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| - I love cities that have public bikes for rent, i.e. Himeji, Japan and Copenhagen, Denmark. The convenience of having this is a great benefit, no matter if you have a car or not. It's especially fun as a tourist to bike in a foreign city and get to know the area or just get lost and be able to bike your way back home (which is much faster than walking your lost butt home!).
Each bike has a little area where you can put your purse, man-bag, groceries, jacket, etc and there's an elastic strap to keep it in place. There are different gears on the bike for when you encounter those hills (thankfully, not as steep as a SF hill!), a bell to signal to pedestrians to move out of your way and even at night, blinking lights so you're seen. The seats are adjustable and I found the handlebars somewhat front-heavy...I was afraid I was going to accidentally steer into a parked car! The only thing it's missing is a helmet!
It's $5 to rent it for 24hr access (paid only via MasterCard or Visa) and the first time you rent one, you have it for 30 minutes. At the kiosk, you'll get a numbered code that you have 5 minutes to enter at the individul bike station.
So then every time after you take the bike out, the first 30 minutes are free but if you go over then there are additional fees. So the question is, if you want it for longer than 30 minutes, can you just check it into a station after 30 minutes and then check it out right away for another free 30 minutes or is there a time limit from when you can re-check it out?
There are so many BIXI stations that you are never left looking for a station to either rent one or return one.
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