UPPER WEST SIDE — Upper West Siders will get a chance to test drive the city's new bike share program on Sunday.
The Department of Transportation will set up one of the bike share stations, which are slated to be installed around the city next summer, and the public will be allowed to take the bikes for a free spin.
The bike share demonstration, co-hosted by the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District, runs from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Columbus Avenue and West 76th Street this Sunday, Oct. 30.
Seven bikes will be available for sample rides at Sunday's demo, a DOT spokeswoman said.
DOT representatives will be on hand to answer questions about the bike share program, which will put 10,000 bikes at roughly 600 docking stations around the city. Riders will check out the bikes at self-service stations with a credit card or membership card, ride to their destination, then park the bike at another station.
Manhattanites are eager for the bikes to hit city streets, with almost 80 percent of voters in the borough supporting the bike share program, according to a recent poll.
Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District Executive Director Barbara Adler said the bike share program would help neighborhood businesses by providing another way for customers to reach stores.
"It's an idea whose time has come," Adler said. "When you have a neighborhood that's inviting to everybody who comes on various types of transportation, it's so much better."
The DOT has already held demonstrations of the program in Union Square and Downtown.
Community boards will help decide where the docking stations will be installed. The public can also weigh in by suggesting a station online.
