The Bike-sharing World - Mid-April 2013

300,000,000 rides on CycloCity 

CityBike

Vélib'

                                                         
In the 10 years since JCDecaux launched its first bike-share program in Vienna, Austria, 300,000,000 riders have hopped on a JCDecaux-operated service, including CityBike, vélo'v, Sevici, CityCycle, bicloo, Vélib', or another CycloCity bicycle! With 66 cities in 10 countries using a CycloCity bike-share system, JCDecaux is one of the dominate bike-share providers even though it is not their main business. Vélib' in Paris, the largest of the CycloCity systems, accounted for 157,000,000 of these rides according to e-marketing France. Throughout the the world, over 550,00 subscribers have joined one of their systems.

In a review of JCDecaux's CycloCity system, Bourcier.com, states that the 46,536 bicycles in its world wide fleet are responsible for alleviating 33,899 metric tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere each year.

This proves what we always knew, that bike-sharing is like a breath of fresh air!


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images: CityBike-gawista, Vélib'-networkmusings

Russell Meddin              bikesharephiladelphia.org

First Japanese Bike-sharing is JCDecaux Cyclocity

Japan's first big bike-sharing system is to be a JCDecaux Cyclocity system like the Vélib' in Paris. Toyama, Japan just signed an agreement for a small 150 bike and 15 station system according to BusinessWire. The system is to start March 2010. This will be JCDecaux's second bike-sharing system outside of Europe, the other is Brisbane, Australia. We all have been waiting for Japan to start pedaling with the rest of the bike-sharing world.

Update: CyclOcity Toyama started March 20, 2010.

image: Toyama Tourist Board

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

Bike-sharing's First Down Under Up-and-Comer

According to The Brisbane Times, Brisbane, Australia signed a contract with JCDecaux to begin a bike-sharing program with 2,000 bikes and 150 stations in March 2010. The Lord Mayor of Brisbane Council, Campbell Newman, said, “This is an Australian first and an exciting new development for Brisbane.”

The system will cost, by subscription, AU$55 a year or AU$25 a quarter (casual users will pay AU$10 a day), with the first 30 minutes of use free with a steep escalating charge for additional time. Bike docking stations, placed approximately 300 meters apart, will operate 5am to 10pm every day of the year. To gear up for Aussie’s premiere bike-Share system there will be AU$10,000,000 of additional infrastructure improvements for new shared cycleways that will cement Brisbane’s reputation as Australia’s most bicycle-friendly city, said the Mayor.

by Russell Meddin, Bike Share Philadelphia

image credit: Flights Africa

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2009/01/22/1232471476891.html

In Time for St. Patrick’s Day?

The Irish Sunday Times is reporting that Dublin will open its bike-sharing program in March. The system will be a JCDecaux Cyclocity program with 450 bikes and 50 stations in central Dublin.

There has been controversy with this advertising-financed program. Many of the advertising panels' 120 locations were met with opposition by citizens throughout greater Dublin. However, enough of the panels have been approved by the Dublin City Council to let the bike-sharing begin. So with the “Luck of the Irish”, bike-sharing will be a hit on the emerald isle.

by Russell Meddin, Bike Share Philadelphia

Image credit: About.com

Not a Guaranteed Hit

An article titled "Free Bikes Flop in Brussels" which appears on TreeHugger shares the problem Brussels is experiencing in getting folks to use their bike-sharing program, Cyclocity, run by JCDecaux. The author sites many reasons for this flop:

1) lack of commitment from both the government of Brussels as well as JCDecaux,
2) program size is too small with only 250 bikes and 20 stations (0.00025 bikes/person versus Paris's 0.01 bikes/person),
3) these bikes are heavier than those used in Paris and Brussels is hillier, and
4) charge for first 20 minutes of the ride.

I imagine the lack of a sufficient bike infrastructure is another cause of the Brussels flop. The governments of Paris and Lyon, for example, have made concerted efforts at improving their cycling infrastructure.

This is proof that adding a bike-sharing program alone cannot be a panacea for a locality's transportation woes. It takes more than throwing some bikes onto the streets. While Brussels's program isn't presently doing well, I would hope both the local government and JCDecaux are taking note of these obstacles so that improvements are made to get Brussels Cyclocity back on track.

image credit: TreeHugger