Paris, Oslo, Vienna, Miami, soon London and trials run in Brussels, Barcelona, Toronto and New Delhi are just a few cities worldwide that have introduced public bicycle schemes. Paris is known for its ‘Vélib’ scheme with over 20,000 bike scattered across the French capital and with over 350 km (215+ miles) of cycle lanes to be used. Oslo’s scheme began about three years before Paris’ did using over 80 biking stations and has been operating successfully since. And now major outdoor advertisers such as JCDecaux plan to roll out more bicycle schemes including the ambitious project here in London, backed by Mayor Boris Johnson. These initiatives root from influential countries where bikes are a way of life, Holland being one of them, and Beijing, whose ‘9 million bicycles’ are unfortunately rapidly turning into four wheels.
After being in Paris and Barcelona myself, the simplicity of the idea is brilliant. You need a bike, you put the money in, you unlock the bike and you are off. Each country varies in it’s approach to the design and logistics of the schemes, but all have two aspects in common, a beneficial idea for the environment and a healthy option for the public. It’s obvious to see that these schemes are spreading quickly and working well as more and more people seek a healthier lifestyle and to save money in the financial downfall we currently are in.
What could improve the idea you may ask? Well my opinion on that would be promoting the schemes to the people who really need to know about it. Conscious people actively seek initiatives like these bike schemes, so I believe it’s up to people like Boris Johnson to find alternative ways of advertising the schemes. If you could get that commuter who uses his car to drive to the train station, to change on to the tube, to change one of those journeys and use a bike instead, well that’s where I feel the real gold lies.
Something else that should be taken into consideration however is systems that lie behind these pay-as-you-go bikes. For example, theft and vandalism has become a problem with the Paris schemes and in London and New Delhi there will no doubt issues with road safety. Placing bikes on the streets and inviting people to use them is one thing, but would more people use them if they knew that the whole city also wants them too?
More information and articles about these bike schemes can be found below. You can download the proposal by JCDecaux of their scheme and see what goes into its thinking, from logistics to design here.
http://www.rudi.net/node/17462
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301753.html
http://spokesnfolks.blogspot.com/2009/08/miami-bicycle-plans-looking-good.html
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/02/19/urban-bike-sharing-system-coming-to-london/
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