Friday 27 February 2009

bicing newsletter #14 is out

They have some new statistics:
  • Nº d'usos registrats al servei : 965.094.
  • Nº d'abonats: 184.822.
  • Percentatge d'usuaris que renoven: 98,07%
  • Distància recorreguda: 2,6 milions de quilòmetres.
They also mention the three new vans which do quick repairs on the bicycles during the day, this should fix some of the smaller problems with the bicycles. Also highlighted are the new lights for the bicycles, which should make them more visible at night. The newsletter is also available as PDF.

Wednesday 11 February 2009

bicing panorama

The Bike-sharing Blog: Paris' Woes of Theft and Vandalism

The Bike-sharing Blog: Paris' Woes of Theft and Vandalism: "In a year and a half of operation, 7,800 bicycles have disappeared from Paris’ highly successful bike-sharing program as reported by LeParisien. On top of that, another 11,600 have been vandalized. To cope with this grave problem, 500 mechanics work on 1,500 bicycles each day to keep the system running." Paris seems to have the same problem with vandalism as in Barcelona. And I bet they get the same complains about the service too. Every city gets the bike sharing service it deserves.

Wednesday 4 February 2009

iBicis Barcelona

Another bicing iPhone app: iBicis Barcelona: "Here it comes the best application for one of the most popular public transport services in Barcelona: Bicing, the new unexpensive and sustainable public transport, with more than 200,000 users. Download iBicis Barcelona and you'll never go to an empty station to grab a bike again. Are you riding near Sagrada Familia and you don't know where the closest Bicing station is? iBicis Barcelona will locate the nearest station in just a couple of seconds."

Monday 2 February 2009

Matthew Yglesias » Barcelona Bicycle Policy

Matthew Yglesias » Barcelona Bicycle Policy: "It occurs to me every time I see a bike share service in another city that it would do a lot to extend the utility of these things if there were some kind of reciprocity agreement in place between different bike sharing cities. I’m a SmartBikeDC member, but I rarely use it because like most people inclined to get around town on a bike I own a bike and usually ride that. It’s when I’m not in DC that I really want to use a bike share."