Oklahoma City

Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. and the City of Oklahoma City are proud to announce that the Spokies Bike Share program is up and running again! We corrected some software and credit card processing issues and welded the locks to the bikes so they can no longer be stripped from the docks and stolen.

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Update (7/2/2012): The program has reopened.  Read about it here.

[flickr id=“7253069806” thumbnail=“small” overlay=“true” size=“large” group="" align=“right”] After only two weeks in operation, all bikes belonging to the Spokies Bike Share program have been removed from the racks.  Citing problems with the credit card software and a design flaw in the bikes that has “led to incidents of theft and vandalism”, the Oklahoma City Office of Sustainability and Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. made the decision to temporarily suspend the program.  The software and bike fixes can be expected to take up to three weeks to complete at which time they hope to restore the program.

I am very confused as to what exactly their plan was for the highly recognizable therefore difficult to sell bicycles, but two men have been arrested for stealing bicycles from the new Spokies bike share program:

On May 22, police were called to the WestTown Day Shelter near N.W. 3rd Street and N. Virginia Avenue. A worker there reported Fred Wren, 20, and Anthony Grove, 26, possessed bikes belonging to the Spokies program. When police checked the serial numbers, they discovered the bikes had not been rented and should have been sitting at a kiosk outside the downtown Oklahoma City library.

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The OKC bike share program, Spokies, has been getting a ton of press lately.  Here is a round-up of the main stories.

From NewsOK:

From KFOR:

Plus text stories from News9 and the Oklahoma Gazette.

The OKC bike sharing program, Spokies, has announced where the first six kiosk locations will be placed. Spread out from Midtown to Deep Deuce to Bricktown and the Convention Center, the system seems well placed to provide easy transportation throughout downtown.

Memberships will range from $75 dollars for a full year to $5 for a day.  Rentals are free for the first 30 minutes and $2 for each half-hour after that.  You can get full details at their website, http://spokiesokc.com or by following them @SpokiesOKC on twitter.

One of the three cyclists injured in yesterday’s bicycle collision at Lake Hefner has died as a result of his injuries.  The rider, Bernard Monty Maughan, 68, was travelling westbound when he collided with two cyclists (of a group of four) travelling east.  From NewsOK:

Updated 5/2/2012 5:12 PM:

Many have asked me both in comments and emails about the cause of the accident to which I have had no information.  However, this was just posted to News9.com:

Updated 5/2/2012: It has now been reported that one cyclist has died from his injuries.  Details here.

The Oklahoman is reporting that three cyclists were injured tonight at around 7:00 PM on Lake Hefner dam:

About 7 p.m., four bicyclists were traveling east at the Lake Hefner Dam when a 70-year-old man bicycling west collided with two of them, Emergency Medical Services Authority spokeswoman Lara O’Leary said.

via Three bicyclists hurt at Lake Hefner | NewsOK.com

[caption id=“attachment_1204” align=“alignright” width=“200” caption=“OKC Mayor Mick Cornett”][/caption]

Mick Cornett, Republican Mayor of Oklahoma City along with Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, N.C. and Steve Heminger, Exec. Dir., Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission have written an editorial in The Hill urging the House to reconsider many of the controversial measures in the current transportation bill including the removal of funding for both walking and bicycling initiatives.  After thanking the House for restoring funding to public transportation and asking for an effective bridge repair plan, the editorial goes on to ask the House to restore both Safe Routes to School and Transportation Enhancement funding:

News 9 is reporting that police are seeking the driver of a car who struck a cyclist on Monday morning near 31st and Military. The driver initially stopped and asked the cyclist, Bill Hartman, if he was hurt, but then when Mr. Hartman said, “Yes, I am hurt”, the driver said he was sorry but then fled the scene. The driver was middle-aged, wore glasses and had light brown hair. The vehicle is described as a small, gold colored beat-up car.  Mr. Hartman thinks it is likely that the driver lives near the accident site (NW 31st and Military).  Employees of The Red Cup coffee house helped Mr. Hartman until medical help could arrive.   Mr. Hartman was left with a badly broken leg.  If you have any information, please contact the Oklahoma City Police at 405-231-2121.

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Bike sharing programs are the rage around the world and across the nation (the photo above is of the DC bike share program, Capital Bikeshare).  Oklahoma City first announced the program back in August and additional details were announced yesterday at the Oklahoma City Council meeting.  According to NewsOK, the program has been given an official name of “Spokies” and will consist of 95 bicycles (up from 90) placed at six stations in the downtown Oklahoma City area.  The money for the bikes and stations is coming from a federal grant.