I'm going to represent the bicyclist that would typically use the bike share program. I don't wear any fancy biking apparel and I don't like biking in heavy traffic. I'm most likely hopping on my bike for short trips to run errands, meet up with friends, get to work or go to a museum. I want bicycling to be easy and fun.

If we're going to have a successful bike share program, we need to make sure that our bike lanes are going to accomodate it. We need to have access for bicycles to and from the light rail and the Grand Canal (which is the perfect place for biking without traffic) and we need to make sure our existing bike lanes are safe.

The 3rd and 5th Avenue bike lanes are a great way to get to and from downtown from Midtown at Thomas. The 3rd Avenue bike lane will also get you further North, but does sort of stop and start. These would be even better if they were green lanes and they should have a buffer between the parallel parking on those streets. I've been trying to find good and safe ways to go East and West in Midtown but it's a bit of a challenge, which is why I have been suggesting in many posts that we connect the bike lanes on Osborn and also make it a green lane. I do find that Virginia is a good bike route starting at 5th Avenue and heading East. And The new bicycle boulevard added many new miles of improvements to downtown and heading West, so that's a very good thing.

15th Avenue has a nice, long bike lane and is a good option for Westsiders to get North and South, but it needs to have more presence as a bike lane so that it's not mistaken as a shoulder as it often is. It seems that many people still choose to bike on the sidewalk along this road, so a green lane would be most welcome and would enforce that bikes belong.

To be successful, bike sharing should focus on key areas where we can use our existing facilities and where bike sharing will be most used. This can create a solid system as we plan for expansion and more lanes.