The Bike-sharing World - The Second Week of April 2014

NORTH AMERICA
Canada:

                          Montreal:

The newspapers in Montréal are reporting that Bruno Rodi, a Canadian entrepreneur, will be the new owner of Public Bike Systems Company - Société de Vélo en Libre-Service. According to TVA Nouvelles, the sale of PBSC to Rodi Designs will be formalized on Friday, April 11, 2014. Rodi Designs' website proclaims it is the "sofa specialist for 35 years", which is an entirely different industry than bike-sharing. However, hopefully this will mean more comfortable seats for the bikes.

The bid for the bankrupt PBSC had to be a minimum of $4,000,000 CDN ($3,657,000 USD). We will see if that is a bargain or not.

Update April 24, 2014: An investment firm, REQX Ventures, the investment arm of Related Companies, a real estate developer, and Equinox, a fitness and wellbeing company, has put in a larger bid for PBSC than Rodi. The decision is up to the Bankruptcy Judge to see whose credit card the bIXI kiosk will accept!

Update II April 24, 2014:  After many twist and turns in court the Bankruptcy Judge awards PBSC/Société de Vélos en Libre Service to Rodi Designs. A recap of the day's events can be read in the Montreal Gazette.

Russell Meddin            bikesharephiladelphia.org

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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

The Bike-sharing World - Second Week of May 2012

EUROPE:
Norway:
                     Drammen

May 2, 2012 brings back Bysykkel to the streets of Drammen, Norway after a long multi-year hiatus. This time 140 bikes and 15 stations are available for use in the city with the purchase of a kroner 90 ($15 US) subscription online.  Drammen Bysykkel was one of the first automated bike-sharing systems when launched in April 2001. Installed by Clear Channel just three years after its Vélo à la Carte in France, the system originally had 250 bikes and 28 stations. After the 2009 season, Bysykkel was suspended during negotiations between the City and Clear Channel. With everything settled, bike-sharing has returned to Drammen.


Switzerland:
This month brought the consolidation of bike systems in Switzerland with the purchase of Velopass by PostBus. Starting in 2009, Velopass began offering automated bike-sharing in Switzerland. Today it has 80 stations with 800 bicycles in 20 cities with 11,000 subscribers.

PostBus started service in August 2011 with PubliBike at rail stations to give passengers transport options. There are currently six locations with more planned for this year. The company's goal is to establish a system that integrates many cities so users may easily borrow bicycles with an electronic card valid across a national network. 


ASIA:
China:
                  Huangyan

                                    
Huangyan Public Bicycle Development Company in Huangyan District of Taizhou is debuting the design for its new integrated Bus-Bike station to be used in the expansion of this 5-month old program from 1,000 to 2,500 bicycles. The concept is to make seamless connections between the bike-sharing service and the bus service. Huangyan is not the only city integrating bus and bike stations. Yinchuan City which is in the process of planning a 4,000-bicycle bike-share system for early summer 2013, calls for constructing 200 integrated bus and bike stations. City governments throughout China with either older or newer bike-sharing systems are looking for totally integrated transportation systems with regular bus, bus rapid transit, and subways.


NORTH AMERICA:
USA
                 Houston, Texas

On schedule, Houston became the second city in Texas to institute bike-sharing. On May 2nd, Houston B-cycle began with 18 bikes in 3 stations with the promise of 200 more bikes by year's end for this auto-centric city. For just $50, a yearly subscription gives 45 minutes at no charge for each trip. A daily pass is offered at $5 and a weekly at $15. Each additional half hour will cost a user $2.
   
                  Chicago, Illinois
Just as the City of Chicago signs a $21 million contract with Alta Bicycle Share for a 3,000-bike, 300-station system. Crain's Business Journal and Chicago Reader are reporting that the Chicago Inspector General is considering looking into irregularities in the award process. Two of companies have filed formal protest to the award.


