The Bike-sharing World - Last Week of March 2014

EUROPE:
United Kingdom:
                                       London:

The Tour de France Boris Bike

101 Boris Bikes now carry the bright yellow color of the Leader Jersey of the Tour de France. This year marks the 101st run of the Tour de France and three stages of the Race will roll through the United Kingdom this summer. On July 7, 2013, the third Stage will end in London! We can't wait to see one of these yellow Boris Bikes be the first to cross the finish line!

NORTH AMERICA:
USA:
                                      Boston:

"Prescribe-a-Bike" program for The Hubway

A new program, "Prescribe-a-Bike," will allow doctors at the Boston Medical Center to write prescriptions for their low-income patients to qualifiy for a greatly reduced price of $5 for an annual membership to the Boston area's The Hubway. “Obesity is a significant and growing health concern for our city, particularly among low-income Boston residents,” said Kate Walsh, chief executive of Boston Medical Center, according to Boston.com. “Regular exercise is key to combating this trend, and Prescribe-a-Bike is one important way our caregivers can help patients get the exercise they need to be healthy.”

The Hubway re-opens area-wide on April 2, 2014, which will take a lot of weight off those Bostonians who have been waiting through a cold winter for these rides!

images: Mayor's Watch, and Dirt Riders

Russell Meddin             bikesharephiladelphia.org

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 and complement to The Bike-sharing Blog. The easy web address for viewing the map is www.bikesharingworld.com.

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap

The Bike-sharing World - The last week of October 2013

SOUTH AMERICA:

Chile:

Santiago

Slick advisement for Bikesantiago, where the tire isn't a slick

Last Friday Santiago, Chile launched its 2nd bike-sharing program with Bikesantiago. The program with 300 bikes in 25 stations, around the Vitacura section of the city, uses B-cycle equipment. The program is sponsored by one of South America's largest Banks, Itaú. This bank also sponsors many bike-share programs in Brazil and a seasonal one in Uruguay. Bikesantiago currently only offers monthly memberships at 4,999 pesos ($9.85 US), half year memberships at 24,950 pesos ($49.20 US) and yearly memberships at 49,999 ($98.50 US). As with most bike-share programs there is a 30 minute initial period at no extra charge, then 500 peso (about $1.00 US) for the next 30 minutes and 1000 pesos for the next 30 minutes. Santiago hopes to eventually have 3,000 bikes in 300 stations. This is the first deployment of a large North American system in South America and the first B-cycle system outside the USA.

NORTH AMERICA:

Mexico:

Mexico City

Also last week Ecobici bike-share announced not only was it expanding its service area south into the Benito Juárez section of the City, but there is Bigger News! It has become the first North American bike-share program to be part of a city's multi-modal transit card for the bus, the metro, the trolleybus and parking meters according to Croninca.com. Current Ecobici card holders just need add the service to their plastic RFID card. New customers can add the Ecobici subscription to a new multi-modal card. Mexico City has caught the wave of the "single media fare card" future!

USA:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

Yes, now that the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a bike-share program is so frequent, it no longer qualifies as news. But even before this blog reported on January 21, 2008 that the Bike Share Philadelphia Forum an Astounding Success, this blogger has been working non stop to make bike-share happen in the city of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Bike Share RFP is just the beginning of a journey started almost seven years ago!

Fullerton, California:

BikeLink is about to begin a bike-share program in Fullerton, California. This is part of a pilot for the Orange County Transportation Authority for 165 bikes in 15 stations. It is a really good re-use of some of the Anaheim, California pilot program from Bike Nation. According to information from Bike Nation, it plans on co-investing in the program in Fullerton by adding 350 bikes in 35 stations. It is great to finally see bike-sharing about to start rolling in the Los Angeles basin.

Washington, DC:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US Government has made the determination that the cost of bike-sharing memberships does not qualify for the Transportation (Commuting) Benefits Program under Fringe Benefit Rules for transit, according to Forbes.com. Even though the rules allow a $20 a month reimbursement for bicycle commuting to work, from an employer, the IRS determined that bike-sharing was not mass transit or a transit pass, nor was it a purchase or maintenance cost to get to work. So no reduced rate ride! There is never a free ride!

EUROPE:

United Kingdom:

London:

Since Transport for London (TfL) Barclays Cycle Hire  sparked a new way to get around London almost three and a half years ago, there is now shocking news that there will be electric cycle hire bikes! As part of London Mayor Boris Johnson's next bicycle plan, according to the Evening Standard, the hillier parts of the City will get several hundred electric or electric assist bike-share bikes. They are not to be part of the current system, but a complement in places where a regular Barclays Cycle Hire could not be running up the hill!

THE WORLD:

The Bike-sharing World Map is the premiere resource for information on cities with bike-sharing. Here is the new easy web address for viewing the map: www.bikesharingworld.com

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap

See the O'Brien Global Bike Share Map which shows real time bike usage in over 100 cities!

images: Movit, BikeLink, IRS, Lewis Whyld/PA-the Gaurdian London

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Mid August 2013

Europe:
United Kingdom:
                        London, England:

One of the first instances of an industrial action in the Bike-sharing world began today with Barclays Cycle Hire according to Skynews. The National Union of Maritime and Transportation Workers began a 48 hour protest against SERCO,the operating company that manages the Bike-sharing program for Transport for London, TfL. The threat of the protest caused many users of the program to take caution and shy away this morning. Though no appreciable disruption has taken place, less than 500 bikes were out at any one time during rush hour this morning. This compares to nearly three times as many on a regular rush hour morning.

