Whether a transit system resembles a wagon wheel, a spider web, a plate of pasta, or a nice tidy grid, it is always a network, threads connected by intersections and central points.  By definition there are always gaps in the coverage—the spaces between the lines—even in as dense a system as, say, New York’s.

Transit is very good at getting people from A to B, but the distance from B to the final destination or the need to run errands during lunch may limit the effectiveness of the transit network to a passenger—or a potential one.  The so-called first mile of a passenger’s trip is likely covered by a relatively short walk, a bicycle ride, or a drive to a park-and-ride.  But if the destination is in a dense urban environment—a central business district, a university, or even a major “edge city” like a Tyson’s Corner in Virginia—advanced bike sharing may be a perfect solution for many of your passengers’ last mile problems.

Bike sharing has been around since at least the 1960s when a radical group in Holland called Provo started White Bicycle, leaving unlocked white bicycles in public places that people were supposed to use once then leave for the next person.  Most of those bikes were stolen, the rest thrown into canals. 

White bikes live on in a national park in Holland. Photo Elly Waterman

These informal community bike sharing programs have been tried repeatedly over the intervening years, most commonly in the U.S. on university campuses, and the experiences seem to have been the same.  A stock of basic bicycles painted in bright colors to discourage theft are left in a few locations and the baser instincts of human nature take over: the bikes are vandalized, stolen, or left clustered at the bottom of a hill because no one wants to ride it back up.  (The Provo white bike program lives on in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, a flat, well-used, completely enclosed space that discourages misbehavior.)

Bike sharing has matured, however, with the use of technology.  “Smart Bikes” is the term for the next generation of bike sharing, first used in Rennes, France in 1998, but later and more famously launched in Paris in July 2007 with Vélib’ (a portmanteau of the French words for “bike” and “freedom”).  Vélib’ now has more than 20,000 bicycles at nearly 1,500 self-service stations, which are spaced usually less than a quarter mile apart.  Smart bike sharing is now used from Scandinavia to Spain to Italy and points in between.

In the U.S., Washington D.C. saw the first commercially viable smart bike sharing system.  SmartBike DC is a partnership between the D.C. DOT (d., as in d-dot) and Clear Channel, the outdoor advertising company.  Smartbike DC is a member-only subscription system ($40.00 per year) with 100 bikes at 10 stations.  D. made the initial purchase of the bikes and docking stations and collects all the revenues from subscriptions.  Five of the stations are located at a Metro station and the other five are within a block or two, so DC has a bike sharing program nicely integrated with heavy rail transit.

A bike sharing station in Washington D.C. Photo Seth Morgan.

The newest company in bike sharing, B-cycle, is truly interested in mass marketing bike sharing (the “Who Wants It More” page on their website, bcycle.com, is essentially a dare to cities to be the next bike sharing city).  A three-way partnership between the HMO Humana, the Trek Bicycle Corporation, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky (interestingly, another advertising company), B-cycle sells bike sharing systems and provides the know-how to make them successful.  In 2008 Humana joined with national bicycling advocacy organization Bikes Belong to create Freewheelin, which provided bicycles in Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The B-cycle joint venture was formed in the wake of the Freewheelin initiative with Denver as the home base.

Here is how it works.  There are two ways to engage with the B-cycle system.  Users can register for a membership on the website or swipe a credit card at the kiosk for immediate access.  Whether a member using the B-Cycle RFID (radio frequency identification) or a non-member using a credit card, the system releases a bike and off the user goes.  When finished, the user returns the bike to any B-cycle station by inserting the bike in one of the docks.  Annual memberships are $60, the first half hour of every ride is free, and the number of rides is unlimited during the membership period.

The B-cycle illustrated. Click to enlarge. Courtesy of B-Cycle

The B-cycle bike was designed by Trek to be easy for inexperienced riders to use and rugged enough for outdoor use and storage. The bike features three or eight speeds, front and rear lights, and a basket that can carry up to 30 pounds.  The company refers to itself as a “next generation” bike sharing program because the built-in GPS system not only tracks the location of the bike (anti-theft protection) but also reports to the user through a web interface detailed information about his trip making like the distance traveled, calories burned, and carbon offset.

The stations for the bikes are modular and scalable (they can be made to accommodate different quantities of bicycles).  According to Andrew Davison of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which handles communications, design, and marketing, “B-cycles are focused on the needs of modern communities. The visual design creates an iconic look that will become a readily identifiable element in tomorrow’s streetscapes.”  In other words, it is a brand people will recognize like the “M” of the DC Metro or the famous London Tube signs.

B-Cycle bikes come with a bike chain and lock, which is helpful for running errands, and since there is no need to put a bike on transit, bike sharing avoids the problem of full bike racks on buses .  The one downside to bike sharing is that if the station near your destination is full, the user must travel to another to return the bike.  The stations indicate the nearest vacant space, so there won’t be an endless search for a parking space, and the company gives a 15-minute credit for the search time, but to some extent walking a half mile from a more distant docking station defeats the point of renting a bike in the first place.  At the same time, the chances of this happening are slim and members can lock a bike to a pole or tree with the included chain and lock, so full racks are a minor difficulty, probably no worse than what a driver experiences looking for empty on-street parking in a downtown.

Bike sharing holds considerable promise for plugging holes in a transit service area and for helping passengers and potential passengers run errands during the day.   The start-up cost is high, but not excessively so, about $2,500 per bike, including the station.  You will need a lot of them but even a few hundred would be about the same cost as a pair of new buses, to put that in perspective. 

While for some people an excuse will always be just an excuse (“I would use transit if I had a way to get around at lunchtime.”), for others bike sharing can be the missing link in the transportation network that allows them—finally!—to access the many benefits of transit.