Bike Sharing Experiment Launched In New York City

"The five-day project is sponsored by the Forum for Urban Design, a group of architects, designers and planners, and by the gallery, near Kenmare Street and Cleveland Place. Twenty bicycles are available free, for up to 30 minutes, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until tomorrow. Bicycles can be returned to the gallery or dropped off at other nearby sites like Washington Square Park and Tompkins Square Park.

Displays at the gallery describe eight European cities, including Barcelona, Spain, and Lyon, France, where bicycle-share programs have thrived. The project is designed to gather data on the viability of such a program in New York.

David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban Design, said, "This is our attempt to imagine bike sharing in New York City.""

"New York City officials, who are aware of Mr. Haskell's goals, are trying to determine if a ride-share program would work.

"We are studying it with interest," said Molly Gordy, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Transportation. "The big questions for us are how to combat theft and vandalism, which are two problems prevalent in New York." Borrowers in the test program have to leave credit card information. Ms. Gordy has been closely following the progress of a bike-share program in San Francisco. Similar programs are being considered in Portland, Ore., Chicago and Washington, where it may begin as early as September."