Oh, God. Such an embarrassing early-adopter photo. What a dork. - Brian

Bike-sharing program rolls out with 700 cycles

A curvy, clunky turquoise figure with a quirky sort of beauty might just be the answer to Bay Area traffic congestion and air pollution.

At least that's the hope of some officials as the Bay Area Air Quality Management District rolled out 700 heavy-duty turquoise bicycles Thursday as part of a regional bike-sharing program stretching from San Francisco to San Jose.

"Unfortunately, the San Francisco Bay Area is the third-most-congested place in the United States," said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. "If 3 percent of the people currently driving their cars went on bicycles - just 3 percent - you would reduce congestion by 30 percent. So it really can have a huge impact on air quality."
San Francisco Chronicle 8/30/2013