Generally bike-sharing is the service that intercedes to ease transit problems in transportation industrial actions. It is good to see that in this type of situation, there have be no appreciable difficulties in London.

UPDATE: August 14, 2012, Industrial action completed. System had no major problems. An article on Barclays Cycle Hire employees: In Action .
On a lighter side in London, last week Mayor Boris Johnson made a gift to the newborn Prince George, third in line to the British Throne, of Cycle Hire Tricycle according to The Express.

As readers of the this Blog recall Mayor Johnson gave a Cycle Hire tandem to Prince George's parents as a wedding gift! See Royal Bike Sharing April 29, 2011

The World: 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  the best way to keep up with the ever changing bike-sharing world.

Follow the Map on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/BikesharingMap

See the O'Brien Global Bike Share Map. It shows real time bike usage in 100 Cities!

image: Barclays Cycle Hire, Twitter, Trike-The Express

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

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

The Bike-sharing World - Mid-September 2012

EUROPE

United Kingdom:
London:

Barclays Cycle Hire is planning to increase its size by 25% with an expansion into west London next year. Speaking to the press, Mayor Boris Johnson said, "Every Londoner should be able to take advantage of our hugely popular and iconic Barclays Cycle Hire scheme which has already brought untold benefits to London's commuters, businesses, and visitors alike." The plan will bring 2,400 more bikes in 200 new stations to boroughs of Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Kensington, and Chelsea according to Transport for London.

France:
Strasbourg:

A colloquium, "Bike-sharing: Where are we now?" was held in Strasbourg this week. Representatives from all over France as well as parts of Germany and Switzerland participated. One of the interesting concepts that was discussed is the idea that bike-sharing is a new form of communication. The economist Frédéric Héran, who teaches at the University of Lille, posits that bike-sharing is a way our cities "communicate" about themselves showing that they are vibrant and "trendy." There were also discussions on the change bike-sharing has brought to adhering cities. Most of which were very positive. There were also lively discussions on the relative cost of programs to cities.

Paris:

A Paris police spokesman said that "a large number of investigators" were working to solve a reported form of "class warfare" vandalism to Paris' wildly successful bike-share system. After 50 Vélib' tires were slashed, according to the report, a group claimed that it planned to vandalize the bikes in all areas of the city that were not in working class districts. The police do not view these claims to be inflated and are working tirelessly to stop any more incidents. 


NORTH AMERICA:
Mexico:
Mexico City:

Seventy-two more Ecobici stations are up and running in Mexico City this week as the system opens the start of its Phase II expansion. By the end of the year there will 275 Ecobici stations with 4,000 bicicletas rolling around more areas of the City. On Wednesday, the Head of Government for the Federal District of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard, cut the ribbon to open this huge expansion of the Ecobici system according to a city press release. With that one snip of the scissors, Ecobici more than doubled its size. It is hopeful that the ridership will almost triple to 73,000 trips a day with this expansion. The system is open only to residents of Mexico City and had been limited no more than 30,000 subscribers. Phase II is expected to allow up to 100,000 subscribers according to Iván De la Lanza of the Ministry of Environment of Mexico City.

USA:
Madison, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado and Boulder, Colorado:

The B-connected Reciprocity Initiative now includes three B-cycle Cities. Annual subscribers to the Madison, Wisconsin, Boulder, Colorado and Denver, Colorado can use their membership card to take bikes in each other cities. The overage time charges, if any, are at the renting location rates. According to the press release, B-cycle hopes to extend this B-connected Reciprocity Initiative to more of the B-cycle systems in the USA.

Long Beach, California:

Bike Nation the dominate bike-sharing force in the Los Angels Basin has debuted its second generation bike-share bike even before its first generation has hit the streets. In a press release this week Bike Nation shows its new "Made in USA" bike. It expects to create more than 150 new jobs making these bikes to fulfills its plans for the 2,500 bikes in 250 stations for Long Beach, California and the 4,000 bikes in 400 stations for Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Westwood and around Venice Beach, California.  Bike Nation's first deployment of a system which was to begin in Anaheim, California at the end of July, should actually begin operation this month but using the older Bike Nation bike. In Anaheim, there will be 100 bikes in 10 stations to begin, with a goal to increase the size of the system as demand warrants. 

Washington, DC:

For all of you who just can't get enough bike-sharing information, the Pedestrian and Bicycle  Information Center just released the report: Bike Sharing in The United States: State of the Practice and Guide to Implementation. This 68-page report is a good read. The report is available here in PDF form.

