London launched the Barclay’s CycleHire bike-sharing program in July 2010. With 6,000 bikes and 400 stations. The program has been booming ever since the launch with 350,000 journeys in the inaugural month, and more than 70,000 members. The bicycles are peddling throughout London with the new design created by the same creators, DeVinci Cycles, which made Bixi Montreal bikes. Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor’s Transport Advisor said to CNN that the bicycles are very durable and have a life expectancy of 15 years! The program has succeeded in getting many of London’s citizens to get up on bikes, but they seem to be running into some trouble.

Many customers are posting on Twitter some of CycleHire’s fallbacks. Some of the problems consist of: the brakes on the bikes seem to be too tight, the inability to find a docking station, heavy bikes, getting billed twice if you have two keys on one account, and that the program isn’t open to casual users or tourists yet. CycleHire is working out the flaws at the current moment and hopefully will be working flawlessly by time it opens up to tourists next year. Check out the video of Guardian’s Helen Pidd tests the CycleHire system: http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/08/londons-bike-share-programme.html

Author: Ramona Goveas

Dublin launched its own Bike Sharing DB last September 09. It now has over 40,000 subscribers to date. It recently came across its 1 millionth rental on the 14th of August, 2010. All this success is achieved in less than a year. Dublin City Council boasts that the program is “the most successful in the world by any measure.” The long three years in making the Dublin Bike Share possible, is really worth the wait today. It is said right “Patience is the key to success”. Their subscription fees are really cheap as compared to most of the Bike sharing programs all around the world. They have two subscriptions a Long Term Hire Card that cost €10 which is approximatelyonly $13 for an entire year and a 3 day ticket that cost €2 which is approximately only $3. ($ amounts may fluctuate as per the exchange rate).The first 30 minutes are free and then fee charges apply. These charges are as low as, for 1 hour it is €0.50 which is $0.63. This is unbelievable. That is why most of the people choose Bike Sharing in Dublin than any other means of transport.

This is perhaps the main component that sets DB from most of the Bike share systems in the world. DB users can also use Bike sharing in Brussels and Lyon operated by JCDecaux. What more can one ask for? Visit another city and travel around for lower rates again. These strong steady bikes help the user reach places, overcoming all traffic. Most of the young college ages students and middle aged workers who presser bike sharing are not only saving a lot for their future but also contributing in the reduction of traffic.

Dublin Bike Share can be described as: The rising success has not only motivated people to use bike sharing more but also DB itself to expand and have more bikes and stations .They are now planning to extend 20 of the stations with more bikes. So the stations right now which accommodate 20 bikes will be expanded to be having 30 bikes. 4 more stations are to be added to the city. The total number of bikes will sum upto 550. This quick success and expansion of DB was only possible because of the response of the commuters and the commuters have responded in turn because of the cheap and availability of bikes.

CityRyde announces today that the University of Colorado at Boulder has chosen CityRyde’s Spark software to manage their Buff Bikes program which currently has 160 bicycles located at a central hub on campus. The bicycles are available free to students, faculty and staff of the University for up to 48 hours. The University has chosen the Spark software to manage their program because of the advanced features that make managing the program simple for administrators and renters.

CityRyde’s Spark software has become the leader in managing bike sharing programs at universities, small municipalities, and corporate campuses. The Spark software currently manages the University of Chicago’s ReCycles program and will be managing Boulder County, CO’s last mile bicycle solution for commuters which will incorporate low cost, automated locking mechanisms. Spark will continue to grow to additional communities to fulfill the need for a low cost solution to implement bike sharing programs.

The Boston Globe reported last Friday that the federal government has awarded $3 million to Boston’s forthcoming bike share program, which is expected to cover the capital costs of the apx. 500-bike, Bixi deployment next Spring. So… “next spring” huh? We have heard that before as CityRyde previously reported in our last blog post on the subject. With this $3 million in hand as well as another $2 million from previously awarded sponsorships and grants, however, count on a program around next Spring after all. Stakeholders anticipate the system to be an integral component to the multi-modal transportation network the City will surely soon boast as the deployment connects to the MBTA subway and bus routes.

