If you’re looking for a green vehicle, look no further than the bicycle. New bike sharing programs make this green mode of transportation super accessible and can lead to a more sustainable world.<\/p>\n
Owner of Alta Bicycle Share, explains that the tagline of his company is \u201cTransportation, Recreation, and Innovation\u201d and that they manage bike-sharing systems in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, Boston, Toronto, Melbourne, and other cities. In five years their bikes have been ridden more than 35 million miles on more than 25 million rides. That\u2019s more than a billion calories burned, and with zero fatalities.<\/p>\n
New York\u2019s CitiBike\u2014a bikeshare program with significant corporate involvement in a global media center\u2014has quickly become something of an icon. The CitiBike has appeared on The Daily Show (including in Robin Williams\u2019s last interview and the classic Full Pedal Racket episode), frequently shows up in the Wall Street Journal\u2014including as the object of its editorial board\u2019s disdain, and had a cameo in \u201cSharknado 2.\u201d CitiBike blue was even the official color of Fashion Weeklast September.
\nThe author wields one of New York City\u2019s iconic CitiBikes.<\/p>\n
But what seems like a fast-rising trend is really the result of decades of work by many people, communities, and visionaries who believed that the simple bicycle could be an economic, environmental, and quality-of-life panacea for modern society. Considering the convergence of the sharing economy, solar power, and wireless technologies that enable bike-share stations, it\u2019s now possible to imagine living, working, and playing in our cities more sustainably.<\/p>\n
Alta\u2019s multiple offices in great places are populated by young people who are motivated by our mission, who want to spend every day working to make the world a better place. They share the vision I described in my book, \u201cThe Third Mode,\u201d that walking, bicycling, and trails are local solutions to the global issues of our time. After 29 years of work that has felt like pushing a rock up a hill, I think we\u2019re finally at the top, ready to enjoy the downhill ride with the wind at our backs.<\/p>\n