Portland's Alta rides bike-sharing wave

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Alta Bicycle Share's president Mia Birk is leading her companies charge to be the nation's undisputed leader in bicycle share programs — and she hopes it will result in manufacturing jobs for Portland.

The Portland bike world is over the moon since the city of New York tapped a local firm to operate its ambitious bike share program.

New York City selected Alta Bicycle Share Inc., an affiliate of Portland-based Alta Planning & Design, and its Canadian partner, Bixi, to establish a $50 million, 600-station, 10,000-bike share program by 2012.

The New York decision confirms that Portland is a major a center for bicycle-related planning.

“It’s really validating what they’re doing here,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. “And from a financial perspective, it’s fantastic.”

More important, he said New York’s foray into public bicycle sharing gooses a movement gaining acceptance across the U.S.

The city of Portland has identified potential funding sources for a program of its own and is expected to solicit bids from operators within a few years.

Seattle, San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, are also visiting the subject. Alta will or has bid on them all.

Todd Roll, who owns Portland’s Pedal Bicycle Tours, was thrilled to see a Portland-based firm land the opportunity to bring bike sharing to New York.

“It’s more than good news. It’s natural,” he said.

Gaining a foothold in New York won’t be easy.

Alta and Bixi, which operate bike share programs in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Melbourne, have to find 600 locations in New York, which requires significant communications with the public and New York’s powerful neighborhood groups. And they need to secure $50 million in sponsorships to foot the $5,000-per-bike cost to install the high-tech system.

Any profits will be split between the city and the operators.

Alta President Mia Birk is optimistic sponsors will sign on for the high-profile opportunity to market to New York and its 12-million-plus residents.

“We obviously think there’s a lot of potential. We need to be successful to pay the bills and keep people fed,” she said.

Alta Bicycle Share is a division of Alta Planning & Design, a research and consulting firm that typically works with public agencies and the occasional private developer to create transportation plans that encourage bikes and pedestrians.

The bike share business employs about 100 bike mechanics, call center workers, technical support staff and drivers in cities where it operates. The New York system adds another 200 jobs, plus administrative positions in Portland.

Alta founder Michael Jones established the company in California and recruited Birk, a former Portland bike planner, in 1999.

A year later, Alta incorporated and made Portland its corporate headquarters.

Birk said Portland is where the company found talented employees. She credits Portland State University, which offers one of the few planning programs to make bike and pedestrian planning part of the curriculum.

Alta Planning operates 16 offices in 12 states. About half of its 80 employees are based in Portland.

The separate bike share business launched in 2009 as American cities began importing the bike share concept from Europe.

Alta spied an opportunity to operate systems manufactured by its partner. Bixi produces the bikes, docking stations and the technology infrastructure to support the self-propelled transit system.

Alta’s largest system to date is the Capital Bikeshare network, a 1,100-bike network operating in Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. Capital Bikeshare launched a year ago. It registered its 1 millionth rider on its first anniversary. Alta is preparing to double the number of bikes in the system.

Capital Bikeshare uses a subscription model. Regular users pay $75 a year to access bikes up to 30 minutes at a time; visitors can pay for one-time use with a credit card.

Birk said customers include professionals running errands or traveling to meetings, bike commuters who want to protect their bikes during the day, workers who use bikes to plug gaps in the transit system and tourists.

The growth pattern is repeating itself in Boston, where Alta has a $6 million contract to operate the city’s a 600-bike Hubway system. It recently expanded to 1,000 bikes and registered its 50,000th rider within a month.

The custom-designed three-speed bike share bikes are manufactured in Canada and the docking stations are manufactured in upstate New York.

Birk said her long-term goal is to bring some of the manufacturing to Portland.