Though bike sharing began as a way to reduce motor vehicle use, Bonnette indicates that “both the first and second generation bike sharing schemes provided welcome opportunities to cycle but did not provide adequate enough support nor reliable service to alter motorized transportation choices and influence people to make significant changes .” The shortcomings of second-generation systems later gave rise to the third generation of bike sharing.While the history of bike sharing in North America is shorter than in Europe, North America has transitioned through three bike sharing generations. In 1994, the United Community Action Network launched the first North American bike sharing program in Portland, Oregon, called: “Yellow Bike.” Sixty bicycles were left unlocked at Pioneer Square in Portland and were available for anyone to use . This program, however, closed in 2001. Soon after, Yellow Bike evolved into “Create-A-Commuter” at the Community Cycling Center and focused on providing better cycling services. Since 2007, the City of Portland has tried to create a new bike sharing program. Soon after Yellow Bike’s introduction, Boulder, Colorado launched the “Green Bike Program” in 1995. The City Transportation Management department ran this program. At the time, 130 bicycles were provided for free use, and a group of high school students comprised the majority of volunteers who maintained the bicycles. This system was eventually cancelled as a result of bike theft.
The City of Boulder, however, how to cure cannabis has issued a Request for Information and is considering a new bike sharing program that would consist of 250 bicycles and 10 stations and receive half its funds from President Obama’s stimulus plan . In 1996, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul launched the “Yellow Bike Project.” Created by a local health club’s law firm, it was the first Coin-Deposit System in North America. This program employed 150 bicycles that were placed at designated locations. To use this program, users made a one-time, refundable $10US deposit, signed a waiver, and received a Yellow Bike Card that facilitated bike use. In 1996, the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance provided the program with short-term funding. This program was eventually cancelled. At present, the City of Minneapolis has selected the Public Bike System Company , maker of Montreal’s “BIXI,” to provide 1,000 bicycles and 80 stations by June 2010 . The launch of St. Paul’s Yellow Bikes was soon followed by multiple North American bike sharing systems that employed the “Coin Deposit” model. Programs included “Olympia Bike Library” in Olympia, Washington ; “Yellow Bike” in Austin, Texas ; “Red Bikes” in Madison, Wisconsin ; “Freewheels” in Princeton, New Jersey ; and “Decatur Yellow Bikes” in Decatur, Georgia . Since 1965, bike sharing activity has expanded to include four continents. These include Europe, Asia , North America, and South America. Not surprisingly, Europe remains the leading hub for bike sharing growth, development, and success.
At present, there are approximately 101 bike sharing programs operating in an estimated 125 cities around the world, with over 139,000 shared bicycles. As the leader in bike sharing activity today, European nations currently support it. The Americas operate programs in Canada, Mexico, the U.S., Brazil, and Chile. Asia, which represents the fastest growing bike sharing market, operates programs in China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Table 1 provides an overview of available bike sharing data worldwide. This section includes a discussion of the evolution from second- to third-generation bike sharing and current bike sharing activities from Europe, the Americas, and Asia.While the first generation of bike sharing introduced an innovative mobility option, the notable failure of this approach demonstrated the need for a new model that deterred theft and incentivized bicycle return. Second-generation bike sharing programs introduced a more viable alternative by integrating the use of coin-deposit locks. Building upon this innovation, thirdgeneration programs gained worldwide popularity by incorporating advanced technologies for bicycle reservations, pick-up, drop-off, and information tracking. See Figure 1 below for an overview of the generations of bike sharing. While a significant number of bike sharing programs currently operate as third-generation models, existing and developing bike sharing programs are exploring or exhibiting the potential for continuous improvements in what the authors call “fourth-generation” systems. The four main components of third-generation bike sharing programs are: 1) distinguishable bicycles ; 2) docking stations; 3) kiosk or user interface technology for check-in and checkout; and 4) advanced technology .
Third-generation bike sharing programs are distinct because the incorporation of information technology has allowed bike sharing programs to track bicycles and user information. The incorporation of third-generation information technology has helped to deter bike theft, which was a major concern of second-generation coin-deposit systems. European experience provides a robust history of bike sharing planning, implementation, and operations. Furthermore, the more recent growth of third-generation bike sharing programs can be attributed to innovations tracing back to this understanding. Relative to other countries, thirdgeneration bike sharing programs in Europe are large scale, operate through public-private partnerships, and feature advanced technologies. In 1998, the first citywide IT-based system appeared when Clear Channel, a large outdoor advertising company, launched its first “SmartBike” program in Rennes, France. To access free bicycles for up to three hours, SmartBike required users to complete a smartcard application. After 11 years of service, the Rennes system, more commonly known as “Vélo à la Carte,” came to an end in May 2009. This program has been replaced by “LE vélo STAR,” which operates with 900 bicycles and 81 stations . The program that popularized third-generation bike sharing is “Velo’v” in Lyon, France. JCDecaux launched Velo’v in 2005 with 1,500 bicycles. It operates with more than 3,000 bicycles in Lyon and Villeurbanne. One early European bike sharing program Vélos Jaunes, which launched in La Rochelle in 1974 continues to evolve, expand its geographic coverage, and adopt new technologies to support its growth. In 2006, the city extended the bike sharing system to include 120 bicycles available 24-hours per day, seven days per week at 12 different stations. In 2009, La Rochelle launched a second, fully automated system , called: “Yélo,” with 26 stations, 110 bicycles, and smart cards that enable full integration with the public transportation network. Yélo plans to operate a total of 50 stations and 300 bicycles . As of Fall 2009, there were approximately 19 European nations operating bike sharing programs. These include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. In addition, London partnered with BIXI and plans to launch its own bike sharing program with 6,000 bicycles and 400 stations by Summer 2010. The most widely known third-generation bike sharing system today is “Vélib’” in Paris, France. To date, Vélib’ operates with 20,600 bicycles and has plans of expanding to 23,900 bicycles by the end of 2009 . Over two million Parisians have access to 1,451 bicycle stations, which are available every 300 meters, 24-hours a day, indoor grow methods and seven days a week. Vélib’ operates on a fee-based system where program users are encouraged to employ bicycles for short trips by offering the first thirty minutes of cycling free to users. After thirty minutes, increasing costs are scheduled. Users also have the option of purchasing a one-day pass for €1 , a one-week pass for €5 , or a one-year subscription for €29 . Between 2007 and 2008, Vélib’ reported that 20 million trips were made through their program.
