by Noah Kazis, December 8, 2010, StreetsBlog

Montreal's Bixi bike-sharing system. Photo: Denis-Carl Robidoux via Flickr.
Interest in New York City’s bike-sharing plans seems to be running high in the industry, if today’s “pre-proposal conference” is any indication. A packed room that included many of the major players in the bike-sharing industry gathered at NYC DOT headquarters to get the scoop on what New York, potentially the nation’s largest bike-sharing market, is looking for.
In attendance were at least three of the largest bike-sharing operators: JCDecaux, Public Bike System, and B-cycle. JCDecaux made bike-sharing famous with the very large and very popular Vélib system in Paris. Public Bike System runs Montréal’s Bixi system, as well as providing the equipment for the new systems in Washington D.C. and Minneapolis. B-cycle is a bit newer to the scene, running Denver’s system and the Chicago bike-sharing pilot. The other big bike-sharing company is advertiser ClearChannel; after looking over the sign-in sheet and making some rounds in the audience of over 60, I couldn’t confirm whether they sent a representative.