While the programs annual membership fees are on the high side ($85) in comparison to others around the world, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, David Watson remains adamant the system will see success and a large user base, “It opens up the possibility of biking for a lot of people who either don’t have bikes or don’t think of themselves as everyday bicyclists.’’ Watson’s assurance is shared by Nicole Freedman, who runs the City’s Boston Bikes program.

While we didn’t see the system this past Spring as we hoped program pushers are well on track to show us a program by next. In the meantime the City is expected to continue their efforts in improving the City’s bike infrastructure to make it much more conducive for the bike share.

Won’t be long until we are riding the shared bikes along Bean Town’s Freedom Trail now…

This July, London will be introducing a new kind of highway to cyclists. The famous bank, Barclays Bank PLC, sponsors the new “Superhighway” for bicycles. Superhighways are new restricted lanes for cyclists in London. They are blue marked lanes, which clearly identify the route to motorists and cyclists. These lanes are 1.5 meters wide allowing comfortable bicycling room for safety. The lanes also provide extra safety with lanes that go through junctions, have stop boxes, and signals. The highway will be an excellent way of improving cyclists’ safety while encouraging new cyclists to ride the streets. These lanes are a sanctuary for bicyclists who previously had to swerve in between cars and people.

Transport for London hopes that other cities take on a similar strategy to provide safety for bicyclists. The first two routes are to be opened on July 19th, 2010 in the Southwark region. All routes will connect outer London with central London.

This project is projected to decrease congestion, cut overcrowding in public transportation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project is going to have a total of 12 routes by the end of 2015. To learn more about this project and all of it’s routes, release dates their website is:  http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11901.aspx?lid=switcher

On top of constructing the bicycle highways, Barclay has also just recently purchased London’s bike sharing company from Boris Johnson for £25?million. The release date is on July 30 in central London. All 6,000 bikes will carry the Barclays logo and there will be approximately 400 stations. The bike sharing system is based off Montreal’s bike sharing program “Bixi”. Barclay will charge a £1 daily access fee, and is payable by credit card. There is also an annual option of £13 a day. Barclay and the Transport of London hope to generate around 40,000 trips a day in central London with these two programs.

Both of these programs provide London with an amazing chance to reduce their congestion, reduce greenhouse gas, and provide cyclists with a safe journey around the city. Barclay is truly making a big addition to the city and giving it a chance to be a little greener.

3rd Generation bike sharing first started in the US  in Washington D.C. In 2010 Denver’s B-cycles launched bike sharing of more than 500 bikes and 50 stations. Minneapolis is the next city to host bike sharing, followed by Boston and others. In the West Coast of the US, Seattle has also taken initiative of starting bike sharing. The University of Washington Bike Share Studio has produced a feasibility study on bike sharing after being contracted by the Seattle Department of Transportation(CityRyde contributed to this feasibility study.). They have evaluated case studies and methods that have been used in Europe and North American cities to learn what makes a successful bike sharing program, to figure out where is Seattle would it be more suitable and what is the anticipated demand level would be. They used 12 indicators like population density, job density, non-institutional group quarter population density, retail job density, tourist attractions, parks/recreation areas, streets with bicycles lanes, local transit stops etc to identify bike-sharing market areas.

Below is some information about the students that have conducted the study:

Jennifer Gregerson is a Mukilteo City Councilmember, and candidate for Masters in Urban Planning, 2010, at the University of Washington, with interests in sustainability and alternative modes of transportation.

Max Hepp-Buchanan has been studying alternative and non-motorized transportation planning – including bike-sharing – for the last two years. He recently completed an internship with the Service Planning Division of Sound Transit and is the Secretary and a very active member of the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board. Max is on track to graduate from the University of Washington with a Master of Urban Planning and a Master of Public Administration degree in June, 2010.

Daniel Rowe is a transportation planner with a focus on finding environmentally-sustainable solutions to urban mobility. He has a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Washington and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science from the University of Pittsburgh. For the past two years, Daniel has been working with King County Metro Transit supporting a large multi-agency effort to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle and engaging the downtown market in transportation demand management strategies.

