Feliz Cumpleaños ECOBICI & Joyeux Anniversaire VCUB

The end of February brings the first anniversary of two very successful bike-sharing systems. One in Europe and the other in North America. Both have exceeded usage expectations of their respective city governments and are planning to grow.

ECOBICI - Mexico City, Mexico; Born: February 16, 2010

It was an immediate success in the heavily auto congested Colonia Condesa, Juárez, and Cuauhtémoc areas of the Federal District. Within a few months the coverage area was expanded to include parts of the Historical Center of the city. In the first year ECOBICI was used 1.2 million times. There are around 25,000 registered yearly subscribers to the Clear Channel system of 1,200 bikes and 90 stations. These subscribers use the bikes an average of 9,000 times daily with a median trip of around 20 minutes.

According to Milenio.com, at the First Anniversary Celebration, Mayor Ebrard and Clear Channel announced that the service will add 1,700 more bikes and 110 more stations before the end of 2011. It also plans to have a total of 4,000 bikes and 275 stations by the end of 2012.

V³ - Bordeaux, France; Born: February 20, 2010

Like the wines of this region, it was a good year for the experiment to make buses, trams, and bikes seamlessly interconnected in and around Bordeaux. With 1,545 bikes of V^CUB (Vélos for the Community of Urban Bordeaux) being used around 5,000 times a day, over 1.6 million trips have been taken this first year. Another measure of success is that 75% of subscribers have signed up for the full transit option, not just the bikes. Interestingly, in a survey 50% of 13,000 subscribers indicated they owned their own bike. According to SudOuest, during the beginning of the service, bike store operators were not enthusiastic of the program, but now have seen an increase in demand for new bikes since there are more people accustomed to riding in the city. The operating company, Keolis, also operates the region's buses and trams.

images: Blogalaxia & Francesudouest

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

Bike-sharing as sweet as Swiss Chocolate

With world renowned precision, the Swiss are beginning bike-sharing in the cities along Lake Geneva. The first part of the system opened last week in Lausanne, Lausanne Roule, and will have 165 bikes in 14 stations in three municipalities by July 15th and 370 bikes by the fall. At Vevey for those who have a sweet tooth, there are bike stations at the International Headquarters of the chocolate giant Nestlé. Switzerland is a confederation of cantons or states; it appears that Swiss bike-sharing is being set up as a confederation of systems. The national subscription RFID (radio frequency identification) Card of Lausanne Roule can be used in the member cities of Suisse Roule: Geneva, Bern, Neuchâtel and Zurich. Not all these cities have 3rd generation systems yet, most are run manually. The news service, 24 Heures , reports that in the Lausanne program, the first 30 minutes of use is free, then each subsequent hour is CH₣ 1 (a little less than US$1.00). The regional daily subscription is CH₣ 5, the monthly is CH₣ 15 and the yearly is CH₣ 35. For national use, the yearly subscription is CH₣ 50.

The bikes are specifically designed for Switzerland and carry advertising. Unlike most bike-sharing bikes, there is a basket in the rear rather than in the front. The docking stations are a similar system to the Italian Bicincitta. Suisse Roule is set up as a nonprofit agency. It has both government and private sponsorship. Three quarters of its revenue comes from the ad sales on the bikes and user fees.

Watch the building of the system:

Images: 24 Heures
Video: Suisseroule

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

BIXI -The First Large Scale Bike-sharing Program In North America

Tuesday morning, May 12, 2009 at 10:30 AM at City Hall in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, BIXI the largest bike-sharing program in North America begins. With 3,000 bikes and 300 stationes planned, it will be 30 times larger than the program in Washington, DC.  Whether you subscribe for $78 a year, $28 a month or $5 a day, there is no charge for the first 30 minute ride. The self-contained solar powered bike stations are innovative in that they are easily reconfirgured and redeployed if necessary. The name is a contraction of BIcyle and taXI. You just pick up a bike at one station and drop it off at any one of the 299 others, just like a taxi! Watch the video:

Russell Meddin  www.bikesharephiladelphia.org

Pioneering Bike-sharing Program Goes Dark After 11 Years

On Sunday May 10, 2009 the world’s first public automated information based bike-sharing program shut down. Vélo à la Carte started in 1998 by Clear Channel Adshel in Rennes, France ended its 11 years of almost free service in this capital city of Brittany. Vélo à la Carte is credited with starting the 21^st Century bike-share revolution now spot lighted on the world stage with Vélib in Paris. A bicycle revolution that is now spreading to cities all over the world. 

With only 200 bicycles over 25 stations in a city with 200,000 inhabitants, Vélo à la Carte has seen almost 1 million usages with 11,000 yearly subscribers. It was the first system deployed for the general public in a metropolitan area utilizing a RFID (radio frequncy identification) card to access the bikes.

Over the years, three different bicycle designs were used in the system. A €23 deposit gave users access to 2 hours of no charge bike-sharing. It is a sad passing in the vélos en libre service world.   Vélo à la Carte

Do not shed a tear for the Rennais. Although, they will no longer have Vélo à la Carte, they will have a complete menu of 900 new le vélo star bikes in 40 stations starting June 6, 2009. In the near future, it will serve a larger area plus the suburbs with 1285 bikes and 117 stations . Le vélo star system keeps Rennes as an innovator in bike-sharing. The regional transit card, Kerrigo, will also access the bikes.

le vélo star

A spokesperson for Clear Channel said that Vélo à la Carte was part of a street furniture (bus shelters) program in Rennes. The contract exspired recently. Rennes tendered the new street furniture and bike-sharing as two sepearate contracts. Clear Channel won the street furniture tender maintaining its advertising presence in the City. Keolis won the bike tender and will start operating the scheme in June. Kéolis’s contract will have no link to advertising.

Photos: Rennes Métropoles, Vélo à la Carte, Ouest-France  and Kéolis

Russell Meddin  www.bikesharephiladelphia.org