Halifax bike share system: extending the “reach” of pedestrians

This document gives insight how to approach a bike share project as a city. Some elements: Multiple operating structures exist, such as: Non-profit, Privately owned and operated, direct contract with operator, transit owned and operated, administrative non-profit with private operator. For the purposes of this pre-feasibility analysis, a non-profit operating structure was chosen due to the frequency at which it has been used for other bike share systems throughout North America. A non-profit would be formed to manage and operate the bike share system. The organization would be responsible for procuring funding, equipment, defining system guidelines, launching the system, and providing expertise for operations.There are a number of general start-up costs. Capital and installation costs associated with the creation of a bicycle share system include equipment purchases, site planning, installation and deployment costs. Annual operating costs after system launch are also included. These costs include salaries, equipment maintenance and replacement, rebalancing equipment, system software upkeep. Read on here.

The Bike-Share Planning Guide from ITDP

Bike-share has taken many forms over the course of its development, from free bikes left for a community to use at will to more technologically advanced and secure systems. In every iteration, the essence of bike-share remains simple: anyone can pick up a bike in one place and return it to another, making point-to-point, human- powered transportation feasible. Today, more than 600 cities around the globe have their own bike-share systems, and more programs are starting every year. The largest systems are in China, in cities such as Hangzhou and Shanghai. In Paris, London, and Washington, D.C., highly successful systems have helped to promote cycling as a viable and valued transport option.  Each city has made bike-share its own, adapting it to the local context, including the city’s density, topography, weather, infrastructure, and culture. Although other cities’ examples can serve as useful guides, there is no single model of bike-share. Read more here. 

Washington cycles

Smooth bike ride into 's-Hertogenbosch NL

How Cities Can Harness the Benefits of Shared Mobility

Sharon Feigon is the executive director of the Shared-Use Mobility Center, a national public interest organization working to foster collaboration in shared mobility and extend its benefits for all. Communities both large and small have begun to use shared mobility combined with transit as an effective tool to cut auto congestion and emissions, provide first and last-mile connections, and expand access to jobs and a better quality of life for their residents. As these new services proliferate, however, city governments have also found themselves playing catch-up as they try to manage their growth and balance varied goals such as preserving safety, ensuring equitable service and allocating parking and use of curb space. To address these issues, the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) recently convened a unique cross-section of public sector transportation leaders, private sector innovators and community representatives in Chicago for the 2015 national shared mobility summit Move Together. The summit’s 500 attendees included mayors, transit agency officials and department of transportation executives from across the USA. Read more here.

Brompton Bike Share in London

Bike Sharing System in Seoul; 20.000 in 2020

After the big announcement about a new, city-wide public bicycle sharing system last year, we have seen very little about the news about the system. Now stations for the public bike sharing system were set up and it is going to be run a trial from September 19 to October 14. The official opening of the service to the public is October 15. Thanks to Philip for the tip about the sudden appearance of stations! He posted pictures about the new system in the Kojects Forum and gave me many helpful information. It made me curious and so I begun to work on this post and visited Sinchon to get a sneak peek at the new public bike sharing system in Seoul.The city published in August a 585-page master plan about the bicycle infrastructure. I knew that the bicycle department of Seoul was very busy but 585 pages, wow! It begins with an examination of the existing bicycle infrastructure and introduces then all details of the bicycle plan. Currently, there are a total of 733.4km bike lanes. 124.4km are bike-only lanes and the large majority (600.2km) are shared paths between cyclists and pedestrians. Read more here.

Don't doubt you planners and engineers: Dutch roundabouts are the way to go!

Dutch roundabouts are terrifying. At least in the eyes of foreign planners and engineers. Dutch road users, including the most vulnerable ones – people walking and cycling – prefer roundabouts over signalised intersections. And so do Dutch planners and engineers, who know that roundabouts have proven to be a lot safer than traditional intersections. The reconstruction of a lot of those Dutch intersections into roundabouts is getting more and more attention abroad. It is so good to see that e.g. the Americans are no longer only occupied with on street cycle lanes. They get it that paint is just not good enough. It is all about protected bike lanes now. And more and more the protected intersection as well. Planners and engineers now understand how necessary it is to connect stretches of roads with protected cycle lanes with well-planned intersections. They are studying protected intersections all over North-America. A number has just been finished or are under construction: Davis (CA), Austin, Salt Lake City and Boston. Read and see much more here! The great video below of Bicycle Dutch is a manual how to deal with Dutch roundabouts.

