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Last summer, the future looked balmy for Portland company Alta Bicycle Share.
The launch of its New York City system, Citi Bikes, was met with national acclaim—even the naysayers were coming off as benighted cranks. It had contracts to run bike-share programs in nine cities.
And in its hometown, the Portland Bureau of Transportation was planning to ask for city loans to kickstart the service until private sponsorships were secured.
The honeymoon is over.
"The operators of New York's new bike-sharing program are taking the city for a ride," The New York Daily News declared Sunday. (It's worth noting that The Daily News is by far the more bike-friendly of the Big Apple tabloids.)
The Daily News found that Alta, which has asked for more money to expand Citi Bikes, wasn't fulfilling the maintenance and re-stocking obligations in its contract—sometimes leaving bike-rental stations unstocked for three days.
The New York Times weighed in today with a breakdown of how Citi Bikes broke down.
Here in Portland, transportation officials have been distancing themselves from their plan, reported by WW last August, of using city money to finance as much as $4.6 million of the start-up costs for Alta's Portland Bike Share.
Officials at Alta haven't yet responded to WW's request for comment. NYC Bicycle Share has issued a statement.
UPDATE, 2:30 pm: City Commissioner Steve Novick, who oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation, says Alta Bicycle Share has told city officials that snafus in New York City are unlikely to take place in Portland's proposed system.
"I'm also interested in hearing what NYC has to say," Novick tells WW in an email. "By coincidence, Polly Trottenberg, the new head of NYCDOT, is an old acquaintance of mine, and I just heard back from her that she's happy to schedule a call and talk about lessons learned. So we're trying to set that up."
UPDATE, 6:15 pm: Mia Birk, the Portland bike planner who is principal at Alta Bicycle Share, tells WW her company has "involved on a daily basis on practically every aspect of the Citi Bike business" in New York City.
"Citi Bike's challenges have in some cases arisen because of its tremendous success," Birk tells WW.
"With over 100,000 annual members—more than 4 times the members of the next biggest bike share system (Chicago's Divvy), it has been at times challenging to keep up with the system's usage and demand," she continues. "NYC Bicycle Share and Alta Bicycle Share are working closely with the New York City Department of Transportation to address these issues and improve service."
WWeek 2015