The Bike-sharing World - Second Week of August 2012

NORTH AMERICA:
USA:

      Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville, Massachusetts 

Installation of new station in Somerville

August 8, 2012 marks the first major expansion of The Hubway in the Boston metropolitan area. The Hubway is now a regional system rather than a city system. There are a total of 77  bike-share stations of which 64 are in Boston, two in Brookline, eight in Cambridge and three in Somerville. By the end of this season, the regional system will include 111 stations and 1,100 bikes. To celebrate, according to the Boston Globe, the system had an all day "Rolling Lauch Party" with events in each of the municipalities. With each new area having its own new stations and a new web presence, the system is now just called The Hubway instead of New Balance Hubway.

 

Speaking of expansions, over this summer, both Nice Ride Minnesota and Capital Bikeshare have made extensive increases in the amount of bikes and stations in their respective systems. Nice Ride, now in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, has gone from 700 bikes in 65 stations at its start to around 1,350 bikes in about 145 stations today. Capital Bikshare in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. started with 1,100 bikes in 114 stations and now has close to 1,500 bikes in 179 stations.

                               Denver, Colorado

Make a reservation for a Denver B-cycle. Is this the start of something really big in the evolution of bike-sharing? For the upcoming Denver Ciclovia, Viva Streets 2012, on August 12, Denver B-cycle is taking advance reservations for annual members to put a bike on hold. Just fill out this form with the number from your B-cycle card. The Bike-sharing Blog would like to hear from people who use this special service about your experience.

                              Chattanooga, Tennessee

An article in The New York Daily News seems to imply that the Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System is where the future of bike-sharing for New York City and even the world will be found. It could be that Chattanooga will be the testing ground for new technologies for systems the same as Citi Bike. So let us sit back and relax and watch what unfolds in this story one transaction at a time.

                             Chicago, Illinois

                                                              photo Lloyd Alter

Bike-sharing will not be coming to Chicago before next year. "Rather than rush to get the bikes on the street … we are looking to launch in the spring so we can ensure that we do this right, and have the infrastructure and planning fully in place so the program is a success from Day One," read the message from Peter Scales, spokesperson for Chicago's Department of Transportation, sent to the Chicago Sun Times. The paper also reports that he denied that the delay was connected to the ongoing investigation by the Chicago Inspector General to the claim, by a losing bidder, that the contract awarded for the City's bike-share system was tainted by a conflict of interest. He also denied that although Chicago is planning to use the same system as New York City, the delay there did not affect the delay in Chicago.

CANADA:
                          Quebec



Although Citi Bikes are not rolling along the streets of New York City so far this summer as planned, they are rolling off the assembly line at a very fast pace. These smiling workers at Devinci Cycles put un peu d'amour (some love) in each of the bikes they are sending to New York City.

EUROPE:
IRELAND:
                        Dublin

Dublinbikes will start to triple its size from 550 bikes to 1,500 bikes by the end of this year. If all goes as planned, according to The Irish Times, 56 new stations will be installed before the end of 2012. This is to be the beginning of a five-year plan to increase the size of one of the most successful bike-sharing systems in the world to 5,000 bikes in 300 stations. This is not bad for city with a population of a little over 500,000 people. There are currently around 46,000 long-term subscribers to dublinbikes. Daily usage is still around 13 times per bike per day according to Cycling in Dublin. That's high by any standard.

images: Somerville, Nice Ride, The Bike sharing Blog, Denver, Summer Stock, Broadway, Performance Bikes, dublinbikes

Russell Meddin         bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World -The last week of July 2012

NORTH AMERICA
USA
                        Chattanooga, Tennessee

After almost a 3-month delay from its April 25, 2012 start date, Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System began rolling on the evening of July 23rd. The green and blue bicycles are finally available at the docking stations for subscribers and occasional users after a frustrating period of software glitches. Subscribers who signed up for the original start date got access keys today. The special $60 annual subscription rate is once again available for sale. This discount is now extended through September 3. The regular subscriptions will be $75 for the year and $6 for a day pass. These are the only options. The first 60 minutes of each trip is at no extra charge and each additional 30 minutes is $5.


Bike Chattanooga with its 300 bikes now available in 28 stations becomes the first large scale bike-sharing system in the Southeast* edging out Charlotte, North Carolina which launched Charlotte B-cycle last week, but did not outfit the stations with bikes and will not until July 31st.


The difficulties which Chattanooga had with getting its system up and running, not only effected ridership in Chattanooga. It also affected the timing of the similar system for New York City. Last week, New York announced that there would be a delay in the expected July launch of Citi Bike. Now that the situations that caused the delays, both hardware and software, are under control, will New York be able to launch its multi-thousand bike system in time for its annual ciclovia, Summer Streets?


*Miami Beach with Decobike is not considered part of the Southeast.


                    Anaheim, California

Bike Nation launched its pilot program for Anaheim on Saturday July 23, 2012. This is the first city-wide system on the West Coast of the United States. It will have 10 stations with 100 bikes to be deployed in the coming weeks. The price structure to use the system is multi-tiered: the single day pass is $6, 3-day pass is $12, the week pass is $25, the month pass is $35 and a year subscription is $75. There is a steep escalating fee for each additional 30 minutes after the initial 30 minutes usage period which is free. The success of this pilot program could be the beginning of a 4,000-bicycle Bike Nation system for Los Angeles, California.


                   Boston, Massachusetts

This week brings the second anniversary of The Hubway. Boston celebrated the occasion with a party to which all Hubway users were invited.  It is also offering a special $15 discount on an annual membership. The 600-bike seasonal system plans to expand to 1,000 bikes by the end of this year with stations in Cambridge, Brookline, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Somerville, Massachusetts.


                           Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth throws its Ten Gallon Hat into the bike-share ring with a $1,000,000 US Federal Transit Administration grant to the Fort Worth Transit Authority to build 30 stations with 300 bikes for April 2013.

According to the NBC News affiliate in Fort Worth, since the "T" or Transit Authority is the recipient of the award, the bike stations are planned for inter-modality with the bus system so the bikes are an extension of the present bus system. With Austin, Texas planning a system and San Antonio and Houston B-cycle systems operating, this Forth Worth system could give Texas bragging rights to the State with the most bike-sharing systems in one state in the USA!



EUROPE
Poland
                     Warsaw

Operating station in Bemowo, Poland

The end of this month will see a city-wide bike-share system throughout Warsaw, Poland. VETURILO - Warszawski Rower Publiczny (Warsaw Public Bikes) will begin on August 1, 2012. The system, part of nextbike Poland, will have 1,000 bikes in 55 stations. Many of the stations are just about ready for use. It will be almost contiguous with the nextbike system already in operation in the capital's suburb of Bemowo. Expansion plans are to have 2,400 bikes in 2013. 

images: The Bike-sharing Blog, 4NBC, J Fox boston.com, Hat,  Bemowo Bike by Marek Utkin   


Russell Meddin       bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World -The Second Week of July 2012

EUROPE:
France:
                         Paris

July 15, 2007 Launch Ceremony for Vélib'

The Fifth Anniversary of Vélib': 

On July 15, 2007, bike-sharing went from a little known progressive initiative in a few cities into a World Transportation Phenomenon with the introduction of Vélib'. Vélib' arrived with 11,000 bikes in 750 stations in Paris. Though Paris was not the first̶̶̶—and is now not the biggest—bike-share city, it sparked the revolution that has brought these systems to over 450* cities around the world. Within five years, Vélib' riders have accumulated 130 million trips—with average 110,000 trips every day. The system quickly expanded to 18,500 bikes in 1,700 stations to cover all of Paris and the first ring of its suburbs within 1.5 km. Now there are 224,000 annual subscribers to the system and millions and millions of day passes are sold yearly. Vélib' was modeled after vélo'v in Lyon, France. Subsequently, the Chinese mega systems, the North American bIXI and B-cycle systems and the big European systems were all modeled after Vélib'. World bike-sharing success owes a lot to the success of Vélib'.
Bon Anniversaire!


                          Lyon

 

Vélo'v takes top honors as Europe's best bike-sharing service. 

