[YellowBike] Bike Program ideas in Amsterdam

[aaron]

Yellowbikers:

I've been in contact with a woman (Susa) in the netherlands who is 
thinking about setting up a bike redistribution network for tourists on 
the island where she lives. The idea is to have bike pick up and check 
in stations at different locations around the island, to encourage 
tourists to use bikes instead of cars when they are visiting.

I'm going to include the emails that we've send back and forth so far, 
and then take the discussion onto this list because I think some of you 
might find it interesting and have things to add to the conversation.

-aaron
(i also go by forest sometimes, in case there's confusion about that)

1st message (from aaron)---------

>> Il giorno 08/ott/04, alle 15:12, aaron ha scritto:
>>
>>> welcome to yellowbike. what's your interest in community bike 
>>> programs? welcome.
>>>
>>> are you in italy?
>>>
>>> -forest (aaron)
>>>
>

2nd message (from susa)---------

> On Tuesday, October 12, 2004, at 11:09  AM, Susanna Iraci wrote:
>
>> Hi!
>>
>> i'm italian but i live in the netherlands, for my studies,
>> i'm interested in learning more about your project, because i'm busy 
>> myself with a project for a bike rental redistribution plan for an 
>> island in the north of the country.
>> i'm a student of industrial design, and i'm researching possibilities 
>> for designers of improving sustainable mobility.
>> the island where i work is called texel, and as in the rest of the 
>> country everybody goes by bike there... it's a tourist destination, 
>> and it is challenging to think of ways to convince more tourists to 
>> commute with bikes instead of their own cars once arrived there.
>> so, together with the bike rental shops, i'm trying to design a 
>> service for the redistribution of the bikes. now you can rent the 
>> bike in one village and you're always  forced to bring it back to the 
>> same place, with this service people would be more free to move since 
>> they can leave the bikes at any stall on the island.  the difference 
>> is of course that since these are companies, you can not really call 
>> them community bikes.. actually not at all, but at least it's a step 
>> forward.
>> searching the web for inspiration i came across your project, and i 
>> saw there was a mailing list, so i thought i might ask you what's 
>> going on, to know from your experience what you think is needed for 
>> such a service to work out.
>> maybe you can tell me what you think?
>> thanks a lot!
>>
>> susa

3rd message (from aaron)
Il giorno 12/ott/04, alle 12:47, aaron ha scritto:

> Ciao Susa.
>
> there are definitely some models of redistribution with cars and 
> moving vans. i wonder if there are any existing bike programs like 
> that. i'll ask around in the bike circles that i know. are you looking 
> primarily to provide service to tourists or to residents? would a 
> long-term bike rental be more efficient than distributed rental bike 
> check in places?
>
> the yellowbike project is all around this country, and maybe the 
> world. there are a lot of different models, including key access to 
> bikes, work-for-access, and totally free, unlocked. we go for the 
> totally free, unlocked kind because we're on a college campus in the 
> middle of rural western Massachusetts. town is 3 miles away, and we 
> often fix the derailleur cable (i still don't know how to spell 
> that...) in one position to make a single speed that can't go much 
> faster than 10 miles per hour. it keeps the bikes around. of course 
> one of the major problems is that people disrespect the bikes and 
> program, and use yellowbikes as an opportunity to try riding down 
> staircases, jumping bikes into the pond, or cashing into walls. i 
> don't understand otherwise how our bikes could get so messed up so 
> fast.
>
> there's not much discussion on this list about anything other than 
> when we're going to meet to work on bikes next, or a bit of spam email 
> that gets through the filters. i think that some other people might be 
> interested in this conversation about your bike redistribution idea. 
> could i post the past messages to the list and take this discussion 
> on-list? there are about 70 people who read the yellowbike list. if 
> not, that's cool to.
>
> is there a community bike program in amsterdam? do you know what 
> that's about?
>
> there's some info about our program at http://bike.hampshire.edu
> and http://www.communitybike.org/
>
>
> one of my friends did his undergrad thesis work on an automatic bike 
> locking/check out system. this might have direct applicability to what 
> you are doing.
>
> info about it at:
> http://bike.hampshire.edu/development/
> and
> http://bike.hampshire.edu/development/summary/
>
> good luck. keep me posted about your project.
>
>
> -forest / aaron

