Bicycle Sharing System - Types

Types

Although users of such systems generally pay to use vehicles that they themselves do not own, sharing systems differ from traditional for-profit bike rental businesses. The first bike sharing projects were largely initiated by local community organizations, either as charitable projects intended for the disadvantaged, or to promote bicycles as a non-polluting form of transportation. In recent years, in an effort to reduce losses from theft and vandalism, many bike sharing schemes now require a user to provide a monetary deposit or other security, or to become a paid subscriber. Most large-scale urban bike sharing programs utilize numerous bike checkout stations, and operate much like public transit systems, catering to tourists and visitors as well as local residents.

To date, no publicly owned and administered bicycle sharing program has yet been able to consistently operate as a self-funding enterprise, using only revenues generated from membership subscriptions or user fees and charges. As a consequence, most publicly owned bicycle sharing systems utilize funding from public governmental and/or charitable sources. Bike sharing schemes may be administered by government entities, nonprofit private organizations, or via public-private partnerships.

Many bicycle sharing schemes have been developed by a variety of organizations over the years, all based on one or more of the following systems:

Unregulated

In this type of program the bicycles are simply released into a city or given area for use by anyone. 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. Because the bike is not required to be returned to a centralized station, ready availability of such bicycles is rare, and since unlocked bikes may be taken by another user at any time, the original rider is forced to find alternative transportation for the return trip. Bicycle sharing programs without locks, user identification, and security deposits have also historically suffered large loss rates from theft and vandalism.

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. Other bike sharing programs have implemented rules requiring the user to provide a valid credit card, along with substantial security deposits for bicycles and mandatory security locks.

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 by a smart card, via cell phone, or other methods) at any of the hubs to check out a bicycle for a short period of time, usually three hours or less. In many schemes the first half-hour is free. The individual is responsible for any damage or loss until the bike is returned to another hub and checked in.

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, Stockholm and Oslo, have signed contracts with private advertising agencies (JCDecaux in Brussels, Lyon, Paris, Seville and Dublin; Clear Channel in Stockholm, Oslo, Barcelona, Perpignan and Zaragoza) 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 attempt to reduce losses from 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, Vélopop' in Avignon, Libélo in Valence and Vélivert in Saint-Étienne but can be financed by public support.

A system has been developed whereby a member need not be return the bike to a kiosk, rather the next user can find it by GPS.

E-bike sharing is becoming more popular. The e-bikes are generally recharged upon parking them at their station. E-bikes the range of the bikes and make cities with more difficult topographies more accessible.

In 2009, Chiyu Chen proposed the Hybrid2-system which stores some of the pedal power on a (ultra)capacitor. Similar to vehicle-to-grid systems, the energy is then fed back to the mains electricity grid.