Bike Sharing Guide

TP14931E
Bike Sharing Guide
March 2009
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TP 14931E
Catalogue No. T22-180/2009E
ISBN 978-1-100-14055-1
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TableofContents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Purpose 1 3.1.1 Manual 20
1.2 Whatisbicyclesharing? 1 3.1.2 Automated 20
1.3 Whatisapublicbicyclesystem? 2 3.2 AutomatedSystemTypes 21
1.4 Whydeveloppublicbicyclesystems? 2 3.2.1 Fixedpermanent 21
1.5 HistoryofPublicBicycleSystems 3 3.2.2 Fixedportable 22
1.5.1 PublicBicyclesinCanada 4 3.2.3 Flexible 23
1.6 BenefitsofIncreasedBicycleUse 5 3.3 StationDesign&Technology 24
1.6.1 MobilityBenefits 5 3.4 BicycleDesign&Technology 27
1.6.2 HealthBenefits 5 3.5 RequiredResources 29
1.6.3 EnvironmentalBenefits 5 3.5.1 HumanResources 29
1.6.4 EconomicBenefits 6 3.5.2 CapitalResources 30
1.7 SpecificBenefitsofPublicBicycleSystems 7 SectionSummary 33
SectionSummary 9
4 FinancingYourSystem 35
2 AssessingthePotential 10 4.1 Costs 35
2.1 GeneralConsiderations 10 4.1.1 StartupCosts 35
2.1.1 Size 10 4.1.2 OngoingCosts 35
2.1.2 Density 10 4.1.3 TheftandVandalism 35
2.1.3 Roadsandbicyclefacilities 11 4.2 SourcesofRevenue 36
2.1.4 PotentialforTransitIntermodality 13 4.2.1 UserFees 36
2.1.5 Topography 15 4.2.2 PublicPrivatePartnership 36
2.1.6 Climate 15 4.2.3 AlternativeBusinessModels 38
2.1.7 LevelsofBicycleUse 16 SectionSummary 40
2.2 FeasibilityStudy 17
5 ImplementingYourSystem 42
SectionSummary 19
5.1 Planning 42
3 HardwareandOperations 20 5.1.1 Assemblingastakeholdergroup 42
3.1 SystemOperationType 20 5.1.2 MobilityStudy 42
i
ii
5.1.3 ServiceArea 43 Resources 71

5.1.4 SystemSize 43
5.1.5 StationDistributionPlan 44
5.2 Implementation 46
5.2.1 MarketingStrategy 46
5.2.2 Timing 48
5.2.3 UserAssistanceandTroubleshooting 48
5.3 FollowUp 49
5.3.1 MonitoringUsage 49
5.3.2 MonitoringUserSatisfaction 49
5.3.3 ImprovingtheSystem 50
5.3.4 ExpandingtheSystem 51
5.3.5 MaintenanceandRepairs 52
SectionSummary 53
6 CaseStudies 56
6.1 VlibParis,France 56
6.1.1 Overview 56
6.1.2 ConditionsforUseandFees 58
6.2 CallabikeMunich,Germany 59
6.2.1 Overview 59
6.3 SmartBikeDCWashingtonDC,USA 61
6.3.1 Overview 61
6.4 BIXIMontral,QC,Canada 63
6.4.1 Overview 63
6.5 NiceRideMinneapolis,MN,USA 66
6.5.1 Overview 66
Sources 68
Figure14ACallaBikerepositoryatatrainstationinMunich .........24
ListofFigures
Figure1ABycyklenbicycleinCopenhagen ........................................ 4 Figure15TheVlibmembershipcardoraNaviGOpublictransitcard
areusedasakeytotakeoutbicycles..........................................24
Figure2Montreal'snewBIXIbicyclesharingsystembeing
demonstratedinOctober2008..................................................... 5 Figure16AVlibstationserviceterminal .........................................25
Figure3Bicyclesparkingreplacesanonstreetautomobileparking Figure17AVliblockingstand..........................................................26
spaceinMontreal.......................................................................... 7
Figure18ABicingbicyclestandinBarcelona ...................................27
Figure4BIXI'sinitialserviceareaandthedistributionofpopulation
Figure19AnatomyofaBIXIbicycle ..................................................28
densitiesintheMontrealMetropolitanArea ............................. 12
Figure20Vlibredistributionvehicle................................................30
Figure5ContraflowbicyclelaneinMontrealprovidesasafe
shortcutforcyclists ..................................................................... 13 Figure21AVlovmaintenancebicycleinLyon,similartothoseused
inParisforonsitemaintenanceofVlibbicycles .......................31
Figure6AVlo'vstationinLyonfacingatramstation..................... 14
Figure22Vlibstationservicevehicle...............................................31
Figure7Comparisonofaveragetemperaturerange,precipitation,
andcyclingseason ....................................................................... 16 Figure23OutsideandinsideVlib'suniquefloatingmaintenance
facility ...........................................................................................31
Figure8CyclistsinParisusingbothVlibandprivatebicycles ........ 18
Figure24Dispatchingtheredistributionvehiclebytextmessagein
Figure9ThecouplingsystemonVlolacartebicycleinRennes.. 20
Rennes..........................................................................................32
Figure10Vlibbicycleshaveanauxiliarycablelock,seenhereinside
Figure25BycyklenbicyclesinCopenhagendisplaysponsors'logoson
thebasket,thatallowsuserstolockthebicycletemporarily
theirframesandwheels ..............................................................38
betweenstations ......................................................................... 21
Figure26StationdistributionmapofBarcelona'sBicing .................44
Figure11AVlibstationinParisbeingrefilled................................. 21
Figure27AV'eolstationonabicyclerouteinCaen,France ............45
Figure12ConstructionofaVlibstationinParis ............................. 22
Figure28Examplesofpublicbicyclesystembranding .....................46
Figure13ABIXIstationmodulebeinginstalledduringa
demonstrationinToronto ........................................................... 23 Figure29AteamofanimatorswashiredinMontrealtopromote
BIXIandshowthepublichowtousethesystem ........................47
iii
iv
Figure30PhaseIandtheplannedPhaseIIserviceareasfor ListofTables
Montreal'sBIXI ............................................................................ 50 Table1Comparisonofmotorists'andcyclists'exposuretotraffic
relatedpollutants...........................................................................5
Figure31Vlibbicycle....................................................................... 56
Table2Comparisonofkeyenvironmentalindicatorsforvarious
Figure32VandalizedVlibbicyclesinParis...................................... 57
modesoftransportationwiththeprivateautomobileforthe
Figure33MapoftheVlibservicearea............................................ 58 samenumberofpeople/km ..........................................................6
Figure34CallaBikebicycle .............................................................. 59 Table3Recommendedsystemtypeanddistributionwithrespectto

citysize,density,andlanduse.....................................................11
Figure35UserunlockingaCallaBikewithacombinationcode
recievedbySMS .......................................................................... 60 Table4BicyclecommutingratesinCanadianCensusMetropolitan
Areas(CMAs)................................................................................17
Figure36MapoftheMunichCallaBikeservicearea...................... 60
Table5Comparisonofmanualandautomaticbicyclesharing
Figure37SmartBikeDCbicycle......................................................... 61 systems.........................................................................................20
Figure38MapoftheSmartBikeDCstations .................................... 62 Table6Humanresourceswithrespecttothenumberofbicycles,

stations,anddailyusersforthreeFrenchsmartbikesystems ...29
Figure39BIXIbicycle......................................................................... 63
Table7Initialandongoingcostsforpublicbicyclesystems ............36
Figure40StationDistributionforPhaseIofBIXI.............................. 65
Table8Typicaldistributionofresponsibilitiesandcostburdenina
Figure41TheBIXISystembicycleinMinneapolislivery................... 66 PPPbusinessmodelforpublicbicycles .......................................37
Figure42ProposedserviceareafortheTwinCitiespublicbicycle Table9Keystakeholdersandtheirpotentialroles ..........................42

program ....................................................................................... 67
Table10Statisticsonbicycles,serviceareas,andresidentsatthe
launchofselectedpublicbicyclesystems ...................................44
Table11Potentialproblemsandsuggestedcorrectivemeasures...51
resources they require. Topics covered include the mode of

operation (manual or automated), the mode of distribution of
1 Introduction bicycles (fixedstation or flexible), station hardware and bicycle
design,andrequiredhumanandcapitalresources.
1.1 Purpose
The fourth chapter, Financing Your System, examines the startup
This guide is intended to help planners and decision makers and ongoing costs and the approaches to financing public bicycle
determine whether public bicycle sharing is viable in their sharing systems. In particular, the publicprivate partnership
community and, if so, how to design, implement, and operate a modelusedbymostpublicbicyclesystemsisexaminedindetail,a
successful system. The material presentedin this guide is drawn fewalternativeapproachesarealsomentioned.
primarilyfromrecentEuropeanexperiences,giventheabsenceof
relevant North American experience. Canadian communities are The fifth chapter, Implementing Your System, outlines the steps
generally quite different in terms of land use and transportation that can be taken to implement a public bicycle sharing
patterns from their European counterparts, information from system.Information provided covers the planning and
EuropeisassessedintermsofrelevancetotheCanadiancontext, implementation stages, as well as the followup and monitoring
whereappropriate. stagesoncethesystemisupandrunning.Keyconsiderationssuch
as sizing the system, choosing the service area, and determining
Theintroductorychapteroftheguideprovidesageneraloverview
thedistributionofstations,andmarketingarealsocovered.
of bicycle sharing and public bicycle systems. It includes
definitions,abriefhistoryoftheconcept,asummaryofthegeneral Thefinalsectionoftheguidecontainsasetoffiveillustrativecase
benefitsofincreasedbicycleuse,aswellasthespecificbenefitsof studiesofexistingandsoontobelaunchedpublicbicyclesystems.
publicbicyclesharingsystems. ThecasestudiesincludetwoexistingEuropeansystems,including
ParissVlib,illustratingalargefixedstationsystem;andtheCall
Thesecondchapter,AssessingthePotential,providesinformation aBike system in Munich, Germany, illustrating a large flexible
tohelpplannersanddecisionmakersdeterminewhetherapublic system.TheremainingthreecasestudieslookatsystemsinNorth
bicycle sharing system would be viable in their community. The America,includingWashingtonDCsmodestlysizedSmartBikeDC
chapterexaminesseveralfactorsthatarebelievedtoinfluencethe system,launchedinthesummerof2008;MontrealsBIXI,launched
demandforpublicbicycles,suchascitysize,density,climate,and inthespringof2009;andMinneapolissplannedNiceRidesystem,
thebicyclefriendlinessoftheroadnetwork,thequalityandextent tobelaunchedin2010.
ofbicyclefacilities,andcurrentlevelsofbicycleuse.Thechapter
alsosuggestshowtodeviseafeasibilitystudytobetterassesslocal
demandforsharedpublicbicycles. 1.2 Whatisbicyclesharing?
The distinction between bicycle sharing programs and bicycle
The third chapter, Hardware and Operations, explains in detail rentals is similar to that between car sharing programs and car
how public bicycle sharing systems work and what kinds of rentals. Shared bicycles are intended for shorter periods of use
GrisOrangeConsultantBicycleSharingGuide1
2

and a larger number of daily users per bicycle than rentals. bicycles can increase considerably after the introduction of a
Moreover, fees for use are generally very low or use is free. But publicbicyclesystem.
beyond these basic features, bicycle sharing schemes vary widely
innature. 1.4 Whydeveloppublicbicyclesystems?
Bicycle sharing initiatives are divided in two broad categories: Publicbicyclesofferrapidandflexiblemobilityforshortdistance
privateandpublicsystems.Privatesystemsarethoseoperatedby trips. As such, they can be an attractive alternative to public
aparticularinstitution(publicorprivate),suchasacorporation,a transit and the automobile. For longer distance trips, they can
universityorapark,andareavailableonlytotheemployeesorthe complement rather than replace public transit, creating
clients of that institution. For example, a number of universities opportunitiesfortransitbicycleintermodality.Inthisregard,they
havebicyclesharingprogramsopenonlytostudents,faculty,and canbeespeciallyusefulforcommuterswhocanusethemtotravel
other staff of the university. Similarly, some large urban parks betweentheirworkplacesorschoolsandthenearestrapidtransit
make bicycles available to visitors for shortterm use exclusively node. Public bicycles can even be attractive to people who are
within the parks territory. Public systems, in contrast, are those already bicycle commuters. Private bicycles can only be used for
operated by a municipal or local governmental authority (or by a returntrips;publicbicyclescanbeusedforonewaytrips.
privateentityonbehalfofagovernmentauthority)and,likeother
Giventhatpublicbicycletripscanhelpconvertmotorizedtripsto
formsofpublictransportation,areopentothepublicatlarge.This
nonmotorized trips and, ultimately, increase the mode share of
guide focuses on public bicycle systems, although much of the
cycling,theycanberegardedasastrategyforreducingfossilfuel
information presented here can be useful for planning a private
consumptionandemissionsofnoxiouspollutantsandgreenhouse
bicyclesharingsystemaswell.
gases. They can also be regarded as a means for encouraging
physical activity among the local population and are therefore
1.3 Whatisapublicbicyclesystem? consistent with efforts to combat obesity and improve the
Apublicbicyclesystemisabankofbicyclesthatcanbepickedup cardiovascularhealthofthepopulation.
and dropped off at numerous points across an urban area. The
bicycles are available to the general public for shortterm use for Public bicycles are worth adding to the mix of transportation
freeorforasmallfee.Theconcepthasbeenwidelyembracedin options in some but perhaps not all Canadian communities. In
Europe over the last decade and is generating considerable Europe, systems have successfully been implemented in
interest in North America. Recent European experiences suggest communities varying widely in size, urban form, topography, and
thatpublicbicyclesystemscanactasadooropenerforincreased climate.Somesystemshavebeenimplementedincitiesinwhich
bicycle use. Not only are there new bicycle trips made with the cycling was already a wellestablished mode of urban
publicbicycles,butithasalsobeenobservedthattheuseofprivate transportation, while others have been set up in cities in which

cycling was at best a marginal mode. This suggests that public availableslots.Averylargecoinoperatedpublicbicyclesystemof
bicycles are a widely applicable urban transportation concept. thistypewaslaunchedintheDanishcapital,Copenhagen,in1995.
Still,cautionisnecessarywhendrawingonEuropeanexperiences. The system, called Bycyklen, currently has about 2,000 bicycles
European and Canadian cities and towns differ significantly in distributed across 110 stations. A deposit of 20 Danish Krones
terms of urban form, land use, transportation infrastructure, (C$25) is required to take out a bicycle (Bycyklen Kbenhavn,
climate and so on, all of which have ramifications on bicycle use. 2008). Despite the use of custom parts and the coin deposit,
These differences must be considered in the design of public rampanttheftandvandalismareanongoingproblemforBycyklen.
bicyclesystemsforCanadiancommunities. As users of the system are anonymous, there is no way to hold
themresponsiblefortheftordamageofthebicycles.
1.5 HistoryofPublicBicycleSystems Inthelate1990s,anewgenerationoffullyautomated,selfservice
The worlds first public bicycle initiative is believed to be Witte publicbicyclesystemswithsophisticated,electronicallycontrolled
Fietsen,orWhiteBikes,launchedinAmsterdamin1964.Regular locking mechanisms emerged. Unlike their Danish precursors,
bicycles were painted white and distributed across the city, these socalled smart bike systems would require user
unlocked and free for anyone to use (DeMaio and Gifford, 2004). identificationthoughttobeamajortheftdeterrent.Tounlocka
Theprogramwascreatedasameasuretoreducebicycletheft.It smartbike,someformofpersonalidentificationisrequirede.g.,
was believed that wide availability of free, public bicycles would an electronic key card, a credit card, a transit pass, etc. The
discourage theft of privately owned bicycles. The program failed pioneeringsmartbikesystem,calledVlolaCarte,waslaunched
as virtually all of the bicycles were stolen (or, more accurately, inRennes,Francein1998.
appropriated for private use) not long after the program was
launched. Despitethe major technological advancerepresented by Vlo la
Carte,bicyclesharinggeneratedrelativelylittleinterestelsewhere
Nearly three decades later, in the early 1990s, the small Danish in France and Europe. The number of cities establishing public
cities of Fars, Gren, and Nakskov pioneered a new approach to bicyclesystemsgrewslowlyintheyearsafterRenneslaunchedits
managingpublicbicycles,inattempttoavoidthefateoftheWhite system.Thischangedin2005whenLyon,Francessecondlargest
Bikes(DeMaio,2008).UnlikethebikesusedinAmsterdam,these city, launched a fairly large smart bike system called Vlov
would be custom made and would include many parts that were (pronounced vaylove) and caught the attention of other large
not interchangeable with regular bicycle parts and would require Europeancities,includingnoneotherthanParis.Vlovhasbyall
specialtoolsforinstallationorremoval.Furthermore,ratherthan measuresbeenaresoundingsuccess.Priortothesystemsdebut,
beingmerelyspreadabouttownunlocked,freeforanyonetouse, bicycles were all but a marginal mode of transportation, taking a
these bicycles were docked at special bicycle racks, or essentially modeshareofabout1.5%ofalltripscomparabletothecurrent
publicbicyclestations.Acoindepositwasrequiredtoreleasethe mode share for bicycles in most Canadian cities. The volume of
bicycle from the station. The deposit would be refunded upon bicycle trips in Lyon has since increased by 500%. Interestingly,
returningthebicycletoastationeitherthestationfromwhichit only one quarter of the increased traffic is attributed to public
was taken initially or any other public bicycle station with
4

bicycles; the remainder of new trips are attributed to privately Vlo la carte introduced another major innovation: unlike
owned bicycles. This suggests that Vlov has been an effective Bycyklen and its sister systems in Denmark, which are publicly
dooropenerfortheuseofprivatebicycles.OverthemonthofJune ownedandoperated,theRennessystemwouldbedevelopedand
2008 alone, 1.5 million kilometers had been travelled with Vlov operated by the advertiser Adshel (later acquired by Clear
bikes.Sincethesystemsinception,itisestimatedthatcustomers Channel) in exchange for advertising space on billboards across
have travelled over 36 million kilometers. The same distance thecity.Thepublicprivatepartnershipmodel,withanadvertiser
travelledbycarwouldhaveresultedin7,260metrictonnesofCO2 providing public bicycles as part of an advertizing contract with
emissions(DeMaio,2008b). the municipality, would later be copied by other cities in France
andacrossEurope.Thevastmajorityofsystemsoperatingtoday
Figure1ABycyklenbicycleinCopenhagen useasimilarownershipandfinancingmodel.
1.5.1 PublicBicyclesinCanada
A Toronto community group, the Community Bicycle Network
(CBN),operatedasmallbicyclesharingsystembetween2001and
2006.Thesystemhad150usedbikesthathadbeenrefurbished,
painted yellow, and distributed across 15 stations around
downtown Toronto. Most stations were located outside cafs or
otherbusinesses,withstafffromthesebusinessprovidingbicycle
loanservices.Thesystemrequiredanannualmembership($25or
fourhoursofvolunteerservice)andtherewasnochargeforuses
upto3hours.Thesystemreliedprimaryonpublicsubsidiesand
privatesponsorshipstocoveritscost,asuserfeesgeneratedonly
minimal revenues. Though the system operatedatits capacity of
450 registered users, it was shut down in 2006 due to a funding
shortfallafterakeysubsidyexpired.
Aprototypestationandsetofbicyclesbelongingtowhatissetto
be the first smart bike system in Canada was demonstrated in
Photo:IngridLuquetGad
Montrealinthefallof2008.Thesystem,dubbedBIXI(contraction
of BIcycle and taXI),is tobe fully deployedin the springof 2009.
TheonlyothersmartbikesysteminNorthAmericawaslaunched
inthesummerof2008inWashington,DC.

