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

Bordeaux’s New V³ Bike-sharing Flirts with 4th Generation Tech

Today, an entirely new integrated transit system with a new bike-sharing service started in Bordeaux, France. With 1,545 bikes and 139 stations, the new bike-share system is called V³ or Vcub(e) which means Vélos de la Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux (bikes of the Urban Community of Bordeaux).

What sets this new system apart from other 3rd generation bike-sharing services (3rd generation bike-sharing blog post) is that its design and implementation are integral parts of a new transit system for Bordeaux and its environs. Nine out of every 10 stations are at a transit stop. In the city the stations are close together, no more than 300 meters apart. Outside the city there are 40 stations (see the map). There is a new single Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Bordeaux transit card that's valid throughout the region. It also allows holders of the transit card to use the bikes at a substantially discounted subscription rate.

Thirty-one bike stations are along transit lines out of the city. At these “V³+” stations, a percentage of the bikes are set aside for registered commuters to keep overnight and bring back the next morning at no extra charge. These transit integrations will be a hallmark of new 4th generation bike-sharing, along with the possibility of advance reservations, RFID integrations with mobile phones allow greater payment capabilities and compatibility across multiple bike-sharing systems.

V³ at Tram Station

In setting up V³, Bordeaux worked with the transportation company, Keolis. Interestingly, the service’s deployment was held back five months so that the new bus and trams lines would be ready for the bike-share stations! Because the system is run by a transportation company, it is not connected any to city advertising contract, and as reported by Sudouest.Com, the cost to the Communauté was 1,100€ ($1,500 US) per bike.

The bike-share only subscriptions are available at 80 stations by credit card for the 1€ ($1.35 US) daily and 5€ ($6.80 US)weekly. The V³ RFID card offers 7€ ($9.50 US)monthly and 25€ ($34 US) annual subscriptions and is available on-line or at any transit system agent. These price levels are in line for creating a large subscriber base. As with most systems, V³ does not charge for the first 30 minutes of usage. However, the next hour and each additional hour is either 2€ or 1€ according to the type of subscription. The hope is that the new integrated system will reduce single occupancy automobile usage, reduce long commuting times, and reduce the waiting time in the evening for opening one of the wine bottles for which this region of France is famous.

Update February 23, 2010: As of Monday evening the V³ had been used 1755 times. according to 20minutes.fr

Images: sudouest and Vcub

Russell Meddin - www.bikesharephiladelphia.org

Around the Bike-sharing World This First Week of Fall

Lots of exciting this are happening this week in the world of bike-sharing. Here's a sample of what's to come:

Europe

The British Isles

Today the Cardiff, Wales City Council announced it will launch its bike-sharing scheme tomorrow with 70 bikes and 10 stations, according to the BBC and Wales Online. The system will be run by OYBike which has similar systems in London, Cambridge, Reading, and Farnborough in the U.K.

Last week the English resort city of Blackpool launched Hire-a-bike by Cycle Blackpool approximately the same size system as Cardiff's, but operated by Hourbike which has a small system in Bristol. The Guardian reports that Cycle Blackpool will grow the system to 500 bikes and 100 stations before next spring.

Dublinbikes, the JCDecaux system started earlier this month as reported here, has had incredible success. With 1,000 riders on the first day and 6,000 riders the first week, according to the Independent, this 450-bike system has a respectable two trips per bike per day usage rate.

These small bike-sharing roll outs all bode well for the next spring’s large London Cycle Hire scheme which you can read about here.

The Continent

Three new and innovative bike-sharing systems began in the last few months in France. Unlike most French systems, these programs are not supported by street furniture advertising, but are municipally and/or transit company-owned and operated. All three have solar powered docking stations. Vélopop in Avignon is a 200-bike program that uses the Smoove Key system. It is operated by TCRA, the public bus system in Avignon. Vélocéa in Vannes has 175 bikes in 20 stations and is owned by the municipal government. Vélo Bleu in Nice as first reported here, began with 900 bikes in 90 stations, and is owned by a regional government cooperative. It has high ridership, but says Metro, it is plagued by theft. Both these cities use the Veloway system. The new Rennes, Vélo STAR, though inaugurated this month, began service in June. Owned by the regional government, its 900 bikes have been used by 50,000 riders. The 80 stations are integrated with the subway and bus system in this Keolis operated system. Vélo STAR is around four times larger than the system it replaced as reported here.

Vélopop

The small country of Luxembourg has a new and interesting bike-sharing system in the little city of Esch-sur-Alzette. Vël’OK has only 120 bikes and 15 stations. It is joint venture between a nonprofit group and the municipality. It plans on expanding to 300 bikes next year. It demonstrates bike-sharing is stationing in smaller communities outside of France, Germany, Britain, and Italy.

Vël’OK

The big news in Italy is that Turin will finally join the 41-city Bicincittà system this spring. It will start with 58 stations and might be called either “BikeTo” or “BicinTorino” according to Metro.

The Mediterranean

Reuters is reporting that the municipalities of Greater Nicosia, Cyprus have agreed to launch a region-wide bike-sharing program soon. The RFID card service will cover the seven municipalities of Nicosia which include Aglandjia, Strovolos, Lakatamia, Latsia, Ayios Dometios, Engomi and the city centre. Clear Channel Outdoor has announced a new SmartBikes program in Kayseri, Turkey.

North America

Bixi is continuing its summer demonstration schedule into the fall. This weekend in Boston, MA for the Saturday professional bike race and the Sunday fun bike ride, there will be two bike-share demonstrations of Bixi. For more information see: Bike-sharing in Boston.

Images: vélopop, vël'ok, & Blackpool

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Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org