The City of Tampa has agreed to allow bike sharing on the City's streets. Many people are familiar with bike sharing programs from other cities. Users pay for and pick up bikes at established kiosks then return the bike to another kiosk when finished.

Bike sharing will take a leap forward in Tampa Bay thanks to a company called myBike.  Andrew Blikken is the Founder and Director of myBike and says locating an available bike is as easy as going to your phone.

"Because it works via any Internet access, most likely that's your phone. So you'll be able to see where every available bike is in the system, check out the specific bike that you want, bike number 247 right there on the corner, and you'll be able to reserve it for ten minutes."

Users enter a pin code to unlock the bike and when finished can lock it up at any available bike rack.  The bike is "smart" and knows when it's locked up.

A solar unit and pedal power keep the power running to the on board processor and G.P.S. Blikken says the  bike can even know when someone is trying to steal it.

"Much like your phone, it has an accelerometer in it.  It knows when it's being jostled back and forth.  So when it reaches a certain threshold it automatically communicates via cellular signal back to the server."

Public transit is also very interested in myBike.  There is more demand for bike access on buses than capacity.  With the Social Bikes riders simply lock up the bike at any transit stop and go about their normal commute.

Blikken hopes to have myBike on the roads in Tampa by last next summer.

For more information on other Social Bike programs try these links:  Deco Bike in Miami and Capital Bikeshare in Washington, DC.