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 May 2011

Because the Northern Hemisphere is basking in warm weather, bike-sharing systems are blooming all over that part of the world.

The beginning of May has brought the official opening of Tel-Ofun in Tel Aviv, Israel. Watch video.

Yesterday morning bIXI hit the streets of Toronto, Canada. With 1,000 bikes in 80 stations, Toronto bIXI will be the 3rd largest system in North America! Bike-sharing is making big strides in Canada. Watch this news report

Later this week Nuremberg's NorisBike starts on May 6th. This is another system using neXt bike technology. Bike-sharing is expanding and evolving in Germany. Many programs are now establishing specific location docking stations and adding subscriber card and credit card access as well as telephone access to the bikes. Berlin's new Deutsche Bahn StadtRAD begins May 20th.

May 20th is also the official start date for Hawaii B-cycle although the two stations are now in use. Boulder B-cycle also starts on May 20th opening with 12 stations and expanding to 15 with 150 bikes by the end of summer.

Keep your eyes open, because there are more buds of bike-sharing systems ready to show their pedals and blossom into full service.

images: the marker café, Martin Reis bIXI, Hagen Gerulis Nüremberger Zeitung, DB StadtRAD, HawaiiNewsNow, 303cycling

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

The Middle East is Also a Hotbed for Bike-sharing

While the Middle East dominates the news this week, bike-sharing is dominating the Middle East. A CycloCity system, Q Bike, in Doha, Qatar has begun operating. The program is a joint effort of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and q.media Decaux, a subsidiary of JCDecaux.

“The idea (with this program) is to eventually make our country bicycle friendly,” the Qatar Cycling Federation President told Gulf Times at the launch ceremony. The ribbon cutting was attended by bicycle legend Eddy Merckx to underscore its importance. The program is starting as a small trial, but is planned to expand throughout Doha and possibly the rest of the country. It is interesting to note that this station, pictured above, seems to be a "drop in place" configuration which would not need to be cut, or trenched, into the street or sidewalks as all other CycloCity programs throughout the world have been.

Tel Aviv's TelOfun bike-sharing service is under construction. It is scheduled to begin operation this spring and will start with 750 bikes and 75 stations and expand to 150 stations with 1,500 bikes. There will be an annual subscription fee of 280 shekels with a special 240 shekel price for Tel Aviv residents ($73 and $63 USD respectively). There will also be a weekly price of 60 shekels ($16 USD) and a daily price of 14 shekels ($4 USD), except on Saturdays and religious holidays where there will be a 20 shekel price ($5 USD) for tourists. The usage fees will follow the regular bike-sharing formula of no charge for the first 1/2 hour and then 5 shekels ($1.30 USD) for the next 1/2 hour, etcetera. The bikes, bright green in color, and the stations will be similar to the DB StadtRAD (Call a Bike) system in Hamburg, Germany.

Also in the news from Israel this week is the work of two Tel Aviv University professors, Tal Raviv and Michal Tzur who are working on mathematical models to facilitate re-balancing bike-sharing stations in large systems: Static Re-positioning in Bike-sharing Systems. This is a continuation of a concept developed for the Bicing program in Barcelona by Aleix Ruiz de Villa in 2009.

image: Gulf Times & Dana Passech

Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org

Tel Aviv Releases Bike-sharing Tender

My contact in Tel Aviv reports the city's bike-sharing tender is out. It includes 1,200 bikes for the launch within a year and 1,500 in total with at least 150 stations. The term is for 10 years with an option for five more. The tender is now available in English on the Website of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Economic Development Authority Ltd.

image source: Wikipedia

Bike-sharing in Tel Aviv

Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reports the government of Tel Aviv is looking for its own bike-sharing program to include 1,500 - 2,000 bikes and 100 stations. The contract would be for five years with a five year extension. The annual membership fee would be about 120 Israeli sheckles ($33 USD), with the first 30 minutes free to subscribers. Beyond this time, it would likely cost between $1.35 - $2.70 for each additional hour.

Tel Aviv does require all cyclists to wear helmets, however, Haaretz reports, "The municipality is also hoping for an amendment to the helmets law in the near future, which will require the use of helmets only when using sports bicycles off urban roads."

Just how bike-friendly is Tel Aviv? The city has 46 miles of bike trails with a total of 62 miles planned by the city's 100th anniversary in 2009. Additionally, Tel Aviv has a 5% bike mode share, which is greater than that of Lyon and Paris combined before the launch of their own respective bike-sharing programs.

Tel Aviv's program could be the first of its kind in the Middle East.