Happy 6th Birthday

Today is the 6th birthday for The Bike-sharing Blog. Time flies as you're pedaling along.

In these past six years, bike-sharing has taken the world by storm. There is no one individual leading the charge, but rather people all over the globe are seeing the value that bike-sharing brings to their city, county, town, or state -- whether it's to lower traffic congestion, improve public health, or increase economic activity around the bike-share stations.

Thanks to the bike-sharing employees who balance bikes from full to empty stations and keep them and the stations functioning. Thanks to the bike transit professionals who manage the services, plan for station locations, partner with friendly neighbors and organizations, and ensure that the services run smoothly. Thanks to the advocates who support bike-sharing in their communities, demand bike-sharing in municipalities where it does not yet exist, and help push the concept to evolve and innovate to better meet the needs of even more people. And thanks to the people who use the service and don't think twice about how bike-sharing has become part of their lives and the urban fabric of their city or town.

There are bike-sharing services on every continent now with millions of people sharing bikes daily. This is a long way from where we started just six years ago. Now tens of thousand of people in New York City and Chicago are anticipating the launch of bike-sharing services this month and next. There have been details of the on-going culture clash between car vs. bike as bike-share stations begin to dot city streets. As other cities around the world have taken to bike-share, so will these too and other cities world-wide as the automobile culture fades and the bicycle culture grows and becomes mainstream. Equity and safety for all.

Thanks for your continued support of The Bike-sharing Blog for these past six years and the next six too.

Sincerely,
Paul DeMaio and Russell Meddin

p.s. - Don't forget to check out The Bike-sharing World Map and our new Twitter feed.

Bike-sharing Accessories

With everybody around the world either already bike-sharing or about to, we need more accessories to make getting around by bike-share bike easier to do. Whether this means a built-in water-proof seat cover after a drenching rain, a mobile phone charger while you bike, on-bike directions, or a helmet that covers your bald spot so the sun doesn't get through, there are a lot of creative bike-sharers out there who are thinking of ideas to make cycling easier and make a few bucks at it for their entrepreneurial ideas.

Here's an idea from Israel with their TikTak bag which can be used on any Tel-O-Fun bike in Tel Aviv, or any Call a Bike/StadtRad bike for that matter. Check it out.

The Bike-sharing World - Mid-April 2013

300,000,000 rides on CycloCity 

CityBike

Vélib'

                                                         
In the 10 years since JCDecaux launched its first bike-share program in Vienna, Austria, 300,000,000 riders have hopped on a JCDecaux-operated service, including CityBike, vélo'v, Sevici, CityCycle, bicloo, Vélib', or another CycloCity bicycle! With 66 cities in 10 countries using a CycloCity bike-share system, JCDecaux is one of the dominate bike-share providers even though it is not their main business. Vélib' in Paris, the largest of the CycloCity systems, accounted for 157,000,000 of these rides according to e-marketing France. Throughout the the world, over 550,00 subscribers have joined one of their systems.

In a review of JCDecaux's CycloCity system, Bourcier.com, states that the 46,536 bicycles in its world wide fleet are responsible for alleviating 33,899 metric tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere each year.

This proves what we always knew, that bike-sharing is like a breath of fresh air!


New for The Bike-sharing World Map

Follow the Map on Twitter with our new service! https://twitter.com/BikesharingMap

The Bike-sharing World Map is the #1 resource for bike-sharing systems world wide. It shows new systems coming online which might not be covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. With constant updates, it is one of the best ways to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

images: CityBike-gawista, Vélib'-networkmusings

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Last week of February 2013

ASIA:

Bike-sharing rolls into new parts of the world.
United Arab Emirates:
                                       Dubai

BYKY Nextbike  - Abdel-Krim Kallouche

The Arabian Peninsula gets a permanent bike-sharing system. On February 16, 2013,  BYKY Bike-share by nextbike began serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates with 100 bikes and 10 stations. The solar-powered stations are placed near the city's Metro stations to extend the travel options of the transit system's riders. As proof that bike-sharing is reaching new heights in the world, there is a BYKY bike station adjacent to the Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building. 