Salt Lake City street removes parking, add bike lanes and sales go up!

Protected bike lanes require - like car lanes- space on the street, and removing curbside auto parking is one of several ways to find it. But whenever cities propose car-parking removal, retailers understandably worry. A growing body of evidence suggests that if bike lanes and parking removal are part of a general plan to slow traffic, everybody can win. In an in-house study of its new protected bike lane, Salt Lake City found that when parking removal was done as part of a wide-ranging investment in the streetscape — including street planters, better crosswalks, public art and colored pavement — it converted parking spaces to high-quality bike lanes and boosted business at the same time. On 300 South, a street that's also known as Broadway, SLC converted six blocks of diagonal parking to parallel parking and also shifted parallel parking away from the curb on three blocks to create nine blocks of curb-and-parking-protected bike lanes on its historic downtown business corridor. So what happened? Along the project, sales rose 8.8 percent, compared to 7 percent citywide. 

Should bike helmets be compulsory? Lessons from Seattle and Amsterdam

Every day, Elizabeth Kiker cycles to her work through the streets of Seattle. As the executive director of a big bicycle club, she wants to show people that you don’t need fancy gear to ride a bike – so she rides in her skirt and office shoes. But she does wear a helmet. If she didn’t, she would risk a $102 (€90) fine. Five thousand miles to the east, Marco te Brömmelstroet cycles to his job as director of the Urban Cycling Institute of the University of Amsterdam. The wind is blowing freely through his hair. “Cycling without a helmet is something I take for granted, I never give it any thought,” he says. “But it does amplify the feeling of ultimate freedom.” In Amsterdam, adults don’t wear helmets while riding city bikes – they don’t even consider it an option. Helmets are mainly worn by tourists and expats, whom the Dutch regard with bemusement, even ridicule. They know their country is a very safe place to ride a bike: in the Netherlands, the number of cyclists killed per travelled mile is the lowest in the world. Read on here.

Bike Sharing in the northernmost capital of the EU: Helsinki

The Finnish capital Helsinki will see the start of a brand new bike sharing scheme from early summer 2016 onwards. The initial fleet will have 500 city bikes and 50 bike stations. The aim is that the bike fleet will consist of 1500 bikes and 150 stations in 2017. Helsinki City Transport's city bike scheme is now at the stage of assessing offers by three possible service providers. The first consortium is made up of Nevia Oy and Nextbike GmbH. The second one pools together Clear Channel Finland, Smoove SAS, Moventia and Helkama. The third consortium is joined by Suomen kaupunkiautot Oy (City Car Club), Tracetel SA and Unicom Consulting Oy. The board of Helsinki City Transport decides on the service provider in October-November. A part of the procurement process is to evaluate the usability of the city bike systems proposed by the potential service providers. In the evaluation, impartial users rate the bikes offered by the providers. The evaluations given by the user groups will be scored and will count towards the final procurement decision. Bringing a city bike system to Helsinki supports the city's vision of enlarging the share of biking within the public transport system.Bike sharing is a citizen-centred effort and the experiences of users are therefore a key element in the procurement process. Cyclists can use the new system after registering with their Helsinki Region Transport travel card. The system is meant to complement the collective public transport chain. Read more here.

Why “Copenhaginize” Sydney when Amsterdam holds the next clues?

For me Australia’s Radio National is like coffee in the morning, brushing my teeth before bedtime, and leather soled shoes. So I’ve been especially chuffed on those times when they have called me. This time it is to do an interview with Marianne Weinreich of the Danish Cycling Embassy who would be packing her bags right now, I suppose, for the Sydney Rides Festival where she is the drawcard. Clover Moore and Fiona Campbell have fought like trojans to make Sydney a place I now visit with my folding bike… in fact a place I’m happy to visit! As far as I am concerned the city of sydney municipality has already been “Copenhagenised”.  I would be asking if Sydney should even be talking about Copenhagenising when Copenhagen is looking to the Netherlands for ways to move forward. Ask any bike buff just back from their Grand Tour of bike cities and they will tell you cycling in Amsterdam seemed more carefree and natural. They can’t tell you why, but they hardly saw cars! Read more here.

