Bike sharing is a natural for Miami Beach. Yup, even in a place where Lamborghinis jostle with Bentleys in the public parking lots, a bike is cool.
The island is flat, warm, laid out in a gridded street pattern, and partially ringed with off-road bike routes that pass by a marina, Government Cut, South Pointe Park, and the beach. If you live and work on the Beach, a $15.00 monthly Deco Bikes membership gets you unlimited access. If you’re a tourist, just swipe your credit card, choose a bike, and pedal off.
The docking stations are located all over the island, and I wonder if there will be an obvious pattern of use. In Montreal, Bixi bikes all go downhill with commuters in the morning, and are trucked back up to the Plateau after rush hour. Tourists tend to be more unpredictable than commuters.
Rent for an hour or up to three days, and the first half hour is free
Get a receipt and go
Bikes can be docked and released during the rental period, so you can stop to shop or eat
A view from the handlebars
Bike docks are restocked throughout the day, and damaged bikes are removed
Wheee!
GK
Spent four hours riding around south beach this sunday. couldn’t be better. The perfect tool for exploring the fascinating architecture of the area. Traffic, while heavy, is more interested in going slow and seeing the sites, then going fast.
Another interesting point is some of the public investment that has taken place. The South Point Park is a landscape design that gets it right. Not silly, yet interesting, not overdone, yet not skimping on detail and interest, and most importantly understanding the Place very well and deferring to the obvious qualities of light, water, and vistas.