Last year in nearby Doha, Qatar there was a pilot bike-share program, Qbike, for six months. There is hope to bring that one back as a winter seasonal program. According to Gulfnews, BYKY can be accessed, as with most nextbike systems, by membership card or credit card at the station kiosk or by mobile telephone. Within the last year, nextbike has opened programs in eastern Europe, the Mediterranean area, and the Balkans.

China:
                        Aksu:

In far western China almost bordering Kyrgyzstan, bike-sharing made its debut in Aksu City, Xinjiang this week. The first station with 20 bikes of the service, which will eventually include 500 bikes and 20 stations, opened to celebrate the the end of the Chinese New Year Spring Festival. According to the Xinjiang Daily, 300 eager Uyghers signed up for the bicycle access card the first day! The access card requires a ¥200 ($32 US) deposit plus ¥100 ($16 US) value to cover overage fees for a bike kept longer than the initial first hour, at no charge. If needed, the access card is refillable or refundable. For 2014, an additional 30 stations and 1,100 bikes are planned for this city of 600,000 residents.

The Aksu system's equipment is similar to the equipment of the mega system in Hangzhou, China. It is designed and being installed with the assistance of the Hangzhou Bicycle Service.

images: Xpress, Aksu Travel Guide


The World:

The Bike-sharing World Map is the #1 resource for bike-sharing systems. It shows new systems coming online which might not be covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. With over 3 million page views and constant updates, it is known as the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Last week of January 2013

ASIA:
China:
                  Hangzhou:

Multi-position station in Hangzhou, China

January 2013 brings a report that Hangzhou now has 69,750 bicycles in 2,965 stations with 94,000,000 people riding the system annually. Yes, that is ninety-four million rides a year. If the system's owner, the Hangzhou Public Bicycle Transportation Services Development Company Limited, gets one yuan ($0.16 USD) for each one of those rides, well, it is a lot of cash. Now, if those riders need cash, Hangzhou Public Bicycle will make it easy for them! The company just reached an agreement to lease space at their bike stations to the Guangdong Development Bank for Automatic Teller Machines (ATM). Five of the ATMs are already installed according to Hangzhou.com. 

China seems to be leading the world in ideas of integrating multiple uses for their bike-sharing stations. This is a great example of synergy of services for the system's users. There are electric bicycle charging hook-ups at some stations in the city of Wuhan. Many Chines cities now have bike-sharing stations that double as bus shelters. The more attractions there are for bike-sharing users, the more bike-sharing becomes attractive and used.


NORTH AMERICA:
USA:
                New Orleans:

SUPER BOWL XLVII  at the Superdome

Bike-sharing will be making a pass to the over 70,000 spectators going to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. From January 30 through February 3, Entergy, Bike Easy, and the Downtown Development District are bringing B-Cycle to New Orleans so residents and visitors can try out bike-sharing while enjoying the Big Easy festivities for Super Bowl XLVII. 

Both of the opposing football team's home cities, San Francisco and Baltimore are planning bike-sharing systems for 2013, so this will be good exposure for the sports fans. It also is a good way to excite the local residents to start a systems next to the mighty Mississippi. B-cycle will set up two stations and have bikes available at no charge. They hope that at least the first 49er users will start ravens about bike-sharing!

                       Anaheim:

Last week the Los Angeles basin got its first taste of multi-station bike-sharing. After a long waiting period, Bike Nation brought three stations into operation in Anaheim, California.

                        Miami:

Miami, Florida's City Council welcomed Decobike to travel across the Causeway from Miami Beach to set up stations in Downtown Miami. This system will probably be deployed fairly quickly.

                        Austin:
At the same time as Miami's City Council OK'd bike-sharing, so did Austin, Texas's City Council. They gave the non-profit organization, Bike Share of Austin the go ahead to deploy 400 bikes in 40 stations in this capital city of Texas.


Update:

EUROPE:
Hungary:

                      Budapest:

Since the residents of Budapest are starving to have Bike-sharing, Budapesti Közlekedési Központ (BKK) the consulting firm for the bike-sharing project, will sponsor another information session on January 30, 2013 for prospective vendors and operators . More information is at BKK.

images Hangzhou, Superdome.