Salt Lake City removes parking, adds bike lanes and sales go up

Protected bike lanes require space on the street, and removing curbside auto parking is one of several ways to find it. But whenever cities propose parking removal, retailers understandably worry. A growing body of evidence suggests that if bike lanes and parking removal are part of a general plan to slow traffic, everybody can win. In an in-house study of its new protected bike lane, Salt Lake City found that when parking removal was done as part of a wide-ranging investment in the streetscape — including street planters, better crosswalks, public art and colored pavement — it converted parking spaces to high-quality bike lanes and boosted business at the same time. On 300 South, a street that's also known as Broadway, SLC converted six blocks of diagonal parking to parallel parking and also shifted parallel parking away from the curb on three blocks to create nine blocks of curb-and-parking-protected bike lanes on its historic downtown business corridor.Read more here.

Wooden cycle path for Amsterdam?

Cargo-Bike-Sharing in Vienna

Whether it is serving beer on tap or conducting a television interview on wheels, a Vienna start-up firm wants to take pedal-powered mobility to a new level. CycleCraft provides customised bicycles for food and drinks delivery, entertainment and promotions using modular parts that allow for easy assembly and reconfiguration for other uses. CycleCraft founder Alexander Wolf says the company is neither a courier service nor a bike manufacturer, and instead gives customers a rolling tool to meet their specific needs. “Our mission is to show companies another possibility to do business by a bike rather than a car,” Wolf explains. For instance, the two-year-old firm worked with the Wiener Zeitung daily newspaper and public TV station W24 to create a moving studio outfitted with cameras, recording equipment and seats for mobile interviews. It was featured at the Argus Bike Festival at Vienna’s city hall on 11 April. Read more and much more here.

Play with and understand Amsterdam's main networks for mobility

http://t.co/3wXfuV5mqh

'MiniHolland' with the many aspects of traffic calming

Cyclists behaving badly - Understanding cyclist disobedience in Amsterdam

4th generation bikeshare

Bike-sharing app company Spinlister is teaming up with Dutch urban bike maker Van Moof to create a hire bike scheme it says will take the traditional Boris Bike-style hire bike system and "turn it on its head". Instead of hiring bikes owned by municipalities from central locations, bikes on Spinlister's system will be owned by individuals and can be scattered around a town so they're in useful locations, It's less like Boris Bikes and more like Zip Car. Spinlister is a service based around a smartphone app that allows you find a bike to rent if you're in an unfamiliar town, to offer up a bike for rent if you've a spare usually gathering dust. It's a nice community-spirited idea, but it's hard to get involved as a renter if you don't have a suitable bike. many big cities have started bikeshare projects, still most of the cities lack a person to person bike sharing app, which is becoming the next generation bike sharing system. There is a growing number of apps that make it possible for cyclists who own spare bikes (no matter how old are they) to share with others and opens the possibility to find a bike to ride in cities without bikesharing systems. Some of the apps that are available are http://airdonkey.com, http://www.spinlister.com, http://www.cycleswap.nl . Read more here and in German here.

A monumental bicycle roundabout in Arnhem

Read more here.

Cities are starting to put pedestrians and cyclists before motorists.

Cities are starting to put pedestrians and cyclists before motorists. That makes them nicer—and healthier—to live in. From Guangzhou to Brussels to Chicago, cities are shifting their attention from keeping cars moving to making it easier to walk, cycle and play on their streets. Some central roads are being converted into pedestrian promenades, others flanked with cycle lanes. Speed limits are being slashed. More than 700 cities in 50 countries now have bike-share schemes; the number has grown by about half in the past three years. Many cities are exploring ways to keep petrolheads and pedalophiles apart. Over 100, particularly in Latin America, close some roads to cars on weekends. Paris is leading the way in Europe, closing over 30km; Dublin and Milan plan to banish cars from their centres. Even Los Angeles (a city Steve Martin, a comic actor, satirised by getting in his car to drive three paces to his neighbour’s house in “LA Story”) recently announced plans for hundreds of miles of bus and cycle lanes. Read more here

.

Drone films cycling in a small village in NL

Investing in cycling: The Maarssen Bicycle Bridge

More Funds for Growing Cycling Announced at Advocacy Summit

At the Advocacy Summit in Friedrichshafen it was announced that the ECF/Cycling Industry Club has received a 2 million euro subsidy from the European Commission. The money is to be spent on an in-depth research study of the effects that cycling has on urban mobility and city-congestion.According to Cycling Industry Club development director Kevin Mayne the outcome of the study could trigger more subsidies for growing the use of bicycles and e-bikes in and around cities. He said that the European Commission has earmarked some 2 billion euro for cycling investment from EU funds. At the Advocacy Summit also new members of the Cycling Industry Club were welcomed. 7 new members have signed up. They are Extra Energy, Flanders Bike Valley, Lease Rad Germany, DHS Romania, Eurasia Bike Fair, Turkey and Manufacture Française du Cycle. With the new 7 members the Cycling Industry Club now has 39 members. Read more in Bike Europe.