Canada
                    Toronto

Toronto bIXI celebrates if first anniversary with over 550,000 trips. Toronto has the distinction of being the only North American bike-sharing system north of the 43rd parallel to remain open through the winter months. It also has the distinction of being one of the most expensive systems to use, charging $95 CDN ($95 US) for a yearly subscription.


                      Montreal
This week the Métro system run by Société de Transport de Montréal, STM, came to a halt and Montréal bIXI came to the rescue. With a disruption of train service affecting 200,000 commuters, biXi swiftly put out more stations to help ease a commuter nightmare. Over 4,500 bIXI trips were taken between 8 AM - 10 AM during the shutdown.


Also out of Montreal are law suits between Public Bike System Company, PBSC, the makers of the bIXI system and its long-time back-end software suppliers 8D. According 8D's press release, they are suing PBSC for $26,000,000 for a business relationship dispute. PBSC states in it's press release that they are suing 8D for $2,500,000 for over-billing. 

Writing about STM, there is talk in the Montreal Gazette about STM taking over the management of Montréal's bIXI. The Gazette indicates that Michel Philibert, the bIXI spokesperson, believes there is "a certain logic" to STM running the bike-sharing program. 


There seems to be a lot going on in Montreal. So stay turned with The Bike-sharing Blog.

images: Clear Channel, PubliBike, Huangyan, russblib Houston BixiToronto

Russell Meddin    bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Bike-sharing World - Last Week of April 2012

Asia:
China
                   Wuhan

Xinfeider Public Bikes debuts it new bike station. The multi-language kiosk boasts a very large touch screen. It can serve as an information center. It can print out directional maps or special coupons for system users for near-by shopping. It could also be used by those needing directions. The station has electric battery recharging capability and a recycling container for used batteries for electric bicycle compatibility. With advance connectivity, the new bike station could serve much more transit options for central payment and ticketing. Xinfeider took the lead in the consolidation of Wuhan's multiple bike-sharing systems. According to a recent report from the Hubei Department of Tranportation, there are now 1,218 public bike service sites of which 700 are smart lease sites, and of those, 150 use solar energy. There are 70,000 public bicycles in the system and this year they will invest in another 20,000 for a total of 90,000 vehicles.

North America:
USA
                   Chattanooga

Cable Lock

Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System is to take to the streets. Watch this catchy video. This southeastern city of around 170,000 people in Tennessee is to have 300 bikes in 30 stations. It offers only yearly subscriptions at $75 (special $60 introductory offer until May 31, 2012) and day memberships for $6. In a break from most U.S. automated bike-sharing systems, Chattanooga offers a one-hour initial usage period at no charge rather than the usual 30 minutes. According to WRCB TV, the system is scheduled to launch on April 25, 2012.

The service is operated by Alta Bicycle Share with equipment from PBSC. It is a first city installation using a PBSC bicycle with an intergrated auxiliary cable locking system to secure the bike away from a docking station and a passive GPS system. Also new are the "Urban Solution" version 3.0 kiosk at the docking stations.

Update: The Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System was originally scheduled to launch on April 25, 2012. The launch was postponed twice due to technical problems with a new operating system according to the program's press release.


Europe:
Germany
                   Kassel

Konrad is the name of the new Call a Bike - DB Rent system in Kassel, Germany. It begins operation this week with 500 bikes in 50 stations. There are no subscriptions to this system and every 30 minutes of usage are charged at € 0.50 (65¢ US). It is necessary to sign up for free at a station or over the phone for a € 3 ($4 US) charge which is then credited against usage. Each Kassel bus ticket will give a 30 minutes credit on the system also.


                    Mainz

After starting with a small bike-sharing pilot program last year, Mainz, Germany a city of 200,000, began a full program called MDVmeinRAD this week. Run by the city transit system, the new train and bus eticket will operate at the current 50 bike stations and will access all 1,000 bikes and 120 solar-powered stations when the system is complete this fall.


images: Xinfeider, Chattanooga Bicycle Transit , Konrad, MGVmeimRad,


Russell Meddin    bikesharephiladelphia.org