many cubicle dwellers may. And that’s where the “electric” part hits the jackpot. As “Dr. Go” explains in this Intrago “Last Mile” video.
Intrago CEO Larry Blankenship confirms that the UW pilot program is set to launch this coming fall. Many kudos to UW Director of Transportation Services Josh Cavanaugh, who was instrumental in advancing the pilot progam, according to Blankenship. UW’s U-Pass program already provides a variety of incentives for commuters to cut single-vehicle travel.
Eventually, says Blankenship, the idea is to expand automated electric bike rentals to a range of metro locations within test markets such as Seattle. Like Velib, this would make intra-city walking a more attractive proposition, as well as transit.
Sign me up!
TECHNORATI TAGS: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/VEHICLE TRIP REDUCTION, ELECTRIC BICYCLES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, INTRAGO, WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION"rel="tag"VEHICLE TRIP REDUCTION, ELECTRIC BICYCLES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, INTRAGO, WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION