By Dave McLemore

Going green often grows out of a personal commitment to the environment or a sense of duty. Sometimes, the inspiration can come from a corporate mission statement.

Exhibit A: The creation of San Antonio BikeShare, a civic bicycle-sharing program at no cost to tax payers, which grew out of a bike company’s desire to look beyond its balance sheet.

“In 2006, as our business grew, we decided it was time to be a real business. So we created a mission statement,” says Cindi Snell, executive director of  San Antonio B-cycle — the operating arm of BikeShare — and co-owner of Bike World, the center of the cycling universe in San Antonio for decades.

“That meant we had to actually do the things we held as our company values, instead of just selling bikes,” Snell says.

Bike World long has promoted the health and fun attributes of biking. “And we’ve always recycled,” Snell points out.

What they wanted was something that gave back to biking and to the community. Snell contacted B-Cycle, a national bicycle sharing franchising system operating in 10 U.S. Cities to provide low-cost, short-term bike rentals at stations throughout the city. 

“We got real excited,” she says. “This seemed like the best of all possible worlds for us.”

The City of San Antonio received a $210,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation grant from the Energy Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bike World formed San Antonio BikeShare, a 501(c) non-profit to operate the B-Cycle program “to promote health, quality of life and preservation of the environment.”

In October 2010, BikeShare got a go from the city. Moving quickly, they built 14 B-Station sites downtown in time for the official launch in March. To use the bikes, riders ages 18 and older walk up to the kiosks, use a credit card to check out the bike, and then return it to any available station when done.

Hours for the stations in San Antonio will be 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A 24-hour pass will cost $10. After that, the user is charged $2 per half hour. The maximum charge for an entire day is $35.

“It was a perfect fit,” Snell says. “We were pleasantly surprised by the public reaction. People have embraced it so much, we’re seeing it expand farther than we imagined.”

As of June 14, riders have paid for 8,186 trips for a total of 30,087.3 miles, Snell says. Nearly 1,600 people have bought day passes to ride, while 718 purchased annual memberships. In total, riders have burned more than 1.2 million calories and saved 1,480.29 gallons of gasoline.

This is just the beginning, Snell says. San Antonio B-Cycle is putting finishing touches on a maintenance trailer that can be hauled by bike to help repair flats or breakdowns for riders more quickly. A smartphone mobile app is available to show locations and rental information via computer. And soon, there will be Quick Response readers at the B-Stations to access rentals without paperwork, via smart phones.

It’s good for people, good for the city and good for the environment, Snell says. “Bike sharing makes it economical and convenient to use bikes for trips that are too far to walk but too short to drive,” she said. “Members can use a B-cycle to run an errand, grab lunch, travel from the bus stop to their office, or just get some fresh air. And we did it before Austin.”

DAVE MCLEMORE is a San Antonio freelance writer.