Sunday 30 December 2007

even more stations


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  • c/ Calàbria, 135 cantonada amb Consell de Cent
  • c/ Sancho d'Àvila, 170 - 172 amb Roc Boronat
  • Can Bruixa, 14
  • c/ Pujades, 462 - 464
  • Davant Poliesportiu Mar Bella
  • Passeig de García i Fària, 85
  • c/ Joan Güell, 85
  • c/ Europa, 25 - 27
  • Pl. Valentí Almirall
  • Gran Via Corts Catalanes, 923 -929 amb Bilbao
  • c/ Pere IV, enfront del 360

El Bicing del área metropolitana se podrá financiar con publicidad

El Bicing del área metropolitana se podrá financiar con publicidad: "El actual diseño de las bicicletas y las paradas deberá adaptarse para poder lucir los anuncios • La red de préstamo se extenderá a las otras 17 ciudades de la EMT de forma conjunta en el 2009"

Thursday 27 December 2007

Culture And Society: Bicing Blues Not Such a Smooth Ride For The Launch of Barcelonas Bike

Culture And Society: Bicing Blues Not Such a Smooth Ride For The Launch of Barcelonas Bike Sharing System

More complaints about the bicing service. They are always the same: some broken bikes, not enough stations, bikes get stolen and other cities are doing better.

Just keep in mind that bicing is at the very beginning, it is still one of the first of this kind of services worldwide. And as mentioned in the article, Lyon got 1000 bikes stolen right at the beginning, I don't think Barcelona is anywhere near this figure. And compared to the Metro, trains or busses it is bloody reliable.

Bicing made Barcelona a better city for me. Of course I complain when there is no bike available or no space to park mine. But by now there are so many stations around that I usually walk to the next one. Since a few weeks you can also check on a station for the next stations with available spaces/bikes.

Is bicing a success or a failure? Judge by yourself, sit down on a bench in the city centre and count the bicing bicycles passing by. I also think that usage of other bicycles has increased since the start of bicing, maybe people got the taste for it and want to use proper bicycles now.

And what are the alternatives anyway? Move to France, stop using public bicycles or start your own service.

New stations announced

They don't seem to be on the bicing.com google map yet
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  • Gran Via, 902 con Rambla Poble Nou, 166
  • Gran Via, 1178 con Rambla Prim
  • Gran Via, 1041 con c/ Selva de Mar
  • c/ Pujades, 311 -313 con c/ Fluvià
  • c/ Pujades, 173 - 175 con Rambla del Poble Nou
  • Av. Icària, 202
  • Av. Litoral, 40 con c/ Arquitecte Sert (2 estacions)
  • Av. Litoral con Jaume Vicens i Vives (2 estacions)
  • Av. Litoral, 84

Thursday 20 December 2007

Friday 14 December 2007

eleven new stations


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  • Diagonal, 82
  • Gran Vía 1062/ Selva de Mar
  • Gran Vía 1118/ Josep Pla
  • Gran Vía 1131/ Puigcerdá
  • Gran Vía 981/Bac de Roda (Muntanya)
  • Mejía Lequerica
  • Numancia, 212
  • Olzinelles, 92-96
  • Pujades, 121
  • Ramon Turro, 287
  • Sancho de Ávila, 60-64

Idean un nuevo sistema de Bicing que funciona con la zona azul de pago - 20minutos.es

Idean un nuevo sistema de Bicing que funciona con la zona azul de pago - 20minutos.es: "Idean un nuevo sistema de Bicing que funciona con la zona azul de pago" "Urbikes" another bike sharing scheme. It doesn't look like it could compete with bicing, but any competition is good, right?

El Bicing cambiará sus luces defectuosas por otras provisionales durante esta semana

El Bicing cambiará sus luces defectuosas por otras provisionales durante esta semana:
Es una solución "provisional" --insistió Narváez-- que permitirá que las bicicletas tengan iluminación las próximas semanas, a la espera de que se empiecen a colocar unas linternas que funcionan con dinamo en la parte delantera de los ciclos, algo que se empezará a hacer "muy pronto".
It seems like the new lights for the bikes are just a temporary solution.

Wednesday 12 December 2007

Sala Bilingüe de Disecciones Elementales: Bicing...

Sala Bilingüe de Disecciones Elementales: Bicing

bicing send out a reminder again

It seems that people are still having problems with bikes getting used after they parked them in a station. (This is more or less directly from google translate)
Hello user, You remember that in the conditions of service use Bicing, specifies that the user is responsible for the bike from the moment that withdraws from a station until the anchoring correctly in the same station or on another station. The steps to return the bicycle are: - You identify an free anchor and make sure that the green light is on. - Plug the two-ball clamping located on the handlebars within anchorages. - Wait until the green light stops blinking and a red light fixed appears. - Make sure the bicycle has been firmly in place. - Should it blink between red and green, contact us at telephone 902 31 55 31. If you want to park at a station which is full, hold your card on the reader, it will show on the screen locations of the nearest stations with empty spaces. You will get extra 10 minutes at no extra charge to arrive at the station. If you follow these instructions correctly the system will recognize that you returned the bike properly. This will cost you only a few seconds and you save charges of penalties stipulated by the non-return of the bicycle: If excedes the usage time by more than 2 hours, the fee is 3 € / hour, and if not returning the bike in more than 24 hours, the penalty is 150 €. Sincerely, Customer Service
I have been lucky so far and have not been charged with penalties, but with the reliability of the system I wouldn't be surprised if I were. But I also notice that a lot of people plug in their bikes without waiting till the red light. Someone waiting at the station for a mistake like this can then easily steal or use this bike as much as he likes. So be careful.

bicing spotting

Highest bicing number seen
#3811
Number of uses by me
184
Longest use
34m (usually 5-15m)
Total time used
32h 57m

Monday 10 December 2007

Check bicing stations on your mobile

Pere says:
I've just developed an small application that allows Mobile Phone users to check any bicing station current occupation on the move. You can have a look at domocat.x10hosting.com and read about it at www.domocat.com/kis If you like you can post about it also, or collaborate in expanding the project!
Sounds like a good idea. It is always annoying if you are arriving at a empty or full station and then have to find the next one. I am not much of a mobile user, but have a look for yourself.

more stations 4.+5. December


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A bit delayed this time, I was on the road.

  • Deu i Mata 56
  • Vallespir, 198
  • Diputació, 200
  • Espronceda, 124
  • Lepanto, 278 / Mallorca
  • C/Llull, 396
  • Pere IV, 383
  • Pujades, 209
  • Pujades, 55
  • Ramon Turro, 91

WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Bicing in Barcelona

WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Bicing in Barcelona: "The Bicing program is funded with 2.23 million euros a year in parking fees on drivers who park in the city center--a nice flip on the usual model (here in the US, at least) of funding roads by imposing taxes on everyone, including those who choose not to drive."