{"id":14647,"date":"2012-11-15T15:29:10","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T21:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcitement.com\/?p=14647"},"modified":"2012-11-15T11:31:04","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:31:04","slug":"hubway-provides-rental-pedal-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/hardware\/hubway-provides-rental-pedal-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubway Provides Rental Pedal Power"},"content":{"rendered":"
It started with my bucket list. \u201cGo into space\u201d was nixed by my then-girlfriend\/now-wife after a viewing of Apollo 13 on one of our early dates. \u201cGo skydiving\u201d was met with \u201cafter any hypothetical children are done with college.\u201d \u201cLearn to drive stick\u201d would require access to a car with manual transmission. \u201cFinally learn to ride a bicycle,\u201d however, was in the clear. At almost 34 years of age, after finally finding classes for adult first-time bike riders, (thanks, Bicycle Riding School in Somerville, MA), I finally joined the ranks of the pedal-enabled. This led to a new series of issues: Do I buy a bike? I have the mechanical skills of a man whose hands are made entirely of thumbs, so how do I maintain one? Our apartment has a bicycle storage room, but there have been a few break-ins. Do I really want to shlep a bike up and down from our third-story walkup? Enter Hubway<\/a>, a bike-sharing company that\u2019s had a presence in the greater Boston area for almost two years now, with recent forays into Cambridge, and the Boston suburb of Brookline.<\/p>\n Hubway is a bicycle sharing program using custom-designed bikes and equipment by Montreal-based Bixi<\/a>, and managed by Alta Bicycle Share. Bixi-based bicycle sharing systems are used by programs throughout the United States, Canada, UK and Australia, with their largest program expected out in New York shortly.<\/p>\n The setup works like this: Bikes are parked throughout the city at custom-made docking stations. If people want bikes, they go to the docking station and pay a small fee (one- and three-day memberships can be bought directly at the kiosk. Annual memberships can be bought online). The kiosk issues you a numeric code that can be punched into a three-digit keypad next to any of the bikes docked at the station to unlock it. Annual memberships come with an RFID keytag that can be used to unlock bikes in lieu of a numeric code. After the bike is unlocked, you\u2019re free to ride it to your heart\u2019s content and can return it to any docking station around town. Rides under 30 minutes are free with your membership, and rides over 30 minutes cost a small extra fee. If a docking station is full, you can use the kiosk to add extra free time to your rental and get directions to the nearest empty kiosk. If your bike is broken or has a mechanical issue, you can dock it to the station and press a repair button, which will lock down the bike and notify the company that repairs are needed.<\/p>\n