San Antonio is joining the ranks of hipster bike-friendly cities by unveiling our new Bike Sharing Posts, opening for business in January. For a mere $1 million in Federal funds, there will be 140 bikes available for tooling around downtown. Locals can get an annual subscription for $60.
Arithmetic time! 140 bikes at $1 million, gives $7142.86 per bike. Divide that by $60, and each bike needs 120 subscribers to put it in the black. 140 bikes by 120 subscribers gives 16,800 subscriptions. Either someone has seriously overestimated the number of brain-dead hipsters who will be cycling downtown in the summer sun, or the city expects these bikes to last a l-o-o-n-g time. What the hell, it’s not their money they spent.
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I’ve heard that the bikes-on-buses program in Houston has cost about $100 per bicycle boarding.
That’s about what a two-bike rack for a car costs. Just another example of how government disperses costs and concentrates benefits.