Averaging 78,000 trips per day, Vélib’s usage rates require that the program operate as efficiently as possible to maintain and distribute bicycles.While North American bike sharing experience is more limited, Washington D.C.’s “SmartBike” pilot program demonstrated that bike sharing is feasible. Launched in 2008, SmartBike marked the beginning of North America’s experience with IT-based systems. To date, this program operates with 120 bicycles at 10 different bicycle stations. In January 2009, the President of Clear Channel Adshel reported that the program was serving 1,050 subscribers . Users are required to pay a $40US annual subscription fee in contrast to a fee each time they access the service. At present, the program only allows users to access bicycles for up to three hours at a time. The largest IT-based system in North America is BIXI in Montreal, Canada. BIXI stands for BIcycle-TaXI. Launched in May 2009, BIXI operates with 5,000 bicycles, 400 stations, and 11,000 program members . BIXI’s system has also been chosen as the provider for Boston’s planned bike sharing program, which aims to launch with 2,500 bicycles and 290 stations by Summer 2010. It is equally important to note that technological advances in the BIXI program mark a shift towards the fourth-generation of bike sharing described below. While the implementation of bike sharing programs in North America is limited, bike sharing activity in South America only recently started in 2008. At present, Brazil and Chile are the only two nations with fully operating programs. Argentina and Colombia are in the process of planning their own bike sharing systems. In 2008, Brazil launched two bike sharing programs—“UseBike” in São Paulo and “Samba” in Rio de Janiero. UseBike operates with 202 bicycles and 23 bike stations. This program offers users one free hour and costs two Brazilian reais for each additional hour. Samba was launched with 80 bicycles and eight bike stations. It is in the process of expanding to neighboring cities and is expected to reach 500 bicycles with 50 bike stations by the end of 2009. To access bicycles, Samba requires mobile phone activation. Users are instructed to subscribe online, then they can walk up to any of the eight bike stations, call the designated number from their mobile phone, enter a security code, dial the station and spot number, and the bicycle is unlocked. Following the launch of Samba in Brazil, Chile launched its own bike sharing program with 50 bicycles and 10 bike stations.Asia’s bike sharing history is limited to third generation IT-Based Systems. Despite its more limited experience, Asia is the fastest growing market for bike sharing activity today. The first bike sharing program to launch in Asia was “TownBike” in Singapore in 1999 . This program ended in 2007. The second bike sharing program in Asia was the “Taito Bicycle Sharing Experiment,” which operated in Taito, Japan from November 2002 to January 2003. It was the first bike sharing pilot in Japan and was funded by the national government’s Social Experiment grants. The program operated with 130 bicycles at 12 locations. Bicycles were accessed by magnetic striped membership cards, which helped prevent theft. Due to Taito’s high population density, program users felt that more bicycle locations were necessary . At present, bike sharing programs are operating in South Korea, Taiwan, and Mainland China. South Korea’s city government launched its first bike sharing program, “Nubija,” in Chongwan in 2008. The program has 430 bicycles and 20 terminals located at the city center. Similar to other programs, Nubija does not charge users a fee for the first hour of use. “C-Bike” in Kaohsiung City launched in 2009, as the first bike sharing program in Taiwan. The entire system operates on a build-operate-transfer basis that costs NT$90 million . Following the launch of Kaohsiung’s program, the Taipei government partnered with Giant to launch their bike sharing system, “YouBike,” in 2009. This program is completely automated with an electronic management system that allows bicycles to be rented and returned to any location. There are 500 bicycles at 10 locations that provide 718 YouBike parking spaces in Taipei . The largest and most famous bike sharing program in Asia is the “Public Bicycle” system in Hangzhou, China, which was launched by the Hangzhou Public Transport Corporation in 2008. This system was the first IT-Based system in Mainland China. With a population of 4.24 million , Hangzhou’s high population density makes it a promising bike sharing location. Hangzhou’s system operates with 40,000 bicycles and 1,600 stations and is expected to expand to 50,000 bicycles and 2,000 stations by the end of 2009 . Increasing the number of bicycle stations to 2,000 means that tourists and residents will have access to a bicycle station every 200 meters. According to a survey by the Hangzhou Public Transport Corporation, bicycles are used six times per day on average, and no bicycles have been lost during the first year implementation .