Figure2Montreal'snewBIXIbicyclesharingsystembeingdemonstratedin evenbefasterthanautomobilesbyavoidingtrafficcongestionand
October2008 byobviatingtheneedtofindparking.
1.6.2 HealthBenefits
The physical and mental health benefits of bicycle use are well
established (Pucher and Dijkstra, 2003). Regular bicycle use has
beenshowntocounteractmanyofthehealthrisksassociatedwith
sedentarylifestyles,includingobesityandcardiovasculardiseases.
Somewhat counter intuitively, research has also shown that
cyclists may be less exposed to trafficrelated pollutants than
motorists, given that these pollutants concentrate inside
automobiles(Table1).
Table1Comparisonofmotorists'andcyclists'exposuretotrafficrelated
pollutants
cyclists exposure motorists exposure
pollutant (g/m3) (g/m3)
carbonmonoxide(CO) 2,670 6,730
nitrogendioxide(N02) 156 277
benzene 23 138
Source:StationnementdeMontral
toluene 72 373
xylene 46 193
1.6 BenefitsofIncreasedBicycleUse Source:VanWijnenetal.(1995)
Public bicycle systems are ultimately intended to encourage
bicycle use. Thus, many of the benefits of public bicycle systems 1.6.3 EnvironmentalBenefits
arethesameasthoseofanyinitiativedesignedtoincreasebicycle The bicycle is the most energy efficient mode of urban
use. Nonetheless, public bicycle systems also offer a number of transportation. 1 A shift in mode share from motorized modes to
distinctive benefits. Both types of benefits are discussed in the thebicycleentailsloweruseoffossilfuelsandareductionoftoxic
presentsection.

1.6.1 MobilityBenefits
1Cyclingisinfactevenmoreefficientthanwalking:acyclisttypicallyexpends
Bicycles offer fast and flexible mobility on short distances. For
from one quarter to one third as much energy as a pedestrian over the same
distances up to 5 km, bicycles can compete with public transit in distance(IDEA,2007).
terms ofspeedandtime. In dense urbanenvironments, they can
6

pollutantandgreenhousegasesemissions(Table2).Italsoentails 1.6.4 EconomicBenefits
areductionofnoisepollutionrelatedtomotorizedtransportation. Compared to automobiles and public transit, the cost of building
andmaintaininginfrastructureforbicyclesisminimal.Thespatial
The only significant life cycle energy costs of bicycles are those footprintofbicycleinfrastructureisconsiderablysmallerthanthat
associatedwithproductionanddisposal.Thesetooarerelatively of automobile or public transit infrastructure. A standard
small; the energy cost for manufacturing one car is equivalent to unidirectionalbicyclelaneis1.2mto1.5mwidewhileautomobile
thatfor70to100bicycles.Verylittleresidualwasteisgenerated lanesaregenerallyatleast4mwide.Thedifferenceisevenmore
overabicycleslifecycle. striking where parking infrastructure is concerned; numerous
bicyclescanbeparkedinaspacethesizeofastandardautomobile
Table2Comparisonofkeyenvironmentalindicatorsforvariousmodesof
transportationwiththeprivateautomobileforthesamenumberofpeople/km
parking space (Figure 3). Furthermore, because of their low
weight,bicycleshavealowimpactonroadinfrastructure.Ashift
auto - auto +
in mode share from motorized modes to bicycles could obviate
catalytic catalytic
converter converter bus train airplane bicycle large capital investments for new road and public transit
infrastructure and expenditures on the maintenance of existing
space 100% 100% 10% 6% 1% 8%
consumption
infrastructure.
primary 100% 100% 30% 34% 405% 0
energy
consumption
CO2 100% 100% 29% 30% 420% 0
NOX 100% 15% 9% 4% 290% 0
hydrocarbons 100% 15% 8% 2% 140% 0
CO 100% 15% 2% 1% 93% 0
total 100% 15% 9% 3% 250% 0
atmospheric
pollution
accidentrisk 100% 100% 9% 3% 12% 2%
Source:EuropeanCommunities(1999)
Note:Acatalyticconverteronlyworkswhentheenginehaswarmed;onshort
distancetrips,thepollutionmitigatingbenefitisnegligible.

Figure3Bicyclesparkingreplacesanonstreetautomobileparkingspacein recreationalmodeoftransportation.Newbicycletripsgenerated
Montreal by a public bicycle system are not only taken on public bicycles;
experience in several European cities shows that more trips are
alsotakenonprivatebicyclesafterpublicbicyclesareintroduced.
Publicbicyclessystemscapacitytogenerateincreasedbicycleuse
can perhaps be attributed to a safety in numbers effect, as
documented by Jacobsen (2003). Jacobsen found that the
probability that a motorist would collide with a cyclist decreased
asthenumberofcyclistsincreased.Thisrelationshipheldacross
communitiesofdifferentsizesandatdifferentscalesofanalysis
fromasingleintersectiontoawholecity.AccordingtoJacobsen,in
thepresenceofagreaternumberofcyclistsontheroad,motorists
changedtheirbehaviour.Itseemsthattheybecomemoreawareof
the presence of cyclists, and therefore less likely to collide with
them.
Altering motorists behaviour and making cycling safer mitigates

oneofthemostimportantbarrierstocycling.Theperceptionthat
cycling is unsafe has been found to be a key factor inhibiting
people from using bicycles, both in Europe (e.g., Beck & Immers,
1994) and in North America (e.g., Badgett et al. 1994; City of
Vancouver, 1999; Baromtre, 2005). Considering this fact
togetherwithJacobsens(2003)mainfinding,itcanbesuggested
thatpublicbicyclescouldcreateavirtuouscycle:byincreasingthe
numberofcyclists,whichincreasesbicyclesafety,whichfurther
increasesthenumberofcyclists,andsoon.
Sourc
e:www.bta4bikes.org
Not only can public bicycles help augment the number of single
mode bicycle trips, but it can also increase the number of
1.7 SpecificBenefitsofPublicBicycleSystems multimodal trips that include bicycle use. Specifically, public
The most important specific benefit of public bicycle schemes is bicycles can allow access by bicycle from public transit facilities.
they can be a strong catalyst for increased bicycle use. They can Public bicycles can be particularly useful to transit commuters,
helpincreasetheacceptanceofbicyclesasautilitarianratherthan who can use the public bicycle to travel between the commuter
8

transitfacilityandtheirworkplaceorschool.Commuterscanalso writing, there is only one very small system functioning and only
use public bicycles during the day to run errands from their two others planned. A public bicycle system can also provide a
workplaceorschool. considerable amount of ongoing employment for station and
bicycle construction, for maintenance and repairs, as well as
Itshouldbenotedthatevenpeoplewhoarealreadycyclistsstand systemoperations.
tobenefitfromapublicbicyclescheme.Usingaprivatebicyclehas
one crucial limitation: the owner is generally required to make
returntripswiththebicycle.Publicbicyclesfreecyclistsfromthis
requirement, allowing them to make oneway bicycle trips. For
example, due to inclement weather, a bicycle commuter may
decide to take transit to work or school, leaving his bicycle at
home.Iftheweatherimprovesduringtheday,thesamecommuter
may decide to return home by public bicycle, picking one up at a
stationnearworkorschoolanddroppingitoffatonenearhome.
If public bicycle systems are considered as an alternative form of

public transit, they are then the least expensive form of public
transit available. Capital and operating costs for public bicycle
systems are a small fraction of those for any motorized form of
publictransit.Theyarecheapinpartbecausetheyconsumevery
little space. In the French city of Lyon, for example, it has been
observedthatacarparkingspothasonaveragesixusersperday
while a Vlov station with five bicycle berths, which takes up an
equivalent amount of space, has on average 15 users per day
(NICHES,2007).
Finally, public bicycle systems can have a variety of economic

spinoffs.Theycanbebeneficialfortheimageofthehosttownor
city,demonstratingaprogressiveattitudetowardstransportation
and, more generally, an inclination towards sustainable
development. A public bicycle system can become a tourist
attractionespeciallyhereinNorthAmerica,whereatthetimeof

o 2009BIXI,thefirstautomatedbicyclesysteminCanadaisto
SectionSummary belaunchedinthespringinMontreal
Purpose
BenefitsofIncreasedBicycleUse
o tohelpplannersanddecisionmakersassesstheviabilityofaa
o mobilitybenefitsbicyclesarefasterandmoreflexiblethan
publicbicyclesharingsystemintheircommunity
publictransitdistancesunder5km
o toprovideinformationtohelpplanandimplementa
o healthbenefitsincreasedcardiovascularhealth,lowerriskof
successfulpublicbicyclesystem
obesity,fewerdiseasesrelatedtoairpollution
Definition
o environmentalbenefitslowerenergyuse,GHGandtoxic
o bicyclesharingentailslendingbicyclesforshorttermuseat pollutantemissionsthanmotorizedvehicles
littleornocosttomultipledailyusers
o economicbenefitssmallerspatialfootprint,cheaper
o publicbicyclesystemsareaformofbikesharingthatisopen infrastructurethanmotorizedvehicles
tothegeneralpublic
SpecificBenefitsofPublicBicycles
History
o dooropenertoincreasedbicycleuse
o 1964WitteFietsen,theworldsfirstpublicbicyclescheme,is
o canhelpchangepublicperceptionofthebicyclefromaform
deployedinAmsterdam
ofrecreationtoaformofurbantransportation
o 1995Bycyklen,thefirstpublicbicycleschemewithspecial
o safetyinnumberseffectthemorecycliststhereareonthe
lockingstationsislaunchedinCopenhagen
road,thesafertheyare
o 1998Vlolacarte,thefirstpublicbicyclesystemtouse

electronickeycardstounlockbicycles,allowingusers
identitiestobetracked,islaunchedinRennes,France
consideredthefirstsmartbikesystem
o 2005VlovalargesmartbikesystemislaunchedinLyon,
Franceandleadstoa500%increaseinbicycleuse
o 2007Vlib,theworldslargestsystemislaunchedinParis;by
late2008,thesystemhas20,600bicyclesand1,451stations
o 2008SmartBikeDC,thefirstautomatedpublicbicyclesystem
inNorthAmericaislaunchedinWashingtonDC
10

than in a Canadian city with a comparable population. It is
possiblethatapopulationlargerthan200,000wouldberequired
2 AssessingthePotential for an automated public bicycle system to be cost effective in a
Canadiancity.
2.1 GeneralConsiderations 2.1.2 Density

In Europe, public bicycle systems are invariably implemented in
2.1.1 Size dense,coreareasoftownsandcities.TheserviceareaofVlib,for
ThereisnoclearlowerboundforaCityspopulationtosustaina example,whichcorrespondsroughlytotheboundariesoftheCity
public bicycle sharing scheme of some nature. European of Paris, has an overall population density around 24,000/km2.
experiences suggest however that automated public bike systems Theinitial(PhaseI)serviceareaforMontrealsBIXIincludessome
are unwarranted in communities below a certain minimum of the citys densest boroughs, namely PlateauMontRoyal with
population size; manually operated systems may be more cost over 13,000/km2 and RosemontPetitePatrie with over
effective in smaller cities. Automated systems have been 9,000/km2.Theplannedexpansion(PhaseII)willincludepartsof
implementedincitiesassmallasDrammen,Norway,witha2008 the adjacent boroughs of Outremont, VillerayParcExtensionSt
population of about 60,000, and as large as Paris, with a 2008 Michel and SudOuest, all of which are also relatively very dense
populationofabout2.2millioninthecityitselfandametropolitan (Figure4).
population of about 12 million. Drammen and a few other small
cities notwithstanding, a European urban transportation think Citycentresordowntownscanbeanexceptiontothepopulation
tank (NICHES, 2007) suggests that a minimum population of densityrule.InmostCanadiancities,downtownsdonothavethe
200,000 is required to support an automatic bicycle sharing highest population densities; these usually occur in adjacent
system. A Spanish policy guide on public bicycle systems (IDEA, residential areas. Nevertheless, downtowns have several other
2007) makes a similar recommendation, albeit with a caveat. It attributes that can generate a large number of bicycle trips. In
alsorecommendsthatautomaticpublicbicyclesystemsbeusedin particular,CentralBusinessDistricts(CBDs)tendtohaveveryhigh
municipalities with a population exceeding 200,000. However, it employment densities and tend to be rich in retail and
proposes that automatic systems may be warranted in smaller entertainmentservicesaswellasinpublicfacilities.Furthermore,
municipalitiesifthepopulationdensityissufficient. in a number of Canadian cities, there are large educational
institutions in or adjacent to the downtown core. This is well
European cities are generally denser and have more mixed land illustrated by the Montreal case. BIXI will be deployed in the
uses than Canadian cities. The share of the population living in centralVilleMarieborough,whichcontainsthemetropolitanCBD
areassufficientlydenseanddiverseintermsoflandusetosupport and has a population density that is significantly lower than the
high levels of bicycle use is likely to be larger in a European city other boroughs in which BIXI will operate around 5,000/km2.

