Asia:
China:
During the past few years, China has experienced days with extremely poor air quality. Many of these days had high particulate counts which are considered unhealthy for the general population. As one of the ways to reduce the level of these dangerous particulates, the government is asking cities and provinces to encourage citizens to return to bicycling for "green transportation". Cities from the largest to the smallest are encouraged to institute or enlarge bike-sharing services. During 2014, thousands and thousands of bicycles have been added to the streets in China; in this year alone, 70 new bike-sharing programs began operating throughout all of the country. I closely monitor Bike-sharing in China for The Bike-sharing World Map, a service of this blog. The data was also vetted by Professor TANG Yang of Zhejiang University and one of his Masters students, FEI Yibo.
Some basic numbers from The Bike-sharing World Map:
There are 235 cities or districts with operating bike-sharing programs in China. They comprise approximately 747,400 bicycles in 28,000 stations.
The cities and districts with the largest programs comprising 10,000 or more bikes are:
Below is a full list of Chinese operating programs in both cities and districts arranged in alphabetical order:
To view the entire list in large format see, Public Bicycle Programs In Operation in China December 2014
Europe:
Spain:
Barcelona:
In Barcelona, morning brings electric or more precisely, BiCiNg elèctric! Last week 150 pedelecs, electric-assist bicycles, were added to the venerable Bicing fleet. The pedelecs have their own special battery recharging docking stations, 5 are on the street and 18 are positioned in parking garages. In January 2015, BiCiNg elèctric will double in size to 300 pedelecs in 46 stations.
The new pedelecs cannot be commingled with the 5,300 regular bicings in the 395 stations currently in operation in Barcelona. Not only do they need the electric charge, but they also have a separate membership charge. The annual fee will cost €14 ($17 US). It can be purchased separately or as a supplement to the regular bicing membership. A usage fee of €0.45 for the first 30 minutes begins when the bike is taken out. Each additional 30 minutes, to a maximum of 2 hours, cost €0.80.
With BicMAD in Madrid and now BiCiNg elèctric in Barcelona, Spain's bike-sharing is moving into an electric 21st century!
UNITED KINGDOM:
London:
Barclays Cycle Hire is tweaking its rates for 2015. TfL, Transport for London, will introduce new "simplified" pricing next month where all overage charges will be £2 ($3.10 US) per 30 minutes. There will no longer be escalating charges for additional half hours. All additional half hours will be the same price.
IRELAND:
Three new Irish cities joined Dublin with bike-sharing this month: Cork, Galway and Limerick (bikeshare.ie). All share the same the same sponsor as Dublin, Coca-Cola Zero.
Bike-sharing is getting sweet on the Emerald Isle, but with no added sugar!
images: China: The Bike-sharing Blog, Wuhan: People.cn Barcelona: Bici-vici, ecomovilidad, bicing
Russell Meddin bikesharephiladelphia.org
China:
During the past few years, China has experienced days with extremely poor air quality. Many of these days had high particulate counts which are considered unhealthy for the general population. As one of the ways to reduce the level of these dangerous particulates, the government is asking cities and provinces to encourage citizens to return to bicycling for "green transportation". Cities from the largest to the smallest are encouraged to institute or enlarge bike-sharing services. During 2014, thousands and thousands of bicycles have been added to the streets in China; in this year alone, 70 new bike-sharing programs began operating throughout all of the country. I closely monitor Bike-sharing in China for The Bike-sharing World Map, a service of this blog. The data was also vetted by Professor TANG Yang of Zhejiang University and one of his Masters students, FEI Yibo.
Some basic numbers from The Bike-sharing World Map:
There are 235 cities or districts with operating bike-sharing programs in China. They comprise approximately 747,400 bicycles in 28,000 stations.