NL=Cycling: Edition Eindhoven

NL=Cycling: Groningen Edition 2

Groningen Cycling City from Groningen Cycling City on Vimeo.

NL=Cycling: Edition Groningen

NL=Cycling: Edition Utrecht

Toddlers on bikes in The Netherlands; a thing you may notice but we don't see anymore

The best Dutch export product: the Dutch Roundabout!

cam only active on working days - day time; too many pranxters at night.

Finally work progresses on a EU Roadmap for Cycling

On July 8th, Polis together with other EU stakeholders published an open letter to the Members of the European Parliament to vote in favour of a EU Roadmap for cycling. This resulted in a positive vote by almost all MEP during the vote in Transport Committee on July 14th.

 While voting for their report on the White Paper on Transport, the members of the Committee on Transport and Tourism decided that an EU Roadmap for Cycling would be an apt instrument to further EU transport policy objectives.  The Roadmap should assimilate and align the current initiatives of the different Directorates-General of the Commission, in addition to allowing for the formation of further policy measures conducive to a modal shift towards cycling. Think Tank EU Roadmap for Cycling Apart from said Roadmap, the MEPs also stressed the need for the collection of better data on European transport users, especially as regards walking and cycling. Completing the established legislative framework for passenger rights was also voted on, and it was emphasized that bicycle carriage on trains should be facilitated. Read more here.

VanMoof & Spinlister: together rocking the boat of bike share

Bike-sharing app company Spinlister is teaming up with Dutch urban bike maker Van Moof to create a hire bike scheme it says will take the traditional Boris Bike-style hire bike system and "turn it on its head". Instead of hiring bikes owned by municipalities from central locations, bikes on Spinlister's system will be owned by individuals and can be scattered around a town so they're in useful locations, It's less like Boris Bikes and more like Zip Car. Spinlister is a service based around a smartphone app that allows you find a bike to rent if you're in an unfamiliar town, to offer up a bike for rent if you've a spare usually gathering dust. It's a nice community-spirited idea, but it's hard to get involved as a renter if you don't have a suitable bike. To solve that problem, and take the idea up a level, in late summer 2015, Spinlister will start shipping a bike from Van Moof that's specifically designed for the job, with built-in technology that allow it to be left anywhere, ready for hire. The new bikes, which took six months to develop, will initially be rolled out in Portland, Oregon, creating the city’s first working bike-share program.Spinlister users will own the bikes and make them available to rent via the Spinlister website and app. Read more here.

5 USA Bike Sharing Trends to Watch

1. P2P bike sharing reinvents itself Spinlister and Dutch company Vanmoof will partner together to manufacture handsome, high-quality bikes—set to roll out in Portland late this summer—with built-in technology like Bluetooth-enabled locks that are specifically designed for use in P2P networks. 2. The big get bigger The country’s biggest bike sharing systems, including Citi Bike in New York and Divvy in Chicago, have announced plans for major expansion.Chicago is growing its system to 476 stations and 4,760 bikes. 3. Look mom, no docks The industry has been closely following the progress of up-and-comer Social Bicycles. 4. Funding issues continue . Recently, transportation advocates have sought to push the message that bike sharing is transit, and deserves to be publicly subsidized just like trains, buses and any other form of public transportation. 5. Increased focus on equity Analysis of a recent member survey by Washington, DC’s Capital Bikeshare revealed that half of survey respondents reported an annual income of $100,000 or more. Read more here.

Valour, another bike app

Webinar on Bike Share by Dr Elliot Fishman

Chicago rolls out $5-per-year bike sharing program for low-income residents

Chicago certainly has its problems, but its bike-share program, Divvy, is a trophy for the city: it's wildly popular, shares hardware with many of the world's major bike-share systems, it's substantially backed by public funding, and it has more stations than any other American program (including New York's Citi Bike). Now, Chicago is hoping to bring Divvy to a wider audience with today's announcement of "Divvy for Everyone," a discounted annual membership of just $5 for qualified applicants — that's $70 off the normal price. (Citi Bike also offers a discounted annual membership, but it's still $60.) Cities haven't done a good job ensuring equal opportunity to take advantage of the explosion of bike sharing programs over the last decade: usage trends overwhelmingly white, male, and well-off, due in part to station placement and in part to pricing. $5 per year should put membership within reach of just about everyone. Applicants' households must bring in less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which would start at $35,310 for an individual with no children. Read more here.