The German Automobile Club, ADAC, did a survey of 40 bike sharing systems in the European countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,  Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The survey said, Lyon's vélo'v is #1.

Testing of the systems was performed in May 2012 as part of the ADAC program for advising travelers. Each system was evaluated on Accessibility (35% of the evaluation), Directions (26%), Ease of use (25%) and Quality of the bikes (14%). Each of these categories had the following choices: Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Poor and Very Poor. Paris' Vélib' came in second overall.


Spain:
                        Valencia

Valenbisi on Monday afternoon July 16, 2012 starts offering supplemental insurance to its bike-share riders. This is in addition to the regular insurance that Valenbisi carries for every rental.  For an additional €9 ($11 US) subscribers can purchase liability and accident insurance. This will cover the insured for any third party bicycling incidents within the city limits of Valencia. The policy pays claims that are brought against Valenbisi and/or against the user by a third party or parties involved in the incident. The claim maximums are: personal injury caused to third parties: €300,000 ($367,200 US) per claim, property damage caused to third parties: €50,000 ($61,200 US) per claim. In addition, there is compensation in the event of accidental death: up to €30,000 ($36,700 US), and compensation for permanent disability by an accident: up to €60,000 ($73,450 US.) This could be a very good precedent for all bike-sharing systems. It is possibly a best practice to emulate.

NORTH AMERICA:
USA:
               Charlotte, North Carolina

Bike-sharing in the United States got a kick start with the Humana Freewhelin' first generation systems at the 2008 National Presidential Conventions in Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a result, Nice Ride Minnesota and Denver B-cycle are flourishing.
Now, in a run up to its September 2012 Democratic National Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina launched a third generation B-cycle system on July 12, 2012. Charlotte B-cycle will have 200 bikes across 20 stations available in the Center City area within a few weeks. The system—offering only 2 pass types—is a bit pricey with a day pass at $8 and an annual subscription at $65. After the initial no charge 30 minutes, each additional 1/2 hour is $4.  

As with the the earlier 2008 Political Conventions, the Charlotte system is being mostly paid for by the health industry. Although created by the Charlotte Center City Partnership, Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina is the lead sponsor of the system with Carolinas HealthCare System and Verizon sponsoring a smaller portion.


The Charlotte media is calling Charlotte B-cycle the first major bike-sharing system in North Carolina and the largest in the Southeast. That title of the largest should have been applied to The Chattanooga Bike Transit System, in Tennessee. Unfortunately, that system, originally scheduled to begin on April 25, 2012, still isn't open for public use. 


* The Bike-sharing World Map
images: Vélib' vélo'v JCDeacaux #1 El Mundo, WFAE FM and Charlotte B-cycle

Russell Meddin     bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - the Last Week of May 2012

South America:
Brazil
                       São Paulo

Bike Sampa starts city-wide bike-sharing in Brazil's largest city -- São Paulo. As its sister program, Bike Rio's Samba, Sampa is a joint venture of Sertel, Mobilicidade, and sponsored by Banco Itaú. Although beginning with 100 bikes in six stations this week, the service plans to have 1,000 bikes in 100 stations by the end of the year and for 3,000 bikes by 2014. Initial sign up is online at bikesampa.com with a R$10.00 ($5.00 US) fee for a pass that is valid until March 2013. Each time a bike is taken out there is no charge for the first 30 minutes of use, then R$5.00 ($2.50 US) for each additional 30 minutes. There is a 15-minute wait time between each time a bike is returned before another can be taken again to avoid additional charges.

North America:

USA Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The second bike-sharing system in Oklahoma debuted last week in Oklahoma City, called Spokies. The first, Tulsa Townies, was also the first 3rd generation system, albeit with a recreational focus, in North America (see the Bike-sharing Blog July 2007 and the Bike-sharing Blog August 2011). There are 95 Spokies in 6 stations. The system uses Sandvault stations and Worksman Bicycles. It is necessary to sign up online and the cost is $75 for a one-year membership, $20 for a one-month membership, and $5 for a day pass. There are unlimited 30-minute rides with no wait period after returning a bike before taking another. Each additional half hour of continual use is $2. Generally, North American bike-share systems are theft free, but within the first week, two men at a Spokie station swiped bikes instead of swiping their credit card. According to News 9, the two men were arrested and the bikes recovered.  

