"Back to the Future" The Bike-sharing World - First Week of September 2016

Europe:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands:
Bikesharing to return to Amsterdam 50 years later!

Urbee for Amsterdam,The Netherlands, Destined for Fall 2016

This fall Amsterdam will go Back to the Future with the deployment of Urbee. The birthplace of bike-share will again see public use bicycles with a high-tech reincarnation of the concept in this world bike capital, nearly 50 years later. These smart lock bikes will be placed around Amsterdam to be shared in the similar fashion that the radical Provo movement's "White Bikes" were from the summer of 1965. This time with a mobile telephone based-app, and GPS location, these bikes promise to be easy to find and use.

Urbee will begin with a soft launch with 300 electric-assist bicycles, or pedelces, with full deployment of 1,150 in the spring of 2017, according to Duurzammnieuws. For those in the Bike-sharing World this is extremely gratifying news as now those men and women who pioneered public use bicycles with White Bikes can ride around Amsterdam with their white hair!

North America

The past few months have seen an explosion of new public use bicycle programs in the USA and Canada. Here is a list from www.bikesharingmap.com:

Alpharettta, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; Aurora, Illinois; Basaslt, Colorado; Beverly Hills, California; Brownville, Harlin & Edinburg, Texas; College Park, Maryland; Clarksville, Tennessee; Columbus, Indiana; Corpus Christi, Texas; Corvallis, Oregon; Fairbanks, Alaska; Fort Collins, Colorado; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Gainesville, Florida; Huntington, Indiana; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Long Beach, California; Los Angeles County, California; Mesa, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Princeton, New Jersey; Rome, New York; Rochester, Minnesota; San Mateo, California; Vancouver, British Columbia; West Hollywood, California; Westfield, Indiana; Westminster, Colorado; and Willets, Colorado. Whew. Now my fingers hurt from typing all that.

This past June, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania hosted the Better Bike Share Partnership Conference.
The goal was to find ways to make public use bicycle programs more accessible. Speakers from around the USA recounted the progress made and examples to follow in achieving this goal.

Take note: the North America Bikeshare Association annual conference and meeting starts November 9, 2016. If it's not on your calendar, it should be!

image: Urbee

Russell Meddin          bikesharephiladelphia.org

Keep in touch with The Bike-sharing World with The Bike-sharing World Map. It is the premiere resource for information on cities with Public Use Bicycle programs and the complement to The Bike-sharing Blog. The map can be viewed at www.bikesharingmap.com.

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap   

The Bike-sharing World - End of 2013

2013 comes to an end with over 675 cities worldwide with operating 3rd generation bike-shaing services. From the largest cities to the smallest towns on 5 continents, bike-shaing is rolling as an intergral part of public transit. At the end of 2013, a global fleet of approximatedly 700,000 bikes are avaliable in 33,000 stations to use as another way to get from point A to point B.

All data is from The Bike-sharing World Map www.bikesharingworld.com

In 2013 there was a phenomnal increase of 60% in number of cities launching bike-sharing over those in 2012:

In 2012: 95 new cities. In 2013: 152 new cities

Comparison of new bike-sharing lauches by year

The winner for the most new bike-sharing cities in 2013 was: China! Listen to the handlebar bells ringing in celebration. China led the way with 65 new cities. Italy came in second with 20 new services. The USA came in third with 15 new cities -- which is a 90% increase over 2012. 

In 2013, both Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa started feasibility studies for bike-sharing. Soon every continent except Antartica will have bike-sharing services, but rumors are that the penguins are working to change that.

In the last quarter of the year, China excellerated the opening of new services and the increase of the size of existing ones as a direct response to a blanket of pollution that is still covering the country. In the last week of December, four cities launched with over 1,000 bikes each. 

The Bike-sharing World Map for the end of December 2013, shows 678 municipalities with active bike-sharing services. Also 186 municipalities appear as either constructing, planning, or actively studying bike-sharing.

What can we expect to see in 2014? 

The growth of bike-sharing in Asia will not abate. It will still grow in China, but services will begin to be seen in Southeast Asia and the subcontinent.

There will be continued growth of bike-sharing in South America. Buenos Aires, Argentina will add automated stations to its successful city service. The Mayor of Saõ Paulo, Brazil is calling for consolidation of that city's multiple services. All of the countires along the Andes spine are developing bike-sharing.

Unfortunately, Australian bike-sharing is still hampered by the mandatory helmet laws. The services there just haven't been able to capture the usage numbers seen elsewhere in the world. Australia probably will not see much growth in bike-sharing until there is a change in the laws or an exemption for bike-sharing.

