Bike sharing selection process “tainted”, competitor alleges

By Steven Vance On March 17, 2012 · 7 Comments

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A resident tests a bicycle in Portland from the Nice Ride bike sharing system in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by BikePortland.

Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times reports today that the selection process to select a bike sharing manufacturer and operator (“vendor”) is “tainted”, according to Bike Chicago owner Josh Squire. You may be more familiar with the name Bike & Roll, which operates many bicycle rental facilities on the lakefront, as well as the Millennium Park Bike Station (McDonald’s Cycle Center) on behalf of the city. 

The complaint centers around several alleged improprieties and failures to follow the city’s own procurement rules: possible discussions that commissioner Gabe Klein had with Alta Planning + Design president Mia Birk at the gala both John and I attended back in October 2011. (I must note that Alta Planning and Alta Bicycle Share are separate corporations.) The complaint also regards the quick turnaround time for the first request for proposals and that a second request for proposals canceled the first and without explanation.

Read the full story and the City’s response on the Sun-Times website. Read our full coverage of bike sharing.

Full disclosure: Bike and Park is a sponsor of Grid Chicago and is affiliated with Bike Chicago and Bike & Roll.

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  • http://stopandmove.blogspot.com/ Jass

    The RFP process in Boston also wasnt quite right. The first RFP was cancelled and a second one issued with very little coverage. Alta quickly won that one.  In the process most of the terms were changed which just so happened to better suit the Alta business model.

    • Nathan

      What does that have to do with their ability to operate a bike share?

  • emperorcezar

    I frankly don’t care if the process was greased or not. I want bike share and I don’t care how hard they have to push to get it to come through.

    • http://stopandmove.blogspot.com/ Jass

       Thats not a good attitude to have. To be successful, you need good implementation. A botched launched can screw up bike share in the city for years, because people associate the failed implementation with the technology as a whole.

      Is it possible that Alta will be the best operator for the city, and Public Bike System the best bike/station provider? Possibly. But wouldnt it be better if they were chosen because they actually are the best, and not because they are good buddies with those making the choice?

      • emperorcezar

        Alta has done bike share before, so I’m not too worried.

        • http://stopandmove.blogspot.com/ Jass

           Theyre not doing a good job in Boston at all. 

          • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

            Can you explain?