Stockholm City Bikes
Stockholm City Bikes is the name of a public-private partnership project of Stockholm in Sweden and the outdoor advertising unit of Clear Channel Communications.
It is a community bicycle program that allows renting a bicycle for a maximum period of 3 hours, between 06:00 and 22:00 (last rental at 22:00).
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[edit] Rental system
The rental system requires a membership and a rental card. These are obtained by buying a season card (for 300 Swedish kronor SEK) or 3-day card (for 165 Swedish kronor SEK) (Prices state August 2011). Rental cards can be bought at "SL centres" (SL is Stockholm's public transportation company) and require registration with personal identification containing the Swedish national identification number called personnummer. For foreigners a passport is required.
Several one-day rental periods can be loaded onto a rental card, but once it has expired it cannot be reloaded again with a new rental period.
Stockholm's rental system is available between 1 April and 31 October, unlike other public bicycle programs that are available throughout the year.
[edit] Hubs
There are currently (May 2008) 67 rental hubs. Each hub contains between 9 to 24 bikes. The rental card is swiped over a reader and a computer screen displays the number of the bike that is being unlocked. The user now has 3 hours to return the bike (i.e. lock) to any of the hubs in the city. If the bike is not returned, the rental card is automatically and permanently blocked by the computer system. If the bike is not returned at all the user might become liable since each card is registered with personal identification number.
The project was launched in the fall of 2006. During 2007 the system is expected to have 1000 bicycles and about 80 hubs in Stockholm.[1]
[edit] Financing
The season card entitles the buyer to receive a free bicycle helmet that is decorated with advertising. The entire system is financed by advertising sold and managed by Clear Channel Communications. The advertising is displayed on the bikes and on outdoor bilboards set up in connection with the bike stalls.
Clear Channel Communications runs similar projects in Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Oslo with identical bikes and hub systems.
[edit] Complications
The system has been criticised for being somewhat complicated for foreigners who do not understand Swedish. Moreover, the hubs sometimes physically lock the bikes to the hubs, but do not register the fact in the computer system, resulting in blocked rental cards.[2]
Furthermore, the rental hubs have been vandalised during night time resulting in bicycle thefts and destroyed bicycles and hubs. Management of the project has stated that if vandalism is not limited, the project might become too expensive and eventually canceled.[3]
[edit] Other similar systems
As of 2007, similar schemes are also in effect in other European cities, including Aix-en-Provence, Rouen, Barcelona (Bicing), Brussels, Copenhagen, Lyon (Vélo'v), Nantes (Bicloo), Paris (Vélib), Toulouse, Pamplona (Cemusa), OYBike, Call a Bike (Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich, Karlsruhe), Copenhagen/Helsinki/Aarhus (CIOS), Oslo, Sandnes, Seville (Sevici), Vienna, Zaragoza, Prague, Blackpool, La Rochelle and Ljubljana (BicikeLj).
[edit] See also
- Clear Channel Communications
- Stockholm Municipality
- Public-private partnership
- Community bicycle program
[edit] References
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (June 2009) |
- ^ Hanson, Matilda (1 July 2007). "Lånecyklar hotade". Svenska Dagbladet. http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/stockholm24/did_16032014.asp. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
- ^ Hanson, Matilda (1 July 2007). "Lånecyklar hotade". Svenska Dagbladet. http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/stockholm24/did_16032014.asp. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
- ^ Hanson, Matilda (1 July 2007). "Lånecyklar hotade". Svenska Dagbladet. http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/stockholm24/did_16032014.asp. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
[edit] External links
- Stockholm City Bikes website (Swedish)