ASIA:
Israel:
Tel Aviv:

Reports out of Tel Aviv are that it will not be fun to use Tel-O-Fun on Wednesday, September 26th. Although there is now a compromise, according to The Jerusalem Post, the Israeli Minister of Transportation threatened to stop all funding to Tel-O-Fun if it did not close down for the religious holiday of Yom Kippur -- an important Jewish holiday, on that date. The Jewish religion forbids work on Yom Kippur. The compromise is that on Yom Kippur only annual subscribers will be allowed to use the system; casual members will not.


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. Keep up with the changing bike-sharing world by frequent visits to The Bike-sharing World Map.

images: TfL,Strasbourg, Mexico, B-cycle, BikeNation, Tel-O-Fun

Russell Meddin    bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - First Week of August 2012

EUROPE:
UK:
                                     Olympic Fever

            
                                      London

From our good friend Oliver O'Brien are instructions on how to use Barclays Cycle Hire to travel to the London Summer Olympics. It is not as easy as it should be, as there are no Barclays stations allowed at the Olympic Park because Barclays Bank is not the Official Financial Institution sponsor of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. In his "How to 'Boris Bike' To Olympic Park" he also tells which entry gates have the least wait time to get into the Park. Oliver O'Brien is the creator of the Bike Share Maps which are great companions to The World Bike-sharing Map.

So if you are in London this week for the Olympics, and you want to bike-share to the games, rely on O'Brien' s tips and Map to get you to the Olympic sites.

POLAND

                                 Warsaw

As mentioned in the last week's post, Warsaw, Poland began Veturilo -- Warsaw Public Bicyles on August 1, 2012. Veturilo means vehicle or transportation in Esperanto. The name was picked through an internet contest.

Initial reports indicate that over 7,000 subscribers have registered in just a few days. It costs 10zł ($3 US) to register with no expiration date. The first 20 minutes of usage is at no additional charge. Between 20 minutes and one hour, the cost is 1zł (30¢ US). The next hour is 3zł (90¢ US), the third hour is 5zł ($1.50 US), and each additional hour costs 7zł ($2.10 US). Veturilo is part of the nextbike system.

NORTH AMERICA:

USA

                      Nashville, Tennessee

This week the City of Nashville, Tennessee announced it will begin a new automated 3rd generation - 200 bike, 20 station - bike-share program with B-cycle this fall. What makes this interesting is that Nashville has a successful 'no fee' 1st generation system, Nashville GreenBikes, which is to remain in place. This could be a great opportunity for Nashville to emulate some European bike-share cities which have both subscription short term bike-sharing (VLS - vélo libre service) and long term municipal bike borrowing (VLD - vélo location longue durée). With VLD, residents of a city have the opportunity to borrow a bicycle at little or no charge for a term of one week to one year. There is generally a refundable damage/theft deposit and in some cases the terms are renewable. The borrower is totally responsible for the bicycle and maintenance during the term. These bikes are not part of the short term system and cannot use the docking stations. The idea behind these bicycle loans, as in 3rd generation bike-sharing, is to facilitate bicycle-use for transportation. VLD is also viewed as an entry into bicycle ownership for those who initially cannot afford it. A February 2012 article in  The Bike-sharing Blog wrote about the Bordeaux, France VLD program, Bicycle City of Bordeaux.

                         New York, New York

                               

This was to be the first week of the New York City bike-share program, Citi Bike. New York's ciclovia, Summer Streets, would have showcased the new system. The stated launch date for Citi Bike was July 31, 2012. The anticipation in North America was great. As the first really large program, New York was to have 10,000 bikes in 600 stations in its first year. However, in mid-July, the The New York Times reported Citi Bike would not start as scheduled.

In a radio interview also according to The New York Times, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg attributed the delay to, “software, plain and simple.” He said, “The company that’s managing it changed vendors to have new software,” referring to Alta Bicycle Share, the system's operating company. He continued, “and it just doesn’t work yet.”

In Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System, using the exact same equipment and software as the New York system, also operated by Alta Bicycle Share, is up and running and has been for almost two weeks. The software seems to work there.

The hardware and software supplier is Public Bike Systems Company (PBSC). When asked about the problem, according to The Montreal Gazette, the PBSC spokesperson Michel Philibert said he could not comment on the delay in New York. Asked if New York’s delay is related to the software problem, Philibert said, “What I can tell you is we are in line with our delivery schedule – we are delivering the bikes and stations,” he said. “We are respecting our contract with Alta Bike Share.”

To add to the confusion, The New York Post alluded to "inside information": one insider said the program might be shelved until next spring if the delay reaches late October. “No one wants to do this in November,” the insider said. “You’d be looking at Spring [2013].” The Post quotes a source saying that Alta Bicycle Share has asked the lead sponsor to accelerate payments of $3.5 million in case the program is delayed until next spring and runs out of cash.

For all of us expecting New York bike-sharing, this is all very curious. But take heart, if you are in New York City for Summer Streets, a vacation, for business or resident, you can satisfy your bike-share desire by using Decobike in Long Beach, New York, which is just east of Brooklyn. It is a quick train ride there and it's on the ocean. You can enjoy the bikes and beach!

images Limcorp, Suprageogarphy,  Veturilo, Nashville B-cycle, Nashville Green Bikes, citibikenyc

Russell Meddin     bikesharephiladelphia.org