Nonetheless,ithasanextremelyhighemploymentdensity,withan Table3Recommendedsystemtypeanddistributionwithrespecttocitysize,
averageof22,400jobs/km2comparedtothemetropolitanaverage density,andlanduse
of786jobs/km2(vanSusteren,2005);hasseverallargeshopping municipal density system type distribution
centres and a few retail intensive streets, such as StCatherine population
Street;hasanumberofmuseums,includingtheMontrealMuseum transitstationsand
of Fine Arts, Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal, the McCord high automatic
mainactivityareas
museum,theCanadianCentreforArchitecture,tonameonlyafew; (commercialcentres,
employmentnodes)
and has an extremely high student density, with three university
P<50,000
campuses (Concordia, McGill, and UQAM) and two college transitstationsand
campuses (Dawson and VieuxMontral) within its boundaries. publicfacilities
low manual (communitycentres,
These factors combined undoubtedly make the VilleMarie sportsfacilities,
boroughamajorgeneratorofbicycletrips. libraries,etc.)
high automatic citywide
2.1.3 Roadsandbicyclefacilities
Forapublicbicyclesystemtosucceed,cyclingmustbe perceived attransitstationsand
publicfacilities
as a safe activity. A number of researchers have identified the 50,000<P<200,000
low manual (communitycentres,
perceptionofdangerasoneofthekeybarrierstobicycleuse.The sportsfacilities,
extent and the quality of specialized bicycle facilities, such as libraries,etc.)
dedicated bicycle paths and lanes, are likely to affect the high automatic citywide
perception of safety (FHWA 1995; Landis 1998). Traffic calming P>200,000 inthecitycentreand
andmeasuresforlimitingautomobileusecanalsohaveapositive low automatic
otherdenseareas
impactoncyclistsperceptionofsafety.InmanyoftheEuropean
Source:IDAE(2007)
cities in which public bicycle systems have been implemented
there have been widespread commitments to expanding bicycle
facilities while simultaneously putting limitations on automobile
use.
12
Figure4BIXI'sinitialserviceareaandthedistributionofpopulationdensitiesin
theMontrealMetropolitanArea
Source:VilledeMontral

Asidefrommerelybeingperceivedassafe,thenetworkofonand Figure5ContraflowbicyclelaneinMontrealprovidesasafeshortcutforcyclists
offroad bicycle routes must also be interconnected and have a
layoutthataffordsdirecttrajectories,giventhatthepracticalrange
of cycling trips is limited to about 5 km. A layout that forces
cyclists to take circuitous routes is likely to discourage cycling.
Adaptations to the road network that provide cyclists with short
cuts and direct routes are likely to have a positive impact on
bicycleuse.Suchadaptationscaninclude,forexample,midblock
links between streets, or contra flow bicycle lanes on oneway
streets (Figure 5), which allow cyclists to travel against the
directionoftraffic.
The absence or limited availability of bicycle facilities, the lack of

traffic calming and measures limiting automobile use, as well as
the poorly interconnected, caroriented road networks found in
manyCanadiancitiesarebarrierstobicycleuseingeneralandare
afactorthatcouldpotentiallylimitthesuccessofapublicbicycle
system.Canadianmunicipalitiesshouldconsiderundertakingboth
bicycle facilityimprovements as well as extensive neighbourhood
traffic calming before delving into public bicycle systems. Other Photo:ChristopherDeWolf/Spacing.ca
measures that curtail automobile use, such as road and parking
pricing,canhelpinducehigherlevelsofbicycleuseandcanfavour 2.1.4 PotentialforTransitIntermodality
thesuccessofapublicbicyclesystem. Astrongsynergycandevelop between metropolitan rapid transit
systems and public bicycle systems. In principle, public bicycles
can become a means for accessing transit facilities from home or
for gettingto work or school from transit facilities. The utility of
public bicycles for the former is likely to be low; transit stations
can be accessed from home by private bicycles. However, the
utility of public bicycles for travel between transit stations and
workorschoolislikelytobehighgiventhatfewpeoplearelikely
14

totaketheirownbicyclewiththemonpublictransit 2 ortokeepa Figure6AVlo'vstationinLyonfacingatramstation
secondbicycleatthedestinationstation.
There are several examples of public bicycle systems that have a

strong focus on intermodality with public transit. These include
the Call a Bike schemes operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB), the
national passenger rail company, which runs most urban
commuter rail services. There are Call a Bike hubs at commuter
rail stations in the central parts of several larger German cities,
including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg. Aside from
physically locating the bicycles at rail stations, DB also offers rail
customers strong financial incentives to use the system.
CustomerswithDBmonthlytrainpassesenjoydiscountsonCalla
Bikemembershipandusagefees.AnothernotableinitiativeisOV
Fiets, short for openbaar vervoer fiets or public transit bike,
availableatcentrallylocatedrailstationsintownsandcitiesacross
theNetherlands.Theservice,whichlendsbicyclesataflatrateof
2.75 per 20 hour block or an annual flat rate of 7.50, was Source:www.velov.grandlyon.com
designedexplicitlytoencouragetraincommuterstousebicyclesto
accessworkorschoolfromthetrainstation,therebyloweringthe The potential for synergy between public bicycles and public
strainonconventionallocalpublictransitservices. transit in Canadian cities is likely to be highest in the few larger
citiesthathavemetropolitanrapidtransitsystems.Suchsystems
include dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail transit (LRT),
subways,andcommutertrains(Figure6).Stationsincoreareasat
whichalargevolumeofcommutersarriveontheirwaytoworkor
school are likely to be the best sites for achieving synergy with
public bicycles. Using the hub and spoke analogy, under this
2 Some public transit systems in Canada allow users to transport their private scenario the rapid transit station acts as the hub and public
bicycles, but usually with many restrictions regarding the time of day and bicycles act as the spokes. In the absence of a true rapid transit
number of bicycles per transit vehicle. Given such restrictions, and given the system, synergy with public bicycles could occur along a major
cumbersomenessofcarryingabicyclebytransit,itisnotapracticalsolutionfor
mostusers. transitcorridori.e.,anarterialroadwithahighvolumeoftransit
traffic,evenifitisnotrapidtransitperse.

2.1.5 Topography 2.1.6 Climate

Cyclists generally dislike going up inclines of more than 4% and In Europe, public bicycle systems have been successfully
avoidinclinesgreaterthan8%.Inanareainwhichstreetsmostly implemented in cities with very different climates from Nordic
have slopes under 4%, topography is not a factor limiting the climates in the Scandinavian countries to warm, dry climates in
successofapublicbicyclesystem.Inanareawheremanystreets France and Spain. Systems in Northern Europe tend to be shut
are sloped between 4% and 8%, topography does become a down during the colder months while others remain open year
significant constraint. Cyclists will go down the slope but will round.InCopenhagen,Denmark,forexample,theBycyklensystem
refuse to go up. Public bicycle stations at higher elevations will shutsdownbetweenearlyDecemberandearlyAprilwhileVlibin
tendtoempty,whilethoseatlowerelevationswilltendtofillup. Parisremainsopenyearround.
ThisproblemoccursinBarcelona,whosecentreliesatthebottom
of a bowlshaped valley. Users happily take Bicing bicycles In most Canadian cities, however, the winter is generally longer,
downhill into town but take other modes of transportation to go colder, and snowier than anywhere in Northern Europe. In
back uphill, leaving the bicycles behind. In Barcelonas case, the Copenhagen, for example, average high and low temperatures in
problem is overcome through redistribution: a largerthanusual Januaryare2Cand2CrespectivelywhereasinMontrealtheyare
fleet of redistribution vehicles continuously takes bicycles from 6C and 15C (Figure 7). A long, severe winter could limit the
lowlyingstationstouphillstations. number of months during which the public bicycle system can
operate and generate revenues. Montreals BIXI public bicycle
Ratherthanrelyingonredistribution,amoreexpensivealternative system will operate only in the Months that temperatures are
wouldbetohaveafleetofelectricpublicbicycles.Theadvantage abovezeroApriltomidNovember.
wouldbethatuserswouldbemorelikelytoridethebicyclestwo
ways, rather than riding one way and using another mode of An important exception are Pacific coastal communities, in which
transportation for the return trip (or vice versa). In areas where wintersarecomparabletoorevenmilderthaninnorthernEurope.
the slopes of most streets exceed 8%, a public bicycle system is In Vancouver, for example, average January temperatures range
unlikely to succeed, redistribution and electric bicycles fromhigh6Ctolow1C,whileinVictoriatheyrangefromhigh7C
notwithstanding(IDAE,2007). to low 3C. In this case, the public bicycle system could operate
overalongerperiodorevenremainopenyearround.
16

Figure7Comparisonofaveragetemperaturerange,precipitation,andcycling 2.1.7 LevelsofBicycleUse
season Europeanexperiencessuggestthatpublicbicyclesystemsneednot
be implemented only in places that already have high levels of
bicycleuse.Somepublicbicyclesystemshavebeendevelopedin
countries that tend to have a very high mode share for cycling in
urbanareas,suchasTheNetherlands(27%)andDenmark(20%)
butalsoincountrieswithlowlevelsofurbanbicycleuse,suchas
France (4%) (deMaio and Gifford, 2004). In effect, European
experiencesuggeststhatpublicbicyclescanbeadooropenerfor
increased bicycle use (NICHES, 2007). Vlib, for instance, is
expectedtoeventuallydoubleortripletotalbicycleuseinParis
i.e., the use of public and private bicycles taken together (Nadal,
2007).
Canadianmetropolitanareashaveevenlowerlevelsofbicycleuse
thantheaverageinFrance.Mostmidsizedandlargecitieshavea
bicycle mode share for trips to work under 2% (e.g., 0.8% in
Toronto, 1.3% in Montreal, 1.9% in Vancouver and Ottawa
Gatineau). A notable exception is Victoria, BC, where the bicycle
mode share for trips to work is 5.6% (2006 Canadian Census).
Although on a metropolitan scale the mode shares are generally
low, there are nonetheless urban areas in which bicycle use is
relativelyhigh.Forexample,whileonly1.3%oftripstoworkare
made by bicycle in City of Montreal as a whole, in the Plateau
Sources:weather.msn.com,EnvironmentCanada MontRoyalborough,oneofthethreethatwillbeservedbyBIXIas
of next spring, 7% of trips to work are made by bicycle (Ville de
Montral,2004).AnestimatebythecyclingadvocacygroupVlo
Qubec (2001) suggest that as much as 12% of all trips in the
PlateauMontRoyal borough are made by bicycle during the
warmermonths.Thedense,mixedusecentralareasofotherlarger
Canadian cities also tend have levels of bicycle use higher than
averagelevelsofbicycleuse.

Table4BicyclecommutingratesinCanadianCensusMetropolitanAreas(CMAs) TheexperienceofsomeEuropeancitiessuggeststhathighlevelsof
cycling to work (%) bicycleusearenotaprerequisiteforsuccessfullyimplementinga
1996 2001 2006 publicbicyclesystem.ParissVlib,LyonsVlov,andBarcelonas
Bicingareallproofthatpublicbicyclesystemscanthriveincities
CalgaryAB 1.1 1.5 1.3
that did not previously have high levels of bicycle use. For
EdmontonAB 1.1 1.2 1.1 example,eventhoughlessthan2%oftripsmadebyParisianswere
GatineauQC 1.4 1.6 1.7 by bicycle at the time that it was launched, Vlib quickly became
GuelphON 2.1 1.8 2.3 one of the most intensively used public bicycle systems in the
HalifaxNS 1.0 0.9 1.0 world, with 8 to 10 daily users per bicycle (JCDecaux, 2009). A
HamiltonON 0.7 0.9 0.9
usersurveyinearly2008(MairiedeParis,2008)foundthatthere
were 190,000 registered users and 70,000 average daily users.
KelownaBC 2.0 2.1 2.1
Vlibisexpectedtoeventuallydoubleortripletotalbicycleusein
KingstonON 2.1 2.2 2.4 Paris(Nadal,2007).
KitchenerON 1.1 1.1 1.6
LondonON 1.5 1.4 1.6 Indeed,itwouldseemthattheintroductionofpublicbicyclescan
trigger the development of a nonrecreational cycling culture,
MonctonNB 0.7 0.6 1.0
compelling local residents to see the bicycle in a new light as a
MontralQC 1.0 1.3 1.6 viable mode of urban transportation. In this sense, public bicycle
OttawaON 2.3 2.0 2.2 systemscanbedooropenersforincreasedbicycleuse(NICHES,
QubecQC 0.9 1.3 1.4 2007).
ReginaSK 1.1 1.4 1.4
SaskatoonSK 2 2.5 2.4 2.2 FeasibilityStudy
SherbrookeQC 0.7 0.9 0.9 Market research can be useful for ascertaining whether there is
St.John'sNL 0.3 0.1 0.3 latent demand for a public bicycle system. A survey of local
residents, conducted by telephone, by Internet, in the field (on
TorontoON 0.8 0.8 1.0
streetsandinotherpublicplaces),oracombinationthereofcanbe
TroisRiviresQC 1.2 1.5 1.4 usefulforgaugingthegeneralpublicsinterestinandsupportfora
VancouverBC 1.7 1.9 1.7 public bicycle system, and to investigate the potential users
VictoriaBC 4.9 4.8 5.6 willingnesstopayforthistypeofservice.Amarketstudywould
WindsorON 1.1 1.1 1.3 generallyprobethefollowing:
WinnipegMB 1.4 1.4 1.6
incidenceofshorttripsandthemodeoftransportationused
TotalCMApopulation 1.2 1.3 1.4
awarenessofthepublicbicycleconcept
Source:StatisticsCanada
18

interestinusingpublicbicycles,iftheywereavailable Figure8CyclistsinParisusingbothVlib
andprivatebicycles
willingnesstopayforusingpublicbicycles,iftheywere
available
supportfordedicatingexistingroadandparkingspacefor
publicbicycles
supportforincreasedoutdooradvertisingtohelpfund
publicbicycles
A survey with these types of questions was conducted in the
GreaterVancouverareain2008(Translink,2008).
Beyond helping to determine the overall feasibility of a public

bicycle system in a given community, the willingness to pay data
from the market survey can help determine the nature of the
business model that could be used if the system were
implemented.Thedataongeneralinterestandwillingnesstopay
can also help determine the shape of the service area and the
targetaudienceforthepublicbicyclesystem.

Photo:LucNadal/ITDPSustainable
Transport

SectionSummary o cyclistsarereluctanttoscaleslopesbetween4%and8%;
additionalredistributionvehiclesneededtokeeppublicbicycle
Size
systemoperating
o automated(selfservice)publicbicyclesystemsaresuitedfor
o cyclistsavoidslopesabove8%;publicbicyclesystemsnot
citieswithapopulationof200,000andmoremanualsystems
recommendedinsuchareas
arerecommendedforsmallercities
Climate
o Densitysystemsshouldonlybesetupinareaswithahigh
populationdensity o coldandsnowywintersrestrictthenumberofmonthsapublic
bicyclesystemcanoperateandgeneraterevenues
o anexceptionaredowntowncoresevenifpopulationdensity
islow,highemploymentdensityandconcentrationofservices o inCanada,onlyPacificcoastalcitiescouldrunyearround
andamenitiesshoulddrivebicycleuse publicbicyclesystems;mostothercitieswouldhavetoclose
forthewintermonths
o Montrealssystemwillbelaunchedinthedowntowncoreand
neighbourhoodswithdensityover8,000/km2 LevelsBicycleUse
RoadsandBicycleFacilities o existinghighlevelsbicycleusearelikelytofavourthesuccess
ofpublicbicyclesystem
o anetworkofbicycleroutesmadeupoftrafficcalmedstreets
anddedicatedbicyclefacilities(bicyclelanes,tracks,and o however,highlevelsofbicyclesarenotaprerequisiteas
greenways)willfavourthesuccessofapublicbicyclesystem shownbycitiessuchasLyon,Paris,andBarcelona
o thenetworkofbicycleroutesmustofferhavegoodcoverage
ofthecityandofferdirecttrajectories
PotentialforTransitIntermodality
o highcapacityrapidtransitsystems(BRT,LRT,subway,and
commutertrain)canfeedandbefedbypublicbicycles
o intheabsenceofsuchsystems,publicbicyclesmightstillbe
abletothriveinmajortransitcorridorsthatarenotrapid
transitperse

Topography
o slopesunder4%arenoobstacletocyclists
20

Figure9ThecouplingsystemonVlolacarte
bicycleinRennes
3 HardwareandOperations
3.1 SystemOperationType
3.1.1 Manual
Amanualbicyclesharingsystemisonewheretransactionsrelated
totakingoutandreturningabicyclearesupervised.Supervision
canbeprovidedbyadedicatedemployeeorbynondedicatedstaff
who have other primary responsibilities. For example, some
bicycle sharing systems collaborate with local businesses for the
provision of loan services. Manual systems can but do not

necessarilyinvolveinformationtechnologyforkeepingtrackofthe Source:ClearChannelSmartBikes
use of bicycles and monetary transactions. Generally speaking, a
computerizedtrackingsystemisrequiredwhentherearemultiple The fundamental difference between coinoperated credit card,
pickupanddropoffpointsforthebicycles. key card, or cell phoneoperated systems: in the latter case, the
identity of bicycle users is known. In case of theft or damage to
3.1.2 Automated bicycles,theuserscanbeheldresponsible.Coinoperatedsystems
In an automated bicycle sharing system, transactions related to suchasCopenhagensBycyklendonotkeeptrackofuseridentities
taking out and returning bicycles are unsupervised the systems
rely on selfservice. Bicycles are either locked to special Table5Comparisonofmanualandautomaticbicyclesharingsystems
electronically controlled racks or are equipped with an factor manual automatic
electronicallycontrolledlockoftheirown.Intheformercase,the citysize smalltomedium mediumtolarge
racksareeithercoin,creditcard,orelectronickeycardoperated.
loanduration medium(>1hr) veryshort(<30min)
Inthelattercase,thelocksonthebicycleshaveacombinationpad;
users must call or send a cell phone text message to the bicycle dailyusersperbicycle low(<5) high(520)
sharingoperatortoobtainacombinationtounlockthebicycle.By capitalcost(perbicycle) low high
definition, automated systems rely heavily on information operatingcost(per mediumtohigh lowtomedium
technologyforuserinterface,systemcontrolandmonitoring. bicycle)

3.2 AutomatedSystemTypes Figure10AVlibstationinParisbeingrefilled
3.2.1 Fixedpermanent
Afixedpublicbicyclesystemisoneinwhichbicyclesarelockedto
designatedrackswhennotinservice.Inmostcases,bicycles are
attached to the rack via a specialized coupling system (Figure 9).
Theracksthereforeactinessenceasstations.Thevastmajority
ofurbanpublicbicyclesystemsfeaturefixedstations.
Figure10Vlibbicycleshaveanauxiliarycablelock,seenhereinsidethebasket,
thatallowsuserstolockthebicycletemporarilybetweenstations

Source:JCDecaux(2008)
A bicycle can be taken out from any station and returned to the
same or any other station, provided that there is an available
locking berth. Some systems allow users to temporarily lock
bicycles at other locations using a builtin cable lock (Figure ).
Making stopovers and otherwise keeping bicycles between
stationsisdiscouragedbythepricingschemeofmostsystems.In
mostcases,onlythefirsthalfhourofuseisfreeandafterwardsthe
usagechargesareapplied,encouraginguserstoreturnbicyclesto
astation.
Fixed systems require constant monitoring to ensure bicycles are

available for pick up and vacant berths available for bicycle drop
off at every station. The stations are networked to a central
Source:austinevan
computerized control system, allowing the balance of bicycles at
each station to be monitored electronically. The control system
dispatchesmotorizedredistributionvehiclestorebalancebicycles
between stations that are emptying out and those that are filling
22

up(Figure10).Mostfixedbicyclesystems havesignificantlymore 3.2.2 Fixedportable
locking berths at stations than bicycles. Vlib, for example, has MontrealsBIXIhasintroducedasignificantinnovationtothefixed
70%moresupportracksthanbicycles. systemconceptportablemodularstations.Serviceterminalsand
thebicyclestandsaremountedontosetsofrectangularplatforms
Thestationsofmostfixedsystemsareinstalledpermanently.The to form two types of modules: main modules having a service
installation of a station usually requires significant construction terminal and three bicycle docks and secondary modules having
work to anchor the station and connect it to underground power only bicycle docks. Each station requires one main module; the
mainsandnetworkcables,andusuallyentailsthepriorexcavation numberofsecondarymodulescanvary,dependingontherequired
oftheroadorsidewalksurfacewherethestationwillbeinstalled numberofbicycledocksatthegivenlocation.Asthestationsare
(Figure11).Stationinstallationisthereforerelativelytime,labour, solarpoweredandwirelesslynetworked,theyarecompletelyself
andcostintensive.Thistypeofsystemdemandscarefulplanning contained no wiring is required for installation. As a result,
of the size and location of stations, as errors are liable to be station installation consists merely of placing the modules in the
expensivetocorrect(seeSection5.3.3). desiredlocation;thereisnoneedforanchoringthemtotheground
(Figure12).Itisthereforetime,labour,andcostefficient.
Figure11ConstructionofaVlib
stationinParis
The easy installation and removal of stations entails a number of
advantages: the distribution of stations can be adapted to match
actualdemand,allowingthesystemtoberapidlyoptimizedatlittle
cost; stations can be placed at temporary locations for special
events,suchasfestivals;andstationscanremovedforthewinter.
ThelastadvantageisespeciallysignificantintheCanadiancontext.
The removal of stations in the winter would prevent them from
being damaged by snow and ice as well as by snow clearing
equipment. The only significant disadvantage of fixedportable
stations with respect to fixedpermanent stations is an aesthetic
one: the modular, platformmounted stations are liable to be less
visuallyintegratedwiththestreetscape.


