New York City’s ambitious bike share system is on schedule to launch in July and we’re now learning a few important details about user costs.

For those who live here eager to use the program it’ll cost you 95 bucks for an annual membership.  The pricing scheme recently unveiled tilts pretty favorably in favor of those who buy the one-year plan.

Pay the up-front fee and you’re basically good to go with a crack at the ten-thousand two-wheelers that’ll be stationed across Manhattan and Brooklyn at 600 different racks.  Those with the annual deal will have 45 minutes on a bike pulled from a depot before it’s due back in a rack.  Any rack.  Bikes that aren’t returned on time will result in overdue charges that get pretty stiff depending on the length of the lateness.

Visitors can buy one-day ($9.95) or seven-day ($25) access but will be limited to just 30 minute rides before their bike is due back in a rack.  The 30-minute limit seems a bit short and will inevitably trigger overage costs for those who aren’t adept at meeting the constraint.

I personally gave up ownership of a bike about eight years ago when I moved to the small apartment I live in now.  Not only would a bike eat up valuable space in my place but my neighborhood is so densely populated, it would be hard to launch a safe ride from where I’m at.

What bike share does for me is big.  It’ll allow me to initiate rides in places and at times where interaction with automobiles will be slim or none.  I’ll jump on a bike at the lower end of Central Park or along one of the rivers early on an off day.  I’ll pedal on a trail that doesn’t allow cars and return it to a rack 40 minutes later and swap it for another one to reset the clock.  I’ll return bike #2 at a dock near the subway and come home happy.  Eventually, I imagine I’ll find a route and a routine that works.  If I do it with any kind of regularity, the 95 bucks is a deal.

The location of racks in parts of Manhattan already saturated with obstructions will likely spur complaints.  I envision backlash.  But I believe bike share is gonna be a positive development for a guy like me who has gotten away from urban biking because of hyper-anxiety about getting hit by a car (not to mention the storage issue).

I’ll pick my spots.  I’ll grab a bike and go for a ride.  The cost of a one-year pass comes in well under the charge for a monthly unlimited Metrocard.  If all goes well with the initial deployment of ten-thousand bikes, the city is saying it will expand further into the outer boroughs.   I like it.  I look forward to it.