North America will continue to have the same growth shown over the last year. Many third tier municipalities in the USA will start services. More Mexican cities will try to duplicate the success of the ever exspanding Ecobici in Mexico City.

Pedelec bikes at Villa Borghese in Rome

In Europe there begins to be more application of "pedelecs" (electrical assist bicycles) in bike-sharing. In 2014 both Madrid and Copenhagen-Federiksberg will have pedelec systems. In both Spain and Italy, older bike-sharing services are being updated with pedelecs. Milan annouced that it will add 1,000 pedelecs to its successful BikeMi.

While 2013 was a big year for bike-sharing, it's very likely 2014 will be the start of a new era as new technologies develop and more municipalities implement the concept with their own unique flair.

images: Rome

The statistics quoted above come from The Bike-sharing World Map. It is the premiere resource for information on cities with bike-sharing. 

The easy web address for viewing the map is www.bikesharingworld.com.

Follow the Map on Twitter@BikesharingMap

See the O'Brien Global Bike Share Map which shows real time bike usage in many cities!

Russell Meddin               bikesharephiladelphia.org

Commuter Parity Act

On June 6th in the U.S. House of Representatives a bill was introduced which would add bike-sharing as an acceptable tax-free bicycle commuting expense. If voted into law, the Commuter Parity Act of 2013 would allow employers to provide to their employees up to $35/month for "qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement" which means "any employer reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, or bikesharing program, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment." The bill also makes private bike needs pre-tax for the same amount and brings transit up to $220, which is the same amount that a single occupant vehicle gets. (Note: To those from outside the U.S. who don't understand why a solo driver would get a pre-tax benefit for driving to work, and one that is greater than for taking transit to work, welcome to a quick lesson on how our Congress sometimes malfunctions.)

Over the past couple of years I've called the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) multiple times about whether laws, such as the Bicycle Commuter Act and Commuter Choice Act, accommodate bike-sharing. The first time I was told "Yes, they do apply". A second call to confirm my disbelief brought, "No, they don't." A third call simply confirmed the IRS was as confused as I. They told me that I'd need to write a formal letter to the IRS requesting a determination for a special employer and a specific bike-sharing service, and pay a large fee for their research. Their response would only apply to my specific question and not to the hundreds of thousands of other employers who could possibly benefit from the same answer. Crazy, ain't it?

This bill makes so much more sense and it does need to be written into law with the word "bike-sharing" specifically called out so as there won't be any confusion... other than the fact that the term isn't listed yet in any dictionary that I've seen. As long as Congress is using The Bike-sharing Blog's definition on the top right corner of the website, we'll be set!

For The Bike-sharing Blog's U.S. readers, write to your Congressperson asking them to support H.R. 2288: Commuter Parity Act of 2013. Making bike-share membership and usage fees pre-tax is a great way to remove another hurdle and make bike-sharing that much more useful and economical to the public.

NYC's Citi Bike Launches with Much Excitement

Today the streets of New York City and Brooklyn are filled with 3,000 brand new blue bikes as part of the Citi Bike service which has been many years in the making. There are many articles already in the media about the "yay sayers" and "nay sayers", so this post is about the technological improvements that the equipment provides, advancing bike-sharing in leaps and bounds.

The first of Citi Bike's exciting advances in bike-sharing technology, developed by Public Bike System Company, are a solar mast and a combined key fob and smartcard reader. With New York's skyscrapers, getting sufficient direct sunlight to the ground was an issue that was solved with the addition of a solar mast atop the kiosk. The solar mast is a 5-6' pole that also is about 6" in diameter and collects not direct sun, but ambient light.

 The improved dock includes a dual slot for both the standard key fob and a larger smart card slot for a future multi-transport card, likely to combine both the subway and bikes in the future.

Other minor advances which may not invoke oohs and aahs, but as the program manager for Arlington's portion of Capital Bikeshare, I'm looking forward to bridging that can turn a location with impediments into a feasible site. This bridging can zig and zig around a tree well, manhole, fire hydrant, etc. and transform a space that was too small into a candidate for a station. As every inch of urban space seems to be spoken for, this minor advancement is a big deal.

One "only in New York" advancement is the little circle covering the dock holes on platforms to make room for deliveries. With such large stations, these gaps allow stations to be long while providing space for those deliveries to be made.