Figure12ABIXIstationmodulebeinginstalledduringademonstrationin 3.2.3 Flexible

Toronto A flexible bicycle sharing system is one in which bicycles do not
needtobelockedtodesignatedracksorstations.Inthiscase,the
bicycleshaveageneralpurposelockingdevice,suchasachainora
cable,whichallowstobelockedtoanystationaryobjectwhennot
inusee.g.,astandardbicyclerack,atrafficsign,aparkingmeter,
etc.Inadditiontothebuiltinchainorcablelock,theremayalso
belocksthatblockthebicyclesdrivetrainandsteering.
Flexiblesystemsentailakeyadvantagefortheoperatorofapublic
bicyclesystem:theoperatordoesnotneedtoprovideanetworkof
stations. The logistics of managing the system can however be
muchmorecomplexthanafixedsystem.Inthelatter,bicyclesare
picked up and dropped off at a limited number of points i.e., at
the stations making it easier to keep track of the location of
individual bicycles. It is easier to retrieve bicycles at fixed
locationsfor maintenance, repairs, or redistribution. Ina flexible
system, individual bicycles can get scattered across a large
territory.Itisnecessarytodevelopasystemforkeepingtrackof
thelocationsofindividualbicycles.DeutscheBahn,theoperatorof
CallaBikeflexiblepublicbicyclesystemsinseveralGermancities,
considered using GPS to keep track of bicycle locations but the
foundthetechnologytooexpensive(DBRent,2005).Instead,the
system relies on users to report the locations at which they drop
off bicycles (see Section 6.2). Even when their locations are
known, the scattering of individual bicycles across countless
locations is liable to make retrieval for maintenance, repairs, or
redistributionmuchmoreonerous.

Photo:YvonneBambrick
24

Figure13ACallaBikerepositoryatatrainstationinMunich walkingdistance.Somesystemspartlyovercomethisproblemby
having some fixed stations that hold a reserve of bicycles. In
German cities with Call a Bike flexible systems, there are bicycle
repositories at multiple intercity and commuter train stations
(Figure13).
3.3 StationDesign&Technology
As mentioned already, fixed system stations, both of the
permanent and the portable variety, are composed of two basic
components:aserviceterminalandasetofbicyclelockingstands.
The difference is permanent stations have terminal and stands
anchored directly to the ground, while portable systems have the
some components mounted onto a moveable platform. Another
differenceisthatpermanentstationsarehardwiredtoelectricity
mainsandITcables,whereasportablestationsaresolarpowered
andwirelesslynetworked.
Photo:KostasPagiamtzis Figure14TheVlibmembershipcardoraNaviGOpublictransitcardareusedas
akeytotakeoutbicycles
From the users point of view, a flexible system is also a mixed
blessing. On one hand, the flexible system makes leaving the
bicycle after use much more convenient. The bicycle can be left
virtually anywhere within the authorized service area. It also
avoidsacommoninconvenienceassociatedwithfixedsystemsa
full station, with no berths available for locking the bicycle. The
userofthefixedsystemwhoencountersafullstationisforcedto
seek out another station that has empty berths, consuming time
and potentially taking the user further from his final destination. Sources:MairiedeParisandSyndicatdestransportdledeFrance(STIF)
On the flipside, while a flexible system can make dropping off a
bicycleafterusemoreconvenient,pickingupabicycleinthefirst
placecanbemuchlessconvenient.Withoutfixedpickuppoints,
thereisnoguaranteethattherewillbeanavailablebicyclewithin

Theserviceterminalprovidesauserinterfaceforperformingbasic Figure15AVlibstationserviceterminal
financial transactions related to the purchase of user
memberships,providesinformationabouthowtousethesystem,
and about the availability of bicycles and docking spaces at other
stations. The Vlib service terminal illustrated in Figure 15 is
representative of most smart bike systems put into service after
2000.Theterminalincludes:
A. Advertizingspace.Forsupplementalrevenuegeneration.
B. Touchsensitivescreen.Foruserinterface.
o purchaseofday,week,orannualpasses,in
conjuctionwithfiancialcardterminal(D).
o informationonhowtousethesystem
o informationonbicycleandparkingspaceavailability
atotherstationsinthenetwork
o severallanguagesavailable
C. Keycardreader.Foruserswithannualmembershipsor
usersusingNaviGOpublictransitcards.Allowsusersto
checkaccountinformation,suchasusagecharges.
D. Financialcardterminal.Acceptscreditanddebitcards.
Usedinconjunctionwithtouchsensitivescreentopurchase
day,week,orannualpasses.
E. Carddispenser.Dispensestemporary(onedayandone
week)passespurchasedattheterminal

Photo:austinevan
26

The Vlib locking stand depicted below is representative of Figure16AVliblockingstand
JCDecauxCyclocitysystem;themaincompetitor,theClearChannel
SmartBike system, uses a slightly different locking system. The
Vlibstand(Figure16)includes:
A. Docknumber.Userswithdailyandweeklypassesmust
checkbicyclesoutattheserviceterminal;theycanselect
thenumberofthedockfromwhichtheywilltakeabicycle.
B. Statusindicatorlight.Flasheswhenthebicycleisreadyto
betakenoutafterthecardreaderonthestand.Confirms
thatthebicyclehasbeencorrectlylockeduponreturn.
C. Keycardreader.Foruserswithannualmembershipsor
usersusingNaviGOpublictransitcards.Allowsusersto
checkoutbicyclesdirectlyfromthestand,withusingthe
serviceterminal.
D. Unlockingbutton.Aftertheusersmembershiphasbeen
read,thebuttonmustbepressedtoreleasethebicyclefrom
thestand.
E. Couplingdevice.Mateswithahookotherprotrusionon
thebicycletolockthebicycletothestand.
Photo:austinevan

The ClearChannel SmartBike system features a service terminal

muchlikethosefoundinParisbutthebicyclestandsandcoupling
3.4 BicycleDesign&Technology
devicesusedaresomewhatdifferent.Ratherthanindividualposts, Thedesignconsiderationsforpublicbicyclesare:
therearelongrailswithevenlyspacedbicycledocks.Thereisno
easeofuse
cardreaderattheindividualdocks;instead,theusermustcheckin
attheserviceterminal.Theterminalassignsadocknumberfrom adaptabilitytousersofdifferentsizes
whichtheusermustthenretrievethebicycle(Figure17). mechanicalreliability
Figure17ABicingbicyclestandinBarcelona resistancetovandalism
theftprevention
distinctivevisualappearance
Photo:AniKalemkerian
28

The most recent, socalled fourth generation of public bicycles, Figure18AnatomyofaBIXIbicycle
whichincludessystemssuchasVlibandBIXI,havethefollowing
features,illustratedonaBIXIbicycleinFigure18:
A. Handlebarmountedbagrack.Somesystemsprovidea
basketinsteadofarack.
B. Highlyadjustableseat.Toaccommodateusersofawide
rangeofsizes.
C. Robustdowntube/notoptube.Allowseasymounting
anddismountingandalsopreventsasecondpersonfrom
sittingonthebike.
D. Widetires.Forcomfortandstability.
E. Internalhubgears.Morereliablethanexternalderailleur
gears:lessriskofchaindropping,lesstorsiononthechain
affordslongerchainlife.Also,lesspronetotheftand
vandalism.
F. Frontandrearlights.BatterypoweredLEDlights
operatedwheneverthebicycleisundocked.Thebattery
rechargeswhilethebicycleisdockedatastation.
G. Enclosedchain.Protectsusersclothesfromdirtonthe
chain.
H. Internalhubbrakes.Lesspronetotheftandtampering
thanregularrimbrakes.

Source:StationnementdeMontral

There are a number of other less visible features included to fieldwork:redistributionofbicycles,stationmaintenance

maximize reliability and prevent theft and vandalism. In andminorbicyclerepairs
particular, all public bicycles developed since Copenhagens
workshop:majorbicyclerepairs
Bycyklenhaveusednonstandardcomponentswheels,tires,seat
post,screws,bolts,andsoon.Asaresult,thecomponentsarenot warehouse:storageofspareparts,sparebicycles,and
interchangeable with regular, commercial bicycle parts. This is otherequipment
supposed to deter theft of the components themselves as well as callcentre:subscriptionmanagementandcustomer
theft of the bicycles; without access to custom components and assistance
specialtools,itwouldbeimpossibletomaintainthestolenpublic
bicycle.Thedrawbackusingofcustomcomponentsisthattheyare Table 6 below compares the human resources of three French
likely to be considerably more expensive than standard publicbicyclesystems:ParissVlibbehemoth,LyonslargeVlov,
components, meaning that the initial cost of the bicycles and and Renness small Vlo la carte. Despite a difference of two
ongoing maintenancecostsarehigher.Otherspecialfeaturesare orders of magnitude in the number of bicycles, Pariss and
intended less to deter theft but rather to make the bicycle as Renness systems have roughly the same number of bicycles per
tamperproofandreliableaspossible.Forexample,asmentioned staffmemberapproximately50.Lyonappearsmoreefficientin
above, gears and braking mechanisms are enclosed within the this regard, with about 100 bicycles per staff member. On the
wheelhubs.OnCyclocity(e.g.,VlibandVlov)bicyclesaswellas otherhand,LyonandRennesbothhaveabout6stationsperstaff
on BIXI bicycles, brake and gear cables are hidden within the member,whereasParishasfewer.
bicycle frames tubes. On SmartBike (e.g., Bicing and SmartBike Table6Humanresourceswithrespecttothenumberofbicycles,stations,and
DC) and Call a Bike bicycles, however, the cables are exposed on dailyusersforthreeFrenchsmartbikesystems
thehandlebars.
system staff bicycles stations daily users
per per per
3.5 RequiredResources total staff total staff average staff
Vlib(Paris) 400 20,600 52 1,451 3.6 70,000 175
3.5.1 HumanResources
Vlov(Lyon) 40 4,000 100 250 6.3 15,000 375
Smart bike systems eliminate the need for staff to handle bicycle
pick up and drop off and monetary transactions related to Vlolacarte 4 200 50 25 6.3 320 80
(Rennes)
membership and usage fees. Nonetheless, significant human
resources are still needed to keep the system running. Staff is Sources:MairiedeParis(2007),IDAE(2007),andVlolaCarte(2008).
requiredforthefollowinggeneralfunctions:

30

3.5.2 CapitalResources outskirtsofParis,whereitdepositsusedpartsandbrokenbicycles
A public bicycle system requires more than just bicycles and andpicksupnewsparepartsandreplacementbicycles(Mairiede
stations; a variety of other equipment is needed to keep the Paris,2007;Nadal,2007).Thankstothebargeandthe12dropoff
bicycles and stations functioning at an adequate level of service. points, broken bicycles and their replacements do not need to be
Thisincludes: carried by truck over long distances, saving costs and limiting
emissions. Having the logistics and warehouse facility on the
afleetofvehiclesforredistributionofbicyclesbetween outskirtsalsohelpslimitcosts.
stations,stationmaintenance,andlightbicyclemaintenance
Figure19Vlibredistributionvehicle
warehousefacilitiesforheavybicyclemaintenance,for
storageofsparepartsandsparebicyclesand,incolder
locations,storageofbicyclesandotherequipmentifthe
systemshutsdowninthewinter
ITequipmentformonitoringthestatusofthestationsand
thelocationsandstatusofbicycles
alogisticscentreforcoordinatingredistribution,
maintenance,andrepairoperationsaswellasforcustomer Source:blog.velib.paris.fr
service
Forexample,toserveitsfleetof20,600bicyclesand1,451stations,
Pariss Vlib has 20 natural gas powered redistribution vehicles
(Figure 19), to shuttle bicycles between stations and the repair
facility; 130 electrically assisted bicycles with trailers for station
maintenance and light onsite bicycle maintenance (Figure 20);
and10electricpoweredservicevehicles(Figure21),whichcarry
waterandsuppliesforcleaningstationsandbicycles.Anunusual
featureisVlibsmainrepairfacility,whichfloatsonabargeonthe
river Seine(Figure 22). The barge floats between 12 stops along
the Seine, where the redistribution vehicle drop off bicycles in
needofheavymaintenanceandpickuprepairedbicyclestobeput
backintoservice.Onceaday,thebargetravelsfurtherdownthe
river to Vlibs main logistics and warehouse facility on the

Figure20AVlovmaintenancebicycleinLyon,similartothoseusedinParisfor Figure21Vlibstationservicevehicle
onsitemaintenanceofVlibbicycles
Source:www.nainposteur.org
Source:alain.caraco.free.fr
Figure22OutsideandinsideVlib'suniquefloatingmaintenancefacility
Photo:
Photo:TomTaylor EllenCavanagh
32

In contrastto Paris, Renness modest Vlo la carte system, with Systemsusingafixedportabletechnology,suchasStationnement
200 bicycles and 25 stations, has a single vehicle used for de Montrals Public Bike System, will require vehicles able to lift
redistribution of bicycles and system maintenance. The vehicle and transport the portable station modules (see Section 3.5.2).
also doubles occasionally as a mobile customer service centre; Thesewouldbenecessaryfordeployingstationsinthespringand
onceaweek,itisparkedforafewhoursattheGarespublicbicycle removing them in the fall, if the system shuts down during the
station, near the citys main train station, from where staff winter. They could also be useful for installing stations at
distributes key cards to new members and shows them how to temporary locations for special events, such as festivals or for
operate the bicycle racks. The entire system is managed from a relocating stations that are underused. Adequately sized
single computer, housed in a warehouse along with spare parts warehousing facilities would be required to hold station modules
and bicycles. The control computer monitors the number of thatarenotinuse;duringawintershutdown,thatwouldmeanthe
bicyclesateachstation;whenastationisdowntotwobicyclesor systemsentiresetofstationmodules.
less,thecomputerautomaticallydispatchestheredistributionvan
by sending a text message to the van drivers cell phone (Figure Figure23Dispatchingthe
redistributionvehiclebytext
23). The high level of automation means only one employee is
messageinRennes
neededatalltimestoruntheentiresystem.
ItisunlikelythatanyCanadiancitywouldhaveasystemaslarge
asVlib,bothintermsofshearnumberofbicyclesandstationsas
wellasintermsofgeographiccoverage.Therequirednumberof
supportvehiclesislikelytobemuchsmaller,proportionallytothe
number of bicycles and stations. It should also be noted that the
requirednumberofsupportvehicleswouldalsodependpartlyon
the intensity of use of the system; systems with a high average
numberofusersperbicyclecouldrequiremoreredistributionand
maintenance equipment to provide good quality of service. As
notedinSection2.1.5,topographycanhavebearingonthenumber
of redistribution vehicles; public bicycle systems operating in a
hilly or sloped area can require additional redistribution vehicles Source:Vlolacarte(2008)
to return bicycles from lowering lying stations to the more
elevatedones.

