Chicago now has its own small-scale bike sharing program.  The program is owned and operated by Bike and Roll Chicago, a bike rental and tour company, and currently consists of 100 bicycles stocked at six stations at various locations in or near downtown Chicago.  The Chicago B-cycle program uses bikes and (parking) stations provided by B-cycle, a joint venture of Trek Bikes, Humana Health Care, and the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.  The system allows residents and visitors to rent bikes by the hour for errands or recreation using either a credit card or a B-cycle membership card.   While the 100 bikes in phase one of the Chicago B-cycle program may pale in comparison to Paris’ Velib program’s 20,000 bicycles, the goal, according to news reports, is to expand coverage over time.  For more information on bike-sharing programs, see MetroBike, LLC’s bike-sharing Blog.