Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announcing a new bike-sharing program earlier this month. (Credit: THE DENVER POST | JOHN PRIETO)

This past Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom held a press conference in Paris announcing that his city would be launching a bike-share pilot program this coming spring. Mayor Newsom’s announcement came just one week after the city of Philadelphia launched the third generation of their bike-share program, and just two weeks after the Mayor of Denver announced the launch of his goal of 1,000 bikes at 70 stations by summer 2010.

From Washington D.C. to Beijing to Prague, cities worldwide are investing in bike-share programs as a way to increase bike ridership, decrease street congestion, improve air quality and promote healthy transportation.

Bike-sharing is no longer a new or radical idea. If San Francisco can do it (with all those hills!), so can we. Come on New York City: catch the wave!