                      Chattanooga, Tennessee

Although scheduled to have launched (see the Bike-sharing Blog April 2012), technical difficulties have prevented deployment and use of the Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System. Membership sales have been suspended according to their website. News on the system can be followed on the Bike Chattanooga twitter account.

Asia:

Japan

                       Kanazawa

The west coast of Japan gets another bike-sharing system this month with introduction of Machi-Nori. Not far from Toyoma, this city with a population of 500,000 gets 155 bikes in 18 stations. Sign up is at any of the stations or a office where cash is accepted. A year membership cost is ¥9,000 ($114 US), a month membership is ¥1,000 ($12 US), and the day cost is ¥200 ($2.50US), with the first 30 minutes of use at no extra charge and each additional 30 minutes at ¥200. There is a very good set of English directions and Map for the system.

Europe:

Italy

                       Milan 

                      

BIkeMi is once again increasing its size. With 128 stations it is the largest city system in Italy. According to BikeMi, there have been in one day over 6,600 usages of the close to 1,500 bikes in the system.

images: Sampa - Renata Falzoni ESPN, Video NewsOK, Machi-Nori, Milan by Luca Volpi

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Last Week of April 2012

Asia:
China
                   Wuhan

Xinfeider Public Bikes debuts it new bike station. The multi-language kiosk boasts a very large touch screen. It can serve as an information center. It can print out directional maps or special coupons for system users for near-by shopping. It could also be used by those needing directions. The station has electric battery recharging capability and a recycling container for used batteries for electric bicycle compatibility. With advance connectivity, the new bike station could serve much more transit options for central payment and ticketing. Xinfeider took the lead in the consolidation of Wuhan's multiple bike-sharing systems. According to a recent report from the Hubei Department of Tranportation, there are now 1,218 public bike service sites of which 700 are smart lease sites, and of those, 150 use solar energy. There are 70,000 public bicycles in the system and this year they will invest in another 20,000 for a total of 90,000 vehicles.

North America:
USA
                   Chattanooga

Cable Lock

Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System is to take to the streets. Watch this catchy video. This southeastern city of around 170,000 people in Tennessee is to have 300 bikes in 30 stations. It offers only yearly subscriptions at $75 (special $60 introductory offer until May 31, 2012) and day memberships for $6. In a break from most U.S. automated bike-sharing systems, Chattanooga offers a one-hour initial usage period at no charge rather than the usual 30 minutes. According to WRCB TV, the system is scheduled to launch on April 25, 2012.

The service is operated by Alta Bicycle Share with equipment from PBSC. It is a first city installation using a PBSC bicycle with an intergrated auxiliary cable locking system to secure the bike away from a docking station and a passive GPS system. Also new are the "Urban Solution" version 3.0 kiosk at the docking stations.

Update: The Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System was originally scheduled to launch on April 25, 2012. The launch was postponed twice due to technical problems with a new operating system according to the program's press release.


Europe:
Germany
                   Kassel

Konrad is the name of the new Call a Bike - DB Rent system in Kassel, Germany. It begins operation this week with 500 bikes in 50 stations. There are no subscriptions to this system and every 30 minutes of usage are charged at € 0.50 (65¢ US). It is necessary to sign up for free at a station or over the phone for a € 3 ($4 US) charge which is then credited against usage. Each Kassel bus ticket will give a 30 minutes credit on the system also.


                    Mainz

After starting with a small bike-sharing pilot program last year, Mainz, Germany a city of 200,000, began a full program called MDVmeinRAD this week. Run by the city transit system, the new train and bus eticket will operate at the current 50 bike stations and will access all 1,000 bikes and 120 solar-powered stations when the system is complete this fall.


images: Xinfeider, Chattanooga Bicycle Transit , Konrad, MGVmeimRad,


Russell Meddin    bikesharephiladelphia.org