The cities and districts with the largest programs comprising 10,000 or more bikes are:
City
|
Date Launched
|
Bikes
|
Stations
|
Hangzhou,
Zhejiang 杭州
|
2008
|
78,000
|
2,965
|
Taiyuan, Shanxi 山西太原
|
2012
|
41,000
|
1,262
|
Suzhou, Jiangsu 苏州
|
2010
|
22,940
|
976
|
Weifang, Shandong 潍坊
|
2012
|
20,000
|
700
|
Xi'an, Shaanxi 西安
|
2011
|
20,000
|
900
|
Zhuzhou, Hunan 株洲
|
2011
|
20,000
|
1,005
|
Shanghai (Minhang
District) 上海闵行
|
2012
|
19,165
|
596
|
Xuzhou, Jiangsu 徐州
|
2012
|
18,000
|
480
|
Beijing (Unified Districts) 北京总
|
2012
|
16,000
|
508
|
Ningbo, Zhejiang, 宁波
|
2013
|
15,000
|
600
|
Taizhou City
(Jiaojiang District) Zhejiang
|
2010
|
13,000
|
200
|
Wuhu, Anhui 芜湖
|
2012
|
12,000
|
553
|
Foshan Chancheng,
Guangdong 佛山-禅城
|
2010
|
11,694
|
208
|
Zhongshan,
Guangdong 中山
|
2010
|
11,180
|
527
|
Qingzhou, Weifang,
Shandong, 潍坊青州
|
2010
|
10,300
|
550
|
Changshu, Suzhou,
Jiangsu 常熟
|
2011
|
10,000
|
355
|
Huizhou, Guangdong 广东惠州
|
2012
|
10,000
|
100
|
Kunshan,Suzhou,
Jiangsu, 昆明
|
2012
|
10,000
|
343
|
Ninghai. Zhejiang 宁海
|
2010
|
10,000
|
85
|
Yangzhou, Jiangsu 扬州
|
2014
|
10,000
|
304
|
Yiwu, Jinhua,
Zhejiang 义乌
|
2013
|
10,000
|
200
|
Conspicuously missing from this list is the City of Wuhan in the Hubai Province. Over the last few years, Wuhan had purportedly claimed the largest bike-share program in the world. Reports of close to 100,000 bikes in the program were widely circulated on the Internet.
In April of this year the city government closed down the program, which began in 2009, because of mismanagement and non-fulfillment of service according to China Hubei News and FDC.com. Most stations had no bikes and the bikes that could be found were not fit to be ridden. The Wuhan Public Bus Company was to take over the program with the intent of starting anew, but it has now backed out. The Wuhan City government is considering other options to bring back bike-share.
In China, most programs throughout the country use a value-added RFID card to access the systems. Generally, the card must be acquired in person with proof of residency or foreign passport. The cards range in price, but most cities charge a refundable ¥200 RMB ($32 US) deposit and require an additional loaded amount on the card of ¥100 RMB ($16 US). The loaded amount is used to offset the overage charges, generally ¥1 RMB ($0.16 US) per hour, incurred over the one or two hours of initial use commonly given at no extra charge.
In April of this year the city government closed down the program, which began in 2009, because of mismanagement and non-fulfillment of service according to China Hubei News and FDC.com. Most stations had no bikes and the bikes that could be found were not fit to be ridden. The Wuhan Public Bus Company was to take over the program with the intent of starting anew, but it has now backed out. The Wuhan City government is considering other options to bring back bike-share.
 |
| Desolate abandoned bike-share station in Wuhan, December 2014 |
Below is a full list of Chinese operating programs in both cities and districts arranged in alphabetical order:
 |
| Public Bicycle Programs In Operation in China December 2014 |
Europe:
Spain:
Barcelona:
In Barcelona, morning brings electric or more precisely, BiCiNg elèctric! Last week 150 pedelecs, electric-assist bicycles, were added to the venerable Bicing fleet. The pedelecs have their own special battery recharging docking stations, 5 are on the street and 18 are positioned in parking garages. In January 2015, BiCiNg elèctric will double in size to 300 pedelecs in 46 stations.
The new pedelecs cannot be commingled with the 5,300 regular bicings in the 395 stations currently in operation in Barcelona. Not only do they need the electric charge, but they also have a separate membership charge. The annual fee will cost €14 ($17 US). It can be purchased separately or as a supplement to the regular bicing membership. A usage fee of €0.45 for the first 30 minutes begins when the bike is taken out. Each additional 30 minutes, to a maximum of 2 hours, cost €0.80.
With BicMAD in Madrid and now BiCiNg elèctric in Barcelona, Spain's bike-sharing is moving into an electric 21st century!
UNITED KINGDOM:
London:
Barclays Cycle Hire is tweaking its rates for 2015. TfL, Transport for London, will introduce new "simplified" pricing next month where all overage charges will be £2 ($3.10 US) per 30 minutes. There will no longer be escalating charges for additional half hours. All additional half hours will be the same price.
IRELAND:
Three new Irish cities joined Dublin with bike-sharing this month: Cork, Galway and Limerick (bikeshare.ie). All share the same the same sponsor as Dublin, Coca-Cola Zero.
Bike-sharing is getting sweet on the Emerald Isle, but with no added sugar!
images: China: The Bike-sharing Blog, Wuhan: People.cn Barcelona: Bici-vici, ecomovilidad, bicing
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 bike-sharing programs and the complement to The Bike-sharing Blog. Use this easy web address for viewing the map:
Follow the Map on Twitter
@BikesharingMap
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