Denver Bike Sharing to Dan Maes: Thank you

• Robert is correct about the rates...but he's missing the point. This program is not aimed at people who rent bikes by the day...there are plenty of other businesses out there that do that. The goal of this one is to make it possible for someone who wants to make it from one location to another downtown...but doesn't need a bicycle all day. The rates are set the way they are to specially DISCOURAGE people from renting all day. This keeps more bicycles available for more people to share. As far as the the Utopian dream of a free bike sharing program...as far as I know, that type of program has failed miserably in virtually every city around the world that has tried it because 1) The bikes are stolen and 2) there is no adequate funding to keep the bikes maintained and 3) There's no way to ensure that enough bikes stay in the area where people need them. Because all these programs did not work, yet there are enough people out there that would like a system that does work...these 2nd and 3rd generation "bike sharing" programs like B-Cycle have been developed to allow people who use the system as intended, to use bicycles for there point-to-point trips around downtown...for the relatively low price of little more than $65 a year.

• Fletch, you are one more Denverite with a serious deficiency in reading comprehension -- I'm at no risk from the B-cycle scam, but many other people don't read the fine print and are penalized (which you think is great, no doubt). Yes, the terms are disclosed on the web and at the kiosks, which serves as no excuse for it, though. Chris, my facts are not skewed -- to use a B-cycle one must first acquire a membership ($5/day, $65/year), then pay for any use of a B-cycle of more than one half hour. The half-hourly rate after two hours is quadruple that of the cost of the second half hour. If you keep a B-cycle for nine hours you are charged the daily rate -- $65. If you lose one you are charged $1000 (if you've ever priced cheap new bicycles or functional used ones, you know that they can be had for less than one tenth of that price). Thanks for the link. I believe that it is in the public interest to sponsor and even fund true bike-sharing.

• These comments make me think of a great demotivational poster I saw last week. It says, "Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded." Cheers!

• Robert and epigonigrp have their facts a little skewed, but raise some constructive criticisms about the B-cycle program, and hardly deserve to be called out as "morons." The advertising, while completely natural for the marriage between business and government, is still distasteful and discouraging. And Robert's right, its not a "bike share", its a "bike rental" and the program should be very blunt about that (since "rent" has become a modern social scourge the moneyed class dreamed up to concentrate wealth further yet). I also think that this is at best a step in the right direction, and at worst clever co-opting of a more progressive bike-use movement. If we could get public funds to support "Derailer" (http://www.derailerbicyclecollective.org/dbc/) and broaden that program, Denver's residents in general would be far better off.

• Huh...I didn't realize that you could run a smear campaign against yourself. Maes and McInnis are innovative....I'll give 'em that.

• Robert and epigonigrp...check some facts before you spout your ignorance. Here's how B-cycle works. You need a membership to get a bike, then you pay per usage time. If you only want a day pass, its $5 then you pay usage fees. If you return the bike in under an hour, its free and you only paid the day membership fee of $5 and you can continue to rent bikes all day. This $65 outrage you quote is a yearly membership, which mean you pay it once and only pay usage fees when you use it. Again, keep it under an hour, or change bikes in an hour, and you only pay $65 for the year. Don't be afraid of seeking out answers. Here, I'll help you out: http://denver.bcycle.com/pricing.aspx

• You can rent bikes from a bike shop for $15.00 a day. Why would anyone pay $65.00 just to appear as though they are in on the newest thing. Without a doubt the bikes will wind up stolen within a month and that will be the end of that. But hey, for all you people more interested in form than substance, knock yourself out to the tune of $65.00 per day.

• Robert, you are a moron. It's all clear as can be on the website and at the kiosks. If we were to make B-Cycles "Robert" proof, there would need to be someone hand holding new riders each step of the way. I suggest taking a moment to READ the directions, and appreciating this great amenity that helps make Denver a world class city!

• At the risk of making B-cycle seem like some middle path, I think it is a bad idea because "bike-sharing" means something altogether different to me than using credit cards to pay $65/year for "membership" and $65/day for the use of a bicycle! I just saw a locked B-cycle off the 16th St. Mall last night -- the renter (NOT "sharer") will have a rude awakening when the statement arrives. This is a very predatory sort of bike-sharing! We are permitting public right-of-way to be used for a bike rental scheme and for advertising. "Intermodal transportation" sounds so very sophisticated and progressive, but it fails to obscure the essential deficiency of this program's conception. Why not use SMALL amounts of public funds to train a few out of Denver's vast population of disaffected dropouts and high school graduates lacking a ninth grade education to repair bicycles, and use donated and low-cost used bicycles in a volunteer-run program of actual bike-sharing? Denver B-cycle should remove its credit card machines now, or remove its advertising-laden bikes from the public right-of-way.

• This idiot mde "Worst persons" last night, was ridiculed by Mathews and Schultz yesterday, and to make his "misstep" even worse, his campaign said his remarks were taken out of context. WTF? It's audio! Even wadhams is running for the nearest phone booth. And as if that isn't enough, miles is reportedly now leading in the rethug primary. It definately tells us a bunch about the zaniness and slimyness of his 2 primary opponents if this twit is ahead of them. But what it tells us about the tin foil hat wearing republicans that support any of them is even more illuminating.

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