DecoBike Kickoff Date Pushed Back to July 4

While kiosk stations for DecoBike, the Miami-based bike-sharing company, have been set up in all corners of Long Beach, they are still missing a key component: bicycles.

Although David Silverman, a marketing director for DecoBike, told Patch last month that the bike-sharing program would start in early June, that estimate has reportedly been revised to July 4, after all the kiosk stations are completed later this month, according to Newsday. Silverman did not return calls this week to provide an update on the program, and City of Long Beach officials said they are waiting to hear from the company about their plans.

“The kiosks have been installed and we’re ready to go, but Deco is responsible for putting in the bikes,” said Gordon Tepper, a city spokesperson. “We’re just waiting for the bikes. Deco has to take it from here.”

Councilman Michael Fagan said that the program was originally scheduled to start during Memorial Day weekend. “At this point I have no clue when it will start,” Fagen said earlier this week. “I do know that financially, it wasn't working in Miami. They had to go back to city officials there and beg for billboards in order to make the financials work.”

Last summer, the City Council approved a five-year contract with DecoBike to start and operate the citywide program with some 400 bikes at 40 kiosk stations throughout the city. The contract includes corporate sponsorship and advertising, and the city will receive 10 percent of the company’s gross revenue and advertising incomes.

In April, though, under the new Democrat administration, the city and DecoBike agreed to amend the contract to reduce the number of bike stations and relocate some from certain residential areas, after city officials received complaints from residents as DecoBike started to pour concrete to build its stations near their homes.

According to DeckoBike’s directory, the city will be dotted with 16 kiosk stations, from West Beech Street in East Atlantic Beach, to Edwards Boulevard boardwalk, to Clark Street Playground in the Canals neighborhood. The rental rates range from $4 for 30 minutes to $24 for eight hours.

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Fagen, who voted against the contract last year, said he has still not seen the document. “It was ‘iffy’ to begin with,” he said about the project. “There never was a traffic study or environmental impact study done, which was required.”

Resident Allison Blanchette, who supports bike-sharing programs but has been critical of DecoBike’s proposal from the start, called the revenue the city will receive from the program “a shame,” and expressed concern that the amended contract states that there is “no partnership” between the city and DecoBike. The contract also states that the city’s contributions to the program will include a banner and link for the program on the city's website, a quarterly email blast to city employees and others on the city's email list for the first year, and the city will provide storage areas for the bikes in case of a hurricane.

“This is concerning because it is a private company, not a local one and not in partnership with us,” Blanchette told Patch. “Yet we are giving them a lot.”

She added that if Long Beach really wanted a bike-sharing program, “it would've suited us better to wait for New York City to roll out theirs and then latch on to them, using their company.” NYC's program is expected to start next month.

But Councilman John McLaughlin, who voted to approve the program last June, believes it will provide visitors to Long Beach a good and viable alternative for transportation.

“I've seen this program work in other areas, and although those cities [Washington D.C. and Miami] are larger, I believe this can work for Long Beach, given the chance,” he said. “I would like to see a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road so that there could be a ticket purchased that would give the visitor a train ride, beach entrance and the use of a bike for an hour of aggregate time. I think we'll get a good gauge of this program in the first year or two.”

Approved DeckoBike Station Locations:

• 100 West Beech Street (between Buffalo Avenue and Troy Avenue, East Atlantic Beach)

• 102 West Beech Street at Nevada Avenue

• 104 West Beech Street at Virginia Avenue

• 106 West Park Avenue at Grand Boulevard

• 108 Grand Boulevard at Boardwalk

• 105 West Beech Street at Vermont Street

• 110 Magnolia Boulevard (near West Bay Drive)

• 112 Long Island Rail Road Station

• 114 Edwards Boulevard at East Walnut Street

• 115 East Broadway at National Boulevard

• 116 Edwards Boulevard at Boardwalk

• 118 Riverside Boulevard at East Pine Street

• 122 East Park Avenue at Dalton Street

• 126 Clark Street Playground

• 120 Neptune Boulevard at Boardwalk

• 124 Shore Road at Pacific Boulevard