????愛莉森?科恩曾每天騎行17英里上下班。現在，她坦承：“那確實是種瘋狂的通勤方式。”但是，正是這段經歷，讓她對自己眼下從事的工作充滿了信心。她現在是阿爾塔自行車分享（Alta Bicycle Share）公司的總裁。該公司是家發展迅速的城市自行車分享項目運營商，總部位于美國俄勒岡州波特蘭。

????在自行車分享項目中，這種無碳交通工具停在遍及全城的租賃點，會員只需支付少量年費，即可租用任意一輛。這一運動始自哥本哈根，2005年又傳到了巴黎，現在大有在美國攻城拔寨之勢。2010年，丹佛、明尼阿波利斯、華盛頓特區等均推出了大型自行車分享項目。今夏，如同在華盛頓特區一樣，阿爾塔公司即將在波士頓推出Hubway項目，預計初步投放600輛自行車，設立61處租賃點。

????《財富》：我喜歡這個構想。但是，巴黎的自行車分享項目不是困難重重嗎？

????科恩：基本上是這樣，有人會想方設法強行將自行車從車槽中弄出去。巴黎的偷竊和蓄意破壞等問題，是在美國建立和推廣自行車分享項目的一大阻礙。但是，我相信，巴黎遇到的問題與他們采取的技術有直接關系。

????《財富》：你們的技術又有何不同呢？

????科恩：我們深知，重中之重莫過于建立實體安全系統。任何時候，哪怕僅僅嗅到有人想違規的蛛絲馬跡，你都得采取近乎軍事響應的防范措施，以保證所有車輛安然無恙。因為一旦有人將之拍下來放到YouTube上，那就……（笑聲）

????我們的自行車和停車點均由蒙特利爾公共自行車系統（Public Bike System of Montreal）建造。我們也深知，在任何地方，一旦自行車被安放到停車點，人們所做的頭一件事，當然往往是乳臭未干的孩子所為，就是偷盜自行車。他們會使盡渾身解數，上下左右，來回折騰那些自行車，直至將之弄出去完事。在蒙特利爾有幅圖片，內容是：被一根繩子連在一起的一輛福特F-150和一輛自行車，但是福特卡車卻無論如何無法將自行車拖出車槽。部署了安全性如此之高的系統，無論是偷盜還是蓄意破壞行為，均可降至最低。在美國，我們唯一遭遇過的真正偷竊行為，是有些人用偷來的信用卡租車，然后便逃之夭夭。

????《財富》：很有趣。我是說，這聽起來有點郁悶，但仍然非常有趣。巴黎自行車分享系統還有一件值得引起注意的事，那便是其支付方式。我說得對嗎？

????科恩：很對。多年來，Clear Channel等大型戶外廣告公司一直提供公共汽車站的候車棚等戶外街道設施，并用之換取用于銷售的戶外廣告牌空間。后來，他們開始在廣告合同中增加一些小型裝備。最終，他們開始進軍自行車分享系統。

????如果一座城市設立了自行車分享系統，該城的戶外廣告營業收入往往會減少，但它也無需拿出巨額預付資金。因此，很多城市都對此模式著迷。但是，如果讓廣告公司來運營自行車分享系統，廣告主自然會如愿以償，簽署廣告合同，但他們卻缺乏恰當的激勵措施，以有效地管理自行車分享系統。

????我相信，美國城市確實視此為激勵措施制定不當。于是，我們的機會來了。一方面，蒙特利爾自行車分享系統擁有成熟的技術；另一方面，我們與各城市直接簽訂合同。這些城市不僅對其希望銷售的任何贊助商身份或者廣告位進行直接控制，而且還能決定自行車的顏色。由于我們與這些城市簽署的是直接政府合同，因此對他們而言，我們的整個運營過程必須做到完全透明。因而，部署自行車分享系統的城市就將這一影響深遠且能改變社會的系統，握在手心里了。