canberedeployedrapidlyandcheaplytocorrect
SectionSummary
inefficencientstationlocations
SystemOperationType
caneasilyberemovedforthewinterhighly
o manual:bicyclesaretakenoutfromandreturnedtostaffed recommendedforCanadiancontext
locations
o flexible:bicyclescanleftanywherewithinaspecifiedservice
lesscapitalintensive area
morestaffintensive(moreexpensivetooperate) obviatesprovisionofstationsanimportantcost
notsuitableforhighuserturnover saving
o automated:bicyclesaretakenoutfromandreturnedto tradeofffortheuser:greatflexibilityastowhere
unstaffedlocations bicyclescanbeleftafterusebutitmightbedifficultto
getabicycleinthefirstplace
highlytechnologyandcapitalintensive
scatteringofbicyclescancomplicateretrievalfor
staffefficient,lessexpensivetooperate maintenanceandredistribution
idealforhighuserturnover sometimeshybridizedwiththefixedsystemconcept
AutomatedSystemTypes i.e.,somefixedlocationforpickupanddropoffare
provided
o fixedpermanent:bicyclestakenoutfromandreturnedto
specialstandsatfixedlocations CapitalResources
efficient,easytokeeptrackofbicyclelocations o afleetofvehiclesforredistributionofbicyclesbetween
stations,stationmaintenance,andlightbicyclemaintenance
requiresexcavationandheavyconstructionwork
time,labour,andcostintensivetoimplement o warehousefacilitiesforheavybicyclemaintenance,forstorage
ofsparepartsandsparebicyclesand,incolderlocations,
expensivetoalterthesystemafterinitialconstruction storageofbicyclesandotherequipmentifthesystemshuts
tocorrectinefficientstationlocations downinthewinter
o fixedportable:bicyclestakenoutfromandreturnedtospecial o ITequipmentformonitoringthestatusofthestationsandthe
standsatfixedbutnonpermanentlocations locationsandstatusofbicycles
sameadvantagesasfixedpermanent o alogisticscentreforcoordinatingredistribution,maintenance,
doesnotrequireheavyconstructionfast,labour andrepairoperationsaswellasforcustomerservice
efficient,andinexpensivetodeploy
34
HumanResources
o fieldwork:redistributionofbicycles,stationmaintenanceand
minorbicyclerepairs
o workshop:majorbicyclerepairs
o warehouse:storageofspareparts,sparebicycles,andother
equipment
o callcentre:subscriptionmanagementandcustomerassistance
US$106,000(C$130,000)formaintenanceequipmentand
promotions
4 FinancingYourSystem US$80,000(C$100,000)forsalariesandadministration
4.1 Costs 4.1.2 OngoingCosts

Anautomatedpublicbicyclesystemwillrequireasignificantinitial Informationonoperatingcostsofexistingpublicsystemsisscarce.
investment for planning, for the procurement of equipment, and One source (NICHES, 2007) cites the annual operating costs of
forconstructioncostsforstations.Itisdifficulttoobtaindataon Lyons Vlov (a JCDecaux system) and Renness Vlo la carte (a
the capital costs because public bicycle systems are seldom Clear Channel system) as both being about 1,000 (C$1,600) per
financed directly by the public sector. Rather, most cities give bicycle per year. Another source (IDAE, 2007) suggests that the
private companies advertizing rights in exchange for providing costs could be much higher anywhere from 1,400 to 3,900
theirpublicbicyclesystem(moredetailinSection4.2.2). (C$2,200toC$6,200)perbicycleperyear.TheMinneapolisbicycle
sharingbusinessplanpegsannualoperatingcostsatUS$1,574,000
4.1.1 StartupCosts (C$1,952,000) for 1,000 bicycles, or approximately C$2,000 per
Thetwomainoperatorsoffixedpublicbicyclesystems,JCDecaux bicycle.
and ClearChannel, are secretive about the capital and operating
costs of the systems that they run. All that is known about Vlib, AtanannualcostofC$2,2006,200andassuminganaverageof10
forexample,isthatthestartupcostsfortheinitialsystemlaunched users per bicycle per day, the operating cost per rider would be
inthesummerof2007werearound90million(C$142million), C$0.60$1.70.
basedonstatementsbyvariousCityandJCDecauxofficials(Nadal,
2007).With20,600bicycles,thisamountstoaninitialinvestment 4.1.3 TheftandVandalism
ofaboutC$6,900perbicycle. Despite preventive measures, such as the use of custom
componentsandelectronicuseridentification,theftandvandalism
Minneapolis, Minnesota is in the process of developing a public of bicycles can be a significant ongoing cost factor. The
bicyclesystemthatwillbearunbyanonprofitorganization(see replacement costs for smart bikes in Europe range from 250 to
Case Study, Section 6.5). As it is run by a nonprofit with public 1,200(C$400toC$1,900)(NICHES,2007).Unsurprisingly,rates
subsidies,detailsaboutcostshavebeenreleasedtothepublic.The oftheftandvanadalismvaryfromcitytocity.Paris,forexample,
businessplanforthebicyclesharingsystem(CoLNSF,2008)thatis appearstohavethehighestrateoftheftandvandalismofanycity
to initially have 1,000 bicycles and 75 to 80 stations has pegged with a public bicycle system (Figure 31). Between the systems
start up costs at US$3,387,000 (C$4,200,000) or approximately spring 2007 launch and early 2009, due to rampant theft and
C$4,200perbicycle.Thestartupcostsarebrokendownasfollows: vandalism, the entire initial fleet of 20,600 bicycles has been
replacedatacostof400(C$630)apiece(BBCNews,2009).The
US$3,200,000(C$3,970,000)forbicyclesandstations rateatwhichbicyclesarestoleninParisisarounddoubletherate
in Lyon, which uses the same JCDecaux Cyclocity technology.
36

JCDecauxhasrequestedthattheCityofParisinjectpublicfundsto external funding. This funding can come either from the public
help cover the cost overruns associated with repairs and fleet sectorortheprivatesector,oracombinationofthetwodepending
replacement. The advertiser has argued that since theft and onthebusinessmodelbeingused.
vandalism are questions of public order, which is the Citys
responsibility, the City is partly liable for the costs. Agreements 4.2.1 UserFees
madewithprivateoperatorsmusttakeintoaccounttheriskofthe Most public bicycle systems require users to register and pay a
operatorpullingoutifoperationsarenotprofitable. membership fee. As most systems aim to have a large pool of
registered users, membership fees are generally low. Annual
Table7Initialandongoingcostsforpublicbicyclesystems membership fees are typically in a range of $50 to $80 per year.
cost factor initial cost ongoing cost MajorEuropeanpublicbicyclesystems,includingVlibandBicing,
planning $ chargearound30(C$50).MontrealsBIXI,whichisnotrunbyan
advertising company and must rely more on revenues from user
bicycles $$ $$$$*
fees,willchargeC$78foranannualmembership.
stations $$$
bicyclemaintenanceandrepairs $$ $$$ Usersofmostsystemsarealsochargedtimedependentusagefees
(parts,staff,andfacilities) eachtimetheytakeoutabicycle(e.g.,Vlib,CallaBike,BIXI).The
bicycleredistribution $$ $$$ usage fees are usually designed to encourage shortterm uses,
(vehiclesandstaff) compellinguserstopromptlyreturnthebicycletoastation(orto
stationmaintenance $$ terminate their session in the case of a flexible system). Many
controlandmanagementsystem $$$ systems have a grace period, usually half an hour, during which
(software,keycards,andreaders) usage is free; afterwards, fees grow exponentially with every
marketing $ additional halfhour of use (e.g., Vlib, BIXI). Most fixed systems
give users an additional grace period if they check in at a station
Source:basedonIDAE(2007)
*forreplacementofstolenordamagedbicycles thatisfullandareforcedtoproceedtoanotherstationtodropoff
theirbicycle.
4.2 SourcesofRevenue SeetheCaseStudiesinSection6forexamplesofmembershipand

Publicbicyclesystemsaregenerallynotprofitable.Revenuesfrom usagefeesofexistingpublicbicyclesystems.
membership and usage fees, which are generally kept low to
attract and retain large pools of users, are insufficient to recover 4.2.2 PublicPrivatePartnership
thecapitalcostsandtocoverongoingoperatingcosts.Mostpublic The overwhelming majority of public bicycle systems in Europe
bicycle initiatives therefore require a continuous stream of are operated as publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) with large
advertizing companies. In exchange for advertising space in the Table8TypicaldistributionofresponsibilitiesandcostburdeninaPPPbusiness
public realm, the advertising company commits to providing modelforpublicbicycles
equipment for and overseeing the operations of a public bicycle partner responsibilities
system.Theadvertisingcompanyallocatespartofitsrevenuesto municipality roles:
thepublicbicyclesystem.Iftheadvertisersrevenuesareexpected providesspaceforadvertising
to be larger than the operating cost of the bicycle system, the designatesstationlocations
remainder is shared between the advertiser and the municipality providesspaceforstations
(e.g.,Vlib).Iftheexpectedadvertizingrevenuesaresmallerthan costs:
the cost of operating the bicycle system, the municipality covers constructioncostsrelatedtostationinstallation
thedifference(e.g.,Bicing). (fixedpermanentsystemonly)
maycoveraportionofprocurementcostsfor
A municipality usually enters this type of PPP by issuing bicycles,stations,andservicevehicles
competitive call for tenders for advertizing space in the public maycoveraportionofoperatingcosts
realm in which it requires bidders to provide a public bicycle advertiser roles:
system conforming to certain parameters. The contract between providesbicycles,stations,andservicevehicles
the municipality and the advertiser specifies how responsibilities providesITinfrastructureforsystemcontrolandfor
aretobeshared(Table8). financialtransactions
operatesthesystem:maintenance,repairs,bicycle
Theadvantageforthemunicipalityofusingthisbusinessmodelis redistribution
that little or no direct public funding is required to set up and providescustomerservicethroughwebsiteandcall
operate the public bicycle system. Consequently, the system can centre
appeartohavelittleornocosttothetaxpayer.However,although hiresandtrainsallrequiredstaff
publicmoneyneednotbespentonthepublicbicyclesystem,there costs:
is still a cost to public sector in the form of forgone advertizing equipment:bicycles,stations,servicevehicles,IT
revenues. infrastructure(maybesharedwithmunicipality)
operations:staff,maintenancesupplies,
There are currently two large, international advertisers that offer replacementparts,replacementbicycles(maybe
turnkeypublicbicyclesystems:JCDecaux,whoseCyclocitysystems sharedwithmunicipality)
are operating in France, Austria, Spain, Belgium and Ireland (see
Section 6.1); and Clear Channel, whose SmartBike systems are
operating in France, Norway, Sweden, Spain, and the US (so far
only SmartBike DC see Section 6.3). A number of smaller
competitorsalsooperateinEurope.
38

4.2.3 AlternativeBusinessModels Figure24BycyklenbicyclesinCopenhagendisplaysponsors'logosontheir
A public private partnership with an advertiser is not necessarily framesandwheels
the only solution for financing a public bicycle system. The
alternativeisforthemunicipalityoradelegatedauthority(suchas
anonprofitorganization)todevelopitsownbusinessmodelusing
a combination of user fees, direct public subsidies, corporate
sponsorships, and advertizing licenses. The municipality or
delegated authority will need to procure the bicycles and other
equipment from a vendor and either contract the vendor to
operatethesystemoroperateititself.Examplesofsystemswith
alternativebusinessmodelsincludeBycyklen in Copenhagen,BIXI
inMontreal,andtheNiceRideinMinneapolis.
Copenhagen,Denmark
CopenhagensBycyklen,forexample,dependsonacombinationof
publicsubsidiesandmultiplesponsorshipstofundthesystem;the
system charges no membership or user fees. The sponsorship
schemeusedbyBycyklenisquiteunique.Ratherthanplacingads
on the bicycle stations, sponsors logos are instead painted onto Source:www.mujermagnolia.com
thebicyclesthemselves.Thebicyclesspokesareentirelycovered
withplates,providingalargesurfaceareafordisplayingsponsors Montreal,Quebec
logos(Figure24). MontrealssoontobelaunchedBIXIistorelyonacombinationof
user fees, corporate sponsorship, and advertizing licenses; the
system is supposed to run without any ongoing public funding.
The City of Montreal only allocated an initial startup fund of $15
millionthatwasusedprimarilytodeveloptheBIXItechnology,to
plan the initial implementation of the system, and to begin
marketingthesystemtothepublic(Ayotte,2008).Thesystemis
not owned and will not be operated by the City per se; rather,
Stationnement de Montral, a cityowned company that oversees
onstreet parking and municipal parking lots, owns and will
operate the system. Ultimately, the City assumes the financial
risks,andanyprofitsthatsystemmightgeneratewillaccruetothe primarycustomersareadvertisersanditsmainsourceof
City. In order to make the system financially selfsustaining, revenueissellingadvertisingspace.Thereisaninherent
StationnementdeMontralhasstruckasponsorshipdealwiththe riskthatthebicyclesystemsusersneedswouldtakethe
giant aluminum conglomerate Rio Tinto Alcan. The company has backseattothoseofadvertisers.
offered to provide aluminum for construction of the bicycles as
Alocalnonprofitcorporationcanobtaincapitalfunding
well as funding for system operations (Rio Tinto Alcan, 2008).
neededforinitialequipmentpurchasethrougha
Another partnership has been established with Astral Media
combinationofpublicsubsidiesandprivatesponsorship.
Outdoor(AMO),amediaconglomeratethatalreadyprovidesstreet
advertizing in Montreal. Under the deal with Stationnement de Alocalnonprofitislikelytobewellpositionedtooperate
Montral,AMOwillplaceadvertizingonthebacksideoftheservice thesystematalowcostbyusinglocalcontractorsand
terminalson200ofthe300plannedBIXIstations. employeesandbyobtainingcashandinkindsponsorship.
Alocalnonprofitcorporationcanleveragethepopularityof
Minneapolis,Minnesota
bicyclesharingtoaccomplishothergoals,including:
The City of Minneapolis has decided to pursue a nonprofit
ownership model for its soontobelaunched public bicycle educatingthepublicaboutbicyclesafetyandwaysof
sharingsystem,dubbedNiceRide.Thesystemwillthusbeowned reducingautomobiledependency
and operated by a local nonprofit organization and will be creatinghealthylifestyleandwellnessprograms
subsidizedbytheCity,bytheUSFederalgovernment,andprivate withlocalemployers
sponsorships. The City of Minneapolis retained the City of Lakes
Nordic Ski Foundation, a local nonprofit organization to that advocatingforbicyclefriendlyinfrastructureand
promotes skiing and other outdoor sports and organizes Nordic bicyclesupportivepolicies
skiing and running events, to draw up a business plan for a non OtherreasonsforavoidingthePPPbusinessmodelarethatsome
profitbicyclesharingsystemfortheTwinCities. municipalitiesmaywishtolimittheproliferationofadvertizingin
thepublicrealmforvariousreasons,ormaybesimplybeunableto
AccordingtothebusinessplanforNiceRidereleasedbytheCityof enter into a new contract with an advertizing company due to
Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation (2008), the reasons pursuing this existingobligations.
business model, rather then the more common PPP with an
advertisingcompanyincludethefollowing:
Alocalnonprofitcorporationislikelytobetterservethe
usersinterest.Itsprimarycustomerswillbethebicycle
systemsusersanditsmainsourceofrevenuewillbe
membershipsales.Itwillhavetosatisfytheusersneedsin
ordertosurvive.Incontrast,anadvertisingcompanys
40

the cost to the municipality is hidden the municipality
SectionSummary forgoes advertising revenues
Costs there are two multinational advertising companies
o onetime startup costs are likely to be between C$4,000 and offering complete turnkey bicycle systems: JCDecaux
C$7,000 per bicycle and Clear Channel
o operating costs are likely to be between C$2,000 and C$6,000 o agrowingnumberofsystems,includingonescurrentlybeing
per bicycle per year launchedinNorthAmerica,arerejectingthePPPbusiness
o vandalism can be a major ongoing cost factor model
cost is likely to vary considerably from city to city the municipality or a delegated authority (such as a non-
profit organization) operates the system
replacement costs for bicycles are generally between
C$400 and C$1,900 per bicycle revenues from a combination of user fees, direct public
subsidies, corporate sponsorships, and advertizing
SourcesofRevenue licenses
o mostsystemsrequireuserstopurchaseamembership Examples include Copenhagens Bycyklen, Montreals
to have a large pool of registered users, membership BIXI, and Minneapoliss NiceRide
fees are set low typically C$50 to C$80 per year o advantagesofhavingalocalauthorityornonprofit
o mostsystemsalsoassessusagefees organizationoperatethepublicbicyclesysteminclude:
usage is in most cases free for the first half hour of use better serving the public interest, rather than the interests
and then grow exponentially, encouraging high turnover of advertisers
o thevastmajorityofbicyclesharingsystemsoperateaspublic being able to access public subsidies
privatepartnerships(PPPs)withadvertisingcompanies operate the system at minimal cost by using local
municipality provides company with advertising space contractors and employees and by obtaining cash and
in exchange for operating the public bicycle system in-kind sponsorship
the municipality does not need to spend public money levearage the popularity of bicycle sharing to educate
on starting up and operating the system the private the public about bicycle safety and car-free living
partner shoulders the costs
create healthy lifestyle and wellness programs with local
employers
advocate for bicycle-friendly infrastructure and bicycle-
supportive policies
avoid proliferation of advertising in the public realm
42