Cycle Bridge Circular Road Emmen, The Netherlands

IPVDelft http://ipvdelft.nl/fietsbrug-en-ovonde-rondweg-emmen-geopend/ 

Chennai unchained: can India's first cycle cafe make bikes cool again?

Before the sun rises over the East Coast Road south of Chennai each day, a lone rider speeds down the tarmac. Dressed in a fluorescent jersey and cycling shoes with a srichurnam – a red line of lime and turmeric paste – on his forehead, Ramanujar Moulana has followed exactly the same route every day for the past four decades … until now. For the past few weeks there’s been a new stop on his agenda: India’s first cycle cafe. Nestled in Kotturpuram, a plush neighbourhood in the south of Tamil Nadu’s state capital, is the Ciclo Cafe. It boasts a cycle spa, where riders can watch their bike get washed while they drink their coffee, a reading area stocked with books on cycling, and decor fashioned from bike parts – cycle-chain chandeliers and table legs made from front forks. A retail zone showcases high-end brands like Bianchi, Cannondale, Mongoose and Schwinn. “There is more to Chennai than ancient temples, Carnatic music and filter coffee,” says Nidhi Kapoor Thadani, the co-founder of the cafe, who was partly inspired after a visit to Look Mum No Hands! in Shoreditch, east London. “Thanks to the many recreational cycling clubs in Chennai the city has a strong cycling culture.” Read more here!

Bikeshare: A Review of Recent Literature

The number of cities offering bikeshare has increased rapidly, from just a handful in the late 1990s to over 800 currently. The paper Bikeshare: A Review of Recent Literature by Dr Elliot Fishman of the Institute for Sensible Transport provides a review of recent bikeshare literature. Several themes have begun to emerge from studies examining bikeshare. Convenience is the major motivator for bikeshare use. Financial savings has been found to motivate those on a low income and the distance one lives from a docking station is an important predictor for bikeshare membership. In a range of countries, it has been found that just under 50% of bikeshare members use the system less than once a month. Men use bikeshare more than women, but the imbalance is not as dramatic as private bike riding (at least in low cycling countries). Commuting is the most common trip purpose for annual members. Users are less likely than private cyclists to wear helmets, but in countries with mandatory helmet legislation, usage levels have suffered. Bikeshare users appear less likely to be injured than private bike riders. Future directions include integration with ebikes, GPS (global positioning system), dockless systems and improved public transport integration. Greater research is required to quantify the impacts of bikeshare, in terms of mode choice, emissions, congestion and health.

First Garden Bridge in The Netherlands at €14 million

A park on legs is how some describe it. The exceptional new pedestrian and cycle bridge in ʼs-Hertogenbosch that connects the historic city centre to the Paleiskwartier (Palace Quarter). This is a former warehouse district that now houses the court building, a number of universities of applied science and agriculture and a lot of new homes and offices. It is a garden bridge that was inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and the High Line in New York City. Initially the bridge would be called “Ponte Pallazzo” to indicate its Italian roots, but that was considered too fancy and over the top for a Dutch bridge. So a name giving contest was held and the winning name was… simply the Dutch translation: Paleisbrug (Palace bridge). The ‘Palace’ in that name relates to the high court that can be found in the area, which the Dutch refer to with the equivalent of ‘Palace of Justice’. The bridge across the railway line running from ʼs-Hertogenbosch further south had to be 250 metres long. Any bridge that long has the risk of becoming an unpleasant place. That is why the architects decided to make the bridge a ‘place’ even with free wifi. Read on here.

All you need to know on e-bikes, pedelecs, speed pedelecs

Normally Velo Mondial does not publish on technical stuff. For once we make an exception and now you can get insight in all EU rules and regulations  on e-bike, pedelecs, speed pedelecs here. Bike Europe has gathered all EU regulations on e-bikes, pedelecs and speed pedelecs. In a on-line document they present a manageable overview on all you need to know on e-bike regulations. It offers guidelines on pressing issues when designing, developing, sourcing, distributing and selling e-bikes, pedelecs and speed pedelecs for European markets. 1: Technical rules on the new type-approval procedure; find full text of all EU regulations here. Part 2: Machinery directive. Part 3: Electromagnetic compatibility. Part 4: RoHS directive.Part 5: Battery transportation. Part 6: Battery directive. Part 7: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Part 8: Reach; Read more on Reach here. The full document can be downloaded here.