????《財富》：但是，多數城市眼下手頭不是都很緊嗎？當市長們一心決定縮減預算時，你們又如何向之兜售這個項目呢？

????科恩：我們并不兜售。只是當城市出臺需求方案說明書（requests for proposal, RFP）時，我們會參加競標。目前，用于自行車分享項目的直接城市資金少之又少。多數公共資金屬于用于支持資本采購的聯邦資金。我們預計，未來3~4年內，自行車分享系統有可能成為可切實自行持續運轉的公共交通系統。此外，與其他資本投資相比，這筆投資微乎其微。建設四分之一英里的地鐵即需要投入數十億美元。相形之下，只需不足1,000萬美元，就能建成一套可以改變整座城市的自行車分享系統。

????《財富》：未來幾年內，哪些地區會部署自行車分享系統？

????科恩：在波士頓地區，我們會在波士頓、劍橋、薩默維爾以及布魯克賴恩等地建立一個完全無縫的地區系統。2012年，自行車分享系統部署將呈現爆炸式增長。紐約已經出臺了需求方案說明書，要求在2012年建成一個覆蓋1萬輛自行車的系統。溫哥華也很可能在2012年建成覆蓋4,000輛自行車的網絡。此外，還有西雅圖、舊金山以及舊金山灣區。而且，芝加哥即將上任的交通局長本人即是個自行車分享系統的鐵桿支持者。如果該市很快上馬該系統，我一點兒也不會感到驚訝。

????《財富》：所有這些都是北方城市，都擁有大量的自由主義者。你并沒提及鳳凰城，也沒提洛杉磯，更沒提休斯頓、達拉斯、邁阿密以及亞特蘭大。

????科恩：你剛提到的這些城市全都有興趣。眼下，有關自行車分享系統的對話簡直無處不在。我剛才提及的城市，要么已經發布了需求方案說明書，要么已經公開表示，希望在此方面有所作為。洛杉磯談論此事已經有些時日了。在鳳凰城，已經有幾個可供選擇的方案。我想夏洛特最終也會加入進來。我真的認為，在那些無序擴張、人們普遍以車代步的城市，圍繞市民將如何使用自行車分享系統一事，有待研討的問題之多，要遠遠超過人口密集的海濱城市。

????《財富》：在城市里騎行時，你感到安全嗎？

????科恩：挺安全的。我的意思是說，我一向認為城市騎行有點像貓跳滑雪（mogul skiing）。（大笑）不錯，它確實是個挑戰，你需要高度集中精力才行；而且，永遠都要沿著正確的路線騎行，這點至關重要。但是，你知道，我曾每天騎行17英里上下班達4年之久，而且我參與城市騎行運動已有多年。這些年中，我曾有兩次撞到了其他人或物上，但既沒受傷，亦無大礙。因此，我才會極力倡導城市騎行，而且我個人認為這種方式足夠安全。自行車分享系統之所以了不起的一個原因是，騎車的人越多，總體而言，對于騎行者來說街道也越安全，因為開車的人會更小心騎行者。

????譯者：大海

????Alison Cohen used to ride her bike 17 miles to work every day, a "ridiculous commute," she now admits, but one which gives her solid cred in her current job: president of Alta Bicycle Share, a fast-growing operator of urban bike-share programs, based in Portland, Oregon.

????Bike sharing, in which members pay a modest annual fee for rental access to carbon-free rides parked all over town, began in Copenhagen, made its way to Paris in 2005, and is about to achieve critical mass in the U.S. Denver, Minneapolis and DC all launched big new programs in 2010; Boston -- like D.C., an Alta project -- will roll out Hubway this summer, starting with 600 bicycles and 61 stations.

????Fortune: I love this idea. But haven't they had a lot of problems with bike sharing in Paris?

????Cohen: Basically, someone figured out how to force the bikes out of the docks. Paris's theft and vandalism issues were a huge obstacle in getting bike sharing to the US. But I would posit that the problems they've had there are specific to the technology.

