Thursday 29 December 2011

bicing will open two hours longer on weekdays

via abc.es: Bicing amplía el horario nocturno tras cerrar el año con un 30% más de viajes :
"El servicio municipal de alquiler de bicicletas "Bicing" ampliará dos horas más el horario entre semana, hasta las 2 de la madrugada, después de cerrar 2011 con un aumento del 30 por ciento de los viajes, ha informado hoy el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona."
Some other interesting bits from the article:
  • Compared with 2010 data, this year there have been 30 percent more trips, so that a bike uses have increased from 11.1 to 14.6 million.
  • One measure is to introduce advertising on the bicycles, for which the City is already negotiating with some interested advertisers 

The announcement of the change in hours is also available on the bicing website.



Thursday 15 December 2011

Bicing subscription increases to 40 Euro + 4 Euro Insurance

via bcn.cat "Bicing will have a compulsory, 4-euro insurance policy":
"Bicing users will have to take out a mandatory 4-euro insurance policy that covers third-party claims, first-party damage and injury, and legal assistance. This is in addition to the rise in the Bicing charge from 35 to 40 euros announced among the new public-sector charges for 2012."
The article also points out that this will rise further in the future until the users are covering 40% of the cost of the service, with the current change they are now paying 25%.

The increase in costs is 15% excluding the insurance. At the same time the city managed to reduce the cost of bicing from 13850000 Euro by 350000 Euro, which is a decrease of 2%.

As I personally don't live in the bicing zone any more, I have to reconsider continuing with my subscription. I am going to continue using it next year, but there are is certainly a limit I am willing to pay per month.

I am also not happy with the compulsory insurance policy, unless the legal assistance will help me with ridiculous charges by the police. I fear this is just money going to the insurance company without any benefits to the user.

More information about the change also on bicing.cat.