A bit of reflection on Amsterdam Cycling

Delft cycle parking with a smile

Delft is now one of the Dutch cities with a bicycle parking facility to park 5,000 bicycles at the railway station. The symbiosis of the train and the bicycle is very successful in The Netherlands. The train covers a lot of distance fast and the bicycle makes it easy to reach many destinations in the last kilometre. The dense cycle grid and the perfect bicycle parking possibilities make the train-bicycle combination very competitive with the private car and it is therefore a vital element in the Dutch transportation system. Intercity trains run every 15 minutes in a large part of the country. This will be increased to every 10 minutes in the not so distant future. That is why much of the train-infrastructure is being updated extensively now. Many train stations have been or are being enlarged and renewed and a lot of lines get more tracks. Soon the Dutch train network will feel even more like a nationwide metro system.Many people are very pleased with how the station became. Delft is a city with many students, also foreign students, and two of these made a very entertaining video on the opening day. Noteworthy is their struggle with the upper-rack. But they get it in the end as well! Read more here

How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world

Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through the centre of Amsterdam in a car knows it: the city is owned by cyclists. They hurry in swarms through the streets, unbothered by traffic rules, taking precedence whenever they want, rendering motorists powerless by their sheer numbers. Cyclists rule in Amsterdam and great pains have been taken to accommodate them: the city is equipped with an elaborate network of cycle-paths and lanes, so safe and comfortable that even toddlers and elderly people use bikes as the easiest mode of transport. It’s not only Amsterdam which boasts a network of cycle-paths, of course; you’ll find them in all Dutch cities. The Dutch take this for granted; they even tend to believe these cycle-paths have existed since the beginning of time. But that is certainly not the case. There was a time, in the 1950s and 60s, when cyclists were under severe threat of being expelled from Dutch cities by the growing number of cars. Only thanks to fierce activism and a number of decisive events would Amsterdam succeed in becoming what it is, unquestionably, now: the bicycle capital of the world. Read on here. And when done read much more here.

End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile

Cities around the world are coming to the same conclusion: they’d be better off with far fewer cars. So what’s behind this seismic shift in our urban lifestyles?  Gilles Vesco from Lyon calls it the “new mobility”. It’s a vision of cities in which residents no longer rely on their cars but on public transport, shared cars and bikes and, above all, on real-time data on their smartphones. Birmingham, which vies with Manchester for the title of England’s second city, has been following the experience of Lyon and other European cities closely, and is now embarking on its own 20-year plan called Birmingham Connected, to reduce dependence on cars. For a city so associated in the public mind with car manufacturing, this is quite a step. London, which has pioneered congestion charging and has a well-integrated system of public transport, has led the move away from cars over the past decade, during which time 9% of car commuters have switched to other forms of transport. Helsinki has a vision of how the city will look in 2050. It will have a lot more people – the population is projected to rise by 50% – but with much less dependence on cars. And much, much more here.

All you can learn today about Bike Share systems

The number of cities offering bikeshare has increased rapidly, from just a handful in the late 1990s to over 800 currently (note:VM estimates 600). This paper provides a review of recent bikeshare literature. Several themes have begun to emerge from studies examining bikeshare. Convenience is the major motivator for bikeshare use. Financial savings has been found to motivate those on a low income and the distance one lives from a docking station is an important predictor for bikeshare membership. In a range of countries, it has been found that just under 50% of bikeshare members use the system less than once a month. Men use bikeshare more than women, but the imbalance is not as dramatic as private bike riding (at least in low cycling countries). Commuting is the most common trip purpose for annual members. Users are less likely than private cyclists to wear helmets, but in countries with mandatory helmet legislation, usage levels have suffered. Bikeshare users appear less likely to be injured than private bike riders. Future directions include integration with e-bikes, GPS (global positioning system), dockless systems and improved public transport integration. Greater research is required to quantify the impacts of bikeshare, in terms of mode choice, emissions, congestion and health. Read on here.

So much more idylic if only motors and scooters were gone

Why the Dutch cycle

In recent years cycling has taken centre stage as an important political topic for cities around the world. In an age of austerity and increasing oil prices, it is little wonder that cycling has reemerged as a significant form of sustainable transportation. Besides the affordability and inherent health benefits to having an active population, there is a growing body of research suggesting cycling plays a significant role in fostering social belonging and active civic participation. Currently, many municipal leaders and planners are grappling with the challenges of invigorating a new cycling culture or reinventing one that was lost during the past 60 years of car-friendly urbanism. However, there is one country that stands out as the cycling capital of the world—the Netherlands has kept its cycling culture alive despite the pressures of modern industrialisation. Cycling always remained one of the preferred means of transportation and is so entrenched in Dutch society that it is often easy to overlook the reasons for its continued prominence. This animation examines the history and political factors that led to the Netherlands keeping their cycling culture alive and strong for all these years. If you want to know more about the political turning point, you can continue here.

