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Bicycle Sharing
Bicycle sharing or public bikes are popular systems whereby bicycles are made available in a city allowing people to have ready access on a short-term basis from unattended stations[1]. The bicycles are usually lent out for some combination of hourly and yearly fee to encourage regular usage and sharing. Many of the systems, including Paris' Velib, Montreal's Bixi, Call a Bike in Berlin, and SmartBike DC in Washington, D.C., cater to short term usage by commuters by making it cheap to use for a short time and then become increasingly expensive.
Most newer bicycle sharing systems operate with unattended stations where the bikes may be signed out by either using a smart card or a cellphone.
Goals
Encourage sustainable transportation
The central concept of many of the systems is free or affordable access to bicycles for city transport in order to reduce the use of automobiles for short trips inside the city thereby diminishing traffic congestion, noise and air-pollution. By making alternatives to motorized travel easily accessible, they hope to reduce the carbon footprint of commuting as well as enable residents to become healthier through exercise.
Intermodal transportation
Municipal governments and community groups have promoted bicycle sharing systems as part of intermodal transportation by allowing people to shift easily from transit to bicycle and back again.
REFERENCES
[1] Bike-sharing blog bicycle sharing definition, Retrieved on August 4, 2009.
PICTURE REFERENCES
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Velibvelo1.jpg
FURTHER READING
- Bike-sharing blog
- Bicycle sharing systems worldwide
- "The Bike-sharing Phenomenon - The History of Bike-sharing", Paul DeMaio Carbusters Magazine[9] #36, November 2008