Table9Keystakeholdersandtheirpotentialroles
5 ImplementingYourSystem stakeholder
politicians
potential roles
providerequiredresources
enactregulatorychanges,ifnecessary
5.1 Planning ensurecooperationbetweenmunicipalagencies
planners ensureintegrationofthesystemwithbicycle
5.1.1 Assemblingastakeholdergroup infrastructure
Theimplementationofapublicbicyclesystemislikelytoinvolvea ensureintegrationofthesystemwithpublicfacilities
variety of stakeholders. Involving them early on in the planning transportation operatethesystem(potentially)
processwillhelpbuildsupportfortheinitiativeandwillpavethe authority ensureintegrationofpublicbicycleinfrastructure
wayforasmoothimplementation.Thekeytypesofstakeholders withpublictransitinfrastructure
andtheirlikelyrolesarelistedinTable9. promotetheuseofpublicbicyclestocurrenttransit
users
5.1.2 MobilityStudy providefinancialincentives
A mobility study can provide valuable information that can help parkingauthority operatethesystem(potentially)
determine the spatial distribution of public bicycles and stations. providespacepublicbicyclestations
SomemunicipalitiesinCanadaalreadyperformstudiesofthistype
trafficandroads coordinateconstructionofthestations
at regular intervals. The most prominent example is the Greater department makechangetoroadinfrastructure,signageand
Montreals OriginDestination Survey. The survey is performed signalingtosupportincreasedbicycletrafficvolume
everyfiveyears,collectingrichtraveldatafromalargesampleof
police maintainasafeenvironmentforpublicbicycles
citizensfromacrossthemetropolitanarea.Itisrecommendedthat
enforcethesafeuseofpublicbicycles
municipalities that do not possess such data perform at least a
protectthesystemfromtheftandvandalism
rudimentary mobility study before planning a public bicycle
system. communitygroups buildsupportamongcitizens
&NGOs providebicyclesafetyeducation
promotetheuseofpublicbicycles
merchants buildsupportamongmerchants
associations mitigateoppositiontoremovalofparkingspaces
findsponsors

A mobility study consists of collecting information about a large rich in services and amenities should be the most appropriate
number of trips taken within the urban area. At minimum, the areasfordeployingpublicbicyclessystems.
informationabouteachtripshouldinclude:
5.1.4 SystemSize
originanddestination Oncetheserviceareahasbeendetermined,itwillbenecessaryto
timeofdayanddayoftheweek determinewhatnumberofbicycleswillbeappropriate.Basedon
experience in Europe, most public bicycle system vendors
themodechosen(ormodesinthecaseofanintermodal recommend providing one bicycle for every 13 to 20 expected
trip) annual subscribers (NiceRide, 2008). The number of subscribers
ageofthetripmaker can be estimated based on the residential, employment, and
studentpopulationswithintheservicearea.
trippurpose
This survey should be conducted with a random representative Forexample,thebusinessplanfortheMinneapolisNiceRidepublic
sample of the population as large a sample as budgetary bicycle system (CoLNSF, 2008) assumes that 7% of the student
constraintsallow.Inspatialterms,thesurveyshouldbeconducted population of about 50,000, 5% of the residential population of
acrossthemetropolitanareaandnotmerelyintheareasinwhich about 100,000, and 3% of the employee population of about
publicbicycleswillmostlikelybeimplemented.Commuterswho 200,000withintheserviceareawilltakeoutannualsubscriptions,
liveoutsidethelikelyserviceareaofthepublicbicyclesystembut which adds up to 14,500 anticipated annual subscribers. It was
workorstudywithinthatareaarepotentialusersandtheirtravel determined that 1,000 bicycles, or 14.5 subscribers per bicycle,
habitsneedtobeknown. wouldbeanappropriatetohaveforthelaunchofthesystem.The
business plan claims that a substantially smaller number, such as
5.1.3 ServiceArea only800bicyclesatlaunch,wouldmostlikelysubscriptionsalesto
Themobilitystudycanbeusedtodeterminetheidealservicearea becappedearlyonafterthelaunch.
forthepublicbicyclesystem.Ingeneralterms,thisshouldbean
area that surpasses the other parts of the metropolitan area in Table 10 below shows the number of public bicycles per square
termsof: kilometer of service area and the number of residents per public
bicycleinselectedcitiesatthetimethepublicbicyclesystemwas
numberofshorttrips (or will be in the cases of Montreal and Minneapolis) launched.
Thenumberofbicyclespersquarekilometerrangesfromalowof
levelsoftransituse
50inMinneapolistoahighof167inParis.Meanwhile,Parishas
levelsofwalkingandcycling thelowestnumberofresidentsperbicycleat135,whileBarcelona
In most Canadian cities, core areas that feature a combination of hasthehighestat333.MinneapolisandMontrealarebothmuch
high residential, employment, and student densities and that are closertoParisintermsofthenumberofresidentsperbicycle,with
171 and 148 respectively. Despite having fewer residents per
44

bicycle, these systems are likely to have a high number of non littlecostafterthesystemislaunched.Nonetheless,thisdoesnot
resident users i.e., commuters who live elsewhere in the obviate careful planning of station distribution. The better the
metropolitanareanotunlikelikeParis. distributionofbicyclesandstationsmatchesactualdemandatthe
moment the system is launched, the more efficiently the system
Table10Statisticsonbicycles,serviceareas,andresidentsatthelaunchof will operate. A system that runs smoothly from the beginning is
selectedpublicbicyclesystems
morelikelytoestablishagoodreputationandbuildapoolofloyal
city bicycles service bicycles residents residents/b users.Conversely,apoorlydistributedsystem,withstationsprone
(launch year) area (km2) /km2 in service icycle to filling up or running out of bicycles, might alienate early
area
adoptersandestablishingapoorreputationforreliability.Sucha
Paris 16,000 96.1 167 2,166,200 135 reputation could limit the size of the pool of users and might be
(2007)
difficulttoshakeevenaftercorrectivemeasureshavebeentaken.
Lyon 3,000 45.1 67 466,400 155
(2005) Figure25StationdistributionmapofBarcelona'sBicing
Barcelona 3,000 50.0 60 1,000,000 333
(2007)
Montreal 2,400 24.1 100 356,200 148
(2009)
Minneapolis 1,000 20.2 50 171,090 171
(2010)
Source:CoLNSF(2008)
ForCanadiancities,theratioofresidentstopublicbicyclesatthe
momentapublicbicyclesystemislaunchedshouldprobablyinthe
same range as those in Montreal and Minneapolis i.e. 150175
bicyclesperresident.
5.1.5 StationDistributionPlan
Tailoring the system to match expected demand is especially
crucial for a fixedpermanent system because excessive or
insufficientstationcapacitiescouldbeexpensivetocorrect.Inthe Source:ClearChannelOutdoor
case of fixedportable and flexible systems, the distribution of
bicycles and stations can be adjusted to match actual demand at

As a general rule, stations should be distributed at points or in Figure26AV'eolstationonabicyclerouteinCaen,France

areas that are strong trip generators in other words, points or
areas in which many trips begin and many trips end. Places that
generate a large share of trips with the following properties are
likelytobethebestlocationsforpublicbicycles:
tripsunder5kmthemaximumpracticallengthofa
utilitarianbicycletrip
tripstakenbyyoungadults18to35yearsoldtheage
rangemostlikelytousebicycles
walkingandcyclingtrips
Suchplacesarelikelytoincludethefollowing:
transitnodes
educationalinstitutions
majorpublicfacilities:museums,galleries,libraries,parks,
etc.
Itisalsoadvisabletolocatestationsalongbicycleroutes(
Figure26),especiallywherevertheseroutesrunclosetooneofthe
abovetypesoflanduses.
Ifamobilitystudyhasnotbeencarriedout,duetobudgetary
constraintsorotherreasons,thegeneralruleistodeployapublic
bicyclesysteminthemetropolitancore,wherethepopulationand
employmentdensitiesarethehighestandwherethelandusesare
themostdiverse.Itissuggestedthatinitialserviceareabechosen
conservatively,encompassingonlythemostdenseandmixeduse

partsofthecity.Ifthesystemsucceeds,theserviceareacanbe Source:ClearChannelOutdoor
expandedincrementallyoutward.Again,stationsshouldbeplaced
neartheabovementionedlanduses:transitnodes,educational Oncetheapproximatespatialdistributionofstationshasbeen
institutions,andvariousmajorpublicfacilities. determined,finergrainedconsiderationsmustbemadeto
determinethepreciselocationofthestations.Generally,stations
46

shouldbeplacedinhighlyvisibleandaccessiblelocations,where Figure27Examplesofpublicbicyclesystembranding
userscaneasilyfindthem.Preferably,stationsshouldbeplaced
closetostreetintersections,wheretheycanbeseenfroma
distanceinseveraldirections.Stationsshouldbeplacedwhere
theydonottointerferewithotherusersofthestreet,especially
pedestrians.Forthisreason,theyshouldnotbeplacedon
sidewalksunlesstheyareverywide.Forexample,onstreet
parkingspotsnearintersectionstendtobetheideallocationsfor
implementingpublicbicyclestationstheyaffordgoodvisibility
anddonotinterferewithpedestriantrafficonthesidewalk.
5.2 Implementation
5.2.1 MarketingStrategy
An effective marketing strategy is essential for attracting new
users to the public bicycle system, especially when the system is
first being launched. According to a business plan for a soonto
launched public bicycle system (CoLNSF, 2008), most existing Thepromotionalcampaignshouldbegearedtowards18to34year
publicbicyclesystemhavedevotedconsiderableefforttowards: olds,asthisdemographicsegmentishighlymobileandmostlikely
tousebicycles.Itshouldstressthebenefitsofusingbicyclesin
buildingahighlyrecognizable,uniquebrandand general(listedinSection1.6)aswellasthespecificadvantages
developingalocalidentity offeredbythepublicbicyclesystem(listedinSection1.7).The
formerisespeciallyimportantintheNorthAmericancontext,
amajorpromotionaleffortpriortothesystemslaunch, giventhatthebicycleisfarfrombeingamainstreamformofurban
withtheobjectiveofcreatingawarenessoftheserviceand transportationinallbutahandfulofcities.Atthesametime,the
drivingsubscriptions campaignshouldalsoaddressthecommonperceivedbarriersto
bicycleuse,especiallythatitisunsafe(seeSection1.4).
Thepromotionalstrategyforapublicbicyclesystemcanalsoseek
tolegitimizethebicycleasmodeofurbantransportationand
stressthatbicyclesdobelongoncitystreets.Tothisend,the
involvementofpublicofficialscanbeessential.Localpoliticiansin

particularcanbeinstrumentalinhelpingtoconveythemessage Figure28AteamofanimatorswashiredinMontrealtopromoteBIXIandshow
thatbicyclesarealegitimateand,moreover,verydesirableformof thepublichowtousethesystem
transportation.
InMontreal,forexample,amajorpublicitycampaignwasheldin
thefallof2008,inanticipationofthesystemlaunchinthespring
of2009.Thecampaignincludedthefollowingelements:
Namingcontest:Apubliccontesttofindanameofforthe
publicbicyclesystem,announcedontheCityofMontreals
websiteandthroughthemainmediaoutlets,washeld.The
mainprize,awardedtotheMontrealresidentswho
proposedthenameBIXI,wasalifetimesubscriptiontothe
newservice.
Demonstrationatmajorpublicvenues:Overthecourse
ofamonth,astationandseveralprototypeBIXIbicycles
alongwithateamofanimatorscalledtheBIXISquadwere
takenonatourofmajorpublicvenuesinwithinthe
plannedservicearea.Theseincludedmajortransitstations,
parksandplazas,andpublicfoodmarkets.Theanimators Source:www.bixisystem.com
demonstratedthesystemtomembersofthepublicand
allowedthemtotaketestrides( IntermsofdrivingvisibilityofBIXIandlegitimizingbicycleuse,
municipalpoliticiansinMontrealparticularlyGraldTremblay,the
Figure28). mayor,andAndrLavalle,theexecutivecommitteememberin
Foundingmemberscampaign:Todriveearly chargeoftransport,havebothusedmanymediaappearancesto
subscriptions,apromotionalcampaignhasbeenlaunched promoteBIXIandspeakabouttheroleofthebicycleasamodeof
toencouragemembersofthepublictobecomefounding transportation.Thisincludedtheofficialchristeningofthesystem
membersofBIXI.Thefirst2,000peopletopurchasean asBIXI,amajorpublicityeventheldinOctober2008,inwhichthe
annualsubscriptionreceivedavarietyofprizes,includinga mediasawMayorTremblayrideinonaprototypeBIXIbicycleand
limitedelectronickey,forunlockingBIXIbicycles,aticketto giveaspeechexpoundingthemeritsoftheBIXIsystemandofthe
amuseumexhibitiononbicycles,andotherunspecified bicycleasaimportantmodeofurbantransportationforthefuture.
exclusivepriveleges. In addition to general marketing, specific measures for driving
subscriptionsalescanbeundertaken.Thesecanincludepresales
of discounted longterm subscriptions before the system is
launched. Discounts could also be provided during the first few
48

months of operation. To bolster public bicycle and public transit subsidiaryofStationnementdeMontralthathasbeencreatedto
intermodaltravel,discountedorfreesubscriptionscouldbegiven selltheBIXIbicyclesystemtoothercities,hasofferedtoproduce
totransitpassholders.Incitiesthathaveelectronictransitpasses 1,000bicyclesand75stationsforMinneapoliswithinfourmonths
with user identification, the transit pass itself could serve as the ofreceivingafirmorder(CoLNSF,2008).
modeforaccessingthepublicbicyclesystem.
In the case of fixedpermanent system, a considerable amount of
Anotherwayofbolsteringsubscriptionsisthroughcollaboration time, on the scale of several months, is also required for
withvariouslocalinstitutionsandbusinesses.InMontreal, constructionworkrelatedtotheinstallationofthebicyclestations.
StationnementdeMontralhasreportedlystruckagreementswith In Paris, for example, the construction of the initial 750 Vlib
theCityofMontrealandtheboroughsinwhichBIXIwilloperateto, stations for the system launch on July 14th 2007 required 4
underwhichtheyhaveagreedtopurchaseblocksofannual monthsofworkby150installationteamsworkingsimultaneously
subscriptionsfortheiremployees.InMinneapolisasanother under the supervision of the 20 civil engineering contractors
example,NiceRideintendstodrivesubscriptionsalesthroughthe (JCDecaux, 2008). In the case of a fixedportable system, the
followingtypesofcollaborativeprograms: deployment of the stations will take a much shorter amount of
timetheentiresystemcouldbedeployedinamatterofdays.
employerbasedhealthandwellnessprograms:
participatingemployersprovideemployeeswithfreeor The production and installation of the system should be timed to
discountedsubscriptions allow a launch in the spring or early summer at the latest, when
touristprograms:todrivesalesofshortterm bicycle use resumes after the winter lull. If possible, the launch
subscriptions(onedayoroneweek),subscriptionsand shouldbetimedtocoincidewithamajorpubliceventpreferably
promotionalpackageswillbeavailableathotelsand oneconnectedtobicycleuse,suchasabicycleweekorCarFree
museuminformationdesks Day(IDAE,2007).
subscriberbenefitsprogram:restaurantsandothersmall 5.2.3 UserAssistanceandTroubleshooting
businesseswithinNiceRidesserviceareawillbemarkedon
For a certain period of time after the system has been launched,
theofficialservicemapavailableonlineandateachpublic
the operator should temporarily post staff at some or all of the
bicyclestationinexchangeforprovidingcustomerswitha
public bicycle stations. The staff would be present to assist new
smalldiscount(10%)ontheirpurchases
userswithpurchasingmemberships,operatingstationequipment,
5.2.2 Timing adjustingandoperatingthebicycles,andsoon.Theycouldexplain
Productionofthebicyclesandotherhardwareislikelytotakeon the conditions of use of the system and provide general cycling
theorderofseveralmonths,dependingonthenumberofbicycles safetyadviceaswell.Moreover,theycouldhelpidentifyanybugs
and stations required. For example, Public Bike System, the

instationhardwareandsoftwareand,ifnecessary,provideminor availabilityofspotsatstationsforbicyclereturns
repairsonthebicyclesandstations.
qualityofthebicyclesandmaintenance
The survey also asked longterm membership holders whether
5.3 FollowUp theyplannedtorenewtheirmembershipandwhethertheywould
recommend taking out a membership to a friend. These types of
5.3.1 MonitoringUsage
questions will help identify aspects of the service that require
Once the system is launched, usage should be monitored on an
improvement.
ongoingbasis.Usageistrackedautomaticallybymostsmartbike
systems. They generally record information such as who uses A periodic user survey can also be an opportunity to investigate
whichbike,fromwhichstationtowhichstation,andatwhattime. what effect the public bicycle has had on peoples mobility and
Statistics on usage per bicycle per day, usage per station, user their travel behaviour. For example, the first anniversary Vlib
demographics, and so on can easily be calculated. Such statistics survey included a number of questions aiming to investigate
willhelpidentifyproblematicaspectsofthesystem. exactlytheseissues.Participantswereaskedwhether:
5.3.2 MonitoringUserSatisfaction Vliballowedthemtomaketripsthatwerepreviously
Aside from monitoring usage, it is also advisable to gauge user impossible
satisfactionwiththesystematregularintervals.Thisinformation
cannot be obtained directly from smart bike hardware but will Vlibcomplementtheexistingofferingoftransportation
rather have to be obtained through user surveys. In Paris for options
example, Taylor Nelson Sofres, a multinational market research theyusedtheircarlesssincestartingtouseVlib
firm,conductedageneralusersatisfactionsurveyinthespringof
2008, roughly one year after the launch of Vlib (Maire de Paris,
2008).
The 878 participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with

regardstothefollowing:
overallsatisfaction
easeofuse
modesofpaymentavailable
costofusingtheservice
availabilityofbicyclesatstations
50

Afewotherquestionsweredesignedspecificallytoprobewhether Regular monitoring of user satisfaction and travel behaviour
usersweremakingintermodaltripsusingVlib.Participantswere through user surveys will help the system operator identify
askedwhether: variousaspectsofthesysteminneedofimprovement.Addressing
these issues with appropriate corrective measures will help keep
Vlibwasusedatthebeginningofintermodaltrips current users and may remove barriers that are preventing the
Vlibwasusedatthebeginningofintermodaltrips userpoolfromgrowing.Correctivemeasuresforcertainpotential
problemsareproposedinTable11.
Vlibwasusedtolinktwoothermodesoftransportation
duringintermodaltrips Figure29PhaseIandtheplannedPhaseIIserviceareasforMontreal'sBIXI
It is recommended that a diagnostic survey of this type be
performed within months or a year ofthe public bicycle systems
launch to verify whether the municipalities goals in terms of
reducing automobile use, increasing the overall mode share of
bicycles, increasing the number of intermodal trips involving
bicycles,andsoon.Thistypeofinformationcanserveasthebasis
for implementing corrective measures to improve the quality of
theserviceandincreasethenumberofusers(Table11).
5.3.3 ImprovingtheSystem
Thecontinuousmonitoringofusagefacilitatestheidentificationof
problemsrelatedtostationcapacity.Afteracertainperiodoftime,
thenumberofdailyuserswillstabilizeanddailypatternsofusage
of the public bicycles should establish themselves. Certain
problematic stations are likely to emerge i.e., stations that
S
systematicallyrunoutbicyclesorthatfillupwithbicyclesatarate ource:StationnementdeMontral
withwhichredistributionoperationscannotkeepup.Thecapacity
ofsuchstationsshouldbeprioritizedforexpansion.Alternatively,
instead of expanding the problem stations, new stations could be
addedincloseproximity.Ifthesystemisfixedportable,itmight
be possible to relocate underused stations from elsewhere in the
serviceareatotheproblemspots.

