Bike Share in Bellevue?

A couple of days ago I got a call from a developer in Bellevue. Turns out they have filed a "Request for Information" with the City of Bellevue concerning a Bike Share program. The first part of the process is setting up a meeting with concerned parties (by invitation apparently) and talk about what a Bike Share would look like in Bellevue, what what need to happen to make it work and to start to figure out what the logistics would be. Basically to get enough information to see if it will be possible.

The Bike Share idea is not new, it has been an evolution. Bike Share programs are regaining some momentum in the last few years with programs in Europe that have been described as very successful. Because of this the idea is once again catching on in the states with cites such as Portland, Washington DC, Chicago and now Bellevue.

The meeting was an interesting group of people with different interests. There were people from the City of Bellevue, from King County Parks, Cascade Bike Club, Bike Alliance as well as local developers. There are an estimated 3000 housing units going in to the 36 square block area that is downtown Bellevue in the next few years and everyone is a concerned about traffic in the area. Adding a bike share program is seen as a way to possibly reduce the amount of cars on the road in the downtown area.

As you can imagine there are a number of "roadblocks" to negotiate to make something like this happen. Downtown Bellevue is not a bike friendly place in any one's estimation and it will take it a while to get there. Nevertheless it is encouraging to see local developers and city government taking a pro-active approach to future traffic issues and even more encouraging to see that bikes are being seen as a part of the solution.

This is all in the very early stages but I'll keep posting about it as it goes.