Every City Needs Black Rock City’s Loaner Bike Program

Burning Man’s Yellow Bike Program Returns!

Burning Man’s Yellow Bikes (photo credit: Danger Ranger)

The Burning Man blog reports:

Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous benefactor, the Burning Man Project is able to offer a Yellow Community Bike program during Burning Man.  Yep, a fleet of over 1,000 bikes are made available for participants to borrow for one-time, one-way, no-guarantees use.

The system works if and only if everybody adheres to the guidelines for Community Bike use. Which are:

• Community Bikes are for temporary use by anyone without immediate access to their own bike. This is not YOUR loaner bike for the week. Bike rides are only a one-way, temporary guarantee.
• If a Community Bike breaks while you’re using it, use Radical Self-Reliance to get it repaired for the next person. Check with Playa Info at Center Camp for a repair camp if you can’t Do-It-Yourself (DIY).
• NEVER LOCK A COMMUNITY BIKE. The bike camp team will cut any locks from community bikes. Don’t bring a Community Bike into your tent or RV, and don’t take it home when you leave the playa.
• Community Bikes are meant for short trips. Grab a community bike, make your trek, and then drop it off where you found it, or leave it in an obvious public place. Do not keep a community bike in your camp.
• Community Bikes should be treated with respect, as if it was your own. Be nice to the bike. Don’t trash it, vandalize it or part it out! It’s a shared community resource. And don’t forget personal hygiene … pants are required while riding a community bike.

It requires community cooperation to keep this resource alive for all to enjoy.  So spread the word! For more information about bikes at Burning Man, see the Bikes page in our Survival Guide.

I am so jealous! One more reason why Burning Man offers so many of us a vision of how we can create a different way of living. How can we make a bike loaner program like this a reality in our communities off the playa?

More on bikes for Burning Man in an upcoming post!

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