5.3.4 ExpandingtheSystem Table11Potentialproblemsandsuggestedcorrectivemeasures

If successful, the system can either be expanded in terms of the problem possible corrective measures
number of stations and bicycles, or in terms of the size of the stationisoftenempty/ increasestationcapacity
service area, or both. If there are widespread problems with stationisoftenfull
capacity,increasingthenumberofstationsandbicycleswithinthe addmorestationsnearby
current service area should be considered before expanding the increaseredistributioncapacity
systems coverage. The service area should only be expanded to
stationisunderused
adjacentareasthatarelikelytogeneratebicycletrips. relocatethestationtoamorevisiblelocation
relocatethestationtoabusierlocationi.e.,
Given the runaway success of Vlib, the supply of stations within withmorepedestrianandvehiculartraffic
the original service area has already been intensified. An
expansion of the service areas into some of the neighbouring systemasawholeis reducemembershipfees
underused/theuser
municipalities is currently under way. Lyon has also added providetemporaryfinancialincentives
poolisnotgrowing
stations to its existing service area but so far has not manifested
intensifymarketing
any ambition to expand Vlov beyond its current service area,
whichconsistsofthetwocoremunicipalitiesofGreaterLyonthe relocateleastusedstations
Lyon proper and Villeurbane. Mobility studies have found that improvestationvisibility
there is insufficient demand for public bicycles in the
improvebicycleinfrastructureand/orcalm
municipalities outside the urban core. As for Montreals BIXI, trafficwithintheservicearea
whichhasyettobelaunched,thereisalreadyaplannedexpansion
of the systems service area into the dense neighbourhoods systemisnotusedin advertiseonthetransitsystem
surroundingtheinitialservicearea(Figure29). combinationwith
transit providefreeordiscountedmembershipsto
transitpassholders
improvevisibilityofpublicbicyclestationsat
transitnodes
52
5.3.5 MaintenanceandRepairs
The public bicycle fleet and the network stations require
continuousmaintenance,performedatregularintervals,aswellas
special repairs performed when needed. In Lyon, for example,
whereeachbicycleisuseddailyby7to15people,thefleetisonan
eightday maintenance cycle i.e., each bicycle in the fleet
undergoesregularmaintenanceapproximatelyeveryeightdays.
Most smart bike systems are designed to detect problems with

individualbicycles.RennesVlolacarte,thefirsttruesmartbike
system, has the simplest fault detection system. The central
controlsystemdetectswhetheranygivenbicycleissystematically
being taken out and immediately returned and flags it for
inspectionbyamechanic(IDAE,2007).Innewersystems,suchas
Vlib, Vlov, and Bicing, a similar logic is used to flag bicycles for
inspection,butwiththeadditionofotherfaultdetectionfeatures,
such as tire pressure sensors. Information from sensors on the
bicycleisrelayedtothecentralcontrolsystemeverytimeabicycle
isdocked(Nadal,2007).Whenthecentralcontrolsystemregisters
a problem with a docked bicycle, it will dispatch a mechanic to
inspect it. The system will not allow the bicycle to be taken out
againuntilithasbeenclearedbyamechanic.Mostpublicbicycle
systemshavemobilemechanicsthatperformsmallrepairsonsite
(seeFigure20);formajorrepairs,bicyclesaretakentoworkshops.

o inCanadiancities,coreareaswithacombinationofhigh
SectionSummary residential,employment,andstudentdensitiesandrichin
Planning servicesandamenitiesshouldbethebestsuitedforpublic
Assembleastakeholdergroup,including: bicycles
o politicians DetermineSystemSize
o planners o estimatetheexpectednumberofannualusers
o transitauthority o setnumberofbicyclestohaveoneforevery13to20expected
annualsubscribers
o parkingauthority
o ifahighnumberofshortterm/occasionalusersisexpected,
o trafficandroadsdepartment thesystemcouldbesustainablewithalowernumberof
o police annualsubscribersperbicycle
o communitygroups&NGOs Devisestationdistributionplan
o merchantsassociations o thenumberofstationsshouldbesufficienttocovertheservice
areawithstationsnomorethan300mapart
Conductamobilitystudy,including:
o thetotalnumberofdocksatthestationsshouldbe5070%
o triporiginsanddestinations greaterthanthenumberofbicycles
o timeofdayanddayoftheweek o stationcapacitiesshouldbehighestnear:
o themodechosen(ormodesinthecaseofanintermodaltrip)
generatorsoftripsunder5kmthemaximumpractical
o ageofthetripmaker lengthofautilitarianbicycletrip
o trippurpose generatorsoftripstakenbyyoungadults18to35years
DetermineServiceArea oldtheagerangemostlikelytousebicycles
o serviceareashouldbeanareathatsurpassestherestofthe generatorsoftripswhosemodeiswalkorbicycle
metropolitanareaintermsof: transitnodes
numberofshorttrips educationalinstitutions
levelsoftransituse majorpublicfacilities:museums,galleries,libraries,
levelsofwalkingandcycling parks,etc.
54

o selecthighlyvisiblelocationsforstations,suchasmajor discountedsubscriptionpriortosystemlaunchor
intersections duringfirstfewmonthsafterlaunch
o onstreetparallelparkingspotsmakeideallocationsofpublic discountsorfreesubscriptionsfortransitpassholders
bicyclestations
collaborativeprogramswithlocalinstitutionsand
Implementation business
MarketingStrategy Timing
o amarketingstrategyshould: o allowseveralmonthsfortheproductionofbicyclesandstation
buildahighlyrecognizable,uniquebrandand hardware
developingalocalidentity o ifusingafixedpermanentsystem,allowafewmonthsfor
includeamajorpromotionaleffortpriortothesystems stationconstruction
launch,withtheobjectiveofcreatingawarenessofthe o ifusingafixedportablesystem,allowafewdaystodeploy
serviceanddrivingsubscriptions stations,oraweekortwoifthestationsarenumerous
o promotionalcampaignsshould: Userassistanceandtroubleshooting
beaimedat18to34yearolds o deployadditionalstaffforthefirstfewweeksaftersystem
launchtosupervisestations,helpnewusers,andtroubleshoot
promotethegeneralbenefitsofcycling
anyinitialbugs
promotethespecifcbenfitsofthepublicbicyclesystem
FollowUp
addresspercievedbarrierstocycling,suchassafety
MonitoringUsage
concerns
o smartbikesystemscontinuouslycollectdataonbicycleusage
o localpoliticianshaveanimportantroletoplayinpromoting
thepublicbicyclesystemandhelpingtolegitimizetheuseof MonitoringUserSatisfaction
thebicycleofamodeofurbantransportation o userssatisfactionwiththesystemshouldbeperiodically
o measuresshouldbetakentodrivesubscriptionsales, gaugedwithusersurveys
including: o surveystopicsshouldinclude:
overallsatisfaction

easeofuse o expandingtheserviceareanotrecommendeduntilproblems
ironedoutfromexistingservicearea
modesofpaymentavailable
costofusingtheservice
availabilityofbicyclesatstations
availabilityofspotsatstationsforbicyclereturns
qualityofthebicyclesandmaintenance
o surveycanalsoprobeusersonthepublicbicyclesystems
impactontheirtravelbehaviour
isthesystemallowingthemtomaketripsthatwere
previouslyimpossible
doesthesystemcomplementtheexistingofferingof
transportationoptions
dotheyusedtheircarlesssincestartingtousethe
system
dotheyusethesystematthebeginningorattheend
ofintermodaltripswithpublictransit
ImprovingtheSystem
o correctivemeasuresforbasicproblemssuggestedinTable11
ExpandingtheSystem
o twomodesofexpansion:
increasingthenumberofstationsandbicycleswithin
theexistingservicearea
addingnewstationsoutsidethecurrentservicearea
i.e.,expandingtheservcearea
56

allowed to exploit 1,600 billboards across the city (BBC News,
2009).
6 CaseStudies
Figure30Vlibbicycle
6.1 VlibParis,France
City/metro population: 2.2 million/12.0 million
City population density: 24,948/km2
System type: permanent fixed station
Operator: JCDecaux Cyclocity
Year started: 2007
Bicycles: 20,600 (end of 2007)
Stations: 1,451 (end of 2007)
Other cities using this system: France: Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Besanon,
Marseille, and Mulhouse; Austria: Vienna and Salzburg; Spain: Gijon, Cordoba, and
Seville; Belgium: Brussels; Ireland: Dublin.
Source:MairiedeParis(2008)

6.1.1 Overview
The idea of starting a large public bicycle system in Paris was A user survey conducted in early 2008 (Mairie de Paris, 2008)
inspired by the success of the Vlov smart bike system in Lyon, found that there were 190,000 registered users and 70,000
Frances third largest city. The citys mayor, Bertrand Delano, average daily uses. Two thirds of the systems daily users live in
championedtheidea.ThoughlaunchedonlyinJune,2007,Vlibis theCityofParisitselfwhereasmostoftheremainingthirdlivein
already the largest bicycle sharing system in the world. It is thesuburbs,beyondVlibsservicearea.Intermsofage,39%of
superior to all other systems in terms of the number of bicycles usersare26to35yearsold,23%are16to25yearsold,21%are
andstations,thesizeoftheservicearea,thenumberofregistered 36to45yearsoldandtheremaining17%are45andup(children
users,andthevolumeofdailyuses.VlibisoperatedbytheFrench under16arenotallowedtousethesystem).
advertizing company JCDecaux under a 10year contract with the
City of Paris. In exchange for operating the system, JCDecaux is

The survey revealed several interesting facts about how Vlib is damagedbicycles,hasstatedthatitisrunningthesystemataloss.
used: It has demanded that the City of Paris inject public funds to help
cover the cost overruns arguing that the City should assume
61%regularlyuseVlibforcommutingtoworkorschool. responsibility, because theft and vandalism are issues of public
19%ofusersstatedthatVliballowsthemtomaketrips order,forwhichtheCityisresponsible.
thatwouldhaveotherwisebeenimpossible.
Figure31VandalizedVlibbicyclesinParis
20%ofusersstatedthatusedcarsless.
EightyfourpercentofuserssaidtheyusedVlibin
combinationwithothermodesoftransportation.Amongall
Vlibusers:
25%useitattheendofatriptakenonthemetro(subway)
oronsuburbancommutertrains
21%useitatthebeginningofatrip,thencontinueusing
anothermodeoftransportation(includingtransit,walking,
orcyclingonaprivatebicycle)
15%useittoconnectbetweentwoothermodesof
transportation
Since the introduction of Vlib, bicycles have reportedly become
considerably more visible on the streets of Paris apparently,
muchtotheannoyanceofsomemotorists.However,thesystems
actualeffectonmodeshareshasyettobeinvestigated.
Vlib is facing an increasingly severe problem with theft and

vandalism of public bicycles (Figure 31). Between the systems
spring2007launchandearly2009,theentireinitialfleetof20,600
bicycleshasbeenreplacedasaresultoftheftandvandalism, ata
costof400(C$630)apiece(BBC,2009).Theseverityoftheftand
vandalism appears to be unique to Paris; Lyon, which uses the
sameJCDecauxCyclocitytechnologyasParis,losesbicyclesatless
than half the rate that Paris does. JCDecaux, which under the
currentcontractwiththeCityisresponsibleforreplacinglostand Photo:austinevan
58

6.1.2 ConditionsforUseandFees
UsersarerequiredtopurchaseaspasstouseVlib.Anannualpass
costs29(C$48).Dayandweekpassesarealsoavailableatacost
of 1 (C$1.60) and 5 (C$8) respectively. The first half hour of
every loan is always free; the second half hour cost 1 (C$1.60);
thethirdhalfhoursanadditional2(C$3.20);andeachhalfhour
afterwards costs an additional 4 (C$6.65). The system operates
24hoursaday,7daysaweek.
Figure32MapoftheVlibservicearea
Source:www.velib.paris.fr

availabilitywhilearedlightindicatesitisinuse.Registeredusers
6.2 CallabikeMunich,Germany can send a text message to obtain a combination to unlock the
City/metro population: 1.4 million/6.0 million bicycle. The message includes a serial number that is painted in
City population density: 4,370/km2 large characters on the bicycle (Figure 34). They receive a reply
System type: flexible with some fixed stations
containing a combination to open the lock on the bicycle.
Unregisteredusers,includingtourists,cancalla24hourhotlineto
Operator: Deutshe Bahn (DB Rent)
instantlyregisterusingacreditcardandobtainthecombinationto
Year started: 2001 unlockthebicycle.
Bicycles: 1,350 (2004)
Figure33CallaBikebicycle
Stations: 55 (2004)
Other cities using this system: Germany: Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, and
Karlshruhe; France: Allocyclo in Orleans, France uses the same bicycle and the same
rental procedure.
Source:DeMaioandGifford,2004andIDAE,2007
6.2.1 Overview
German passenger rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) initially
developedtheCallaBikesystemtoenablerailcommuterstocycle
from train stations to their destinations. Though the system still
emphasizesrailcommuters,itisavailabletothegeneralpublic.It
can be used independently of DB trains, although train pass
holdersgetdiscountsonmembershipandusagefees.
TheoriginalCallaBikesysteminMunich,likemostDBCallaBike
systemsinotherGermancities,havesomefixedstations(mostlyat
railwaystations)butdonotrequirethatbicyclesbedroppedoffat Source:DBRent
these stations. Rather, users are allowed to drop bicycles off at
mostmajorstreetintersectionswithinthedesignatedservicearea
bylockingthemtoabicyclerackoratrafficsign.
The systems bicycles are equipped with a wirelessly controlled

combination lock. Users must locate a bicycle at one of the fixed
stations or at a major intersection and check whether it is
available. A green light on the bicycles electronic lock indicates
60

Figure34UserunlockingaCallaBike Figure35MapoftheMunichCallaBikeservicearea
withacombinationcoderecievedbySMS

Source:DBRent
Whenever users relock the bicycle, its onboard computer asks

them whether they wish to the keep the bicycle (and resume use
later) or end the loan. If they choose to keep the bicycle, the
combination they were given earlier remains valid and they
continuetobechargedforuse.Iftheychosetoendtheloan,the
combinationisresetandthetimerforusagechargesstops.
A onetime 5 (C$8) registration charge is required to access the
system. Usage fees are assessed per minute of use at a rate of
0.08/minute (0.06/minute for DB pass holders) up to a
maximumof9(C$15)per24hrperiod.Asofrecently,userscan
purchase an annual Call a Bike pass for 99 (C$165) (less for DB
passholders)whichentitlesthemtousebikesforfreeforupto30
minutes at a time for the entire year; after 30 minutes they are
assessed the regular per minute charge. The system operates 24 Source:DBRent
hoursaday,7daysaweek.

