Public bike share systems ready for any town

As I mentioned in my recap of Urban Press Camp, I started my day on Monday visiting with two public bike sharing vendors: B-Cycle and Bixi.

B-Cycle:

B-Cycle was designed from scratch specifically for American bike sharing systems and consists of three key components: 1) Software for back-end administration and maintenance, as well as front-end software for rentals, individuals and social media sharing; 2) Easy to assemble bike stations that offer a number of configurations, and; 3) The bicycles themselves, designed by Trek specifically for the sharing systems.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Bob Burns from B-cycle kick off Denver's new bike-sharing program on Thursday, April 22, 2010

The software for B-Cycle that the end user sees enables bike sharing members to be part of an expansive bike sharing community, maintain a personal profile, view their ride metrics (based off of the bike’s integrated GPS) and maintain their sharing account. Users can sign up for anything from a daily pass ($6) to an annual usage plan ($65). On the back-end, the software enables the administration of the entire system, including inventory management, notifications, maintenance and issue tracking and virtual management of the rental kiosks.

The stations are designed to make the most efficient use of space possible and can be set up indoors or outdoors, single or double sided and in a “drop-in” or bolt down configuration. The stations are designed to be solar powered, but can also run on AC power if necessary.  For 2011, B-Cycle worked to streamline the rental process and they tell me that they’ve reduced the time to check out a bike from 4 minutes to around a minute (if the user is a member, all they need to do is walk up to a bike a swipe their card). The stations (as well as the bikes) have enough real estate for advertising that the system typically pays for itself, bringing in $2000 per bike per year.

The kickoff for the Denver system featured a parade

Finally, the bikes: The bikes, made by Trek, were specifically designed for bike sharing. The upright riding position, step-through frame and adjustable seatpost ensure that they’ll comfortably fit riders from 5 feet tall to over 6 feet. Not only does the bike include the previously mentioned GPS, a dynamo also powers front and rear lights. The lights remain lit for approximately four minutes after the bike stops moving, giving riders plenty of visibility at stop lights. A front basket holds up to 20 pounds and a spring between the fork and the frame helps to stabilize the load. The basket also holds a built-in Kryptonite lock that allows users to secure the bike when there is not a rental station nearby.

The bikes are designed for ease of use, and as such, they are equipped with either 3 or 7 speed internally geared hubs. The tires are puncture resistant to minimize the chance of a flat. Finally, fenders, skirt guards and chain guards help to keep what’s on the road and on the bike off of the rider.

B-Cycle systems have already been installed in Denver, Madison, San Antonio, Boulder and Broward County, Florida.

Public Bike System/Bixi:

A Bixi station in Montreal

Public Bike System grew out of a system that was developed as part of a 2007 Montreal Transportation Plan that aimed to add additional opportunities for walkers and cyclists to get around in the city. In addition to expanding their network of bike paths from 400 to 800 kilometers, the plan also included mandates to create a public bike sharing system similar to those already working in Lyon, France and Barcelona, Spain.

Public Bike System president Alain Ayotte worked at the time for the Montreal Parks System, and he was the individual charged with creating the sharing system. Because he and his team created the system from the ground up, they were able to approach the design and user experience of the system in an integrated fashion. Ayotte’s familiarity with parking systems and what he called “urban furniture” seemed to be a good skill set for the project.

Much like B-Cycle, Bixi’s Public Bike System integrates bicycles with stations and software. As the first system of it’s type in North America, it received a number of awards for its project management, leadership and design; most recently they came out on top of 500 products and designs in the 2010 GOOD DESIGN awards.

The system has now seen implementation on three continents including England (London), Australia (Melbourne) and North America (Minneapolis, Washington State University and Arlington & DC’s own Capital Bike Share)

Capital Bikeshare riders cruise past a DC landmark

There was a Capital Bike Share station just outside of the House of Sweden and I got the chance to give the system a “spin”. Checkout was streamlined and selecting, riding and check-in were seamless. Capital Bike Share now comprises an expanded regional service of over 1100 bikes and 114 stations around the Capital and Arlington.

Minneapolis’ Nice Ride system is expected to add 50 new stations this Spring and is slated to expand to the neighboring municipality of Saint Paul.

London’s Barclay’s Hire System (Boris’ Bikes) has also been an unqualified success and further expansion is underway (an additional 2000 bikes and 4200 stations) with the aim of being ready for the crowds of the 2012 Olympics.

To conclude, there is very little to distinguish Bixi from B-Cycle and, in my opinion, that is a good thing. Both systems offer bikes, stations and front and back end systems that are ready to drop into almost any city, giving its citizens and visitors a chance to leave the car and home and ride around the city.