The World:

The Bike-sharing World Map is the #1 resource for bike-sharing systems. It shows new systems coming online which might not be covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. With over 3 million page views and constant updates, it is known as the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Early January 2013

Europe:

A Tale of Two Cities

As 2012 was coming to a close, two of the most successful bike-share programs in Europe announced steep price increases of 100% or more for 2013! In October, Bicing in Barcelona announced membership policy changes and price increases of 116% according El País. In November, Barclays Cycle Hire in London announced doubling the price of daily, weekly and annual memberships according to the Times.

proposed an annual increase from € 45.11 to € 97.50 ($128 US)

        

proposed an annual increase from £45 to £90     ($144 US)

A funny thing happened. The reaction in Barcelona by the Bicing membership was swift and strong. There was a demonstration, Save our Bicing, protesting the increase with a march on City Hall. Opposition by Bicing members and the bicycle community at large caused the city government to re-think the increase and ultimately changed the increase to only 3% (the consumer price index change for the year). This will start in February according to Bicing.  

While in London, there seems to have been very little reaction. Boris Bikers took the increases with the proverbial British, "stiff upper lip" and dug deeper in their pockets. The rate increase took effect on January 2, 2013 according to Transport for London. There were a few complaints on how the renewals were handled, but nothing nearing the reaction as in Barcelona. If there is a bright side to a 100% price increase in London, it is that the new one day rate of £2 ($3.20 US) is still less than a regular one way "Tube" or bus fare!

NORTH AMERICA:

USA:

                      Washington, DC:

Paul DeMaio at Capital Bikeshare Launch on September 20, 2010

The Best Bike-Sharing Program in the United States

In the daily web magazine Slate, January 7, 2013, the column, Doers: People who accomplish great things and how they do it, The Best Bike-Sharing Program in the United States: How D.C., of all places, made it happen, profiles fellow bike-share blogger Paul DeMaio as one of the prime movers and shakers that made Capital Bikeshare a reality.  This is great recognition for Paul, his work and the The Bike-sharing Blog. Capital Bikeshare could not have happened without the work of many, many people in both Arlington County and the Washington, DC. Many are listed in this Slate article and in the Greater Greater Washington, January 9, 2013 article: Many unsung heroes made Capital Bikeshare a reality. Each and every one of them deserves a lot of credit. Thank all of you for making Capital Bikeshare The Best Bike-Sharing Program in the United States. There are a few cities though, that might take exception to which is the best!

images Bicing, Barclays, Metrobike LLC


The World:

The Bike-sharing World Map is the #1 resource for bike-sharing systems. It shows new systems which come online which might not be covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. With over 3 million page views, it is known as the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

2012 Bike-share Year in Review

Happy New Year to Bike-sharing Blog readers. As Russell and I look back five years ago to when this little Blog started, we're mindful at just how phenomenal bike-sharing has become. A mere 68 bike-share cities had services operational in December 2007. Europe, the birth-continent of this sharing concept (Amsterdam in particular), had 61 cities and Asia had one. In December 2012, we're up to 493 with Europe still leading the pack with 352, followed by Asia at 90, North America with 35, South America with 15, Australia/Oceania with 4, and Africa with 1. This is a huge change over the past half decade.

 

Global Bike-sharing Services 

The world's present economic uncertainty has slowed the spread of bike share programs in Europe for 2012. The economy and unforeseen circumstances delayed deployment of larger programs in North America while many smaller programs made an appearance there in 2012. Asia kept pedaling along with more bike-share. Many new programs came on-line in China with others planned. South America started to accelerate the presence of bike-share on that continent. Australia/Oceania is still suffering from mandatory helmet laws and remains stagnant. Central America and Africa for 2012 just haven’t begun to share yet, but that only means the potential is immense. We hope all continents will see spectacular growth of cities with bike-share for 2013.

At the writing on this post, The Bike-sharing World Map is barreling to its 3,000,000th viewing. We thank all 3,000,000 of you for making it the #1 resource for bike-sharing cities information in, well, the world. It keeps you up-to-date with new programs which come online even before they are covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. It is the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world. 