????Fortune: How is your technology different?

????Cohen: We understand that the highest priority has to be a physically secure system. And anytime there's even the scent of a breach, you have to take on an almost military response to secure it. Because once it goes on YouTube, then -- [Laughter]

????Our bikes and stations are built by Public Bike System of Montreal. We know the moment that we put these stations down anywhere the first thing people do -- mostly it's teenagers -- is try to steal the bikes. They'll jerk them up and down and side to side. In Montreal they have a picture of a Ford F-150 with a rope connected to a bike, but the truck couldn't get the bike out of the dock. With a system that's secure like that, theft and vandalism are very minimal. The only real theft we've seen in the U.S. has been people using a stolen credit card to take a bike and not return it.

????Fortune: Interesting. I mean, kind of depressing, but interesting. The other thing that's noteworthy about the Paris system is the way it was paid for, right?

????Cohen: Yes. Large outdoor advertising companies, such as Clear Channel, have for years been providing outdoor street furniture like bus shelters and stuff in exchange for billboard space that they can sell. They started adding little accoutrements to the advertising contracts and eventually they started throwing in bike-sharing systems.

????Typically the city might see less revenue from outdoor advertising if it's also getting a bike-share system but the city doesn't have to come up with the up-front capital. So cities are really intrigued by this model. But then you have an advertising company running the bike-share system. The advertisers have what they want -- the advertising contract -- yet they don't have the proper incentives to manage the bike-share system.

????I think U.S. cities really saw this as a misalignment of incentives. So that's where we came in. Public Bike System created a better technology. And we have direct contracts with the cities. They keep control of any sponsorship or advertising they want to sell. They control the color of the bikes. And we have to be totally transparent with them because they're direct government contracts. That gives the cities a lot more control over this really high-impact, community-changing system.

????Fortune: But aren't most cities basically broke these days? How do you pitch a program like yours when mayors are preoccupied with cutting budgets?

????Cohen: We don't pitch, we respond to requests for proposals. There are very few direct city funds that are being used for bike sharing. Most of the public funding is federal money to support capital purchases. And our projections are that within about three to four years, these may be public transit systems that are actually self-sustaining. What's more, compared to other capital investments, it's tiny. A quarter-mile of subway can cost billions. With bike sharing you can get a city-changing system for less than $10 million.

????Fortune: Where will bike-sharing be in the next few years?

????Cohen: In the Boston area, it will be a completely seamless regional system with Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline. And 2012 is just going to be an explosion. New York has a request for proposal out for a 10,000-bike system launching in 2012. Vancouver, 4,000 bikes, likely 2012. Seattle. San Francisco. The Bay Area. And the incoming director of transportation for Chicago is a huge bike-share fanatic; it wouldn't surprise me if they try and do something very quickly.

????Fortune: Those are all northern cities with liberal populations. I don't see Phoenix there. I don't see L.A. I don't see Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta.

????Cohen: Every one of those cities that you just mentioned are interested. There are a million conversations happening in the background. The cities that I listed have either issued RFPs or said publicly that they want to do something. L.A. has been talking about it for a while. In Phoenix, there have been several different demonstrations there. Charlotte I think will eventually be there. I do think there are a lot more questions around how people will use bike-share systems in the more sprawled, car-centered cities, than in the denser coastal cities.

????Fortune: Do you feel safe riding your bike in the city?

????Cohen: I do. I mean, I've always viewed urban biking a sort of like skiing moguls. [Laughs] It's a challenge, and you have to be highly attentive, and finding the right route has always been the most important thing. But you know, in my four years of doing that ridiculous 17-mile commute, and many other years of urban biking, I've had two dooring incidents which have not resulted in any injuries, and no serious accidents. So I'm a huge advocate, and I personally feel safe. One of the reasons that bike share is so great is that you get more people biking, and it generally makes the streets safer for cyclists because automobile drivers are more aware of bikers.