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Photos from the Philly Bike Share demos (photos by M. McClellan for GPTMC)

Last Friday, I took a break from the glow of my computer screen to walk over to Love Park and check out the Philly Bike Share demonstrations that were taking place (you know, the ones we told you about). Upon arrival, I was greeted by a faux-kiosk, set up to look like it will when the bikes are in place around the city, as well as a number Philadelphians, just as curious about the possibility of bike sharing as I am.

What I learned has me quite excited. The way it will work is that those kiosks will be erected all over the city. You can either pre-register online or simply pay with a credit card when you decide you want to rent a bike. The first portion of the rental is free (they haven’t determined what the length of that free period will be) and then you’re charged small increments of money for any time beyond that initial period. You can return the bike to any kiosk with space when you’re done with it and the whole goal is to have people choosing to hop on a bike when they need to run a short, urban errand, instead of choosing a car.

The bike kiosks are operated by a company called Bcycle that has the technology of bike sharing down to a science. They have built-in sensors that tell them where the bikes are and if they’re in need of service. They’ve also constructed the bikes out of parts that are non-standard, so anyone who has ideas about stealing parts from them must have a very creatively constructed set of tools.

I’m looking forward to seeing them come to the city!