Figure36SmartBikeDCbicycle
6.3 SmartBikeDCWashingtonDC,USA
System type: permanent fixed station
Operator: Clear Channel SmartBike
Year started: 2008
Bicycles: 120
Stations: 10
Other cities using this system: Norway: Drammen, Oslo, and Trondheim; Sweden:
Gothenburg and Stockholm; France: Caen, Dijon, Perpignan, and Rennes; Spain:
Barcelona and Zaragoza.
Source:www.smartbike.com
Source:ClearChannelOutdoor
6.3.1 Overview
In October 2008, less than three months after SmartBike DCs
InspiredbythesuccessofsmartbikesystemsinEurope,planners
opening, the system had 930 registered users and an average of
at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) became
150averagedailyusers.Registrationanddailyuseweregrowing
interestedinsettingupasimilarsystemintheUScapital.In2004,
steadily,accordingtoaDDOTofficial.ClearChannelandDDOTare
DDOTissuedacallfortendersforadsinbussheltersandincluded
currentlyplanninganexpansionofthesystembutwereunableto
a requirement for a small smart bike system. The contract was
providefurtherdetails.
awarded to Clear Channel, which deployed its SmartBike
technologyintheDistrictthesametechnologythatwasdeployed 6.3.2 ConditionsforUseandFees
a year earlier in Barcelona, Spain to create the extensive Bicing The system is open only to users who have purchased a US$40
publicbicyclesystem. (C$50)annualmembership.Bicyclescanbetakenoutforupto3
hoursatnoadditionalcharge;afterthreehours,sanctions,suchas
suspension of rental privileges, may apply. If not returned within
24hours, the user will be assessed a bicycle replacement fee of
US$550 (C$680). Bicycles can be taken out seven days a week
from6:00AMto10:00PMandreturned24hoursaday.
62

Figure37MapoftheSmartBikeDCstations
Source:ClearChannelOutdoor

Figure38BIXIbicycle
6.4 BIXIMontral,QC,Canada
System type: portable fixed station
Operator: Stationnement de Montral
Year started: 2009 (piloted fall 2008)
Bicycles: 2,400
Stations: 300
Other cities using this system: None yet. Minneapolis, MN has selected BIXI
System for a public bicycle system slated for launch in 2010 (see Case Study)
Source:bixi.ca
6.4.1 Overview
The idea of having a public bicycle system in Montreal came up
during the elaboration of the Citys recent Transportation Plan Source:www.publicbikesystem.com
(Plandetransport)(VilledeMontral,2008).Insteadofpartnering
AfewyearspriortoobtainingthemandateforBIXI,Stationnement
withanadvertiserorotherprivatesectorpartner,themandateto
de Montral had developed a wirelessly networked and solar
develop and operate the system was given to Stationnement de
powered parking payment terminals. The new solar powered
Montral, the Citys public parking operator. It was believed that
service terminals that it has developed forBIXIstationsusethem
Stationnement de Montral had existing capital and human
same wireless networking technology and will use the same IT
resourcesthatcouldbeeasilyadaptedtohandleabicyclesharing
infrastructureastheexistingparkingpaymentterminals.
system.
Theserviceterminalsalongwithasetofbicyclelockingstandsare
mounted onto platforms, creating a portable, standalone station
modules. Onstreet installation entails merely anchoring the
station module to the pavement. As they are solar powered and
wirelessly networked, no wiring is required. As a result, station
installation is rapid and inexpensive. As stations are portable,
distributioncouldberapidlyadaptedtorespondtodemand.This
will alsoallowtheequipmentto beremovedduring winter(mid
November until midApril) when it could be damaged by the
64

elementsandcouldobstructsnowremoval.Furthermore,itallows
additional stations to be temporarily deployed for special events,
such as festivals. Stationnement de Montral intends to begin full
operations of the first phase in May 2009, when 2,400 bikes and
300stationswillbedeployedacrossthedense,centralboroughsof
Ville Marie (which includes the downtown business district and
Old Montreal), PlateauMontRoyal, and RosemontPetitePatrie.
Thesystemssecondphase,tobedeployedlaterin2009,willadd
several hundred additional bicycles and dozens of new stations.
The new stations are to expand the service area to adjacent
boroughs.
Stationnement de Montral has trademarked the BIXI technology

as BIXI System and is marketing it as comprehensive turnkey
bicycle sharing system that other municipalities and institutions
can purchase. Other cities can purchase a basic package of BIXI
hardware, including bicycles, station platforms, bicycle stands,
serviceterminalsandbackroomsoftware,oranextendedpackage
including services such as ongoing operation, maintenance,
customer relations, and training (BIXI System, 2009). The BIXI
System has been demonstrated in a number of cities in North
America,includingToronto,Philadelphia,andMinneapolis.
The system will operate 24/7 between midMay and mid
November. Users will be required to take out a subscription at
C$78forthewholeseason,C$28foramonth,orC$5foraday.The
firsthalfhourofeveryloanwillbefree;thesecondhalfhourwill
costC$1.50;thethirdhalfhourwillcostanadditionalC$4.50;and
eachhalfhourafterwardswillcostanadditionalC$6.00.

Figure39StationDistributionforPhaseIofBIXI
Source:bixi.ca
66

sports, including cycling. The CoLNSF has drawn up a detailed
6.5 NiceRideMinneapolis,MN,USA business plan (CoLNSF, 2008), which calls for a much more
City/metro population: 377,392 / 3.1 million ambitioussystemthanWashingtonsbutasomewhatsmallerone
City population density: 2,595/km2 than Montreals, with1,000 bicycles and 75stations. The system
hasbeendubbedNiceRideandisexpectedtolaunchinthespring
System type: portable fixed station
of2010.Itistocost$3,386,913tosetupand$1,574,453peryear
Operator: City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation tooperate.Startupcostswilllargelybecoveredsubsidiesfromthe
Year started: proposed for 2010 City and the US federal government. Ongoing costs are to 80%
Bicycles: 1,000 covered by user fees and the remaining 20% by private
sponsorships.
Stations: 75-80
Other cities using this system: Montreal Figure40TheBIXISystembicycleinMinneapolislivery
Source:CoLNSF(2008)
6.5.1 Overview
AfterWashington,DC,Minneapolisissettobecomethesecondcity
in the US to establish a Europeanstyle public bicycle system.
Minneapolisisarelativelybicyclefriendlycity,byNorthAmerican
standards. Of the 50 largest cities in the US, it has the second
highest bicycle commuting mode share at 3.8%, topped only by
Portlandwith3.9%andfollowedbySanFranciscoandSeattlewith
2.5% and 2.3% respectively (US Census Bureau, 2008). The city
itself (excluding the rest of the MinneapolisSt. Paul metropolitan
area)has64kmofdedicatedonstreetbicyclelanesand132kmof
Source:NiceRide(2008)
offstreetbicyclepaths(CityofMinneapolis,2009).
As Minneapolis will not be entering a partnership with an
UnlikethepublicbicyclesysteminWashington,DC,whichisrunas advertiser that provides its own bicycle sharing hardware and
a PPP with the advertiser Clear Channel Outdoor, the City of operations, and as it will not be developing its own hardware as
Minneapolishasdecidedtogivethemandatetorunthesystemtoa StationnementdeMontrealdid,itmustpurchaseasystemturnkey
local, nonprofit organization. The organization retained by the bicycle sharing system from one of several existing vendors.
City is the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation (CoLNSF), an Submisions from several vendors were examined during the
organization that promotes Nordic skiing and other outdoor

developmentofthebusinessplan.TheCityofMinneapolisandthe 6.5.2 ConditionsforUseandFees

CoLNSFhaveexpressedadefinitepreferenceforStationnementde Thesystemwilloperate24/7betweenAprilandNovember.The
Montrals Public Bike System, also known as the BIXI System systemisopenonlytousers18andover.Userswillberequiredto
(Figure40). take out a subscription for US$50 (C$62) or US$40 (C$50) for
studentsforthewholeseason,US$15(C$19)foramonth,orUS$5
The Proposed Phase I service area includes the Minneapolis CBD, (C$6)foraday.Thefirsthalfhourofeveryloanwillbefree;the
theUniversityofMinnesotaMinneapoliscampus,andtheUptown second half hour will cost US$1.00 (C$1.25); and each half hour
neighborhood(Figure41).Theserviceareawillcover7.75square afterwardswillcostanadditional$2.00(C$2.50).
miles (20.1 km2), which contains a residential population of
100,200, an estimated employment population of 200,000, and a Figure41ProposedserviceareafortheTwinCitiespublicbicycleprogram
student population of 70,890. The business plan suggest that
future extensions of the service area should include the St. Paul
CBDandthenearbycommercialandeducationalcentresaswellas
high density and mixeduse neighbourhoods along major transit
corridorsinbothMinneapolisandSt.Paul.
Two key considerations were made for establishing the

appropriatesizeforsystem.Theseinclude:(1)tobelargeenough
tocreatetheimageofamainstreamratherthanfringemodeof
transportation; and (2) to have stations large enough to give
potential users the confidence that bicycles will always be
available to be taken out and free docking spaces will always be
available to return bicycles. It is estimated that there will be
14,500 annual subscribers in the Phase I service area and that
1,000 bicycle spread across 75 stations are required to meet this
demand.
Source:NiceRide(2008)
68
Baromtre(2005).SondageauprsdesMontralaisPlande
Sources transportRapportdanalyse.ReportpreparedfortheCityof
MontrealfortheTransportationPlan.
BBCNews(2009).TheftspunctureParisbikeschme.Webnews
Contacts article(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7881079.stm).
MichelPhilibert
DirectorCommunicationsandMarketing Beck,M.J.H.&Immers,L.H.(1994)BicyclingOwnershipandUsein
StationnementdeMontral Amsterdam.TransportationResearchRecord,1441,141146.
Telephone:(514)8683795
Email:mphilibert@statdemtl.qc.ca BIXISystem(2009).TurnkeyBIXISystem.Webpage
(http://www.bixisystem.com/turnkey/).
PaulDeMaio
ManagingMember BycyklenKbenhavn(2008).NewsandFacts.Webpage
MetroBikeLLC (http://www.bycyklen.dk/english/newsandfacts.aspx).
CityofLakesNordicSkiFoundation(CoLNSF)(2008).NonProfit
Email:paul@metrobike.net
BusinessPlanforTwinCitiesBikeShareSystem.Publicversion
JimSebastian (http://www.twincitiesbikeshare.com/downloads/doc_plan.php).
ManagerBicycleProgram
CityofMinneapolis(2009).BicyclinginMinneapolis.Webpage
DistrictofColumbiaDepartmentofTransportation(DDOT)
(http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/).
Email:jim.sebastian@dc.gov CityofVancouver(1999a).1999BicyclePlan:ReviewingthePast,
PlanningtheFuture.Policydocument
(http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/pdf/
Documents
1999bikeplan.pdf).
Ayotte,A.(2008).ExecutivevicepresidentofStationnementde
MontraltalksaboutBIXI,thecity'splannedpublicbicyclenetwork. DeMaio,P.(2008).BeforeCopenhagenEarly2ndGeneration
TheMontrealGazette,October4 Programs.TheBikesharingBlog,WednesdayOctober15(http://bike
(http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/saturdayextra/ sharing.blogspot.com/2008/10/beforecopenhagenearly2nd
story.html?id=e27df44f9a8b41a2b7f4a4f1dc1b5da9&p=1). generation.html).

DeMaio,P.(2008b).TheBikeSharingPhenomenon.Carbuster36(Nov Landis,B.etal.(1998)RealTimeHumanPerceptions:Towarda
2008Feb2009),12.DeMaio,P.andGifford,J.(2004).WillSmartBikes BicycleLevelofService.TransportationResearchRecord,1578,119
SucceedasPublicTransportationintheUnitedStates?Journalof 126.
PublicTransportation,7(2),114.
MairiedeParis(2007).Vlib:PressRelease.Pressrelease
EuropeanCommunities(1999).Cycling:TheWayAheadforTownsand (http://www.velib.paris.fr/content/download/777/5528/version/1/fil
Cities.Brussels:EuropeanCommission e/Dossier+de+presse+Anglais.pdf).
(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/cycling/cycling_en.pdf).
MairiedeParis(2008).LaLettreVlib10:Aujourdhui,nousvous
FederalHighwayAdministration(FHWA)(1995).BicycleSafety connaissonsmieux!.Newsletter
RelatedResearchSynthesis(FHWARD94062).Report. (http://www.velib.paris.fr/les_newsletters/
10_aujourd_hui_nous_vous_connaissons_mieux).
InstitutoparalaDiversificacinyAhorrodelaEnerga(IDAE)(2007).
Guametodolgicaparalaimplantacindesistemasdebicicletas Nadal,L.(2007)BikeSharingSweepsParisOffItsFeet.Sustainable
pblicasenEspaa.Madrid:IDAE Transport19,813
(http://www.idae.es/index.php/mod.documentos/mem.descarga?file (http://www.itdp.org/documents/st_magazine/ITDPST_Magazine
=/documentos_Guia_Bicicletas_8367007d.pdf). 19.pdf).
InternationalBicycleFund(IBF)(2008).BicycleStatistics:Usage, NICHES(2007).NewSeamlessMobilityServices:PublicBicycles.
Production,Sales,Import,Export.Webpage Brussels:EuropeanCommission
(http://www.ibike.org/library/statistics.htm). (http://ange.archangelis.com/typo3/niches/fileadmin/
New_folder/Deliverables/D4.3b_5.8_b_PolicyNotes/
Jacobsen,P.L.(2003).Safetyinnumbers:morewalkersandbicyclists, 14397_pn4_public_bikes_ok_low.pdf).
saferwalkingandbicycling.InjuryPrevention9,205209.
Pucher,J.andBuehler,R.(2006).WhyCanadianscyclemorethan

JCDecaux(2008).Cyclocity: ARevolutionaryPublicTransportSystem Americans:Acomparativeanalysisofbicyclingtrendsandpolicies.
AccessibletoAll.PresentationgiventoBikeSharePhiladelphia TransportPolicy13,265279.
(http://bikesharephiladelphia.org/PDF%20DOC/Vlo'V_A_REVOLUTIO
NARY_PUBLIC_TRANSPORT_SYSTEM_ACCESSI.pdf). Pucher,J.andDijkstra,L.(2003).PromotingSafeWalkingandCycling
toImprovePublicHealth.AmericanJournalofPublicHealth93(9),
JCDecaux(2009).DevelopmentServicesCyclocity.Webpage 15091517.
(http://www.jcdecaux.co.uk/development/cycles/).
Translink(2008).PublicBicycleSystemMarketResearchJanuary17
23,2008.Publicdocument
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(http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/PubDocs/bcdocs/435700/Public_Bic
ycle_System_Report_Feb08.pdf).
USCensusBureau(2008).2007AmericanCommunitySurvey.Public
document
(http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/Census2007Report.pdf).
vanSusteren,A.(2005).MetropolitanWorldAtlas.Rotterdam:010
Publishers.
VloQubec(2001)tatduvloauQubecen2000.Publicreport
(http://www.velo.qc.ca/velo_quebec/
Documents/etat_velo/Etatvelo2000.pdf).
VilledeMontral(2004).PortraitsocioconomiqueArrodissement
duPlateauMontRoyal.Publicdocument
(https://servicesenligne2.ville.montreal.qc.ca:443/sel/
publications/htdocs/porteaccespublication_Fr/
porteaccespublication.jsp?systemName=10213559).
VilledeMontral(2008).PlandeTransport2008.Policydocument
(http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/
TRANSPORT_V2_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/
PLAN_DE_TRANSPORT2008.pdf).
Vlolacarte(2008).ClearChannelVlolacarteStatistiques.
Webpage(http://veloalacarte.free.fr/rennes.html).

Resources
NiceRide
Research Minneapolis,MN
www.twincitiesbikeshare.com
NICHES
www.nichestransport.org SmartBikeDC
Washington,DC
TheBikeSharingBlog www.smartbikedc.com
bikesharing.blogspot.com
Vlib
Paris,France
PublicBicycleSystems www.velib.paris.fr
Bicing Vlolacarte
Barcelona,Spain Rennes,France
www.bicing.com veloalacarte.free.fr
BIXI Vlov
Montreal,QC Lyon,France
bixi.ca www.velov.grandlyon.com
Bycyklen
Copenhagen,Denmark
www.bycyklen.dk
CallaBike
Berlin,Cologne,Frankfurt,Karlshruhe,andMunich
www.callabike.de
72
Vendors
JCDecauxCyclocity
www.jcdecaux.co.uk/development/cycles/
ClearChannelSmartBike
www.smartbike.com
PublicBikeSystem
www.bixisystem.com
BCycle
www.bcycle.com
VeoliaVeloway
www.veoliatransport.com/en/transportinnovation/lightmodes.aspx
Smoove
www.smoove.fr
DomoblueOnroll
www.domoblue.com/onroll.php?idiomaSelecionado=EN

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An electronic version of this publication is available at www.tc.gc.ca/urban.

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5.1.3 ServiceArea 43 Resources 71

Figure34CallaBikebicycle .............................................................. 59 Table3Recommendedsystemtypeanddistributionwithrespectto

Figure38MapoftheSmartBikeDCstations .................................... 62 Table6Humanresourceswithrespecttothenumberofbicycles,

Figure42ProposedserviceareafortheTwinCitiespublicbicycle Table9Keystakeholdersandtheirpotentialroles ..........................42

resources they require. Topics covered include the mode of

Altering motorists behaviour and making cycling safer mitigates

If public bicycle systems are considered as an alternative form of

Finally, public bicycle systems can have a variety of economic

2.1 GeneralConsiderations 2.1.2 Density

The absence or limited availability of bicycle facilities, the lack of

There are several examples of public bicycle systems that have a

2.1.5 Topography 2.1.6 Climate

Beyond helping to determine the overall feasibility of a public

3.2 AutomatedSystemTypes Figure10AVlibstationinParisbeingrefilled

Fixed systems require constant monitoring to ensure bicycles are

Figure12ABIXIstationmodulebeinginstalledduringademonstrationin 3.2.3 Flexible

The ClearChannel SmartBike system features a service terminal

There are a number of other less visible features included to fieldwork:redistributionofbicycles,stationmaintenance

4.1 Costs 4.1.2 OngoingCosts

4.2 SourcesofRevenue SeetheCaseStudiesinSection6forexamplesofmembershipand

As a general rule, stations should be distributed at points or in Figure26AV'eolstationonabicyclerouteinCaen,France

The 878 participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with

5.3.4 ExpandingtheSystem Table11Potentialproblemsandsuggestedcorrectivemeasures

Most smart bike systems are designed to detect problems with

Vlib is facing an increasingly severe problem with theft and

The systems bicycles are equipped with a wirelessly controlled

Whenever users relock the bicycle, its onboard computer asks

Stationnement de Montral has trademarked the BIXI technology

developmentofthebusinessplan.TheCityofMinneapolisandthe 6.5.2 ConditionsforUseandFees

Two key considerations were made for establishing the

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