We've seen climate change rear its ugly head more than ever this past year. Our region in particular was walloped by a storm so big that the term "Superstorm" was created to better describe it. The image below shows the storm covering the eastern half of North America. The storm was the largest in our region's recorded history. Is this the new normal? We hope not. Drastic policy measures must be taken up with haste around the world to stop the irreversible boil of the planet. Bike-sharing and the creation of complete bike infrastructure in our cities to encourage cycling must be part of these policies. Bike-sharing changes the way people get around in our cities. There is less reliance on burning gasoline and diesel fuels. It can help reduce the particulates in our air and put the brakes on global climate change. Don't disappoint us, world. Let's get cooking - before we're cooked!

Superstorm Sandy in October 2012

To finish on a more upbeat note, Russell and I wish you a happy and healthy 2013. May all your rides be downhill and all your bike-sharing bikes be pre-adjusted to your height.

Paul DeMaio, MetroBike, LLC

Russell Meddin, Bikeshare Philadelphia

The Bike-sharing World - Mid-December 2012

There's a lot going on in the bike-sharing world in December. Read on for an update from around the world:

ASIA:
China:

               Zhuhai

After a few weeks of a trial period, Zhuhai City, Guangdon, China, will officially launch its home-grown bike-share system this week. The 5,000 bikes in 195 station system is named "City Bike". There is a good video, in Chinese of course, of the system. Canopies will shelter 111 of the stations. It is reported that some of the stations will also have free WiFi -- now that's 4th generation in my book! As a twist on the initial 30 minutes usage at no extra charge policy, the system only allows 90 minutes at no extra charge per 24-hour period. The design of the components of the system look very similar to the Public Bicycle System Company's components for Barclays Cycle Hire in London. Maybe it isn't purely occidental!

                 City Bike - Zhuhai                                                        Barclays Cycle Hire - London
               
               Anji

Last week, just ahead of Zhuhai, Anji in the Zhejiang Province of China launched a 1,500-bike/60-station service using the same equipment. Anji Public Bicycle is a good example of small Chinese cities with populations between 500,000 and 1,000,000 adopting the Chinese government's concept of "green travel, low carbon life".

Anji Public bicycle

Over the next two years, we can expect to see many more smaller Chinese cities launching good size bike-sharing services.


EUROPE:
Germany:
                Hamburg

StadtRad, the very successful DB Rent bike-sharing service in Hamburg, has 1,650 bikes in 123 stations. According to a DB Rent press release, it had two million trips last year. January 2013 will see a new price rate for bikes kept over the initial 30 minutes. An increase from 4 cents to 8 cents for each additional minute over the first 30 minutes will cause pfennig pinchers to get those bikes back in time! There is also a planned expansion of the system for next year. StadtRad, part of the Deutsche Bahn Call a Bike system, is not part of the yearly "Winterpause" where Call a Bike closes from December to March. Also for this winter, bikes will be available in the German cities of Berlin, Stuttgart, Kassel, and Frankfurt.

United Kingdom:
                          London

There have been 18,500,000 Boris Bike trips since Barclays Cycle Hire started in July 2010. Starting next month, access fees to use Barclays Cyle Hire will double! Here is the Rate Schedule. Even with this price increase, the new £2 ($3.25 US) daily access fee is less than a one-way trip on either the London buses or Underground. Boris Bikes are still the most economical way to get around Central London. In addition to the planned expansion to the west of London, Sales Agents are reporting that stations are proposed near the very busy Clapham Junction train station in the south of London.

                          Bristol
Even though the original Bristol bike-share system of 2009, lasted only 18 months, a new system came to town. Nextbike UK a division of Nextbike GmbH had an operating station with bikes at a conference there last week. Here is a video of the nextbike programs in English.




They also currently have a station with bikes just south of London.


Italy:
                        Florence

Ponte Vecchio - Florence, Italy

It has been a long time coming, but Florence, Italy might soon have bike-sharing. Like in many progressive cities, bike-share advocates have been working for years to get a system there. Recent reports indicate there could be bike-sharing available for the thousands of visitors who come to see the Ufizi and the Ponte Vecchio. A tender for 50 stations with 750 bikes is about to be released.


SOUTH AMERICA:
Brazil:
                         Santos

This ocean-front city close to Brazil's largest city, São Paulo, gets bike-sharing. Within the last month, the beaches of Santos, Brazil are filled with 150 Samba bikes in 15 stations. Bike Santos charges a modest registration deposit of 10R$ ($4.80 USD). The bikes are then available for 30 minutes at no charge. Go over 30 minutes and there is a 5R$ ($2.40 USD) charge for each additional 30 minutes. Once the bike is returned, there is a 15-minute waiting period before another bike can be borrowed at no charge.

