Slog
News & ArtsMonday, September 13, 2010
City Public Bikes Hit West Seattle
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 3:08 PM
Say you're stranded at a West Seattle bus stop and it's late or your bus is late or both. Then you notice a neon green bike parked nearby. On the bike is written something to the effect of, "For public use. Please return to any bus stop when done. For maintenance, contact Guy" and then lists contact information.
That bike is part of West Seattle's humble green bikes project (not to be confused with this Green Bike Project), which commenced without a mission statement or fanfare—just one man and five hideously green bikes—less than a month ago at the Admiral/California street junction.
"In West Seattle, the bus service sucks—especially at nights and on weekends," says Guy Olson, the man behind the bikes. Olson, a regular cyclist, says he co-opted the idea from Portland's Yellow Bike Project (which thrived briefly in the 90's). The idea is to give people a free alternative to buses and taxis in the area, whether from the store or from bars, so they can get home. "Just grab a bike, ride it until you're done, and try to return it."
Try is the operative word, here. Portland's bike project eventually failed miserably because many of the 600 hideous yellow bikes in circulation broke down, were stripped, or stolen. But Olson doesn't have a problem with his bikes disappearing, and he's willing to provide maintenance. "As long as somebody’s not throwing them away and people are riding safe, I'm happy." His only goal is to see people using them. "A lot of people haven’t ridden in so long, this is a cheap way for them to rediscover how great it is to get on a bike," he explains.
Olson, who works as a West Seattle gardener, says he's put 16 green bikes into circulation over the last few weeks. He gets the old bikes—mountain bikes, road bikes, and beach cruisers—from friends and donations. He doesn't keep track of where the bikes go from there.
"A few guys have contacted me about maintenance, so I know they're still in circulation and being used," he says. He also doesn't charge for upkeep, ("I just drive down to wherever they are and fix them up"). Olson dreams big of expanding his grassroots bike program into Georgetown and Ballard but says for that to happen, he'd need help. For more info, go here.
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Where'd that sexy bike photo come from?
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I love the idea of this, and the fact that this guy is just tossing something great out there and hoping it takes off is amazing. I do share Fnarf's concern, though. What happens if/when someone on one of these bikes gets hurt? Doesn't have to be because the rider is inebriated. Could be the bike is in need of a tune-up, could be operator error, could be eville car driver not paying attention....no matter the cause, I could see someone looking for an easy target for blame.
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Well, first of all, their lawyer would advise them not bother with the suit because Guy Olson doesn't have enough assets to make him a worthwhile target.
Should they decide to press on anyway, the local media would proceed to burn them a new asshole for going after a do-gooder citizen.
If they still persisted, the judge would promptly dismiss the suit because the risks of riding a bicycle are known and obvious.
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I very much like the idea, but question whether it can be truly maintained either: a) for long, or b) in an "open-ended" space (eg. a city). As opposed to a "closed" space, like Burning Man or the Oregon Country Fair.
Culturally speaking, it does give people the opportunity to exercise their best morality. Hopefully helping push us, however incrementally, towards a more civil society.
Good luck, Guy!
18
, who cares- it's a genuine effort in the right direction. GO GREEN GUY, GO!
Like it or not bikes need to be well maintained or they can become dangerous quickly, and it can be hard to tell when they are or not. I've seen the bikes he's using for this project and I could definitely see someone hopping on one and not realizing the brakes are no good until it's too late. People could easily get hurt.
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That being said, the best bike programs are the ones that use cheap comfort bikes made up to be hideous, and have some dedicated method to payment and theft prevention. The honor system just doesn't work.
Hopefully these bikes get some good use.
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