Atlanta will soon have a bike share program similar to the one in London. (Courtesy Barclays)
Atlanta will soon have a bike share program similar to the one in London. (Courtesy Barclays)

Atlanta will soon join a list of worldwide cities that have a bike share program. Popular in New York, London and Paris, bikes for public use are parked at various locations around those cities and can be rented for short trips by the locals or for use by tourists.

Atlanta Commissioner of Planning and Community James E. Shelby told the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods earlier this month that the city would issue a contract this summer to install 57 stations around the city with more than 500 bikes available for rent. Advertising on the bikes will offset the cost of the program and tracking devices will be installed so the bikes don’t go missing, Shelby said.

Collin Kelley is the executive editor of Atlanta Intown, Georgia Voice, and the Rough Draft newsletter. He has been a journalist for nearly four decades and is also an award-winning poet and novelist.