Spokies - Downtown Oklahoma City Bicycle Rental Program

Set to launch in the spring of 2012, Oklahoma City's downtown bicycle share and rental program is called "Spokies." The program, instituted by the city's Office of Sustainability and funded in part by federal grant money, is inspired not only by desires to help the environment and cut traffic but also by citizen demand. Oklahoma City is and will continue to be a car-centric metro due to its large area, but the recent growth of downtown residential areas has fueled city improvements in walkability and bicycle riding. For example, the city installed bike racks downtown, and many streets received bike/car sharrow lanes in 2010. Project 180 street improvements also include bicycle lane additions. Similar bike share programs have been very successful in other cities.

The details are still being finalized, but the general idea is to make available about 100 bicycles at various rental kiosks throughout the downtown Oklahoma City area. Riders would be able to check out a bike by having a charge and/or deposit hold placed on their credit card at the automatic kiosks with attached locking bike stands. When finished riding, patrons would return the bike to an unoccupied locking station.

As noted above, many of the finer points of Oklahoma City's downtown bicycle rental program have yet to be determined. Continue checking back for updates. However, Oklahoma City officials may model the pricing after similar and successful endeavors in cities such as Denver, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. In those programs, monthly memberships are priced from $50 to $80, and members are then able to use a bike at any time.

The pricing structure proposal going to the city council includes three membership options:

• 1 year: $75.00
• 1 month: $20.00
• 1 day: $5.00

Each membership comes with free, unlimited 30-minute rides. The fee for each additional half-hour is $2.00, and the charge for failure to return bicycle within 48 hours of check-out is $500.

Exact locations for the Oklahoma City bike rental stations have not yet been finalized. However, city officials are proposing six of them, all near and within easy bicycling distance of key downtown areas:

• NW 10th Street and Walker Avenue in MidTown
• 620 N. Harvey near the OKC National Memorial and Museum
• 300 Park Avenue near the downtown library
• Southwest corner of the Cox Convention Center
• 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive in Bricktown, near the ballpark
• 301 N. Walnut in the Deep Deuce district

The city began accepting bids for the project in January 2012 and is scheduled to go before the city council in mid-March, a proposal that would see the program administered by Downtown OKC Inc. Spokies is set to launch in conjunction with National Bike To Work Day on May 18th.