If Bogota has Bike Sharing, Why not Sydney?

I'm a cyclist and believe that bikes are an important part of a modern city's transport options.

So, reading about the latest international major bike sharing scheme for Bogota, Columbia in This Big City, made me wonder why we don't have one in Sydney when it seems to me perfectly suited to the city's needs

You might be surprised that Wikipedia lists 535 bike sharing schemes in 49 countries around the world with a total of 517,000 bicycles.  That's a lot of pedalling by a lot of people in a lot places (except Sydney).

And, although many bike sharing schemes are in places where cycling is more prevalent, cultural differences are not the answer since even car loving California has bike sharing in 5 different cities.  Nor is city size the determinant, as Melbourne is smaller but has Melbourne Bike Share and Brisbane is even smaller and has City Cycle.

Some commentators say its because of our bike helmet laws.  http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/on-your-bike/share-bike-schemes-need-to-lose-the-lids-20120920-267wg.html but is that seriously a reason not to have bike sharing?

I'm looking forward to being able to hire a bike to ride from Bondi Junction station to Bronte beach for a coffee one Sunday and avoid the problem of trying to find a parking spot.


Francesco ...