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Bicycle sharing systems (also known as: Community Bicycle program, Yellow Bicycle programs, White Bicycle programs, public bike or free bike) are increasingly popular and diverse systems whereby a number of bicycles are made available for shared use amongst individuals who do not own any of the bicycles. The reasons for implementing bicycle sharing systems are as numerous as the forms they take. Recently and most notably, municipal governments have promoted systems as part of intermodal transportation, allowing people to shift easily from transit to bicycle and back again. However, for years community groups have promoted bicycle sharing as a way to make alternatives to motorized travel easily accessible, hoping to reduce the carbon footprint of commuting as well as enable residents to become healthier through exercise.

Bicycle sharing systems can be divided into two general categories: Community Bike programs organized mostly by local community groups or non-profit organizations; and Smart Bike programs implemented by municipalities or through public-private partnerships, as in the case of Paris' Vélib’ program. 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.

Types

Although users of such systems generally pay to use vehicles not their own, sharing systems differ from traditional bike rental. Some are seen as a distinct break, having grown out of free community bicycle programs. Most require a user to become a member, and do not cater to tourists, shoppers, or other casual users. Most of the systems have bicycles available at unattended urban locations; and they operate in a manner that could be seen as "bicycle transit". Most bicycle sharing systems have been undertaken by community groups, public agencies or by public-private partnerships. In these regards they resemble carsharing.

There are many ways to provide community bicycles, but most programs are loosely based around one of the following designs:

Unregulated

In this type of program the bicycles are simply released into a city or given area. In some cases, such as a university campus, the bicycles are only designated for use within certain boundaries. Users are expected to leave the bike unlocked in a public area once they reach their destination.

Bicycle sharing programs without user electronic identification struggle against theft and vandalism. In one program tried in 1993 in Cambridge, United Kingdom, the overwhelming majority of the fleet of 300 bicycles were stolen, and the program was abandoned. A similar result occurred in Edmonton, Alberta, with 95% of the bikes in the People's Pedal program stolen in the 2008 season.

Deposit

A small cash deposit releases the bike from a locked terminal and can only be retrieved by returning it to another. Since the deposit (usually one or more coins) is a fraction of the bike's cost, this does little to deter theft.

Membership

In this version of the program, bicycles are kept either at volunteer-run hubs or at self-service terminals throughout the city. Individuals registered with the program identify themselves with their membership card (or a smart card, via cell phone, etc) at any of the hubs to check out a bicycle for a short period of time, usually less than two hours. In many schemes the first half hour is free. The individual is responsible for the bike until it is returned to another hub.

Public-private partnership

Many of the membership programs are being operated through public-private partnerships. Several European cities, including the French cities of Lyon and Paris as well as London, Barcelona and Stockholm, have signed contracts with private advertising agencies (JCDecaux in Lyon and Paris, Clear Channel in Barcelona) that supply the city with thousands of bicycles free of charge (or for a minor fee). In return, the agencies are allowed to advertise both on the bikes themselves and in other select locations in the city. These programs also prevent theft by requiring users to purchase subscriptions with a credit card or debit card (this option requiring a large, temporary deposit) and by equipping the bike with complex anti-theft and bike maintenance sensors. If the bike is not returned within the subscription period, or returned with significant damage, the bike sharing operator withdraws money from the user's credit card account. Some other programs are not linked to an advertising deal, for example Smoove with Vélomagg' in Montpellier and Vélopop' in Avignon, but can be financed by public support.

Long-term checkout

Sometimes known as Bike Library models, these bicycles may be given free of charge, for a refundable deposit, or sold at a reduced price. They are assigned to one person who will typically keep the bike for months or years and lock it between uses. A disadvantage of this model is the much lower using frequency, around three uses per day as compared to between 10 to 15 uses per day with other bike sharing models.

Advantages of long term use, include a familiarity the rider gets with their bicycle, a mode of travel that is ready for the borrower at any time during the months of use. The bicycle can be checked out like a library book, a liability waiver can be collected at check out, and the bike can be returned anytime. A Library Bike in a person's possession can be chosen for some trips instead of a car, thus lowering car usage. This model requires less repair as the users tend to care for the bikes as their own.

Partnership with railway sector

In a national-level programme which combines a typical rental system with several of the above system types, a passenger railway operator or infrastructure manager partners with a national cycling organization and others to create a system closely connected with public transport. These programs allow usually for a longer rental time of up to 24 or 48 hours and as well for tourist and round trips. See OV Fiets for more information (in Dutch with English summary) or Call a Bike in Germany .

In some German cities, the national rail company Deutsche Bahn offers a convenient bike rental service: "Call a Bike". The Call a Bike principle is very simple, the bikes are locked electronically and again left in the open at widely distributed locations. After initial online registration, a potential user can phone a number printed on the bike. He then receives a number code that opens the lock. If desired, billing can be done directly to the users mobile phone account. The more recent Stuttgart operation requires bikes to be returned to defined locations as the users' choice of places to leave bikes off-hire can occasionally provide an opportunity to 'hide' a bike for a return trip. Bikes are also being locked to the Velib stands in Paris because no system can yet offer the option of reserving a bike for a return journey, and balancing flows can give problems as at Montmartre where special measures are needed to get bikes back to higher points at the top of the hill.

Partnership with car park operators

Some car park operators such as Vinci Park in France lend bikes to their customers who park a car.

History

The earliest community bicycle program, or at least the most legendary, was started in the 1960s by Luud Schimmelpenninck in association with the radical group Provo (movement) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This so-called White Bicycle Plan provided free bicycles that were supposed to be used for one trip and then left for someone else. Within a month, most of the bikes had been stolen and the rest were found in nearby canals. The program is still active in some parts of the Netherlands (the Hoge Veluwe National Park; bikes have to stay inside the park). It originally existed as one in a series of White Plans proposed in the street magazine produced by the anarchist group PROVO.

In 2000 Schimmelpenninck admitted that "the Sixties experiment never existed in the way people believe", that "no more than about ten bikes" had been put out on the street "as a suggestion of the bigger idea", but the police confiscated the bicycles within a day.

In 1974 the French city of La Rochelle launched a free bike program featuring yellow bicycles that were free to take and use. It is regarded as one of the first successful bike sharing programs.

One of the first community bicycle projects in the United States was started in Portland, Oregon in 1994 by civic and environmental activists Tom O'Keefe, Joe Keating and Steve Gunther. It took the approach of simply releasing a number of bicycles to the streets for unrestricted use. Portland's Yellow Bike Project was an amazing publicity success, but proved unsustainable initially due to theft and vandalism of the bicycles. The program was later revised to operate under a more restrictive system. Since then many community projects around the country have attempted similar models and met with varying degrees of success.

Madison, WI, for instance, had a program where specific bicycles, always painted red, were available for the use of anyone coming across them on the street (especially used on State Street between the UW campus and the capitol). The only rule regarding their use was that they were always to remain outside and unlocked for any passerby to use. This program (called

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