While I'm saddened to see Capital Bikeshare lose the title of "Largest Bike-sharing Service in the U.S.", I'm invigorated to have millions more using bike-sharing and furthering this crazy little concept that continues to spread throughout the world like wildlife. In Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York", he sings that if he can make it there, he can make it anywhere. As bike-sharing has been successful everywhere worldwide, it can make it there -- in New York too.

Bike-sharing Creates Job

With the U.S. political conventions next month and Presidential election in November, there is much talk about the nation's economy and job creation. During this time of budget cuts to important Federal and state programs, it is important to consider how the bike-sharing industry is contributing to the local economy of the cities and towns where these services exist and the jobs they provide. In addition to being employment, these jobs are green, improving the local environment and air quality. Right from their start-up, bike-sharing services can contribute 10 - 20 jobs to the local economy for smaller implementations and 30 - 50 jobs for larger ones.

A sample of bike-sharing services in the U.S. and Europe shows the following full-time and part-time jobs created for the various services. (Click on the chart below to enlarge.)

Not only has bike-sharing become a job creator, but it has also helped people get to their jobs. With annual memberships between $50 - $80, people are getting to work fast, adding daily activity to their lives to stay fit, and saving money. In fact, survey analysis by Capital Bikeshare in the Washington, D.C. region, suggests that members saved $819 per year on personal travel costs which is an annual savings of $15 million among the service's 18,000 at the time of the survey.

MetroBike is Hiring!

Want to work in a field that's rapidly changing and changing the world? Then come work for MetroBike! We're hiring for a Bicycle Planner in our Washington, D.C. office. Individuals with bike-sharing, cycle planning, and car-sharing experience are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit MetroBike.net.

The Bike-sharing World: First Week of April 2012

Europe:
   
     Slovakia

The City of Bratislava is looking for bids for bike-share. A tender offer is asking for submissions by April 27, 2012. The Bratislava Automated Bike System offer calls for at least an 11-station system as a start. What, you don't read Slovak? Here is an English synopsis and article about the tender. More and more cities in Eastern Europe are realizing the benefits of bike-sharing. A quick look at the Bike-sharing World Map sees the growth of new systems there.


    Poland


OsedomRad is one of the first bike-share systems that offers pick-up and drop-off stations in two counties! This 500-bike, 60-station system operated by neXtbike is based in and around the recreational areas of the Isle of Osedom in northeast Germany, close to the Poland border. A bike checked out from a station in Ahlbeck, Germany can be returned in Świnoujście, Poland and visa-versa! This is just another example of cooperation in the bike-share world that brings us a step closer to inter-operability.


Warsaw Public Bicycle which is scheduled to begin in June 2012 is operating in the Bemowo District of the city. Ten stations are reporting activity on a system map. According to a report in Eltis, it is the first District of many to have a program in the 
Polish capital.





This month NeXtbike Poland is to complement its 140-bike, 17-station Wroclaw City Bike program with a similar system in Pozan. It will open with 80 bikes in 7 stations on April 15th. We will watch as the Warsaw program expands this summer.


    The Netherlands


CallLock in Middelburg, near Belgium and the North Sea, began as a free pilot in November 2010. The system has 40 bikes in 6 stations. This year the system is to become a full fledged subscription payment operation.

                                               

Capital Bikeshare Striving to Become Financially Self-Sufficient

For a new mode of transit and a fledgling service, Arlington’s portion of Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) finished its first year with a cost recovery rate that other transit providers in the U.S. would find admirable. The regional CaBi service launched on September 20, 2010 and Arlington’s portion achieved an 81% a 53% cost recovery – the ratio of revenues to operating costs – during its first year. Compared to other bikesharing services in the U.S., CaBi did well considering it was the only year-round service at the time. Compared to other modes of transit in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, CaBi fares well, but still has a way to go.

Bikeshare Systems                       Ratio   Year
Capital Bikeshare (Arlington)         53% 81% 2011 (operates year-round)
Capital Bikeshare (DC)                 120%*   2011 (operates year-round)
Denver Bike Sharing                      149%*   2010 (operates 7.3 months/year)
Note: Percentages for the latter two do not include management and marketing costs.