Copenhagen to pull plug on pricey city bikes

The City of Copenhagen has given the provider behind its costly and under-used bike share programme 14 days to deliver or it will officially kill the project "in order to limit loss". VIDEO: Copenhagen circle bridge on its way (19 Mar 15) Danish bike culture even cooler than you thought (05 Nov 14) Get off your high horse, Copenhagen cyclists (12 Aug 14) After receiving less than a fourth of the bicycles promised by provider GoBike, the City of Copenhagen is threatening to pull the plug on its pricey bike-share programme. GoBike was supposed to have delivered 1,860 new high-tech bicycles, complete with GPS-enabled tablets and electric motors, to Copenhagen for an expansive bike-share programme aimed at commuters and tourists. But mid-way through the month, just 424 of the bikes have arrived and GoBike has said it cannot provide the remainder. City officials are now resigned to the fact that they will have to kill their prestige project, which was introduced with great fanfare and to massive criticism in 2013. Read on here.

Portland New Bike Share, where citizens own the bikes

Launching a citywide bike-share program costs many millions of dollars—taken from taxpayers or corporate sponsors—and often is a bureaucratic nightmare. But maybe it doesn't have to be like that. Spinlister, a platform that lets people rent outdoor sports equipment to nearby enthusiasts, is launching a bike-share program in Portland, Oregon that shirks the traditional hub and spoke model (designated bike parking and rental stations) for a decentralized network that's more akin to what Car2Go offers for cars. There's another twist: Spinlister won't own the bikes. Local cyclists will. With Spinlister's existing rental service, users rent bikes from a specific person at a certain time and location. The bike-share model will be completely differen. Spinlister power users will be given a new bike from manufacturer VanMoof, designed specifically for the bike-share program, with a Bluetooth lock, motion-activated lights, one-size-fits-all seat, lightweight alloy frame, puncture-resistant tires, and all sorts of theft deterrents. 

There's wireless tracking in the bike, and the only way to turn it off is to saw through the frame. Read on here.

Bicycle streets

What is the definition of a bicycle street? (“Fietsstraat” in Dutch, or ‘bicycle boulevard’ as they are mostly called in the US.) Nowadays a bicycle street is considered to be a route in a residential area that is a main route for cycling, but only a minor route for motor traffic. It is essential that cycle traffic is the dominating form of traffic and that the route looks clearly designed for cycling. This makes it immediately clear to drivers of a motor vehicle that they are guest in a space that is not theirs. (CROW recommendation in publication 216) Note, that we are talking about a route rather than a street. The Dutch always construct cycle routes, never individual streets, even if they call those routes ‘street’. Parking motor vehicles in a cycle street is also possible. The word cycle street does not imply that there are no cars. There are, parked and moving, but they are the minority form of transport. That the streets are in a residential area automatically means that the speed limit for motor traffic is 30km/h. (With the exception of rural cycle roads where that would be 60km/h.) Read more here.

The best roundabout design for cyclists

Roundabouts are often disliked by cyclists because using them by bicycle can be fraught with danger. When riding on a roundabout, you rely upon drivers seeing you on your bike. There is a tendency for motorists to look right through cyclists while looking for other motor vehicles, hence the frequency of "SMIDSY" incidents. However none of this has to be the case. The best Dutch roundabout designs do not cause significant danger for cyclists. But note that not all Dutch roundabouts are created equal. There are big differences in the safety of different designs of roundabout used in the Netherlands, and not all advice from this country emphasizes the safest design. In the Netherlands it is not expected that cyclists should be mixed with motorized traffic on roundabouts. There is always a cycle-path or lane of some form. While cycle-lanes around roundabouts are not generally thought to work well.  There are two opposing views on how these cycle-paths should be designed. One view holds that cyclists should have priority across each road leading to the roundabout, the other holds that it is dangerous for cyclists to have this priority. Read on here. Also read this in BicycleDutch.