                      São Paulo

Banco Breadesco Ciclofaixia

Yet another bike-sharing system is coming to São Paulo. Ciclosampa will soon have its 200 Banco Bradesco-sponsored red bikes in 20 Banco Bradesco sponsored red stations added to the streets of São Paulo. CicloSampa will be using equipment from the U.S. company Cycloshare. The other systems currently operating in São Paulo are SancaBike, Nossa Bike, and itaú bike sampa. With multiple incompatible systems, it is a very interesting city where bike-share doesn't share!

NORTH AMERICA:
USA:
                         Nashville

Last week, Nashville, Tennessee joined the growing number of Southeastern U.S. cities to embrace bike-sharing. On Thursday, Mayor Karl Dean introduced automated bike-sharing to Nashville with 190 B-cycles in 20 downtown stations. Nashville B-cycle offers the first hour of usage at no charge for the $5 day pass, the $10 seven-day pass, $15 month pass, and $50 annual pass. Each addition 30 minutes costs $1.50 (about $1.50 USD). Nashville B-cycle will complement the current Nashville GreenBikes city-wide Bike Library.


                      Portland

This week, Portland, Oregon's City Council cast its final vote approving a contract with Alta Bicycle Share to launch Portland’s bike share system in 2013. Mayor Sam Adams said, “Bike-share is a game-changer for bicycling in Portland.” Alta Bicycle Share announced it accepts the responsibility of developing, fundraising, launching, and operating Portland's bicycle transit system. The program is to start with 750 bikes in 75 stations.

                     Philadelphia

It has been a long ride since the beginning of 2007 when Bike Share Philadelphia began advocating for bike-sharing for Philadelphia. This month, Mayor Michael Nutter finally publicly announced to the Philadelphia Inquirer that he would seek appropriations for a bike-share service. The Inquirer quickly endorsed a program in an Editorial. We all are waiting in anticipation for the process to roll from words to bikes and stations, then into the best program in North America. 


images: Zhuzhai,  Barclays, Anji, StadtRad, Florence, Santostourismo, Bradesco, B-cycle, Alta and The bike-sharing Blog


The World:

The Bike-sharing World Map is the #1 resource for bike-sharing systems. It shows new systems which come online which might not be covered in The Bike-sharing Blog. With almost 3 million page views, it is known as the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

How the Best Bikeshare in the Country Does Business

 

The first plan of its kind for bikesharing in the United States has just been published. It is a comprehensive 6-year plan for Capital Bikeshare in Arlington County, Virginia.

Arlington County Capital Bikeshare Transit Development Plan 2013 to 2018

It took more than a year to finalize the report because we wanted extensive public input at all stages. This included open forums with regional partners, the business community, all Arlington civic associations, and the general public. Opportunities for public input were plentiful, both online and at in-person forums. The Capital Bikeshare crowdsourcing map was also used.

Listening to the public provided:

• General direction for the program (such as, should we remain focused on the urban core and transit corridors or should we expand more to neighborhoods that are further from the transit spine?)
• General weighting between geographic areas for quantity of bikes and stations needed, and
• Specific direction on exactly where the stations should be placed.

The Transit Development Plan represents a major step towards establishing bikesharing as a legitimate transit mode. The plan will be submitted to the State of Virginia in the same way a local bus service would be submitted. The hope is that bikesharing will be considered for funding through the same channels. Capital Bikeshare is an integrated part of the transportation fabric in the Washington D.C. region, and it should be treated as such.

The plan spells out how people are using Capital Bikeshare in Arlington and the region and also how people will use it over the next six years. Trip quantity, trip type, motivations to ride, expansion plans, revenue, funding needs, life cycle and replacement costs are all outlined.

A must-read for anyone working on bringing bikesharing to their city or municipality – or anyone with local interest in the Capital Bikeshare program – we are excited to have this resource and to all the great years of bikesharing ahead.

Chris Eatough is BikeArlington's program manager.

Cross-posted on The BikeArlington Blog