Rail Systems                                 Ratio   Year
U.S.A.
Chicago (CTA)                              53.1%  2010
New York City (NYCT)                71.7%  2010
Philadelphia (SEPTA)                    51.1%  2010
Washington, DC (WMATA)          62.1%  2010

Europe
Amsterdam                                     41.3%   2007
Berlin                                              70.3%   2010
Brussels                                          35.2%   2007

Asia
Hong Kong (MTR)                        149%   2007
Taipei (MRT)                                119%   2006

Bus Systems                                Ratio   Year
Arlington, VA (ART)                    35.5%  2011
Chicago (CTA)                             38.2%  2010
New York City (NYCT)              36.6%  2010
Philadelphia (SEPTA)                   28.5%  2010
Washington, DC (WMATA)        19.4%  2010

Arlington’s portion of the CaBi service had $218,000 in revenues (from memberships, user fees, and sponsorships) and $270,000 in operating expenses from Alta Bicycle Share. Additionally, marketing and management costs were $142,000 for a total Year 1 expense of $412,000, which equates to revenues covering 53% of program expenses. Operating expenses were $155 per bike per month. If not including marketing and management expenses, then Arlington's cost recovery is 81%.

We’ve blogged about bikesharing being an economical transport mode for both customers and local governments, but now we have the data to document it. CaBi began operations with 14 stations and 110 bikes and completed its first year with 18 stations and 113 bikes. Only three bikes were needed to be added as the service shifted from a 67% bike-to-dock ratio to 50% to improve bike balancing operations. Arlington’s portion of CaBi benefitted from being a regional service with D.C.’s 100 stations.

We have lots of impressive data to share on CaBi’s first year of service from 9/20/10 – 9/19/11. Here are some interesting Arlington-specific CaBi facts:

• total trips starting in Arlington: 50,372 trips

• total trips ending in Arlington: 50,115 trips

• total trips regionally: 999,759 trips

• total miles of trips starting in Arlington: 46,776 miles

• average Arlington trip length: 1.04 miles

• average trip duration: 19 minutes

• total CO2 saved from trips starting in Arlington: 6,268 pounds

• total calories burned from trips starting in Arlington: 2,011,368

• total minutes of trips starting in Arlington: 1,180,830 minutes (21,293,622 minutes regionally)

• number of Arlington members of each type:  1,165 annual, 111 month, 144 5-day, 4,228 1-day

• number of crashes in Arlington: 1 crash

• bikes stolen in Arlington: 0

We’re well into our second year and now up to 23 stations and 145 bikes. Service expansion is continuing in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor with 21 more stations and 144 more bikes coming online in the spring, nearly doubling the size of Arlington’s service. Additionally, we have funding to add another 25 stations in FY13. We look forward to increasing CaBi’s impact in the County by reaching more neighborhoods and folks, making CaBi an integral part of everyone’s lives – whether you live, work, or play in Arlington.

Sources:
Denver Bike Sharing 2010 Annual Report
National Transit Database Data
Wikipedia Fare box Recovery Ratio

Cross-posted on CommuterPageBlog

Mo' Incentives to Cycle

Bicycling is good for physical health, environmental health, and the alleviation of traffic congestion, so encouraging bikes use is an essential public priority. Design firm LUNAR Europe, Green City e.V., and the University of Wuppertal, all based in Germany, have partnered to develop mo’, which offers compensation for the use of bicycles and public transportation. mo’ subscribers use their smartcard to rent standard bikes, cargobikes, ebikes, and cars, as well as use public transportation. Subscribers collect mo’ miles by riding bicycles or “eco-friendly transport” and the more mo’ miles one has, the cheaper it is to rent a car.

Users are given a bike tag that tracks the miles ridden on their own bike, while the mo’ card used to access public transportation records the distance travelled on trains or busses. Thus, mo’ provides an array of bikes to be shared in their program, while also rewarding users for using these environmentally responsible methods of transportation. The purpose of this multifaceted approach to encouraging sustainable transportation is to give users every incentive to change their habits over the long term. The driving force of mo’s design team, Dirk Hessenbruch, claims “mo’ points out concrete, feasible alternatives that are based on people’s needs. mo’ means mobility for the city of tomorrow.”

What could be mo' better than that?

Image Credit: Dexigner.com

p.s. - This is The Bike-sharing Blog's 300th post! We can't wait to see what the next 300 mo' posts will be about. 

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Girocleta Bicicletas

Girona, Spain, a Catalunyan town about an hour northeast of Barcelona, will be introducing its new bike-sharing service on September 25. The service is called Girocleta which is a combination of the name of the town and the word "bicicleta" or bicycle. Girocleta will provide a fleet of 160 bikes and 10 stations throughout town.

Girona's Mobility Councilwoman, Elizabeth Salamano said, "The service is primarily intended for those who live outside the city and come every day to work or study." The manufacturer is TNT and the operator of the service is Icnita with supervision by Girona's Municipal Transport agency. The annual cost of operating the service is estimated to be $294,000 (200,000 EUR).

sources: Terra Noticias and El Periodico

image credit: El Punt