Bike-sharing locations in downtown Denver. Click map for larger pdf.

SmartBike DC is the only operating bike-sharing system in the United States, but it won’t be much longer. Earlier this week Denver B-Cycle officially began accepting memberships, in anticipation of opening for business in late April. When it does open, Denver B-Cycle will be about five times larger than SmartBike DC: 500 bikes at 50 stations compared to 120 bikes at 10 stations. It will be, by far, the United States’ largest bike-sharing operation to date.

But 2010 is going to be a big year.

At some point this year:

• Nice Ride Minnesota will open in Minneapolis with 80 stations and 1, 000 bikes.
• Boston will launch a system with 290 stations and 2, 500 bikes
• DC and Arlington will, presumably, dramatically expand bike-sharing in the Washington region.

It’s too bad we locals won’t be setting the pace anymore, but this is really, really exciting stuff. Compared to the huge capital costs of road and transit projects, bike-sharing moves people practically for free, and no matter how many windshield perspective journalists say otherwise, lots of people will use it.

Keep your eyes open for news from DC and Arlington in the coming weeks/months. They’ve been negotiating how to move forward, and will hopefully be making an announcement soon.