The Bike-sharing World - Third Week of January 2014

EUROPE:
France:
                           Paris:  The new and the old with Vélib:

From:
GlassCamp at the WebSchoolFactory at the first European glass Hackathon.

How to use it?
When walking, ask glass: "Ok glass, find a bike station." Then, while on the bike, use the go to menu to find your destination. Set up the chronometer to signal the time to return the bike before 30 minutes to avoid the overage charge. Ten minutes before the end of 30 minutes, BikeFinder will direct you to the nearest station. With BikeFinder, there is no need to get out your mobile phone, nor stop the ride in transit. Will this be the way to find bike-sharing stations anywhere in the world, just with voice command and Google Glass?

The  most recent Vélib news letter Vélib et Moi is clarifing the reports of stolen and damaged Vélibs for 2013. The article states that during 2013, 8,000 bikes were stolen or damage of which 87% were recovered or fixed. That means over the course of the year 1,040 bikes were either lost or damaged beyond repair. It states that Vélib stations that have extraordinary high rates of damage or theft are temporarily closed until there is community engagement to stem the situation. Most press reports have only reported the losses and not the recoveries. Even some of the bikes that cast asunder into the river Seine are recovered. To begin 2014, the Vélib fleet on the street is once again up to 18,000 bicycles. 

THE WORLD:

Bicycle Sharing 101

If you are starting a new bike-sharing program:
A friend of The Bike-sharing Blog, Bradley Schroeder, has just publihed a new book: Bicycle Sharing 101: Getting The Wheels Turning. It is worth the read for both the novive and current operators of bike-sharing programs.

Keep in touch with The Bike-sharing World with The Bike-sharing World Map. It is the premiere resource for information on cities with bike-sharing. The easy web address for viewing the map is www.bikesharingworld.com.

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap

See the O'Brien Global Bike Share Map which shows real time bike usage in many cities!

images: Vélib

Russell Meddin               bikesharephiladelphia.org