More bikes — and less cars and trucks — around Fort Worth? Less crashes, less pollution, and less congestion? More people exercising? Who could be against that?
Fort Worth has just received a $1 million USDOT grant to help start a new bike share program in April. This is great news — if people use the bikes. I wanted to publicize this program to help get the word out.
There will be 300 bicycles and 30 bike racks around downtown, West Seventh, hospitals, Stockyards, TCU, and TWU. People will pay by swiping a membership or credit card. The heavy duty bicycles will have three speeds and come equipped with locks, baskets, and lights.The program will be run by a private company and should pay for itself.
Bike sharing has been around fror 40 years and successfully used in almost every major city (165) city around the world (the photo is from the Washington D.C.program) so it’s about time we got this. As I said, how can you be against a cheap, clean, environmentally friendly, and healthy transportation alternative in a rapidly growing city of 750,000?
In addition, bright green bike lanes will be painted around town and in intersections to make our streets safer for cyclists.
That’s also great news, since I’ve represented bicyclists who have been hit by cars and trucks and their injuries are often devastating. And I have ridden thousands of miles on a bicycle trying to keep in shape as I get older and think that this program may encourage others to discover how much fun — and advantageous — cycling can be.