[sustran] city bikes/free bikes

[remonde at gsilink.com]

I have been residing in Philippines since 1992, so i do not know all 
the little details of the free bike program in Copenhagen. However, 
it's something like this:

Public bicycles are parked in bicycle parking areas. They are locked 
to the stand with a lock and chain. To get the bicycle, one has to 
insert a coin in the lock, and then the bicycle will be released. If 
the bicycle is returned to a proper bicycle parking stand (there are 
several all over town), and locked, one's deposit will be returned. 
If you don't park the bike properly, you'll forfeit your coin.

I'm not sure whether the bicycles are second hand. What i know is 
that they are very unattractive. No gears or fancy gadgets. Just a 
plain bike which nobody would like to steal.  Business can put 
their adds on the bicycles - that keeps the program going (funds 
are needed for annual repairs). 1000s of bicycles are stolen every 
year in Copenhagen (many of them "exported" to East Europe). Some 
bicycles are stolen by lazy people on their way home from the disco 
at night. The public bike is supposed to prevent the latter type of 
theft. They also provide a simple and free alternative to folks who 
want to bike but either don't have a bike or who commute some 
distance, walk (now bike) another.

Marit

> At 12:34 PM 4/20/98 -0700, Heath Maddox wrote:
> >
> >I am a cyclist and grad student in transportation planning at UC Berkeley.
> >I  am currently researching community "free" bicycle programs.   Most
> >information I have  come across has been anecdotal and not very in-depth  I
> >have been in contact with a few individual sustrans people on this topic,
> >but since it came up in general discussion anyway, I thought I'd put out a
> >wider call  for help..  Is there any hard data or analysis of such programs
> >out there anywhere?  If not, more anecdotal information, contact info. or
> >internet links would also be helpful. Thank you very much,
> 
> Here is a website for Seattle's yellowbike program:
> http://www.yellowbike.com. I haven't looked at it, so I don't know what
> information it contains. I have not heard of any serious analysis of these
> programs in terms of evaluating their transportation/social benefits.
> 
> Let me report on my personal experience. We had a program when I lived in
> Olympia, Washington a few years ago, in which a team of volunteers fixed up
> both children's and adult's bicycles which were donated to families that
> could use them through the local refugee center. Recipients also recieved
> helmets, safety instruction and help with repairs. All of the feedback we
> heard was very positive; the bicycles were highly valued by recipents and
> well cared for, and people involved in the program got lots of positive
> appreciation. I consider this program to be extremely successful in terms
> of both supporting alternative transportation and helping people.
> 
> Here in Victoria, BC we have a "blue bike" program, in which volunteers fix
> up donated bicycles, paint them blue, and leave them around town for people
> to use. 17 bikes have been fixed up so far. I occasionally see them used,
> often rather dangerously, but almost as often I see them damaged and
> abandoned, sometimes obviously destroyed as a lark (such as the one that
> ended up in a tree). I suspect that the prople running this program spend
> as much additional miles of driving tracking and repairing these bicycles
> as the bicycles save in reduced automobile use.
> 
> As much as I support alternative bicycling as a form of transportation and
> would like to see bicycles conveniently available, I don't think that a
> free bike program is an effective way to do it. Resources that are given
> away are often treated as having no value. I believe that the bikes are
> much better given to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford
> a bicycle, along with the help they need to bicycle safely.
> 
> If that isn't enough, I think that donated bicycles could be fixed up and
> rented for a nominal amount through some organization (college recreation
> centers, homeless shelters, YMCAs, refugee centers, etc.) by the hour, day
> or week, to allow people mobility, for example when visiting another
> neighborhood or city. Although many bike shops rent bicycles, these tend to
> be relatively expensive and the service is often not well advertised.
> 
> A final bit of advice. There are LOTS of old bicycles sitting in basements
> and garages, and if you put out a call for donations you are almost
> guaranteed to get more than you need. However, most of these donations are
> junk, and you will almost certainly end up carting a lot to the dump. I
> suggest being very specific and selective about what types of bicycles you
> accept for donation, particularly if your sotrage space is limited.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Todd Litman, Director
> Victoria Transport Policy Institute
> "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
> 1250 Rudlin Street
> Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
> Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
> E-mail:      litman at islandnet.com
> Website:     www.islandnet.com/~litman
> 
> 
>