PORTLAND – The Portland City Council Wednesday approved a bike sharing plan proposed by the transportation bureau.
Bike Portland announced the 4-1 vote passing the proposal.
Similar to car-sharing, bike sharing programs offer users access to a fleet of bicycles in high and medium density areas. They both also require users to become members, according to information on the transportation bureau's Web site.
More: Bike sharing Q & A
Users check out a bike by credit card, membership card, and/or by cell phone at a docking station and pay per amount of time used.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation recently conducted a study of the potential effectiveness of bike sharing in the city.
Metro would also have to approve the plan, in order to access $2 million in federal funding that would be needed, to help pay for it. Another $2 million would need to come from private investors, through a private-public partnership.
In a city known for its growing number of bicycle commuters, many Portlanders told KGW they were in support of the idea, but questioned the cost to taxpayers.
"I think increasing bike transportation is a great thing, but you know, there are a lot of things that money could be going to now,” said Portlander Liz Joffe.
“It makes Portland at the forefront of biking & we’ve done so much already for bike commuters that I think it’s a really good thing," added Nora Beck.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz has already said she will vote against it. "There’s a lot of needs in the neighborhoods for sidewalks, for crosswalks, for bicycle facilities that promote safety, which I would rather fund than a bike sharing program," she said.
(KGW reporter Erica Heartquist contributed to this report.)
