Nike Partners With City Of Portland On Bike Sharing Program Biketown
Nike has announced a $10m partnership with the city of Portland, Oregon to fund 10,000 bikes being made available to citizens within a bike sharing programming that will begin in the Summer.
Portland, depending on who one speaks to or what ‘bike-friendly cities’ are consulted, is considered one of the world’s top cities for bicycle use. According to the Cycle Oregon Bike Barometer, close to 5.8m trips have been logged on just one bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge, since 8 August 2012
The fact that there was no city-wide bike-sharing program, such as the so-called ‘Boris Bikes’ in London or the Citi Bike program in New York seemed puzzling.
Today, Nike announced the Biketown partnership which will begin from July over five years with the aim to bring 1,000 Share Program bikes to the streets of Portland.
Nike Biketown
“We’re proud of our long history of partnership with the City of Portland and believe that the Biketown bike share program is one more example of how we can work together to help make Portland an even more active, vibrant and innovative community – goals Nike and the City of Portland share,” said Nike vice president of global community impact, Jorge Casimiro.
Nike is the sole partner of the effort and takes unique cues from the brand heritage, with the bikes designed in Nike Orange, the color that has been synonymous with Nike since 1971, when founder Phil Knight and his first employee, Jeff Johnson, introduced the hue on the first shoebox that bore the brand’s trademark swoosh.
As part of the collaboration between the brand and city, Nike will also oversee design and branding of the system’s logo, stations and digital presence.
Additionally, Nike will periodically release unique, limited-edition Biketown bike wraps that celebrate Nike and Portland’s shared spirit of invention.
“This is how public-private partnerships should be done,” said City of Portland Commissioner Steve Novick. “We have developed an innovative, next-generation bike share system. And in Nike, we have a sponsor that is a brand powerhouse and a global leader in innovation with a long and distinguished record of supporting sports and physical activity in Portland. It’s a perfect fit.”