Amsterdam children in 1972; amazing footage shaping the Amsterdam of today

“This would be a perfect area for a trial with a maximum speed of 30km/h” (18mph) explains a traffic expert of the city of Amsterdam to a child in a film that was broadcast on Dutch national TV almost 42 years ago. The TV documentary was made for a progressive broadcasting corporation and shows the Amsterdam neighbourhood “De Pijp” which was about 100 years old at the time. The homes were run down and small. The streets were never built, nor fit for all the cars brought in by the 40,000 people living in the small area and its many visitors. This led to an overpopulated neighbourhood with a lot of dirt and filth and especially the children suffered. The documentary is one of a series and this particular episode looks at the situation from a child’s perspective. Read much, much more here.

Once in a lifetime event in Johannesburg SA

EcoMobility World Festival will transform Sandton into a car-free central business district in October 2015. Arguably, it will be the only car-free CBD in entire Africa! October this year, the world will see a first-of-its-kind experiment to bring about a shift from car-dominated transport to EcoMobility in cities: Johannesburg will close a key part of Sandton Central Business District to cars and encourage walking, cycling and use of public transport for the entire month. The happening is framed as EcoMobility World Festival, the first such event in Africa and the second in the world. Mayor Parks Tau has officially launched the EcoMobility World Festival project on 17 March 2015 at an event attended by key stakeholders in Johannesburg.“We have never imagined Sandton, the economic powerhouse of Joburg, to be a parking lot. We need to redefine mobility in Sandton. The new mobility needs to be an integrated one that serves people. It will happen in October, the future will be seen today. Driven by ICLEI, we will partner with local organizations and stakeholders to make the EcoMobility World Festival a success and a beneficial experience for all those involved,” announced the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Parks Tau.

Central Business District without cars? 1 from The Urban Idea GmbH on Vimeo.

Stockholm steps it up a notch

Stockholm city officials and architects have unveiled plans for a new parking garage catering exclusively to bicycles and their riders. With limited inner city space, Stockholm hopes to encourage ridership by creating something that caters to the needs of cyclists. “The city of the future is not one built around the car as a means of transportation,” says Roger Mogert, city planning commissioner for Stockholm. “This requires that we make it easier to travel by bike, and of course arranging for safe and efficient parking solutions is one step towards that goal.” Belatchew Architects, the firm tasked with the project, says the garage will have the capacity to hold as many as 700 bicycles. It’s located near a major train stop and was designed with all kinds of cyclist needs in mind. Instead of doors with handles, entrances slide open for easy access from the bike path or street. Plans also call for a bike repair shop and changing rooms where commuters can shower, get dressed for work and stow their helmets in lockers. Read on here.

A true revolution in bike sharing by VanMoof

Equipped with Bluetooth and GSM technologies, the new generation VANMOOF bikes has attracted the attentions of Silicon Valley. VANMOOF technology is at the heart of Spinlister, a revolutionary new bike-share scheme that’s being launched in the city of Austin, Texas during the 2015 South by Southwest Festival (13-22 March). Imagine being able to locate and rent a state-of-the-art bicycle using just your smartphone, anywhere in the world. Spinlister is a radical departure from all other bike sharing schemes to date. There is no hub or station where bicycles have to be collected or returned. Renters simply locate, book and unlock privately-owned bikes using the Spinlister mobile app. In doing so, they avoid back-and-forth communication with owners, or having to plan trips around fixed-location bicycle hub stations. It’s a new, intuitive and user-friendly system that’s possible thanks to the groundbreaking features of the latest commuter bikes from VANMOOF. Boasting GSM and Bluetooth technologies, these VANMOOF bikes are able to communicate with the Spinlister app. Together, they make to make finding and renting a bicycle convenient and enjoyable. Read more here.

Cycle and pedestrian bridge with the works: park, solar, winter warming, illumination, thermal storage

The Paleisbrug (palace bridge) is an elevated park and a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in one. It is designed to connect the old town centre and the new Paleiskwartier (Palace district) of the city ‘s Hertogenbosch and at the same time meant to create unity with the surrounding historic green landscape. From the Paleisbrug there is a magnificent view over the Gement, the grassland that was used as inundation area during the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648). The 250 meter long Paleisbrug has space for bicycle and pedestrian lanes, plants, trees, benches and lighting, all integrated in folded weathering steel. The plants are illuminated, as well as the benches and paths, allowing the Paleisbrug to be a pleasant place to walk and sit down, even at night. A floor heating is installed that provides a low temperature (10 degrees Celsius) in the deck and the stairs of the bridge. This prevents the bridge from freezing in the winter without the necessity to spread salt, which would affect the steel and the plants. The bridge will also be used as a massive solar collector during summer, since the floor heating is connected to an Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) that provides the stored heat during winter. Read on here.

No more stolen bicycles