John Vander Sluis will be completing graduate programs in the UW Evans School of Public Administration and the UW Urban Planning Program in June, 2010. His academic focus is on transportation and equitable economic development. Prior to working on the Seattle Bike-Share Feasibility Study, he held positions at King County Metro, the City of Seattle Mayor’s Office, the Cascade Land Conservancy, and private sector marketing companies. 

Erica Wygonik is a graduate student in Civil Engineering and Urban Planning. She models the relationship between land use, transportation, and the environment to identify optimal policies and system designs. Before matriculating at the University of Washington, Erica worked for Resource Systems Group, a transportation and environmental engineering consulting firm based in Vermont. A Senior Associate at RSG, she led the Microsimulation and Traffic Operations practice areas. Erica is a licensed professional engineer.

Michael Xenakis is pursuing Master’s degrees in Public Administration and Urban Planning following a decade-plus career in software consulting. His goal is to build upon his extensive experience in systems analysis and design to strengthen and streamline urban governance.

Professor Edward McCormack is a Research Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an Adjunct Research Assistant Professor in Urban Design and Planning, both at the University of Washington. His research and teaching focus on transportation planning and engineering.

Google recently announced the addition of a brand new feature to Google Maps-Google Biking Directions.  This new feature is groundbreaking and allows bikers to decide upon the best possible route for their journey.  The feature includes 15,000 miles of off-street bike routes that will make it much easier and safer for riders that bike unfamiliar areas.  The maps are available in 150 US cities

This news is very exciting for the bike share community, as it could integrate within bike sharing station maps as well.   Please check it out for yourself at maps.google.com/biking .

Get biking directions to CityRyde’s office using the following widget:

Author: Timothy Lehman

Bike Sharing systems have become a growing trend on college and university campuses alike.  As the world continues the push to become more sustainable, students and faculty of many institutions have joined the green movement by launching bike share systems for their campuses. In this post, we’ll take a look at the progression and advancement of 1^st, 2^nd, and even 3^rd generation bike sharing systems on campus.

Colleges that first adopted bike sharing to their campus followed the code of first-generation bike share systems. Colleges and Universities like Middlebury College, Cortland College, the University of Maine and others introduced bike share systems to their students on the honor system.  The system is pretty simple.  Using bicycles that are either donated or purchased, the schools typically mark the bikes in some way (either paint or label), then allow students to borrow the bikes for an allotted period of time.  An upside of first-generation systems for colleges is the cost.  Since the rental process is conducted on the honor system there is no need for any extra security level-other than a bike lock.  However there are downsides of first generation bike share systems for campuses as well.  The vandalism and theft rate is much higher in first generation systems because there is no real check-in/check-out process, nor is there any way for schools to track usage.

More commonly, schools have trended towards second-generation bike share systems.  These systems are likely managed and maintained by the college or university themselves.  Schools like Drexel University, allow students to check-in and check-out bicycles by presenting an identification card and filling out a release form.  The duration of the rental can vary per school.  Recently, CityRyde launched Spark, the first off-the shelf software solution for 2^ndgeneration bike share systems.  Spark was launched as a pilot project at the University of Chicago, and has recently been expanded to fit the university’s bike share program.  For more on Spark’s success in Chicago, click here.

After noticing the great success of 3^rd generation bike share systems like Paris’ Velib and Montreal’s Bixi, St. Xavier University in Chicago launched the first ever 3^rd generation bike share system on a college campus.  The University’s Green Bike Program allows students, faculty, and staff to swipe a card and unlock a bike for a ride-in no time!

So there you have it.  Bike sharing has continued to advance over the years in cities, municipalities, and even college campuses.  Campus bike sharing brings increased enrollment, reduced carbon footprint, national publicity, increased campus mobility, reduced parking shortages, and increased quality of student life- just to name a few.  And to the incoming students, no need to worry about the infamous “Freshman 15,” bike sharing is a great excuse to exercise and burn off a few of those extra calories courtesy of your unlimited meal plan.