By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The owner of five local apartment buildings is creating a free “bike share” program for the residents of his properties.

There will be three bicycles for residents to share at each of five Dranoff Properties‘ buildings: three in center city, one in Manayunk, and one on the Camden waterfront.

Outside his company’s building at 777 South Broad Street, owner Carl Dranoff (at right in photo below) launched the program by hopping on one of the bikes and leading a group of supporters on a ride along Broad Street.

(Credit: John McDevitt)

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“Residents can reserve the bikes in four-hour increments and riders will receive the bike, a bike helmet, a bike map, and a lock,” Dranoff said.

Alex Doty, president of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, noted that bike-sharing is a “green” initiative whose time has come.

“It’s exciting to see that we are going to be encouraging more biking amongst the residents who can use this bike share program, but we are also working toward making bike share a reality for the entire city of Philadelphia,” he said.