Montreal bails out "bikeys" with $108 million
My favorite Portland blogger provides both a link to the story and a succinct summary of it's possible significance for Portland:
Up that way, the city has voted to bestow a $108 million bailout package on the private company that's running bike sharing. At 5,000 bikes in the system, that works out to $21,600 per bike. It's hard to believe we don't have this in Portland. It's obviously bikey, it privatizes profit potential while socializing risk, and its business model makes no sense. That's right up the Sam Rand Twins' alley. I guess none of the Goldschmidt people wanted to get into it.
San Francisco must be working on a similar program, and, sure enough, a quick search of the Bicycle Coalition's website tells us that our bankrupt city is getting in the bike-share game:
The first regional bike sharing program in the country is coming to San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Bike sharing is a great way to help more people take short trips by bike and to connect bicycle rides with transit trips. The initial pilot will launch with 1,000 bikes in 2011 with 500 of those bikes here in San Francisco along key corridors like Market Street and at major transit hubs. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is now hiring a Bicycle Sharing Program Manager to plan and oversee San Francisco's Bicycle Sharing project.
Naturally, such an important position requires a six-figure salary here in Progressive Land. Deficit? What deficit?
The MTA used to post the list of folks who worked in the Bicycle Program---there used to be nine on the staff---but they took it down some months ago.
Labels: City Government, Cycling, Portland
posted by Rob Anderson @ 2:47 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Wow the MTA has (or had) nine people devoted to bicycle related things? You might want to add to that list the number of people in the SF City Planning Office that have a portion of their FTE related to the same. I would call my District Supervisor Jane Kim and let her know that in these dire (City's $306M budget deficit and on-going structural deficits) times this is way over the top, but unfortunately that will fall on deaf ears.
They should take your taxes to pay for the bike share program. Oh wait, you don't pay taxes since you rent.
Renters like me pay sales taxes that fund the SFCTA, which spends money on bike projects, along with the millions it's throwing into the bottomless pit known as the Central Subway.
Jane Kim is a political cipher and an opportunist. She'll never go against conventional wisdom---unless the prog pack first leads the way.
Lies. You are on a fixed income so your "contribution" in sales taxes is less then the cost to fill up a gas tank. All REAL San Francisco residents, like myself, pay taxes through ownership. You are a leach on the system but yet continue to bitch about the city. You are no better than the bike nuts
I guess putting you on par with bike nuts really hits home. Pay your fair share or shut the fuck up. You are a leech.
And I take issue with how the city spends my hard in money. I make my peace at the ballot box, not as some hack blogger.
I'm not "on a par" with bike nuts like you, because you're too chickenshit to put your name on your opinions. But you vote! Oh, Anon, you're so bold!
Funny how you label me a bike nut. No Rob, I pay taxes. I fill up my gas tank like a real American.
You feel threatened and start to throw your "insults". A sign of weakness.
You don the "chickenshit" label with your anonymity. You don't think it's "weak" to insult someone anonymously? What are you afraid of? I haven't owned a car in more than 20 years, by the way.
Haven't owned a car, haven't paid taxes. More sucking on the teat of Uncle Sam.
And there's my name, happy now? Why should I have to put it up to have my opinions respected? I'm not hiding, I pay my taxes.
There, was that so hard? Your insults are the issue, unless you think your contempt for me is supposed to be a "respected" opinion. You were "hiding" behind anonymity until now, assuming that's actually your name. You seem to take a great deal of moral credit for paying your taxes. Good boy, Hank. Maybe your scoutmaster will give you a special merit badge for simply obeying the law.
I went to work full-time when I was 17-years-old and paid taxes for almost 50 years before I retired a few years ago.
Instead of lamely insulting me, why don't you try to make a substantive comment on the post?
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/06/06/dropping-old-scare-tactics-times-finds-new-ways-to-sow-bike-share-doubt/
Hey Rob, you know, normally I spit in your direction, but I actually agree here.
There is no need for some fucker to get paid $100k to coordinate a bike program, nor should there be a bike program other than the basic bike plan (sadly delayed by Rob) and placement of infrastructure.
I like bike sharing in general, but let JC Decaux take the risk.
Gee, thanks for not spitting in my direction, Pogo. You have met the enemy, and it's not always me. Oh, yes, how sad it was---and what an imposition!---to expect the city to follow the law and do an environmental review of the ambitious Bicycle Plan. But, speaking of the overpaid, it gave the overpaid drones in the City Attorney's office the opportunity to drag out the litigation for as long as possible while they were paid by city taxpayers.
Do you need to see my long form birth certificate?
How do we even know you are Rob Anderson? You are a parody of yourself most of the time. Is this your blog or is that new dearestdistrict5 the real you?
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