Bristol (UK) has just become the first city in the country to start a bike share scheme, and it’s getting all manner of flak for it. The main argument against seems to be that “Bristol is hilly” which is hardly an astute observation if you’ve ever been there, but apparently a shock to journalists from London.
Germany has several bike share schemes: I know this will annoy the French, but several cities in Germany had quietly embraced the idea years before it caught on in Paris. Stuttgart, which is possibly even more hilly than Bristol, has a successful bike share system run by German Railways (Deutsche Bahn, or DB). The ‘Call-a-bike’ network was launched in 2007 with 400 bikes at somewhere between 50-65 hubs around the city depending on who you ask. It works using mobile phones which has the advantage that they know who is using any bike at any time, Despite this Stuttgart is fussy about you bringing the bike back to the hub you got it from, but on the other hand the first half hour is free. The system has been an instant success and it’s been was expanded since it opened. (I guess that’s where the different numbers come from, so much for Teutonic accuracy).
Stuttgarts traffic is probably a bit safer for cycling than Bristols, but we also have tramlines on a number of streets, and other streets that are so steep they give up and become staircases. So can Stuttgarters handle hills better than Bristolians? I doubt it, especially after a few beers. The major difference in the two systems is the numbers of bikes. Stuttgart has 400 bikes in 60 Hubs. Now Wikipedia says the centre of Stuttgart (where the bikes are) is home to 590 497 people (or at least, it was on the first of June 2008). My maths is a bit fuzzy but I think that works out as a bit less that one bike per 1500 people living the centre. And you thought talking about bike parts was as boring as I can get.
‘Hourbike‘, Bristol’s foray into the brave new world of bike share, involved much fanfare and eighteen bikes in four stations. Yes you did read that correctly. Eighteen. According to Wikipedia and my fuzzy maths, if the population of central Bristol all decided to join, over 23000 people would be lining up for each bike. That’s bad enough, but the four locations don’t include the main railway station. Now call me obtuse, but if I was going to make a bike share system, I’d make darn sure it feeds the main public transport hubs. Last time I was in Stuttgart I found four hubs of about twenty bikes around the main station in the city, or to put it another way, more bikes than serve the whole city of Bristol, and there’s still 61 hubs elsewhere.
Bristol has a chance to prove everyone wrong and become a flagship city like Paris -and for the record, I hope they do- if it starts taking it seriously and stops faffing about. To get the same ratio as Stuttgart only requires 300 bikes, give or take, and perhaps a lot of publicity, and you have a prestige project begging for a politician to sponsor it. Any takers?
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 29, 2009 at 10:57 am
hakeofdoom
Winchester has the Bikeabout Scheme. £20 a year to register and they give you a helmet, high vis jacket and a map and you can then use the bikes for free. They have two hubs (both in the town centre) and 25 bikes, but Winchester has a population of 41,420 so that’s a 1 bike to 1600 approx people, similar to Stuttgart. There used to be a hub near the station, but it sounds like that’s no longer there – I’ll have a look later.
July 29, 2009 at 9:30 pm
disgruntled
The Bristol scheme seems to a bit half-baked to me. Considering they’re supposed to be a demonstration city, you’d have thought they’d do something a bit more impressive. It seemed (from what I read, anyway) that they’d decided just to do a few bikes and see how it went, but I’m guessing something like this needs critical mass to really take off.
July 29, 2009 at 10:50 pm
David Hembrow
There’s not a country on earth without a better ownership rate of bikes than one per 23000 people, so it’s a bit difficult to see what this homeopathic quantity of bicycles is supposed to achieve.
Bikes are not being ridden because the conditions are horrible, not because one bike per 23000 people more is required. The same goes for most of these schemes, to be honest. Even where they have relatively large schemes, there are still only enough bikes to cater for a relatively insignificant number of journeys.
July 30, 2009 at 5:45 am
John in NH
well its Bristol because Sustrans is based there, i am going to talk to my connection with Sustrans Leeds and see if she knows more about whats up and the planning (or lack therof?) involved in the new system. a bike share system is a good theory but i feel its more effective when infrastructure is in place and there is at least more then 1% cycling rate, but idk maybe people just cant afford to buy a bike?
July 30, 2009 at 5:49 am
John in NH
on second thought it does not look like sustrans has anything to do with it, which is a shame… bloody corporate for profit programmes are not the way to do these things. sigh i hope they improve it in short order, or partner with sustrans and actually get something useful together
July 30, 2009 at 2:17 pm
World Carfree Network
Hello
Did you already have a look at the blog of the World Carfree Network (http://worldcarfree.wordpress.com). It is a new space to share information and discuss issues relevant to eliminating car dependency, exploring alternatives and to celebrate carfree living. We hope to provide a rich and diverse content and that you will enjoy following it.
Would you like to consider a link exchange between your blog and our to facilitate the exchange of information and the navigation of people supporting the carfree movement from one blog to another. (We may have already add your link)
We also invite you to blog with us if you are interested – please send your letters, articles, news, pictures and videos to blog@worldcarfree.net
Greetings from Prague! All the best,
Marko
July 30, 2009 at 11:14 pm
anna
Interesting that so many bike rental systems in Germany are run by the DB and work with mobile phones. Firstly, I think it’s great that the railway company saw the connection between public transport and cycling (although I think that the transport of bikes in trains is still as bad as in Austria). A friend of mine told me about a similar system in Frankfurt and is quite happy with it. Strange though that the bikes in Stuttgart have to be returned to the same hub.
About the numbers: there are also 60 Citybike stations in Vienna too. Well, we have about 2 million inhabitants, but the stations are only in the center anyhow. Still, if the dimensioned properly biking could become way more popular! I think that’s really the main difference to Velib (Paris) and Bicing (Barcelona) where these systems are broadly used. Some infrastructure is of course necessary too for unexperienced riders, but the more cyclists the safer cycling will be anyhow
.