Cult Modern

The City of Minneapolis just moved up on the list of most bike friendly cities in the U.S. to the #1 spot, according to Bicycling.com and adding to the many factors that put them atop this well respected list is the new Nice Ride Minnesota program. These hip new “public” bikes are a part of a new no-profit program whose mission is “To enhance the quality of our urban life by providing a convenient, easy-to-use bike sharing program that will provide residents and visitors a healthy, fun, different way to get around town.” The program features over 1000 bikes available at 60 docking stations around Minneapolis. The Kiosks allow riders to purchase time on one of the bikes (using a credit card kiosk) ranging in price from $5 for 24hrs (plus a trip fee for trips over 30 mins) to $60 for a 1 year pass (plus trip fees for trips over 30 mins). Obviously in Minnesota the bike season is a little shorter than in many other parts of the country, and bikes are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from April to November. This is a really interesting program and one I think will likely work well, plus the bikes are these very cool looking modern designs that actually look some what sculptural when docked at one of the stations—Very Cool.