Pronto Cycle Share

Pronto Cycle Share
Overview
Owner Puget Sound Bike Share
Locale Seattle, Washington
Transit type Bicycle sharing system
Number of stations 50[1]
Chief executive Holly Houser, Executive Director
Website prontocycleshare.com
Operation
Began operation October 13, 2014 (2014-10-13)
Operator(s) Motivate
Number of vehicles 500[1]

Pronto Cycle Share, branded as Pronto!, is a bicycle sharing system in Seattle, Washington. The system began operations on October 13, 2014, with 500 bicycles available in 50 stations covering Downtown, South Lake Union, Belltown, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Eastlake, Uptown and the University District. It is operated by Motivate (formerly Alta Bike Share) and owned by the non-profit Puget Sound Bike Share, a private-public partnership controlled by a 13-member board that includes representatives from local transportation and transit agencies as well as corporate sponsors. The bicycles were manufactured by Arcade Cycles in La Roche-sur-Yon, France and are branded with the logo of Alaska Airlines, the presenting sponsor of the program.[2]

The system ran into funding issues in 2015, when it was revealed to be insolvent, and was bought by the City of Seattle for $1.4 million on March 14, 2016.[3] The city will shut down the program on March 31, 2017, and replace it with a new bikeshare system using a vendor with electric bicycles.[4]

Membership and fees

Map of stations

Participation is based on either annual memberships ($85) or short-term passes of either 24 hours ($8) or 3 days ($16).[5]

Helmet law compliance

Pronto Cycle Share is the first public bicycle sharing system in the United States to operate where a bicycle helmet law applies to cyclists of all ages.[6] To address this, the system has installed helmet dispensers at each kiosk. At the system's launch in October 2014 the helmets were available for free on the honor system.[7][8] A rental system was put into effect starting in Spring 2015.[7][8]

Sponsorship

Primary sponsorship for the system is provided by Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, who paid $2.5 million for a 5-year sponsorship that includes their logo on the bikes themselves.[9] Seattle Children's Hospital, Group Health, REI, Vulcan Real Estate and Fred Hutch are secondary sponsors.[10]

Technology

The Pronto bike share system technology, both hardware and software, is provided by 8D Technologies, who also supply the server technology for BIXI Montreal, Citi Bike in New York City, Santander Cycles in London, Capital Bikeshare in Washington DC, and others.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About Pronto". Pronto Cycle Share. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Say hello to Pronto! Emerald City Cycle Share". Seattle Bike Blog. May 5, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  3. ↑ Beekman, Daniel (March 14, 2016). "Seattle City Council votes to buy struggling Pronto bike-share program". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  4. ↑ Bush, Evan (November 23, 2016). "Pronto bike share will be gone soon, so what's next?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ Herz, Ansel (October 13, 2014). "Seattle Bicycle Share Launched Today! Here's What You Need to Know.". The Stranger. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ DeLuca, Nick (October 14, 2014). "Seattle's Inaugural Bike Share System is the Nation's First to Distribute Helmets". BostInno. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Chen, Natasha; Guerrerro, Maria (October 13, 2014). "Seattle bike share launches as mayor eyes expansion". KIRO TV News. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Trujillo, Joshua (October 13, 2014). "Seattle Bike Share Kicks Off". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (May 5, 2014). "$2.5M from Alaska Airlines to help bike-share program roll". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Gearing up: Mayor Murray, Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden kick off Pronto bicycle-sharing service". Puget Sound Business Journal. October 13, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
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