4th message (from susa)
ciao aaron! (forest? aaron? which one? :) )

thank you for replying so fast, i't's probably really early in the 
morning for you now, isnt it?
of course you can post this to the onlist, it would be great. thank you 
for all the info! it's really useful to me, and its also cool to be in 
touch with people like you really busy with these programs and not just 
dreaming of it, they're too often and too quick forgotten cause 
everybody thinks there's so much idealism around it. But as you say, it 
is possible and also fun (i guess also for those that ride the bike 
down the stairs)

there are existing programs that i know of here in europe with 
redistribution plans, like the services from Adshel in Rennes, or in 
Norway. The citybike in Copenhagen (the oldest one, it's been working 
since 1995).. the callabike in germany... and a few more....
what i want to do is provide tourists with my service, residents 
already commute up to 70% of the times with their own bikes. in small 
islands like mine the problem is seasonal tourism: the population goes 
up to 5 times as much, everybody arriving on a new car... they cant' 
forbid access to cars, cause they at the same time live primarily of 
tourism, but they're looking for ways to encourage people (tourists) to 
leave the car in the parking place once arrived, and move with a bike 
or a bus once on the island.
> there are definitely some models of redistribution with cars and 
> moving vans. i wonder if there are any existing bike programs like 
> that. i'll ask around in the bike circles that i know. are you looking 
> primarily to provide service to tourists or to residents? would a 
> long-term bike rental be more efficient than distributed rental bike 
> check in places?

the island is very small, about 13000 people live there. the total 
bikes in rental companies is a bit more, 15000, all rented out during 
the summer.. in fact, bike rentals have a real power ther, for as funny 
as it might seem. they have their little black market, and so on.. 
islands are funny places...which means: they would never allow a 
community bike program, but only something that brings them more money. 
and they would never work too much together, either.
the goal of my service is to convince even more people to use the bike, 
like this: if you're old, and don't feel in good physical conditions, 
or if you just want to go from the harbour to the beach and than stay 
there a week without having to bring the bike back, but also not pay 
for it, you can leave it somewhere on the way, in a 'station'. i think 
at the moment many people are discouraged by thinking they always have 
to bring it back...
for example... the first time i went, i rented a bike at the harbour. 
the rental company brought my luggage to my destination, 13 km from the 
harbour. i used the bike during one week to move around everywhere 
(also because the bus connections are very bad, so you have to go by 
bike if you dont have a car). now, think of dutch winter, think of how 
much wind there is on an island, and think you have to bike up to 40 km 
a day to catch up with your appointments... anyway, the last day i had 
to leave... i had the bike i rented at the harbour, and i had the 
luggage they brought me at the arrival... they dont offer the same 
service for the return... so i had to bike to harbour, 13 km, take a 
bus back, call a cab (finally hitchhike, actually..) to the harbour 
with the luggage.
this is because i didnt have a car. think now of a tourist that would 
prefer to go without the car, but knows the situation... if you know 
that bike use is facilitated by extra supporting services, maybe you'll 
consider using it more often... i dont know i explained well what i 
wanted to say, or if i made more confusion.. ?

so, my target is the tourists, and i cannot change the existing assets 
of the bike rental market by adding community bike plans, it be 
economically unsustainable for the island.

in amsterdam there was, again, the white bike program till maybe 2 
years ago. it started again around 2000, again with the same guy, Luud 
Schimmelpennink, this time he  thought he would make people pay for the 
service and lock the bikes, with access control, electronic id, etc. 
they planned 45 stations (called 'depo') and i think some thousands of 
bike. only 19 depo were built and none of them works now, as far as i 
know.
but you have to think that while a plan like this works perfectly in 
berlin or copenhagen, amsterdam is a place where stealing a bike is 
like stealing a bag of chips.. even here in delft where i live, which 
is 40 km from amsterdam,you can buy a stolen bike for 10 euro. usually 
not more. its such a common thing, if you see a bike unlocked it means 
you can take it... and the students know it, so the rule is, you steal 
mine i steal another... bikes are vital for commuting, but also as 
worth as a bag of chips, really.. that's why you never park a good bike 
outside, but in your house and buy an insurance for it, and instead you 
move around with a 'stationfiets', a cheap ugly bike you can leave 
anywhere. it sounds a bit absurd maybe, but dutch own bikes as you own 
a pair of shoes... one of the students sport is 'bikefishing': 
literally 'fishing' bikes from the canals... so, you can imagine that 
if this is how much they value a bike, free bikes in amsterdam couldnt 
work.. i think i've even seen one or two of them riding around the 
center here, they sell tools good enough to break a bike lock at the 
local supermarkets... all to say, stealing bikes is not really seen as 
a crime as it is anywhere else.
if you want to know more about city bikes you should check out 
copenhagen and berlin, or rennes, these are nice working services.

wow, i wrote too much again, got a headache already my mess?

what are you doing there anyway?

susa