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 last week of October 2011

Europe


UK: London - The little queen, the Prince and the Princess

In France, an endearing term for the Vélib' bikes are the petites reines, or little queens. This gives Parisian bike-sharers an air of royalty. Recent reports in British tabloids say that London royals Prince William and Princess Kate are using the little queens of Barclays Cycle Hire to get around London when they are in town visiting that other Queen. 


According to the Evening Standard, the royal couple have been seen using the bike-sharing system around the city. Their usage has been confirmed by a spokesperson from St. James Palace. It seems though that the royal couple does not use their "Boris Bike Tandem" wedding present, as seen in The Bike-sharing Blog in April, but travel on their own little queen.


Cyprus: Nicosia - easyBike

On October 26th, easyBike will be launching a new bike-sharing system in Nicosia, Cyprus. There will be around 300 bikes distributed through 27 stations in the greater Nicosia area. The system is a collaborative effort between the Greek company easyBike and the French company Smoove.


North America:


USA: Washington, DC - Raising More Capital

In less than two weeks, Washington, DC's and Arlington, VA's Capital Bikeshare will increase the cost of its causal user daily pass from $5 US to $7 US and change the $15 US 5-day pass to a 3-day pass, reports The Washington Post. 


Also, a recent decision will now allow Capital Bikeshare stations to be placed in one of Washington's most visited tourist areas, the National Mall. Could it be that the idea behind raising the price is the hope that now many more of the thousands of visitors to the Nation's Capital will use the system to sight-see and therefore help raise the capital needed to expand Capital Bikeshare!


Chattanooga, Tennessee
News reports out of Chattanooga say that Bike Chattanooga, the 300-bike/30-station system expected to launch next month, has been delayed until sometime in 2012. It seems that elements of the proposed system can not meet the "Buy American" clause of the Federal Transportation funding at this time.


Update: October 26, 2011, In response to what was reported in local Chattanooga news concerning the postponement of the launch of Bike Chattanooga, Philip Pugliese, Bicycle Coordinator, Outdoor Chattanooga, has informed the Bike-sharing Blog that the current system delay is fully associated with production timing and has nothing to do with Buy America or other Federal Transportation Administration issues. He wrote that while complexities associated with federal funding did take longer than expected, all have been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. 


South America


Columbia: Medellín - Students Graduate

Last week, the student inspired Bici-K bike-sharing began operation in Medellín, Colombia. The Bike-sharing Blog in August reported on these efforts. This inspiration has now become EnCicla which has deployed 145 bicycles in 6 stations over two different areas of Medellín. While it appears that the program was created to facilitate easier connections between two major universities and public transit, the system will have limited enrollment. 


EnCicla offers bikes for urban and trail use, so it is available for both transportation and recreation. The system was financed by the metropolitan government and the universities. We hope to see this program prosper and expand to serve all of Medellín.


images: Royals - Barclays, easyBike, The Bike-sharing Blog, Universidad Eafit 


Russell Meddin     bikesharephiladelphia.org